1975

When peace proves impossible, all means are justified to defend a political cause. That’s what the suicide-commandos argue. Jocelyne Saab was the first journalist to be able to film these young people, aged between 16 and 20, who were training daily in a secret underground base.

Johan Van der Keuken shot The Palestinians in 1975 in Lebanon, before the outbreak of civil war. The film provides a nuanced look at the issue of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Japanese video artist Toshio Matsumoto became best known for Funeral Parade of Roses. The experimental short film Atman, on the other hand, is a visual tour-de-force: In the center of a circle, Matsumoto places a figure wearing a Hannya mask. In the circle, he places the camera in 480 different positions. The film seems full of zooms and pans, but they are really the result of a clever edit.

In So Can I, Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami combines live-action and animation. While two schoolboys watch animated animals (such as jumping kangaroos and swimming fish) on TV, one boy says, “I can do that too,” and then imitates the actions. Kiarostami’s son Ahmad plays the second, silent boy.

The Seasons shows humanity trapped in a cruel but stunningly beautiful existence. Vast cloudscapes speedily glide across the Armenian highlands: to the melodious rhythm of camerawork, editing, and a lyrical score, Artavazd Peleshian elevates this into a full-blown symphony of life.