This week’s Less Than (Five) Zero looks at Frederick Wiseman’s underseen and underappreciated exploration of a Benedictine monastery in Michigan.
The Human Behavior Experiments (dir. Alex Gibney, 2006)
This week’s Less Than (Five) Zero looks at an Alex Gibney made-for-TV documentary focusing experiments in social psychology, including the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment.
Beijing Bastards (dir. Zhang Yuan, 1993)
Zhang Yuan’s hazy romp through the titular city’s youth subcultures in BEIJING BASTARDS is one of the first independently produced films in China; subsequently becoming one of the defining films of the country’s cinematic underground.
Uniform (dir. Diao Yinan, 2003)
Diao Yinan’s debut feature is a subtle tale of self-deception, power and love, featuring some very impressive direction and cinematography, especially considering its miniscule budget.
The Miscreants of Taliwood (dir. George Gittoes, 2009)
Our first ‘zero views’ film featured in Less Than (Five) Zero is George Gittoes’ masterful and riveting look at the Taliban’s anti-entertainment campaign in Pakistan.
Double Down (dir. Neil Breen, 2005)
Those who have seen DOUBLE DOWN want to believe they have the next THE ROOM on their hands, but director Neil Breen’s debut has stranger things to offer.
Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard (dir. Lynn-Maree Milburn and Richard Lowenstein, 2011)
AUTOLUMINESCENT looks at the life of post-punk icon, Rowland S. Howard, one of the legends of the Australian underground.
The Savage Eye (dir. Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers and Joseph Strick, 1959)
The ‘fiction documentary’ THE SAVAGE EYE combines a film noir aesthetic with a bleak social portrait, charting a year in the life of a divorced woman in the late 1950s.
Blessed (dir. Ana Kokkinos, 2009)
Ana Kokkinos’ all-but-forgotten ensemble drama both carries the tics of Australian kitchen-sink dramas and rises above them.
California Company Town (dir. Lee Anne Schmitt, 2008)
Lee Anne Schmitt’s almost meditative experimental documentary looks at a string of boom-and-bust towns in California over the decades, tracking the relationship of industry and nature.