Urban Visions - 11 Short Films ( Push / One Last Thing / Fausse Solitude / Der Letzte Flug (The Last Flight) / Pako / Hi-Fi / Novanta / When the Floor Became the Ceiling / Raus aus Seinen Kleidern (Get Out of Your Clothes) / Promenaux / The Strip Mall Trilogy / Street Crossing )

Urban Visions - 11 Short Films (DVD) (*)

~~$29.99~~ $23.97

Original Title: Push / One Last Thing / Fausse Solitude / Der Letzte Flug (The Last Flight) / Pako / Hi-Fi / Novanta / When the Floor Became the Ceiling / Raus aus Seinen Kleidern (Get Out of Your Clothes) / Promenaux / The Strip Mall Trilogy / Street Crossing
Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital Stereo )
English ( Mono )
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Subtitles )
Italian ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
90 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Biographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2002 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Gorka Aguado
Lombardi-Clan

Written By:
Hilton Earl
Pierre-Yves Cruaud

Actors:
Nosfe
Sean Baker
GG Tarantola
Rudolf Buitendach
Corinna Schnitt
Stefano Canapa
Roger Beebe
Pablo Altés

Synopsis:

***ATTENTION***Films contain original language audio or silent with English, French, Spanish, Italian & German subtitles***11 short films from London, Paris, New York, Helsinki, Milan and elsewhere, presenting different visions of urban life as art, fiction, and social commentary. These films will take you, beyond borders, to discover urban subcultures under a new light. Urban Visons includes both the extraordinary as well as the perfectly ordinary. It's about everyday life, real and unreal, as seen through the eyes of independent and cutting-edge film-makers with a dedication to form, rhythm, and color. These works are witness to a new wave of film as art without limits of creativity and style and free of technical and financial constraints. Urban Visions proves that now just like the big city, anything is possible.
List of Films:
Push, by Gorka Aguado
One Last Thing, by Hilton Earl
Fausse Solitude, by Pierre-Yves Cruaud
Der Letzte Flug, by Lombardi-Clan
Pako, by Nosfe
Hi-Fi, by Sean Baker
Novanta, by GG Tarantola
When the Floor Became the Ceiling, by Rudolf Buitendach
Raus aus Seinen Kleidern, by Corinna Schnitt
Promenaux, by Stefano Canapa
The Strip Mall Trilogy, by Roger Beebe
Street Crossing, by Pablo Altés

