7 Dudley Cinema

7 DUDLEY CINEMA at Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd, Venice CA 90291, 310-822-3006, free admission, 7-10pm Info: 310-306-7330 Gerry Fialka pfsuzy@aol.com http://www.laughtears.com/
every First Thursday http://www.laughtears.com/Beyond_Baroque_Events.html

Thurs, Nov 3. DERAILROADED: INSIDE THE MIND OF LARRY "WILD MAN" FISCHER (2006, 86m) at 8pm. Josh Rubin & Jeremy Lubin's (in person) sympathetic and touching journey through the thunderstorms of the mind of paranoid-schizophrenic Larry "Wild Man" Fischer follows his discordant encounters in the music business. Fischer wandered the mean streets of L.A. singing his totally unique brand of songs for 10¢ to passersby. He was discovered by Frank Zappa, with whom he cut his first record album, including the enduring dada rock classic "Merry Go Round." A precursor to punk, Fischer became an underground club and concert favorite. Over the course of 40 years, he appeared on national television (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in) and the Top 50 music charts in England, was the subject of his own comic book, was the first artist to be recorded on Rhino Records, and sang a duet with Rosemary Clooney. With Frank & Gail Zappa, Weird Al Yankovic, Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh, Solomon Burke, Dr. Demento, and Billy Mumy (Barnes & Barnes). "The troubled life & distorted times of LA's 'Godfather of Outsider Music'...equal parts hilarity & heartbreak" -MOJO. Preshow at 7pm features live readings and performances.

Thurs, Dec 1, 2011. YANQUI WALKER AND THE OPTICAL REVOLUTION (2009, 33m) at 7pm - Kathryn Ramey's inspired experimental documentary about a, now obscure, American expansionist and military dictator, William Walker who, through military force and coercion, became president of Nicaragua in 1856. The film blends found footage, documentary photography, ethnographic inquiry and personal travelogue with experimental film techniques such as hand-processing, optical printing and hand conducted time-lapse to detour and derail the various approaches to history making that have been applied to this story. Yanqui WALKER as a contemporary work of film art, not only tells us something about history and how it connects to current political, social and economic situations but also how art and poetry can be a means to subvert and transcend even the most oppressive of narratives. Seminal experimental filmmaker/curator Jonas Mekas says "You don't have to be a communist to be anti-capitalist. It is enough to be a poet." PONTECORVO's POLITICAL POETRY at 8pm - Rare clips and fiery discussion on the motives and consequences of the acclaimed 1965 film of urban terrorist insurgency THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, which was obligatory viewing for the Black Panthers, and was used as a training film for Bush's Pentagon's special operations chiefs in 2003. Pauline Kael wrote " Gillo Pontecorvo is the most dangerous type of Marxist - a Marxist poet."

Thurs, Jan 5, 2012 - Ninth Annual VENICE FILM FEST - Colorful history of films made in Venice California, and celebration of the otherwordly happenings at the legendary Venice West Gallery (birthplace of the Beats), aka Sponto Gallery with live performances. Experience the essence of Spontofication Rituals in art, music, poetry and the freedom of creativity.

Thurs, Feb 2 - NATASHA MAIDOFF FILMS & MORE - Venice dancer/filmmaker MAIDOFF's (in person) sensual cinematic explorations set modern fables in motion. With more experimental films by Marc Olmsted, Alfonso ALvarez, Thad Povey, Jeanne C. Finley & John Muse. Free

Sat, Feb 4 - Second annual POETRY OF VENICE PHOTOGRAPHY - 2-4pm: panel discussion , 4-7pm: Opening for PHOTO SHOW in Gallery, free admission Paramedia ecologist Gerry Fialka hosts a panel discussion of award-winning Venice photographers, who explore landscapes of the human psyche and push pictorial representation beyond! Examine the trance-inducing transforming power of cameras in our community by way of McLuhan. With
KRISTY CAMPBELL, PAULA GOLDMAN, MARGARET MOLLOY, SARAH SEELINGER.
Photo show aslo includes:
Dave Healey http://www.davidhealeyphotography.com/ (Time Magazine, NY & LA Times), Alfred Benjamin (Holocaust survivor who shot Hitler in his teens http://photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00JFeb), Leland Auslender (also shot experimental films of Venice West Cafe over 4 decades ago), Ned Sloane, Todd Von Hoffmann, Don Beswick.

