2010 Radical Frame Film Festival - Berlin

The idea for the RADICAL FRAME FILM FESTIVAL started in 2007 by a group of Denver activists, artists, and friends, who wanted to get the messages of video activism cinema into the public eye.  We feel that, due to the current social and political climate both locally and globally, our mission is more critical than ever to provide a forum for thought provoking films and debates.

 We are committed to presenting progressive, leftist, radical, anti-racist, and visionary films dealing with issues including, but not limited to, the environment, human rights, social injustices, anti-globalization, etc…

The RADICAL FRAME FILM FESTIVAL will make its debut at:

Kino Moviemento

Kottbusser Damm 22

Kreuzberg, Berlin

www.moviemento.de

 

Film Schedule and Dates:

 

February 03, 2010 - Opening Day:

At 18:00 hr:

The War on Democracy  (2007)   (UK)

 

Award winning journalist John Pilger examines the role of Washington in America's manipulation of Latin American politics during the last 50 years, leading up to the struggle by ordinary people to free themselves from poverty and racism. Since the mid 19th Century Latin America has been the 'backyard' of the US, a collection of mostly vassal states whose compliant and often brutal regimes have reinforced the 'invisibility' of their majority peoples. The film reveals similar CIA policies to be continuing in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon. The rise of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez (despite ongoing Washington backed efforts to unseat him regardless of his overwhelming mass popularity) is democratic in a way that we have forgotten or abandoned in the west.    96 min.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029172/

 

At 20:30 hr:

No End in Sight    (2007)    (USA)

A chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq, especially decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions - immediately following the overthrow of Saddam. No occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, insufficient troops to keep order, and three edicts from the White House announced by Bremmer when he took over: no provisional Iraqi government, de-Ba'athification, and disbanding the Iraqi armed services. The film has chapters (from History to Consequences), and the talking heads are reporters, academics, soldiers, military brass, and former Bush-administration officials, including several who were in Baghdad in 2003.    100 min.    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0912593/

 

February 04, 2010:

At 18:00 hr:

 

Truth Lies Beneath (2005)   (India)

While others were celebrating a festival, a girl just seventeen years of age named Mousumi Ari was being tortured and murdered. An unholy nexus of the police, hospital-morgue authority and legal administration tried to veil the culprits -- to establish the murder as a case of suicide -- and twisted events to suit their choice. The film depicts the victim's voice, and the experience of the rights activists to expose the Criminal Justice System in India.   24 min.

https://documentaries.documentaryfilms.net/Truth-Lies-Beneath.html

 

 A Better Life (2009)   (Spain)

Based on a true story, A Better Life is the faithful account of 3 Mexican childern who got lost in the Sonora desert while trying to cross the U.S. border. A history that repeats itself every week in the border towns of Mexico, feeding one of the most profitable illegal businesses: immigrant smuggling.    13 min.

https://www.promofest.org/en/films/una-vida-mejor

 

Mofetas (2007)   (Spain)

 

Nightfall at Tangier's port. Karim and Aziz wait in silence. Or at least they try to.   10 min.

https://www.promofest.org/en/films/mofetas

 

 At 20:30 hr:

Waiting for Mercy (2008)   (USA)

Waiting for Mercy tells the story of an FBI sting operation that took place in Albany, New York during the winter, spring and summer of 2004. The complex operation was designed to entrap Yassin Aref, 37 (a refugee from Kurdistan in northern Iraq) and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain, 51, a United States citizen and an immigrant from Bangladesh.   68 min.

 

https://www.waitingformercy.com/

 

February 05, 2010:

At 18:00 hr:

Motion  (2001)   (UK)

A spinning top is spun and several everyday actions become interconnected, through the power of editing. Then it all starts to go wrong.   5 min.

 

Desert in the Coffehouse  (2009)   (USA)

 A film about opinions of American people about our relationship wth the Arab world.   28 min.

 

Hobby (2008)   (Spain)

'Hobby' started as an innocent journey to witness the release of a video-game console in Japan but little by little, as these things usually do, it changed into a showcase of some of the many wonderful ways in which the Japanese spend their leisure time. 'Hobby': a documentary that aims to entertain speaking about entertainment.   50 min.

 

https://www.promofest.org/films/hobby

At 20:30 hr:

Proper Eyes (2008)   (Argentina)

For her college thesis, film student Alicia wants to make a documentary about the women in the lives of prisoners at a local jail. The only problem is, no one is willing to be interviewed in front of a camera. In comes Elsa, a desperate woman, whose son, Luis, has recently been arrested for a petty crime. Elsa will grant Alicia an interview, only if she visits Luis in jail. Alicia feels this is blackmail and tries to get out of it, but reluctantly agrees to Elsa's proposition. When she visits Luis in jail, Alicia's world collapses.   80 min.

https://www.figafilms.com/proper.html

 

 

February 06, 2010:

At 18:00 hr:

Is What Was (2008)   (USA)

Experimental documentary film essay that began as a visual diary of a visit to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp near Berlin, where gay men were tortured and murdered by the Nazis. The contradiction between the Nazi persecution of gay men and the visual evidence in the photographs prompted an inquiry into the context in which sexual identity is formulated.   23 min.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1367378/

 

Ego   (2009)   (Spain)

 Charles is a businessman, and his life is about selfishness and egoism. How far can we go with our ego? He doesn't really care about other people and hurting them. In the end we have to assume the consequences of our acts.   8 min.

 

https://www.promofest.org/en/films/ego

 

 Scissu   (2009)   (Germany)

 The film tells a chronologically split story about a lonely cop and an addicted couple.   27 min.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1382533/

 

 Under my Garden   (2007)   (Italy)

 The story of Marco, a 10 year old boy who has a passion for insects. He is convinced that his neighbor has killed his wife and buried her under his garden, the evidence being a large ant nest he has been carefully examining for a while.   18 min.

 

https://www.filmitalia.org/film.asp?lang=ing&documentID=47320

 

At 20:30 hr:

Nome Proprio    (2008)   (Brazil)

 Nome Proprio tells the story of Camila, a young woman engaged in becoming a writer. Camila is obsessive, building and destroying herself. She's on an unconditional quest for affection, for fondness. This existential experience incarnates her body and becomes part of her narrative. Nome Proprio is a movie about Camila's passion and her effort to support it. It's about a female character that faces the abyss and gets from it her strenght to exist.   120 min.

 

https://www.figafilms.com/camila.html

 

February 07, 2010 - Closing Day:

At 18:00 hr:

Occupation 101    (2006)    (USA)

A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -- 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarians.     90 min.

https://www.occupation101.com/

At 20:30 hr:

 Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land
U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2004)     (USA)

 

 Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported. Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context--the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one. The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel's PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.

Interviewees include Seth Ackerman, Mjr. Stav Adivi, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Hanan Ashrawi, Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, Neve Gordon, Toufic Haddad, Sam Husseini, Hussein Ibish, Robert Jensen, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Karen Pfeifer, Alisa Solomon, and Gila Svirsky. 80 min.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428959/