Lowave, an independent DVD label, is on the right track in terms of bringing new works to their world. On the website, it is stated that the label 'will be dedicated to supporting and promoting new independent film from Europe and around the world.' It's a damn fine purpose and the first release, Urban Visions, shows great promise for Lowave. This compilation of 11 short films focuses on urban living and there are many good ones to be found here. The great pleasure is to be able to see independent foreign works that would have much difficulty in being seen any other way, with the exception of film festivals.
Push - Directed by Gorka Aguado
'Push' focuses on buttons being pushed throughout its running time and by and large, it starts to form a coherent music beat. It's a great one to watch.
One Last Thing - Directed by Hilton Earl
A man's thoughts are conveyed through narration about who he thinks he is and then we are exposed to a random mugging, which as it turns out, the guy speaking to us is the mugger. Not a major surprise of course, but good thoughts are found here.
Fausse Solitude - Directed by Pierre-Yves Cruaud
After seeing this one, I found myself wondering what the hell kind of ride I was just on. Pierre-Yves Cruaud stares into the camera for the entire time, though in various places while the background and Cruaud himself spins slowly at first and then even more wildly. Of course any Hollywood film can do this sort of thing, but none as meaningful as this where Cruaud seems to be trying to convey how fast and crazy life can be sometimes.
Der Letze Flug (The Last Flight) - Directed by the Lombardi-Clan
Now this is really an amazing piece. Four druggies shoot themselves up with heroine and are spaced out for a bit. Soon enough however, one of them are found to be dead, or so it seems. Problems arise for the other three are they try to figure out what to do next and finally, a decision is settled upon, but it's a decision that makes the situation worse than it already is. The Lombardi-Clan, two filmmakers named Gerd and Silvana Lombardi, found the right actors for this one and it might be surprising to know that all you see here is actually based on a true story that happened in the duo's entourage at one point. A great soundtrack strengthens 'The Last Flight' even more.
Pako - Directed by Nosfe
Images of electrical wires, roadways, and other things flash in the background while words on the screen seem to be a call to stop oppression and focus on freedom.
Hi-Fi - Directed by Sean Baker
Four teenagers (The standard two guys, two girls) head out on the road for heroine. They find their fix and yeah, that's pretty much it. Interesting work by Sean Baker along with a fine soundtrack does justice to this work, with an ending that's really something to consider.
Novanta - Directed by GG Tarantola
You've got to see this! GG Tarantola has created a mixture of animation and real-life textures that works very well together. It's a day in the life of a bus in Milan, but here's where it gets interesting. You won't find any Steve Oedekerk touches in here, as in something like his 'Thumb' films, but here, photographed hair becomes the hair on some of these characters, and fingers become faces of these characters with eyes drawn by Tarantola. Great stuff!
When the Floor Became the Ceiling - Directed by Rudolf Buitendach
A short bit of humor right at the beginning of this one leads up to a great ending. A guy's trying to practice lines for an audition he has the next day (At first, I thought he was trying out pickup lines for a woman that would likely never come), and hears banging in the apartment above him, the moans of a woman going right along with it. The woman knocks on his door and that first part alone is great. 'Hi, I'm from upstairs,' she says. 'Yes, I've heard,' he replies. He complains about the noise and to her and later on finds where it's actually coming from. Oliver Pollack and Tatiana Obolenski, the man and the woman in this short work wonders with the material.
Raus Aus Seinen Kleidern (Get Out of Your Clothes) - Directed by Corinna Schnitt
A woman stands on the balcony of her apartment, continually airing out a red dress. Subtitled narration 'explains' her thoughts and feelings on certain matters, such as how she believes it's ridiculous that a man she was with could be jealous of her laundry as she seems to spend more time doing that. We also hear about her having a futon instead of a real bed, the mess in her apartment that her father says looks worse than what could have gone on in the war, and more. The camera pulls back slowly as the narration continues, revealing an interesting surprise at the end. The first part of the narration is frustrating, but soon becomes understandable and makes more sense.
Promenaux - Directed by Stefano Canapa
Movies can change your perspective on so many things and 'Promenaux' did just that to me. Beautiful black-and-white images of the city of Paris are shown. There's a supermarket, schoolchildren, a motorcyclist, narrow walkways, idle trains, sunset, dancing, railroad tracks, walking feet, and so many others. It certainly made me look closer at where I live and appreciate such imagery.
The Strip Mall Trilogy - Directed by Roger Beebe
Yep, this one was most certainly for me being that I live in Florida and director Roger Beebe is also a resident of the state. The first part of this trilogy goes through various images of strip malls extremely quickly and with fast-paced music to boot. The second part has a child reciting the alphabet on the soundtrack while the letters of the alphabet are shown. The third part focuses on various things like handrails, parking spots, etc. The easiest thing to recognize here was Publix, which is a Florida-based supermarket. It certainly covers all angles of strip malls.

Lowave is a new independent film label committed to promoting innovative and contemporary low budget films. Here, they've put together the works of 11 talented but undiscovered artists from across Europe and the US, all of which have made something that reflects their experiences of modern-day city life. Issues of technology, pace, anxiety, proximity, drugs, ugly strip malls and laundry-airing all get looked at in unique and accomplished ways.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 17 January, 2012.

Customers who bought this product also purchased

Hors Pistes - 3 Films Collection (Vol. 1) (DVD)

And If Latif Was Right! (DVD)

Hors Pistes - 3 Films Collection - Vol. 2 (DVD)