Roy Andersson’s Commercials are Wild & Great, Just Like His Features

Not sure how many people would use a hyped up version of “Surfing Bird” to underscore a series of humorously deadpan injustices, maybe only Roy Andersson, Swedish director of SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR, YOU THE LIVING and the new A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE. He has also directed a ton […]

Fabulous Bizarre Filipino Oddness DARNA VS. THE PLANET WOMEN

The Philippines is a huge, vast nation that has nearly as many separate cultures as it has islands. Many people are familiar with the great films of Lino Brocka, as well as many of the exciting new films are producing (soon to be showcased by AFS). Some others know about the golden era of Filipino […]

Jerry Lewis, Filmmaking Master

It’s always fun watching Jerry Lewis trying to contain his comic demon, as he does here in his lecture at USC in 1967. He took his filmmaking classes very seriously. There is a series of transcripts of his lectures collected in a book called “The Total Filmmaker” that is full of all kinds of practical […]

The (Paper) Art of Satyajit Ray

In addition to being one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, Satyajit Ray was a musician, composer and graphic artist. Graphic art was the way Ray made his living before he became a full-time filmmaker. Here is a selection of some of Ray’s art for books, advertising and his own films.     […]