Notes on Stone

in the documentary "Architect Abdelwahed El-Wakil," the architect discusses the relationship between architecture and identity, emphasizing the importance of preserving cultural heritage and embracing unique building styles. El-Wakil shares his personal experiences growing up in Egypt during political change and his quest to create authentic Egyptian architecture. He also introduces Islamic architecture philosophy to students, facing opposition, and advocates for reintroducing aesthetics into modern architecture. El-Wakil's discovery of Nubian architecture and his shift towards environmentally-friendly building methods are also highlighted, along with his fascination with the significance of the courtyard and symbolism in architecture.

The stunt double is a visible yet invisible body, a mostly uncredited worker on set who performs daring acts in the place of the star. Since the 1910s, Hollywood production companies began constructing actors into “stars” to increase their value on and off-screen. This mechanism automatically introduced the stunt double; a replaceable crash-proof body. From her research, Bernice Nauta concluded that she would prefer to be her own stunt double, instead of using the Hollywoodesque, “star-factory, identity-commodifying methodology” of hiring a stunt double to perform the dirty and risky jobs of life.

While many people perceive flowers as a purely decorative phenomenon, the author of this film is confident that studying the world of flowers provides an opportunity to explore the nature of beauty and its commodification in the modern world. Blue Rose is a documentary essay that takes you through an intercontinental flower auction in the Netherlands, Japan's crazy scientific experiments, a pagan celebration in a Spanish town, and the nostalgic Soviet photo archives of the family garden. The Blue Rose reminds us that the ephemeral nature of flowers is deceiving, and a closer look at them can teach an important lesson about the world in which we live.