Experimental
Samsara/2011/USA
FiC Rating 5/5
Dir: Ron Fricke
Why FiC Recommends?
1) A spiritual odyssey interspersed with spectacular images and meditative sermons, Samsara finds transcendence in the iconic architectures from the past, astounding natural landscapes and life’s vibrant rhythm in general.
2) Without uttering a word and solely relying on the staggering visuals Samsara pushes the boundaries of the medium and comes really close to echoing the heartbeats of our planet and for that Ron Fricke had to spend five years filming it on twenty five different countries in remotest of locations.
3) At it’s zenith Samsara reaches to a point where our existence, our spiritual tryst and mother nature converge together, it builds up a global togetherness
Inland Empire/2006/English
FiC Rating: 4.5/5
Dir: David Lynch
Why FiC recommends?
1) A three hours long psychotropic meditation, where you fail to comprehend it as a whole but you learn that something beautiful happening there which makes you stick to the screens
2) Like Mulholland Dr., there’s Hollywood here too (or I think it is about Hollywood) but there are other things which pop up here but God knows why! But all makes sense somehow, including those animals that talk in this film remain with you, like forever!
3)Is it the trippiest film by the director? Possibly ‘yes’!
Manderlay/2005/English
FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Lars von Trier
Why FiC recommends?
1) Manderlay is the follow up film by Lars Von after groundbreaking ‘Dogville’ as part of ‘Land of Opportunities’ trilogy.
2) The system of oppression and the unexpected consequences when an outsider tries to correct it is shown in an unapologetic manner.
3) Just like Dogville, this film is also made in an ultra-minimalist stage-like set up – allowing the audience to concentrate only on the ‘content’.
Dogville/2003/English
FiC Rating: 5/5
Dir: Lars von Trier
Why FiC recommends?
1) Dogville is ‘one of its kind’ cinema achievement in terms of making and storytelling technique. The whole film happens on a stage-like minimal setup. This intriguing crime revenge tragedy is told in 9 chapters and a prologue
2) In an interview the director Lars Von Trier said about the film “evil can arise anywhere, as long as the situation is right”. A film to be watched studied and remembered.
Antiporno/2016/Japan
FiC Rating 5/5
Dir: Sion Sono
Why FiC Recommends?
1) As a film that delves into the realm of kinks and fetishes emblematic to it’s assertive title, Antiporno is sexually provocative but a feeding frenzy of chaos that paints a nauseating portrait of exploitation of women at it’s core.
2) Nikkatsu Studio offered Sono to direct a film in the reboot of Roman Porno series which had quite a prolific run in the 70s and 80s and here is Sono charging his project with rage and anguish and presenting a scathing critique of the entire project in the impression of a sexual exploitation flick.
3) Antiporno is as much a howl of a director being disgusted with sexploitation flicks as it is an arresting visual essay about women’s liberty and fake perception of their freedom, Sono deconstructs cinema as a voyeuristic medium.
Le grand départ (The Grand Depart) / 1972 / French
FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Martial Raysse
Why FiC recommends?
1) This is a cerebral experience with few dialogues and the music by Daevid Allen / Gong in particular is simply hypnotic. It is definitely not for everyone, but for appreciators of avant-garde / experimental films, looking for some stunning cinematography from a different and subversive perspective, I say check it out. Plus, I’m sure even the ones that might not like the film will at least dig the demoniacal noise soundtrack.
Space Is the Place (1974)
FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: John Coney
Why FiC recommends?
1) The earth cannot move without music. The earth moves in a certain rhythm, a certain sound, a certain note. When the music stops the earth will stop and everything upon it will die. -Sun Ra, Space is the Place.
2) A rare, unmissable trash-culture, sci-fi classic tantalizing glimpse into RA’s fantastical world. One of my favorite musical bios of all time which offers sharp social commentary and a stylish Afrofuturist vision.
O lacrima de fata (A Girl’s Tears) Romanian/ 1980
FiC Rating 4/5
Dir: Iosif Demian
Why FiC Recommends?
1) Directed by Iosif Demian, it is one of most original Romanian films made during communism. It served as a major inspiration for the Romanian New Wave, also it was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.
2) The picture is shot in the style of cinema verite combining fiction and non-fictional elements. The film was based on actual events which adds a bit to the movie’s subversiveness and 90% of the actors were locals who gave the maximum truth to them.
Antichrist/2009/English(Denmark)
FiC Rating: 4.5/5
Dir: Lars von Trier
Why FiC recommends?
1)’Transgressive’ themed films have a special seat in the history of cinema and director Lars Von Trier (LVT) has contributed a lot in this area. Antichrist is probably the best film to get introduced to LVT filmography.
