In February 1953, one of the most prominent French authors of the past century, Jean Giono, was writing an allegorical tale. The story would soon after become known to the world as “The Man Who Planted Trees”. Giono was commissioned to write it by an American magazine, which had...
A linguistics professor of mine once told me: “One of the hardest things in life is to tell someone what a film is about”. If one were to believe him, it is all the more challenging when it comes to a landmark of cinematic art such as French film-maker...
Dear alien, first of all, it was quite a humorous experience to find out you also call us “aliens”. In English, we have come up with the name “humans” for our species. What about you, have you also chosen a random name for yourselves? To be honest, I’m not...
While the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign continues to attract strong interest worldwide, amid wall-to-wall news coverage and poll frenzies, politics-related films are always interesting to watch in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Although there is no proven record of cinema influencing the outcome of an election, there...
“The reason there will be no change is because the people who stand to lose from change have all the power. And the people who stand to gain from change have none of the power.” –Machiavelli Poverty, Inc. opens with this Machiavelli quote, a reference to the modern global...
Marjane Satrapi‘s 2007 animated film ‘Persepolis’ is a moving, perceptive and funny coming-of-age tale about growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. The French-Iranian film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and it was very successful both commercially as well as critically, winning several recognitions from the Cannes...
“Non essere cattivo” (Don’t be bad) is the third and final posthumous feature by Italian cult director Claudio Caligari who died last year from cancer aged 67, just before completion of the editing of the film. A Pasolini-esque look at low life in Ostia in the 90’s, on Rome’s...
Das Leben der Anderen (“The Life of Others”) the Oscar-winning 2006 German drama, is a remarkably authentic portrait of life in East Germany during the communist era but most of all it is an insightful study of human nature and compassion under totalitarianisms. Written and directed by the then...
Can a military dictatorship fall to an advertising campaign, a cheerful one at that? The affirmative answer to that question is “No” the 2012 Chilean political drama directed by Pablo Larrain about the twilight of Pinochet’s regime, narrating one of the most seminal moments in the country’s history: In...
The 2014 British film Pride is inspired by the extraordinary true story of a group of London LGBT activists who during the 1984-5 miners’ strike – the longest in British history – raised funds to assist and support families in a Welsh mining village. Written by Stephen Beresford and...
Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, the latest film from acclaimed French director Jacques Audiard is a gripping and intense drama about refugee life and integration. Dheepan’s Palme d’Or was followed this February by the Golden Bear to Gianfranco Rosi’s “Fire at sea” a...
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets”. Joshua Oppenheimer’s The act of killing opens with this emblematic quote by Voltaire. An unprecedented account of the 1965 anti-communist mass murders in Indonesia seen through the...
What if an alien spaceship landed over Johannesburg, and instead of conquering the planet the stranded visitors ended up victims of a new, inter-planetarian Apartheid? One of the most sensational and original films of 2009, South African science fiction mockumentary DISTRICT 9, avoids all the genre clichés and delivers...
The latest documentary film by Italian-born, American based, director Roberto Minervini is a disturbing yet poetic look at the hidden underbelly of America’s Deep South, a forgotten reality seldom depicted onscreen that shines a light on the abyss of today’s America. The film was screened in the Un Certain...
To celebrate yesterday’s International Women’s Day, this week we will discuss a recent film which was directed by a woman, written by a woman and with a cast led by women. Suffragette (2015) is the first feature film portraying the struggle of ordinary British women, who, at the turn...
Cinema, just like all art forms, is also a form of expression. Films have been iconic in tracing historical events, and telling remarkable stories. Through this column, we will share our thoughts on films that have had a considerable impact on contemporary society dealing with social, political and racial issues.
Follow Films from the Bucket on Flipboard!
Words In The Bucket is a team of global citizens with the common goal of raising awareness and information about issues related to human rights protection, social inclusion, development and environment.
We are "Rethinking World Thinking"