The Critique of Power
The second session of the series Winter Films at Makan
January 21st, 22nd, 23rd 2012 at 6:00 pm

Winter Films at Makan is a series of film screenings curated by journalist and film critic Yazan Al-Ashqar who lives in Amman and writes for the Lebanese daily, Al Akhbar. Hoping to generate a conversation after each session, the screenings present samples of films that have left their mark in world cinema history and have pushed the industry of filmmaking forward.

The second session of Winter Films features films that tackle themes of power in various forms; the films are examples of cinema that engages in social issues directly while maintaining a balance between the social and the formal context.

All films are subtitled in English only.

Saturday 21/01/2012
Hands over the City
Director: Francesco Rosi
Italy, 1963, black & white, 100 minutes
In this fine example of social realism, an elected city councilman who is also a ruthless land developer uses his political power to make personal profit in a suburban real estate deal. After the collapse of a residential building, efforts by a leftist councilman lead to initiate an inquiry exposing the undercurrents of power and politics.

Sunday 22/01/2012
The War Game
Director: Peter Watkins
UK, 1965, black & white, 48 minutes
A fictional, worst-case-scenario docudrama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city.

Our Daily Bread
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Austria, Germany, 2005, color, 92 minutes
To the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, the film looks without commenting into the places where food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and bizarre sounds – a cool, industrial environment. People, animals, crops and machines play a supporting role in the logistics of this system which provides the society’s living.

Monday 23/01/2012
The Spirit of the Beehive
Director: Victor Erice
Spain, 1973, color, 93 minutes
In a small village in 1940, in the wake of the country’s devastating civil war, six-year-old Ana attends a traveling movie show of Frankenstein and becomes possessed by the memory of it. This is an allegorical tale of Spanish life after General Franco's victory in the Civil War.