Thurs, March 1 - HELEN HILL FILMS - Magical cinema by seminal experimental animator & social activist who championed low-budget and do-it-yourself approaches to filmmaking. With husband PAUL GAILIUNAS' (in person) The Florestine Collection - 100 handmade dresses found in a trash pile in New Orleans. Free
The Florestine Collection (2009,31min) Experimental Animator Helen Hill found more than 100 handmade dresses in a trash pile on one Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans. She set out to make a film about the dressmaker, a deceased African-American seamstress. The dresses and much of the film footage were later flood-damaged by Hurricane Katrina while Helen was still working on the film. Helen was murdered in a home invasion in New Orleans in 2007. Her husband Paul Gailiunas completed the film, which includes Helen’s original silhouette, cut-out, and puppet animation, as well as flood-damaged and restored home movies.

Thurs, April 5 - ROD BRADLEY FILMS - BRADLEY's (in person) moving portraits of poets, painters and jazz musicians reveal inner consciousness. Free

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To screen your film, contact: Gerry Fialka pfsuzy@aol.com, 310-306-7330, laughtears.com

"The atmosphere is wildly eclectic and the programming excitingly nonjudgmental: High, low, old, new, obscure, pop, the good, the bad, and the ugly...The place is open to everything and bursting with ideas." - Village Voice on Anthology Film Archives in NY - much like we provide.

