KimStim

MANAS opens @FilmForumNYC May 22! Executive Produced By Sean Penn, Walter Salles, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne. - “Leaves you stunned—for the story it tells, for how it tells it, and for the piercing performances of its actors." – Vittoria Scarpa, Cineuropa filmforum.org/film/manas

Now watching Plan 75 (2022), my second Chie Hayakawa

***ANNOUNCEMENT*** Now available to order on the @VinegarSyndrome website and shipping later this month on Blu-ray in the US from @ocndistro #PartnerLabel @KimStimFilms: #Plan75 (2022)! In a near dystopian future, Japan's government launches PLAN 75, a program encouraging the elderly to terminate their own lives to relieve its rapidly aging population's social and economic burdens. In Chie Hayakawa's remarkable and sensitive feature film debut, the lives of three ordinary citizens intersect in this new reality as they confront the crushing callousness of a world ready to dispose of those no longer deemed valuable. Legendary Japanese actress Chieko Baishō stars as a 78-year-old Michi who considers signing up for the program after losing her meager but fulfilling hotel job and the means to live independently. A young Plan 75 salesman Himoru (Hayato Isomura), initially believes in the program's benefits and serves as the human face of the program. And Maria (Stephanie Arianne), a Filipino care worker living overseas, reluctantly accepts a position with PLAN 75 to send money home to her ailing daughter. On the surface, the plan and its hawkers exude a kindness that serves as the film's chilling vision of bureaucratic indifference and our increasing loss of interconnectedness. However, Hayakawa's view is far from grim, as these characters soon learn to fully reckon with their own lives and what it truly means to live. directed by: Chie Hayakawa starring: Chieko Baisho 2022 / 113 min / 1.85:1 / Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1 Additional info: Region Free Blu-ray Filmmaker Chie Hayakawa’s first short film: Niagara (2013) Asian Movie Pulse Interview with Filmmaker Chie Hayakawa Booklet essay by critic Hayley Scanlon English subtitles Trailer: youtu.be/pZ4VP9kApGM vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/fr… #BluRay #PhysicalMedia #BluRays #BoutiqueBluRay #CultMovies #DiscConnected #VinegarSyndrome #OCNDistribution #Kimstim #KimstimFilms

James Gray argues that studios should be allowed to lose money on their art and specialty divisions, saying those films are cultural investments, not just profit centers.

This Sunday filmmaker ANOCHA SUWICHAKORNPONG will present By the Time It Gets Dark @Metrograph — a haunting, shape-shifting meditation on memory and political history. Q&A w/Suwichakornpong moderated by curator of Video and Film at e-flux Lukas Brašiškis >>metrograph.com/film/?vista_fi…

2/5-8 @clecinematheque A.S. Hamrah presents IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT / THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB / Béla Tarr's DAMNATION, and more! t.e2ma.net/message/3nfpek…

The Blu-ray collection THE LEFT BEHIND DAUGHTERS TRILOGY: THE FILMS OF HUANG JI AND RYUJI OTSUKA (2012-2022) has been released by Kimstim Films entertainment-factor.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-le… #bluray #theleftbehinddaughterstrilogy #eggandstone #thefoolishbird #stonewalling @KimStimFilms

A Cannes Un Certain Regard standout, Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari's TERRESTRIAL VERSES is a deceptively simple political drama that reveals the absurd pressures of daily life in Iran. A perfect double feature with THE THINGS YOU KILL, stream both now on Fandor!

