INSPIRATION CORNER #1

Today I just feel like presenting things/people to you - in hope of inspiring you guys. I thought that this would be the best way to do it - easy and clear. 

AI WEIWEI

A true warrior. His story is more than inspiring. He's a Chinese contemporary artist and activist that was until July of this year under country arrest. His passport had been confiscated in 2011 due to his openly critical views towards the Chinese authorities (to say the least) Until today, I still thought he was country bound;doesn't life surprise you? 

OIL SPILLS (2006)

He studied at the Beijing Film Academy and moved to the U.S. in 1981. You should definitely listen to some documentaries and interviews with him. It's definitely not a waste of your time. In fact it'll probably make you consider how lucky we are here in Europe to live in such freedom, where you can talk about everything with openness that we tend to overlook...

I've only been lucky enough to see one of his works, yesterday in fact at the MOCAK museum. The black dots are meant to represent oil stains (they're made from porcelain) - the badness in the world, the injustice, everything that makes our world 'polluted'.

BICYCLES (2013)

One of Ai Weiwei's most iconic piece of art is his 'Bicyles exhibition'. It's coming to London this September so if you're anywhere near there, be sure to check the thing out - I'd love to if I had the chance...

HARUKI MURAKAMI

 To say I am a fan of this man is the understatement of the century. I am obsessed with his books. They may not be everyone's cup of tea, as with most authors, but they definitely do the thing for me.... 

A quick profile intro: 

~Japanese contemporary author

~ his books have been translated into over 50 languages.

~internationally best-selling author 

His works are tagged as surrealistic with a touch of fantasy, not at all Japanese as one would expect. I myself, would describe them as a melancholic reminiscence of youth. I've read many of his short stories and my most recent read Kafka on the Shore is one of my personal favourites... A book that combines two interrelated plots craftily, about a mad old man and a 15 year old runaway. If you're one for mystery, terror, fantasy and complex love affairs this book is one for you. What I loved about it was the many references to literature and ancient traditions. 

You should also get your hands on his classic Norwegian Wood... A love story one won't forget. 

MØ

Lately she has been a key figure when it comes to inspiring. She's a singer from Denmark, now 27 years old. I discovered her over a year ago, by pure coincidence (through tumblr). I would describe her sound as electronic indie with a tendency towards street and soul . Her voice is pure and charismatic, her music is true to itself, you can hear the meaning behind the lyrics...Chills...

She recently had a concert in Cracow and my friend and I decided to sit outside because we couldn't afford to buy the tickets (the concert was in a tent). I heard her voice perfectly and I had the best time... 

Go and explore. This is one of my favourite songs, the one I fell in love with first. Her whole album is worth listening to.

Julia xo

A CINEPHILE'S PARADISE // TAXI TEHERAN //

Since this is my second film review/recommendation, I thought it'd be a good idea to have a group name for these type of posts. I hope to be doing these fairly often, whenever I watch something that is out of this world good - maybe I should do ones about films I don't like? Comment your thoughts about that below to let me know!

 

So.. TAXI TEHERAN - an Iranian film by an Iranian director (Jafar Panahi) filmed 'undercover' whilst the director himself was driving a taxi around Teheran. Some may say that you can't technically call Panahi the director of this film because there are no credits, but any two eyes can see that he is clearly the one doing the directing. An interesting perspective - by this I mean camera shots that Panahi often turns himself , maybe to make the whole project look my authentic, more lifelike (although I don't think it can get anymore realistic than this), this is a masterpiece like none I've seen. It's a world away from the classic artistic films I maybe a sucker for, but this is innovative.. and well, DARING! Knowing that Panahi has had major problems with the government in the past, problems that resulted in him being house bound, later country bound, filming this was a risk, one that requires courage. This situation is still the case to this day. He is forbidden to film in any way or form, nevertheless, here I am reviewing a substantial work in his cinematography.

 

To sum the film up in the simplest way possible I would say that it's a politically packed work of genius. Surprisingly funny, diverse in its plot - there are accidents, old ladies with fish, black market foreign film selling, and even Panahi's niece stars in it along side him, adding a note  innocence that I found refreshing.

 

some snapshots from the film

 

 

A Golden Bear at the 65th Berlin Film Festival is well deserved... Watch the trailer and comment your first impressions. If you can, do go to the cinema and see it - it's one of those movies that stay with you.

 

~ Julia xo