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ARCHIVE:
2011:
7 DUDLEY CINEMA at THE TALKING STICK, 1411 Lincoln Blvd, Venice CA 90291, 310-450-6052, free admission, 6-10pm Info 310-306-7330 Gerry Fialka pfsuzy@aol.com http://www.laughtears.com/
MON, Jan 17. EIGHTH ANNUAL VENICE FILM FEST - 6-10pm. Colorful history of films made in Venice California, and celebration of the otherwordly happenings at the legendary Venice Art Gallery, aka Sponto Gallery with live performances. Experience the essence of Spontofication Rituals in art, music, poetry and the freedom of creativity.
MON, Feb 21. JEAN-LUC GODARD & IGOR STRAVINSKY BY RICHARD LEACOCK - 6-10pm Ishan Shapiro & Marija Coneva of Not This Body (in person) screen rare films by Leacock, who spawned the Direct Cinema movement in the US along with Robert Drew, D.A. Pennybaker and the Maysles brothers. 6pm: A STRAVINSKY PORTRAIT ('66, 55m) Stravinsky at home in California discussing his work with Rolf Liebermann, conducting an orchestra rehearsal in Hamburg, holding a press conference in London, and talking about creativity with old friend Balanchine. "Not constantly asking Stravinsky to do unnatural things, not filming the whole time, but building a friendship that would last a lifetime--his! Stravinsky had been filmed by CBS and didn't like it; then he was filmed by CBC from Canada and hated it... Stravinsky loved this film and it was shown everywhere except in America. 7:15pm: ONE P.M ('72, 90m) Godard’s collaboration with filmmakers Richard Leacock and D.A. Pennebaker on the 1968 film 1 AM (One American Movie) fell apart when Godard became disillusioned with the project. After Godard's abrupt departure, Pennebaker and Leacock edited the resulting footage into One Parallel Movie. A reflexive piece that marks the unceremonious end of the decade. With Eldridge Cleaver, Amiri Baraka, Grace Slick. 9pm: L'ATELIER(S) DF LUC SIMON (2009, 15m) and EMOGRAPHIC CENSUS (2010, 25m) http://emographics.org Shapiro & Coneva's experimental documentaries: One, made under the mentorship of Richard Leacock and Valerie Lalonde, has strong influences of Cinema Direct while at the same time planting a stake of realization in the ground about the temporality of memory - the other is a transit through perspectives, memories and experiences as we travel with four young media creators through Macedonia in search of "the light".
MON, March 21. No screening by 7 Dudley Cinema tonite, check for Talking Stick events details at 310-450-6052 http://www.thetalkingstick.net/
MON, April 18. RUSS FORSTER FILMS: TRIBUTARY ('01, 72m) at 6pm. Forster's (in person) engaging “tribute” bands documentary -- bar bands that imitate famous groups down to the costumes and stage sets. Featuring interviews and live footage of GIANT BUG VILLAGE (evangelizing for GUIDED BY VOICES), MORONIC REDUCER (raping the memory of the DEAD BOYS), MONGOLOID (preaching the gospel of DEVO) & more. TRIBUTARY is a study of pop music as an art form in flux, looking back to where it has gone before to seek clues about where it should go next. "Compulsively watchable" -- The Stranger, Seattle. Plus: SLUMBER PARTY VIDEO ('99, 3m) marks Forster's sole foray into the murky waters of music video to create a lovingly off-kilter portrait of Detroit, MI. SPRINGTIME FOR EVA ('04, 4m) finds director Forster obsessively matching the teutonic talents of gymnast EVA BRAUN and chanteuse NICO with unpredictable results. SO WRONG THEY'RE RIGHT ('95, 92m) at 8:00. FORSTER and DAN SUTHERLAND encapsulate a 10,000 mile journey around the U.S. in search of a group of 8-track tape fanatics that netted over 20 interviews delving into reminiscences, rants, political diatribes, fantasies, fix-it tips, sales pitches, and everything else that defined the skeptical yet inquisitive mind of the ’90s 8-track enthusiast. View trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQnw2g4JpTo Plus: HOME EXORCISE ('10, 3m) pits the video workout talents of SUSAN POWTER, TONY LITTLE, and SID CAESAR against the relentless satanic skronk of THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, and represents director RUSS FORSTER’s latest ridiculous obsessions.
MON, May 16. HEAD TRIP ('09, 85m) at 7:30. Burning Man co-founder John Law (in person) & Flecher Fleudujon's wild documentary is an insane roller coaster of a ride during the opening salvos of the Iraq war. See a bus-load of San Francisco's most eccentric performers and whimsical characters careen across our nation on a quixotic journey to The Big Apple. They drop in on noteworthy American monuments and oddball artists along the way with their own "roadside attraction, three giant Dog Heads in tow!" A good will trip like no other I've seen, at a time most needed. The Bay Area’s iconic “Doggie Diner Heads” encounter the spirit of America during a confusing period. Roadside encounters with citizens and rendezvous with eccentric artist comrades through out the “Middle” States are the heart of this journey. With SF Cyclecide Bike Rodeo, Church of Subgenius' Hal Robins, & Zippy The Pinheads' Bill Griffith. Music by Psychic TV, Billy Nayer, Savage Republic, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Polkacide & Three Day Stubble. Plus ultra rare shorts of Santa Claus rebellions and car hunting. THE DETROIT PUBLISHING STORY - MY POSTCARD COLLECTION - A History of the American Picture Postcard ('10, 90m) at 6pm. At the turn of the next to last century postcards became an enormous fad in the United States, millions of postcards were sent daily, sometimes many a day, like we make phone calls or email today. The collectors began saving them and the results are a fascinating pictorial history of life in America a century ago. John Collier’s colorful documentary on the history of the American picture postcard with beautiful photographs of “Turn-of-the-Century America”, 1880-1924 goes farther to describe American history than any other art form., The photographs served as the basis for picture postcards of the time. Prominent subjects include buildings and views in towns and cities, colleges and universities, battleships and yachts, resorts, natural landmarks, industry and national parks. They covered America with images, over 18,000 different views and in a kind of holding up a mirror to themselves they reveal much about themselves, their thoughts and society of the time.