The Circle (2000, Panahi)/ Iran "Political movies have limited time. After that time, it doesn’t say anything anymore. But if the whole thing is said in an artistic way, then it doesn’t have an expiration date." --- Jafar Panahi Full Excerpt: "Interviewer: The subject matter of 'The Circle' (2000) is controversial. You mentioned that the film is still banned in Iran. In fact, when I was watching the film, I realized that through the characters, there’s a lot of fear about the system, the establishment, the police. The women can’t smoke; they have to wear the chador; they seem to want to hide every time. This is all very clear from watching the film. Did you deliberately want to make a statement about the political situation in Iran? Panahi: I have to tell you again that I’m not a political person. I don’t like political movies. But I take every opportunity to comment on the social issues. I talk about the current issues. To me it’s not important what is the reason for what has happened. Whether it’s political reasons or geographical reasons: these are not important—but the condition, the social issues. It is important to me to talk about the plight of humanity at that time. I don’t want to give a political view, or start a political war. I think that the artist should rise above this. Political movies have limited time. After that time, it doesn’t say anything anymore. But if the whole thing is said in an artistic way, then it doesn’t have an expiration date. So it doesn’t really serve a political purpose. Then it can be everlasting, for always, and it could be for anywhere. But I know that politically, with the film authorities, with any kind of film that has some political background in it, they would take issue with it. And for this reason, that is what the problem is. Interviewer: Still, your film makes a very strong statement about the problems that women face in Iran. Panahi: Yes, I agree with that. Interviewer: So that is humanitarian, of course, but it’s also political. Panahi: Yes, I agree with that. It has the elements. It all depends on how you look at it. If a person has only political views, then he will only see the political. But if you are a poet or an artist, then you see other things as well in the movie. If you are a socialist, you see political or economic or whatever different points of view. You mustn’t look at a film with only one point of view. If you want to see 'The Circle' (2000) as political, then it is one of the most political movies in Iran. By political, I mean partisan politics. But even the police, I didn’t want to show them as bad. In the first instance, you are afraid of the police. Because you are looking at them from the point of view of someone who is now in prison. And normally you see him in a long shot, but when they come nearer and you see them in a medium shot, you can see their human faces. Then it comes down to, “Do you need any help?” But he goes back again and becomes frightening. If I were being political, then I would always show the police as dangerous or bad persons." (Jafar Panahi's interview with Stephen Teo, Senses of Cinema, 2001)

Major screenings: An Elephant Sitting Still, always in memory and honor of Hu Bo, and now also of his teacher Béla Tarr, whose methods Hu put through the furious flames of his own imagination; at @Metrograph tomorrow (Saturday) at 1:15pm (and Monday at 6): newyorker.com/culture/the-fr…

I only ever saw Bela Tarr in person once, when he came to TIFF to introduce Hu Bo's An Elephant Sitting Still because of Hu's suicide. It was deeply moving, clearly still reeling from grief but also was so proud that so many people cared about the work of his favorite student

Béla Tarr, 1955-2026 🤍

Never before seen theatrically due to the pandemic, Oliver Laxe's FIRE WILL COME makes its belated LA premiere tomorrow @2220Arts w/ Laxe in person for an extended introduction! Thx to @neonrated @KimStimFilms & @mubiusa for making this event possible! 🙏 link.dice.fm/Y8c1ebf044af

Tuesday! 🔥 link.dice.fm/Y8c1ebf044af

Great news - we have Hlynur Pálmason's acclaimed debut feature "Winter Brothers," Winner - Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, now streaming on @criterionchannl - criterionchannel.com/directed-by-hl…

My 30 Favorite Performances of 2025! (Top 32 actually) To the extent movie stars matter, they can hold the screen with their presence alone. Several actors with little or no experience also impressed—as did performers acting outside their native language.

Don't miss THE WHITE BALLOON on 35mm, part of our series PANAHI & KIAROSTAMI: TWO MASTERS! Panahi’s revelatory debut feature is a child’s-eye adventure cowritten w/ his mentor Abbas Kiarostami Tonight at 7:35 + intro by Godfrey Cheshire Tomorrow at 3:00 ifccenter.com/films/the-whit…

FIRE WILL COME 🔥 Los Angeles premiere—Tuesday, with director Oliver Laxe in person! Co-presented by @mubiusa! 🎟️ 🔗: link.dice.fm/Y8c1ebf044af