With our little trip to Napoli days away we get this little warmup with the opening of Gomorrah Girl by Valerio Spada at Flatland Gallery, Utrecht. The impressive series of pictures, published in the awarded book ‘Gomorrah Girl’ (and already sold out), became the traveling exhibition which will now take place in Utrecht. ”Gomorrah Girl’ is almost a documentary about adolescence, choices and chances in a land of Camorrah. On March 27 2004, Annalisa Durante, a young woman of 14 years was caught in the crossfire of violence in the land of Camorrah. ‘Gomorrah Girl’ shows the difficulties of growing up as a young girl in a dangerous and criminal area. At age 9 they make themselves up as TV personalities and dream of becoming one of them. At age 13 or 14 they often become mothers, skipping the adolescence which is lived fully everywhere else in Italy. This photographic journey by Valerio Spada starts from Annalisa’s father, Giovanni Durante, who still works in the same store in Forcella. Since that day he brings breakfast with milk at 9 every morning to his daughter’s grave. Annalisa was buried along with her cell phone, which was her father’s wish, since she used to call him five times per day, every day.’
Be sure to visit Gomorrah Girl at Flatland Gallery — from 27 October till 27 November 2011.

Mark Robinson from The 189 just shared this amazing video. It’s the trailer for a short film titled ‘Charlotte’ about  an extraordinary boatyard, the Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway, located on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin established the boatyard in 1980 with the purpose of designing, building, and maintaining traditionally built wooden boats, and in the process they transformed Vineyard Haven harbor into a mecca for wooden boat owners and enthusiasts.  After a long career of designing and constructing boats for others, Nat embarks on building a 50 foot gaff rigged schooner for use by his family and friends — her name is Charlotte. A beautiful documentary about tradition, craftsmanship and the love of the sea, directed and produced by Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte.

After last quote Jochem shared another great piece of inspiration by Roman & Williams: This interview with Roman & Williams by NY based director Brennan Stasiewicz. “To me, this is what it feels like to walk into a Roman & Williams space, or rather, to let that space enter you.”

Seroj pointed me to this lovely short documentary on Brooks saddles with beautiful images of the factory and the craftsman working there. The documentary was made for the Bicycle Film Festival by Selectfilm.de, directed by Philipp von Kap-herr, story by Andrea Meneghelli.

Impressed and inspired by the work of Laetitia Negre, the ‘fashion photographer renowned for her skill at ‘inserting’ fashion shoots into extreme settings and events, in increasingly far-flung locations.’ Love it! Above a spread of the Royal Enfield series for i-D.
Read the article here.

Richard P. Rogers (1943-2001) was a NYC baby boomer, born to privilege: a Harvard-educated WASP who became a first-rate independent filmmaker (226-1690 and ELEPHANTS both screen at Walter Reade/Lincoln Center June 16th) and a gifted film teacher. But he was also a tortured, neurotic soul who freely admitted to being jealous of Steven Spielberg and simultaneously ashamed of the impulse. Torn between narrow class loyalties and broader professional goals and political values, Rogers found the time to juggle multiple relationships with the skill of a world-class Lothario, but was unable to complete an autobiographical film he had worked on for 25 years.
His former student Alexander Olch collages a trove of material, including extraordinary scenes of Rogers’s mink-coated Gorgon-mom, and new fictional sequences with Wallace Shawn as Dick. THE WINDMILL MOVIE is a heady, fascinating brew that brings together one man’s parentage, culture, education, and ambition — letting the chips fall where they may. – Karen Cooper, Director Film Forum.

‘In 2014, the Olympic Games will take place in Sochi, Russia. Never before have the Olympic Games been held in a region that contrasts more strongly with the glamour of the Games than Sochi… Between now and 2014 the area around Sochi will change beyond recognition. The extreme makeover is already underway; refugee flats and poverty-stricken resorts are disappearing at high speed from the partly fashionable, partly impoverished seaside resort of Sochi…
Photographer Rob Hornstra and writer/filmmaker Arnold van Bruggen plan to document the changes in the area around Sochi over the coming five years.’

Check the website and support The Sochi Project.