MOVED TO BEYOND BAROQUE -Thurs, June 2. IN BLOOM - 6:30 party and 7pm for films Celebrate James Joyce's Bloomsday with rare film clips and live readings from The Marshall McLuhan-Finnegans Wake Reading Club http://www.venicewake.org/ who prioritize effects before causes. The gap is where the action is. Mash up resonating intervals with magical parallelisms. As McLuhan is music of the future, Joyce's doubleness in Ulysses bridges the ancient and modern worlds by a continuous parallel of the interface between myth and realism, order and anarchy. "Joyce uses the pun as a way of seeing the paradoxical exuberance of being through language. - McLuhan. Percept plunder for the recent future. Also join us for Gerry Fialka’s presentation on James Joyce and Experimental Film http://www.laughtears.com/wakedreamawake.html at http://www.joyceconference2011.com/
Celebrate the relighting of the Sponto NEON SIGN - 7 Dudley Cinema at 4 minutes and 20 seconds after 7pm, party starts at 630pm on the front lawn
6:30 -party on the front lawn of Beyond Baroque lawn
7:04:20 - Relighting of SPONTO neon
7:15 FILM: (free in theater) Wing Of Art- Joseph Campbell on Finnegans Wake (57 minutes, 1990)
8:15 FILM: The Unlucky Sailor (9 Unread Chapters of Finnegans Wake) (36 m, 2010) by Gary Kibbins “Kibbins’s new films raise profound questions about the languages used to construct and deconstruct the world, while at the same time having that rare quality of being uniquely, laugh-out-loud funny.”
9:00 FILM: Joseph Campbell on Ulysses (57m, 1990)
Thurs, July 7. LIT SHOW FILM FEST - 7pm - Cinematic preview for Suzy WIlliams' LIT SHOW July 16 - rare film clips with/about Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Marlon Brando singing Tennessee Williams lyrics.
Thurs, Aug 4. SEVEN DEADLY CINEMA - experimental films to political activist cinema to lit, art, poetry, music flix to avant garde documentaries, this series provokes new questions and features fiery discussions. (titles TBA)
Thurs, Sept 1. ATOMIC SUBLIME (2010, 72min) at 7pm. Jesse Lerner's (in person) enlightening found footage collage essay engages the history and politics of modern art in the United States. There is a fundamental tension at the heart of this history, a tension that helps define the structure of this experimental documentary. On one hand the Abstract Expressionist painters, like many other modern artists working in the USA during the years after World War II, were often red-baited. Given that modern art originated in Europe, the critics stated, it was almost certainly (at the very least) “un-American,” if not dangerously communist and subversive. At the same time, the USSR endorsed [socialist] realist painting, and tolerated very little else. For those who sought to define the USA in opposition to the Soviet Union, the monopoly that figurative painting enjoyed on the other side of the Iron Curtain implied that abstraction out to be an ally of capitalist democracy. Perhaps for this reason, and certainly quite improbably, the U.S. State Department exported Abstract Expressionist painting (and photographic reproduction of these works) around the world. The debate over the political underpinnings of gestural abstraction rarely addressed the artworks themselves; it rather provided a forum for conflicting ideological and cultural agendas to rehearse their differences in a new arena. Found footage filmmaking struck me as a particularly appropriate way to tell this story, not simply because the great wealth of little-known material that could be enlisted to tell this history, but also as an acknowledgement of the work of some of the Abstract Expressionists’ most striking contemporaries on the West Coast (e.g. Bruce Conner, Wallace Berman) who used assemblage and collage for very different ends. Their work often brought into the foreground the political concerns (and the always looming threat of nuclear annihilation) that so-called “New York School” always left implicit. While researching this complex story of culture and politics, its contemporary resonances struck me as powerful and telling. More than a series of historical episodes--some little known, others familiar--the narrative that this documentary relates is a timely one about the relations between the state and the arts, and about the politics, fear and ideology too often exiled from the histories of modernism. "After watching any or all of Lerner's films, you are likely to have a bundle of questions stockpiled in your freshly zapped brain" -GreenCine.com

