Sam’s Showtime Schedule
Cheers to the time of romance. For the cinema lovers, movie obsessors, and film adorers, let us celebrate with a showtime special in tribute to love letters to cinema. Specifically, movies about the art of making movies. Without further ado, a movie critic (Letterboxd user) and film scholar (cinema student) presents: Films About Filmmaking.
1. NUOVO CINEMA PARADISO/CINEMA PARADISO (1988) Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
“Life isn’t like in the movies. Life is much harder.” An accomplished and acclaimed Italian drama, Cinema Paradiso deals with friendship and hardship by introducing a bond between a theatre projectionist and a boy who is escaping life in war-torn Sicily by turning to the projectionist’s movie house. A film about memories from childhood and nostalgic coming-of-age that showcases how people and cinema change.
2. THE WATERMELON WOMAN (1996) Dir. Cheryl Dunye
“All you do since you don’t have a girlfriend is watch those boring old films.” A debut feature that was the first film directed by an ‘out’ Black lesbian, The Watermelon Woman follows an aspiring Black lesbian filmmaker who works at a video store and is making a movie about the life of an uncredited Black actress from the early 1900s. A movie about loving and relationships, art and creating, as well as ‘race relations.’
3. LIVING IN OBLIVION (1995) Dir. Tom DiCillo
“Roll that motherfuckin’ camera.” An independent satirical black comedy, Living in Oblivion tells the tale of a low-budget director struggling to complete a movie because of one farcical disaster after another in a hilarious pursuit of indie filmmaking. A cinematic experience about the tragicomic problems that occur on set, from working with unprofessional actors to accidentally getting the boom mic in the shot.
4. کلوزآپ/ CLOSE-UP (1990) Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
“Don’t think a director is different from ordinary people. He’s one of you.” A docufiction film, Close-Up centres around the true story, and real-life trial, of a cinephile who impersonated Iranian movie director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. A movie including the people involved who act as themselves through reenactment filming which investigates identity and image, in addition to delving into audiences and creations.