My Top 10 New Yorker Films

When I came home yesterday to find that New Yorker Films had gone out of business I was a bit crestfallen. They have put out so many of my favorite films and are truly responsible for helping to make sure that foreign films were seen in the US  (the importance of which can never be measured.)

So, in honor of New Yorker, here are My Top 10 New Yorker Films - it was hard to narrow it down, but I know that all of the films below have shaped who I am as a film-maker, film-watcher and person in general.  Sigh...

10) Loulou : I adore Maurice Pialat and his tale of a crazy love, erotic revolution and French society. Sigh...

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9) Bamako : A beautiful and necessary film. Sigh...

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8 ) Sans soleil - I can't imagine a world with Sans soleil. Sigh...

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7) The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach) - I saw this for the first time a few months ago.  It is nothing short of amazing. Sigh...

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6) Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles - This film changed my life.  Sigh..

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5) Celine and Julie Go Boating (Céline et Julie vont en bateau) - I also saw this for the first time in the past year. Amazing and magical. Sigh...

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4) The Mother and the Whore (Maman et la putain, La) - This film tears me apart inside everytime I see it. Thank you New Yorker (really), sigh...

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3) Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) - One of the most beautiful films ever. Sigh...

2) Still Life (Sanxia haoren)

This was my number 1 film of 2008. Sigh...

1) The Films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder - The Marriage of Maria Braun (Die Ehe der Maria Braun) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Angst essen Seele auf), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant), Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel), In a Year With Thirteen Moons (In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden), The Third Generation (Die Dritte Generation), , Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (Warum läuft Herr R. Amok?), Katzelmacher, The American Soldier (Der Amerikanische Soldat), Effi Briest  (Fontane - Effi Briest oder: Viele, die eine Ahnung haben von ihren Möglichkeiten und Bedürfnissen und dennoch das herrschende System in ihrem Kopf akzeptieren durch ihre Taten und es somit festigen und durchaus bestätigen), Satan's Brew (Satansbraten) and Chinese Roulette (Chinesisches Roulette)

I can't begin to tell you how sad I am that the folks who put out so many films by my favorite filmmaker, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, have gone out of business. I can't help but wonder what will happen to some of the films above - sigh.

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takepart to learn more about the closing of New Yorker Films.