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2009-10 archive:
Mon, Dec 21. - MOVING IMAGE ART- Probing survey of cinema from pioneer Melies and experimentalist Vertov to maverick Welles and preservationist Henri Langlois. 6pm: rare Motown film of The Temptations.
Mon, Jan 18, 2010. SPONTO & VENICE HISTORY FILM FESTIVAL - 6-10pm. Along with rare film clips of VENICE HISTORY, celebrate films and videos of the otherwordly happenings at the legendary Venice Art Gallery- SPONTO GALLERY. From the Fool's Fest (with Ginger Smith and Kahlil Sabbagh) to Jazz Funk Fest to Summer Solstice shows, experience the essence of Spontofication Rituals in art, music, poetry and the freedom of creativity.
Mon, FEB 15- JOHN CAGE: THE REVENGE OF THE DEAD INDIANS ('93, 130m) at 7:30pm - Henning Lohner's beautiful "composed" tribute to American composer John Cage. Assembled using the same methodology of chance operation that Cage worked into his own aleatoric compositions, Revenge slices and dices the testimonials of a diverse cast of fans — including Frank Zappa, Noam Chomsky, Yoko Ono, Matt Groening, Merce Cunningham, Frank Gehry, Ellsworth Kelly, and Richard Serra — as well as interviews Lohner conducted with Cage late in his life. The gorgeous result is an unexpected and fascinating combination of intellectual buzzing fragments that couldn't be more fitting for a man who once said, "As far as consistency of thought goes, I prefer inconsistency." 6pm preshow with MAP merging live improvised music and avant-garde film.
Mon, MARCH 15- DIVE ('09, 45m) at 7:30pm - Jeremy Seibert's (in person) provocative documentary is about dumpster diving, the hunger crisis in our nation, and the world. It is about the amount of waste that we pile into our landfills at an alarming rate. It is about the realities of consumerism’s over-consumption and the impact this has in our day-to-day lives. There are a variety of statistics drawn up using food items found in the dumpster, and a great Jubilee Singers soundtrack. Jeremy’s family and friends are involved, it is a glimpse into their actual lives. It is a personal film, a personal call from someone who is responding the best way he knows how. CREATURE OF HOLLYWOOD ('08, 18m) at 9pm - George Willis' (in person) intriguing interview with beloved science fiction pioneer Forrest J. Ackerman, who details Hollyweird adventures in his familiar quirky style. Best known as the publisher of the magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland" Uncle Forry served as literary agent for such luminaries as Ray Bradbury, L.Ron Hubbard, Ed Wood, and appeared in over 100 films, from Michael Jacksons "Thriller" to "Amazon Women on the Moon". If you ever visited him at his old "Ackermansion" you will recognize his collection of horror movie props that serve as the backdrop for the film, and will hear many familiar tales from our late friend, the man who invented the term "Sci-Fi." 6pm preshow.
Mon, April 19 - FIERCE LIGHT: WHEN SPIRIT MEETS ACTION ('09, 95m) at 8pm - Guerrilla filmmaker Velcrowe Ripper’s journey to document what Gandhi called "soul force" and Ripper calls "fierce light", the sacred beacon of human possibility that shines brightest in the spirit during the darkest and most dangerous times. This powerful documentary captures the electrifying global grass-root movement for peace, justice, and a sustainable future. Grounded in the values of peace and non-violence, the events and activists presented in the film are passionately determined to create a world where justice, sustainability, and global harmony define our lives. Ripper's camera takes us to Alabama, Southern California, Africa, India, New Zealand, and beyond to share the interconnected stories of this growing movement for a future of peace, justice, beauty, and balance. With Archbishop Desmond Tutu, American civil rights leader John Lewis, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, Daryl Hannah, activists Alice Walker and Joanna Macy, and many less famous but equally inspiring individuals who are working to transform our world. 6pm preshow.
