Dutch Voices: Jos De Putter and Peter Delpeut
September 18, 2005 - October 27, 2005
This season's installment in the ongoing project Documentary Voices focuses on Jos de Putter and Peter Delpeut, who take Holland's rich documentary tradition in new aesthetic and intellectual directions. De Putter skillfully combines intimate portraiture with social and political engagement in places ranging from his native Netherlands to wartorn Chechnya and the favelas of Brazil, while Delpeut's films navigate the less tangible territories of the past and the imagination, unearthing the lyrical potential of archival images. Like their countrymen Joris Ivens, Johan van der Keuken, and Heddy Honigmann, de Putter and Delpeut have made essential contributions to international documentary filmmaking, yet they remain little known in the United States. This series offers opportunities to meet the filmmakers, who will be on hand to introduce their work on September 22 (de Putter) and 29 (Delpeut). On September 23 and 30, they will conduct workshops with students and others interested in their process.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
5:30 p.m. The Making of a New Empire
Chechen underworld-figure-turned-politician Khozh-Ahmed Noukhaev is the larger-than-life subject of de Putter's look at modern Chechnya. "A foreign and exotic world brought close by a sensitive and provocative filmmaking team."—Toronto Film Festival
Thursday, September 22, 2005
7:30 p.m. Alias Kurban Saïd
Introduced by Jos de Putter. A travelogue told through old newsreels and crumbling letters, crossing continents and the minefields of religious and cultural identity, this literary mystery traces the secrets behind the unknown author of the 1937 novel Ali and Nino, a Romeo and Juliet tale of love between Muslim and Christian in Azerbaijan. "A magnificent historical whodunit."—Variety
Friday, September 23, 2005
1:30 p.m. Salon with Jos de Putter (Admission Free)
Sunday, September 25, 2005
5:30 p.m. Nagasaki Stories
Survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki share stories of their past and present. "The almost whispering atmosphere of the film reminds us of Ozu."—NRC Handelsblad. With Nor His Donkey, a bemused look at the Tenth Commandment.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
7:30 p.m. Felice . . . Felice . . .
Peter Delpeut in Person. Set in turn-of-the-century Japan brought to life by hand-tinted archival photographs and an excellent Dutch and Japanese cast, "Delpeut's exquisitely crafted drama is at once a travelogue, a love story, a tribute to Mizoguchi, and a gentle satire about Western attitudes toward Japan."—Time Out
Friday, September 30, 2005
1:30 p.m. Salon with Peter Delpeut (Admission Free)
Sunday, October 2, 2005
4:00 p.m. Brooklyn Stories
The Brooklyn Dodgers' many losses are recounted by borough old-timers in this celebration of baseball and the art of storytelling. With Solo, Law of the Favela: Watched by professional clubs, two Brazilian boys dream of escaping poverty through soccer.
Sunday, October 2, 2005
6:10 p.m. It’s Been a Lovely Day
De Putter documents the last year of his parents' farm and, not incidentally, the gorgeous Dutch light in the skies above it. "A riveting study in the purest documentary tradition."—Variety
Sunday, October 9, 2005
4:00 p.m. Go West, Young Man!
Europeans set out on a road trip across the American West, searching for traces of its movies and myths.
Sunday, October 9, 2005
5:40 p.m. Monte Walsh
Cowboys Lee Marvin and Jack Palance find themselves obsolete in this elegiac Western.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
4:00 p.m. The Damned and the Sacred
A children's dance troupe emerges from wartorn Chechnya to tour the concert halls of Europe. "Extraordinary . . . filled with great cinematic beauty."—Vancouver Film Festival
Sunday, October 16, 2005
5:30 p.m. The Forbidden Quest
Delpeut reframes stunning archival footage of polar exploration as fantastic fiction. "Surreal and enigmatic . . . has the makings of a minor cult classic."—Variety
Sunday, October 23, 2005
4:00 p.m. Diva Dolorosa
Delpeut beautifully reworks archival footage from preserved Italian films of the 1910s to reveal how Italian actresses reshaped the concept of the sexually liberated woman.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
5:35 p.m. Tigre Reale
Judith Rosenberg on Piano. A showcase for the great diva Pina Menichelli, who captured the essence of Art Nouveau in her perverse charm, "devilish and modern."—Eva Vittadello
Thursday, October 27, 2005
7:00 p.m. Lyrical Nitrate
In Delpeut's exquisite montage, hand-tinted silent films "have such extraordinary ethereal earthiness that the images and movement (particularly of the women) feel like they emanate from the film's material prima, its compound of silver and minerals."—Village Voice. With Treasures of the Rijksmuseum and Cinéma Perdu.
Special thanks to Peggy Parsons, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., for organizing the series; Florence Almozini, BAMcinématek; Evelien Gijsbertsen, Royal Netherlands Embassy, Washington, D.C.; Jeanne Wikler, Consulate General of the Netherlands, New York; Claudia Landsberger, Marlies Baltus, André Naus, Holland Film; Frank van den Engel, Maja, Zeppers Film & TV; Gonda Raben, Netherlands Filmmuseum.
Documentary Voices is made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts.
