Boston

  • Directing Under Dictators: Shin Sang-ok, the Prince of Korean Cinema

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    In 1978, the South Korean Park Chung-hee regime shut down a film studio that defined the country’s postwar film industry after the release of a forbidden kiss scene. Six months later, the studio’s head was abducted by the North Korean Kim Jong Il regime. The head was a South-Korean director and producer, Shin Sang-ok, who directed the film that caused the controversy: “Rose and Wild Dog.” Shin’s career survived two authoritarian governments, as well as an abduction and imprisonment. Through these constricting experiences, he continued to make films — whether under surveillance, direct orders or freely, proving that systems of censorship and political warfare will fail in their efforts to squash creativity and passion. 

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    A Call for Film Festivals to Choose Bravery: The Story of Jafar Panahi’s ‘It Was Just An Accident’

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    Currently, the United States faces its own wave of censorship catalyzed by book bans, the destruction of DEI programs and overwhelming budget cuts to universities, news organizations and national education/art programs like PBS. All the while, the implementation of artificial intelligence around the world brings a threat of unreliable media and the decentralization of individual thought. With all of these elements at play, the need to combat suppression in the creative world is more dire than ever. With the potential for films to champion a diverse array of voices and stories, one of the most powerful spaces to protect this freedom is in the film festival realm.

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    Too Daring for a Domestic Audience? Examining the 1964 Japanese Horror Film ‘Onibaba’ 

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    “THE MOST DARING FILM IMPORT EVER . . . FROM JAPAN!” is how Toho Studios first advertised “Onibaba” to foreign audiences. With a sex-centered plot that features disturbing, psychosexual encounters between characters, writer/director Kaneto Shindo’s intentionally controversial 1964 horror film pushed the limits of both Japanese and international censorship laws. Mildly censored in Japan and banned outright in countries such as the U.K., “Onibaba” serves as a deeply unusual combination of folkloric story and bold, modern sexuality.

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    ‘No Other Land’ and the Violent Suppression of Truth

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    Before he was murdered in his hometown of Umm al-Khair, Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen sent a final message to the West Bank Protection Consortium’s WhatsApp group:

    “Urgent call — the settlers are working behind our houses. And the worst, they’re trying to cut the main water pipe for our community. We need everyone to act. If you can reach people like the congress, the courts, please do everything. If they cut the pipe — I’m sorry. If they cut the pipe, the community here will literally be without any drop of water.”

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    ‘Z’: How a Single Letter Paved the Way for Government Criticism

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    Post-WWII, the sixties were a period of military dictatorships and one-party governments around the world. In Europe, one of the only countries that had a military dictatorship, or junta, was Greece, after a bloodless coup orchestrated by the leadership of army colonel and subsequent Prime Minister Georgios Papadopoulos. This military junta inspired French-Greek filmmaker, Costa-Gavras, to create the film “Z” in 1969. Due to its critique of the government, the film would not be released in Greece until after the fall of the junta.

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    Lost & Found Film and Independent Arthouse Cinemas: In Conversation with Leslie McMichael

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    “Snow White” (1916) was shown for one night only — and not one more — on Screen One of The West Newton Cinema, an independent theater nestled between a massage parlor and audiologist ten miles west of Downtown Boston. Current showings are pasted on the low marquee and the ticket booths are covered in multicolored post-its and flyers. It has stood on Washington Street for nearly 90 years, and was recently saved by the West Newton Cinema Foundation (or WNCF), a nonprofit organization formed by the local community to keep the theater alive through financial difficulties and the age of streaming.