Mon, May 17 - HYSTERIA ('02, 83m) at 7pm - Antero Ali & Jakob Bokulich's suspense thriller made right after 9/11 WTC. After mistakenly drinking hallucinogenic datura tea, Ikar, a Croatian Catholic soldier is haunted by visions of what he believes is the Virgin Mary who gives him a life mission. Ten years later, Ikar migrates to Oakland California to fulfill this questionable religious mission in this cautionary tale lining fundamentalism and violence. CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU WHEN YOU DIE ('09, 45m) at 9pm - Nicolas Drolc's cool documentary examines the economic and spiritual struggles of the modern artist through the dual perspectives of Denver musician Reverend Deadeye and German graphic artist Christopher Mueller. During a collaboration concert in Aachen, Germany in May 2009, both artists were captured in action at their respective crafts, at what may be considered the peak of their professional creativity and energies. Both give candid and humorous interviews, and music is provided through searing live performances and intimate field recordings by Reverend Deadeye. 6pm preshow ALI interview
MON, June 21. ANIMALS OF CUBAN MUSIC ('09, 70m) at 8pm - Jen Paz' (in person) second documentary about the state of the contemporary dance music scene in Cuba. Her first film "¡Popular!" followed the legendary band La Charanga Habanera. As indicated by the subtitle: "salsa vs reggaeton", "Animals" presents the situation in Havana after the reggaeton explosion that had been building in Cuba for years. It was slowed by policies that discouraged reggaeton. The root of the polemic is the competition for fans and for the limited concert venues in Havana. The salsa artists that were on top in the 90s are now finding themselves with half-full concerts while young Cubans are packing the reggaeton concerts, even paying $100 for a ticket. Music fans will appreciate the long music segments by top artists in both genres: Timba - Los Van Van, El Tosco, La Charanga Habanera, Manolito y Su Trabuco, Pupy y Los Que Son Son, Bamboleo. Reggaeton - Gente de Zona, Clan 537, Insurrecto, El Micha and Yulién Oviedo & MC Blad. No matter who the Animals may be in 5 or 10 years, we now have a snapshot of Havana as it was at this time. See www.havanabuzz.com for trailers. 6pm preshow.
MON, July 19. THE REINACTORS ('09, 96m) at 8pm - Dave Markey's (in-person) hilarious documentary interweaves the disparate lives of street performers and celebrity look-a-likes on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. "A bittersweet look at a tribe of desperate dreamers. David Markey dives deep into the subterranean nooks and crannies of this bizarre subculture and surfaces with cinematic gold." - Ann Magnuson, The Paper. 1991 - THE YEAR PUNK BROKE ('92, 99m) at 6pm - With Sonic Youth and Nirvana as they stumble thought their 1991 European club festival tour! Let filmmaker Dave Markey put you on stage, off stage and backstage! Witness the boredom! The cynicism! And rock harder than you may have ever rocked before! Featuring Dinosaur Jr., Babes In Toyland, Gumball, The Ramones and a surging wave of punk rock fanatics! See You In The Pit! "Markey strives for a kind of cinema verite-meets-homemade-fanzine appeal and succeeds almost too well."-Entertainment Weekly
MON, Aug 16. JOHN CAGE's ONE ('07, 90m) at 6:30 - Maverick composer John Cage's black-and-white meditation on the waxing and waning of light: Candle-like apertures appear, expand, then recede from view while Cage's orchestral work 103 simmers with sustained strings and occasional punctuations from oboe, trumpet, tympani, and other instruments. One11 is a visual counterpart to Cage's 'silent' composition 4:33, questioning our concepts of emptiness. 'No space is empty,' he said. 'Light will show what is in it. The result, aided by the distinguished cameraman Van Theodore Carlson, is a film entirely without plot or actors, which Cage hopes will enable viewers to find themselves. The Making of One11 ('06, 43m) at 8pm - Henning Lohner's documentary on the creative process and realization of the film, with Joan LaBarbara and more. Interview with Van Carlson & Henning Lohner ('06, 33m) at 9:30- The filmmakers discuss their work with Cage and the film, the technical challenges, and more.
