12 Comments
User's avatar
Mike Hampton's avatar

I'll be offline until next month so let me kick-off the sharing...

My favourite English documentaries are:

Inside Job (2010)

Hypernormalisation (2016)

Blackfish (2013)

*

My favourite Foreign documentaries are extra difficult because it's harder to know what's real. However, these made me the most emotional:

The Cave (Syria 2019)

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Belgium set Congo 2024)

Edge of Democracy (Brazil 2019)

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

My favourite English movies are:

Donnie Darko

Fight Club

Dead Poets' Society

*

My favourite Foreign movies are:

Incendies (Canada shot Jordan set Lebanon 2010)

Turtles Can Fly (Iran set Iraq 2004)

Omar (Palestine 2013)

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

English Fantasy:

Synecdoche, New York

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Being John Malkovich (1999)

*

Foreign Fantasy:

Let the Right One In (Sweden 2008)

Air Doll (Japan 2009)

Night Watch (Russia 2004)

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

Foreign scifi:

Fish Story (Japan 2009)

2046 (Hong Kong, China 2004)

Alienoid & Alienoid: Return to the Future (Korea)

*

English Scifi:

Arrival (2016)

Another Earth (2011)

Mr Nobody (2009)

*

And indie scifi:

Moon (2009)

Coherence (2013)

The Man From Earth (2007)

Expand full comment
David's avatar

The Man From Earth is an underrated gem.

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

Knowing that movie gets you an invitation to our Less Than 1% Club.

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

Music:

Pink Floyd: The Wall (UK 1982)

Whiplash (USA 2014)

The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium 2012)

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

My favourite Foreign TV series are:

Forbrydelsen S1-3 (Sweden)

Umbre S1-3 (Romania)

Trapped S1-2 (Iceland) & The Decalogue (Poland)

Expand full comment
David's avatar

Great piece. I want to purge the idea from native English-speakers' minds that the only worthwhile movies or music are in English. So much to see out there!

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

Rightfully said! Once upon a time, long ago in shady Africa, I set the goal to watch 1000 foreign language movies. I'm a couple of hundred past that now. My mind is so much better for it.

Expand full comment
David's avatar

'Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring' was such a revelation when I watched it in my film class. I will most certainly check out the rest of his filmography.

Expand full comment
Mike Hampton's avatar

If I were I scifi movie, I would start a new life that would result in me saying, "When I watched it in my film class." At least I can say that I've watched more of his than I mentioned. However, he is a mixed bag, so the winners are the first four listed.

Expand full comment