2) Apart from being deeply philosophical (which is the inherent nature of all transgressive films) Antichrist has a very strange pace and vivid color tone which in its all capacity has the ability to make the viewer uncomfortable yet absorbed throughout its runtime.
Note: This is the first movie of LVT’s ‘Depression Trilogy’.
Zirneklis (Spider) / 1992 / Latvian
FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Vasili Mass
Setting: Town
Why FiC recommends?
1) The images that director Vasili Mass packs into the frame will stick with you long afterwards, dreamlike and meaningful and sinister and beautiful all at the same time. Aurelija Anuzhite as Vita is absolutely perfect, playful and childlike while at the same time achingly, sexually gorgeous. Highly recommended for the fans of Jaromil Jires, Jean Rollins, Walerian Borowczyk, Frantisek Vlacil, and Juraj Herz.
Abigail Harm (2012)
FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Lee Isaac Chung
Setting: Town
Why FiC recommends?
1) It will be easy to compare the atmosphere to a Terrence Mallick film with a closed apartment hidden in the seams of the narrative collar of the film. Because the filmmaker goes beyond his illusory tributes. Abigail Harm is a character work imbued with the style of its director. It is a complex work that still hides many mysteries. As for Amanda Plummer’s performance, she is above and beyond any description and she embroiders Abigial’ multiple moods with ease.
2) This is my favourite Plummer film followed by Michael Winterbottom’s Butterfly Kiss. The excellence is also evident through the film’s characters. The three most significant roles, Amanda Plummer (Abigail Harm), Will Patton (Visitor / Narrator), and Tetsuo Kuramochi (Companion) have deeply complex character sheets. Not necessarily on the surface, as no direct background is given, but their actions say all the more. To say too much here can be destructive, which of course I do not want.
Tokyo X Erotica / 2001/ Japanese
FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Takahisa ZeZe
Why FiC recommends?
1) WHAT IF DAVID LYNCH MADE A PINKU !!
2) This experimental film from Takahisa Zeze explores love, life, sex, and death throughout the course of five explicit vignettes told through the rules of postmodern cinema, with a very complex script narrated through a non-linear interlocking montage.
Post Tenebras Lux/2012/Spanish,French,English
FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Carlos Reygadas
Why FiC recommends?
1) Despite many complaints on this film that – ‘it’s a very personal film from the director which has nothing to do with the viewer’, it is one of those very few rule-breaking cinemas to have redefined ‘what a cinema could be’.
2) Yes! it demands a lot of patience from the viewer. It’s not because there’s nothing happening through the length of the film which someone can easily comprehend, but because of its sheer exploratory style.
The Earth Is Blue as an Orange/ 2020/ Ukrainian / Russian
FiC Rating: 4.5/5
Dir: Iryna Tsilyk
1) This is one of the best ode to cinema, a love letter to the medium which is superbly performed by everybody, although the cast is mostly non-actors.
2) Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, driving them to shoot, edit and screen a film inspired by their own life set against the backdrop of war in Donbass town (Ukraine) between 2014-2015.
Vakratunda Swaha / 2010 / Bengali
FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Ashish Avikunthak
Why FiC recommends?
1) Ashish Avikunthak “Vakratunda Swaha” is without question one of the best short films i’ve seen. If you’re not a fan or audience of Avikunthak’s work then I’d probably recommend that you start with this short.
2) A must watch for the fans of Arthouse or Experimental films.
Pepperminta / 2009 / German
FiC Rating: 4/5
Dir: Pipilotti Rist
Setting: Universe
Why FiC recommends?
1) A Surreal Adult Fairy Tale! Blends Pippi Longstocking with Daisies!
2) Pepperminta is like a cross between characters from films such as Poppy from Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Liegh), Maries from Daisies (Vera Chytilová), Eunince from Butterfly Kiss (Michael Winterbottom), Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) and Honey Whitlock from Cecil B Demented (John Waters). It is beautiful, dark, bizarre, and dreamy film! My favorite place to be!
Orozco The Embalmer (Orozco el embalsamador) / 2001 / Spanish
FiC Rating: 3.5/5
Dir: Tsurisaki Kiyotaka
Setting: Suburban/Small-town
Why FiC recommends?
1) Orozco the Embalmer’ is one of the most unrelentingly grim works in existence, the haunting evocation of the rigor mortis and its cadaverous expression ever made on film. This is an essential watch for the fans of Mondo films and Shockumentaries.
2) Tsurisaki Kiyotaka, one of Japan’s most infamous Pinku Eiga director/ death photographers, ventured into the Rue Morgue neighborhood of Bogota, which is one of the most dangerous areas of the Colombia’s capital.