MON, Sept 20. RICHARD LEACOCK - DOCUMENTARY PIONEER. 6-10pm Ishan Shapiro & Marija Coneva (in person) screen rare films by Ricky Leacock, who spawned Direct Cinema & Cinema Verite, and worked with Robert Flaherty, DA Pennebaker, Shirley Clarke, Jean-Luc Godard, Bob Dylan, Igor Starvinsky and many more. He was the head of MIT's Film School for 20 years. His JFK doc Primary was praised as a revolutionary step and breaking point in the recording of reality in cinema having caught the scenes of real life with unprecedented authenticity, immediacy and truth. Henri Langlois called it "the most important documentary since the brothers Lumiere." Ishan & Marija of http://cargo.notthisbody.com mentored under Leacock for several months in Paris recently and will share some of their understandings on the importance of his work. They will discus Leacock's essays on our relationship as creators of media and his point of view on the democratization of the tools to create media - a lifelong struggle for him. They are helping him publish his autobiography currently. http://richardleacock.com
MON, Oct 18. THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT ('01, 91m) at 8:30pm - Space travel has become a dirty way of life dominated by derelicts, grease monkeys, and hard-boiled interplanetary traders such as Samuel Curtis. Written, directed, and starring Cory McAbee of the legendary cult band The Billy Nayer Show, this sci-fi, musical-western uses flinty black and white photography, rugged Lo-Fi sets and the spirit of the final frontier. We follow Curtis on his Homeric journey to provide the all-female planet of Venus with a suitable male, while pursued by an enigmatic killer, Professor Hess. Featuring music by The Billy Nayer Show and some of the most original rock n’ roll scenes ever committed to film. STINGRAY SAM ('09, 62m) at 7:15pm - A dangerous mission reunites STINGRAY SAM with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet.
"Few films have me chuckling from beginning till end, but this one managed to do it. Well, except when I was laughing. McAbee's 'Stingray Sam' is a cleverly made loving tribute to the serials of old and a darn funny one too." - Ard Vijn, Twitch. 6pm preshow.
Mon, Nov 15. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPES VIA EXPERIMENTAL FILM - 7-10pm - Filmed over the course of two years near the town of Moreno Valley, Vera Brunner-Sung's (in person) COMMON GROUND ('08, 27m) documents the demolition of military family homes and the erection of a business park in their stead. A clear-eyed look at destruction for the sake of progress, this examination of land use and social history offers the audience a journey into both the past and the future. “… a trip into Southern California, a land whose cyclical process of abandonment, decay, demolition and reconstruction is a sign of how the economy is making a mark on the land.” – Torino Film Festival. Moving from east to west and back, Alexandra Cuesta's (in person) PIENSA EN MI ('09, 15m) offers a portrait of urban landscape in motion from the intimate perspective of public transport in our city. Over the course of the day, images of riders, textures of light and fragments of bodies in space are woven together to create an unexpected, visually arresting poem. Winner of The Map of Time Award, 48th Ann Arbor Film Festival. Madison Brookshire's (in person) OPENING ('07, 25m) reveals the city in the landscape and the landscape in the city. Many of the images come from overlooked, “in-between” spaces, such as off-ramps and back alleys. Shown with its original live score. “…a quiet but grand record of the contemporary American landscape” – Andy Ditzler. “[OPENING] is attentive to small movements—cars in the distance, a herd of sheep. Austere but intensely focused compositions suggest that mindful observation can render ordinary sights meaningful.” – Fred Camper, Chicago Reader. Brookshire’s BONK PIFF BOP ('05, 25m) is both a documentary and a comedy. It stars two brothers—one is 2 years old and the other 7—and documents their phenomenological relationship to the video camera. It is sweet and funny, but also full of dark humor. It is a portrait of a family as well as a rare window into the mind of a particularly precocious and verbal 2 year old. Preshow at 6pm.
MON, Dec 20, 2010. CELESTIAL CELLULOID - 6-10pm - Film historians John Cannizzaro & Gerorge Russell screen 16mm films (some with live music accompaniment) from the early 20th century. Classic comedy, drama and avant-garde cinema on the big screen with the hypnotic projector hum expand the viewing experience.

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