New films in the FAMU library include award-winning debuts from recent years (Aftersun by British director Charlotte Wells) and recent films by renowned directors: Tori and Lokita by the Belgian Dardenne brothers, Decision to Leave by Korean filmmaker Chan Won Park, Memoria by Thai director A. Weerasethakul.
Of particular note is Trenque Lauquen (2022), a film by Argentine independent filmmaker Laura Citarella, which attracted attention at film festivals and won the Cahiers du Cinema's Annual Top 10 List. It has not yet been released in Czech distribution.
The mystery drama, a cross between fantasy, thriller and road movie, impressed with its innovative narrative, in which the author refers to the literary works of Bolan, Borges and Bioy Casares, the films of Antonioni and O. Welles. The fragmented narrative of the mysterious disappearance of a young woman somewhere in the Argentine pampas offers a multitude of themes, perspectives and interpretative possibilities.
The library has also added canonical works of Australian cinema: films such as The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) and The Tracker (2002) reflect on the tragic fate of Australian Aborigines, as does Thornton Warwick's more recent Sweet Country (2017).
Other newly purchased Australian films include the World War II "western" The Overlanders (1946), made in Australia by British director Harry Watt, as well as films of other genres - David Michôd's Melbourne underworld crime drama Animal Kingdom and the horror films The Babadook (2014) and Talk to Me (2023), thriller Partisan (2015) by Ari Kleiman.
Buoyancy (2019) by Australian director Rodd Rathjen tells the story of a Cambodian boy who goes to the city in search of a better life and is sold by people smugglers onto a Thai fishing boat. The film is a stark testament to slave labour in the seas of Southeast Asia.
17. October 2024