FALL 2004
HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN
(Deb Ellis & Denis Mueller, USA, 2004, BetaSP, 78 min.)
Visit the official site at: www.firstrunfeatures.com/howardzinn.html
Sponsor: HistoryLink.org
YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN documents the life of Howard Zinn, historian, activist and author of the hugely influential A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Narrated by Matt Damon and featuring rare archival materials as well as interviews with Zinn and his colleagues and friends, including Tom Hayden, Noam Chomsky, Marian Wright Edelman, Daniel Ellsberg and Alice Walker, YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL captures the essence a thinker who has been a catalyst for progressive change for more than 60 years.
"If FAHRENHEIT 9/11 unveils the problem, then YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN offers the hope that there indeed are solutions." -BOSTON PHOENIX
"He has changed the consciousness of a generation." -NOAM CHOMSKY
October 16-17. Saturday and Sunday
12:45, 2:30, 4:15pm
October 18, Monday
6, 7:45, 9:30pm
October 20, Wednesday
6, 7:45, 9:30pm
October 23-24, Saturday-Sunday
1:45, 3:30, 5:15pm
November 1 & 3, Monday & Wednesday
No show Tuesday November 2
6, 7:45, 9:30pm
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A WEEKEND OF CHEAP THRILLS & HOT ACTION WITH B-MOVIE ARCHEOLOGIST JACK STEVENSON IN PERSON
Thursday-Sunday, November 13-16
Media Sponsor: The Stranger
Famous for bringing misfit filmmakers out of the sewer and into the gutter, film archivist Jack Stevenson carries the banner for out-cast cinema. Through exhibition and print (LAND OF A THOUSAND BALCONIES: DISCOVERIES AND CONFESSIONS OF A B-MOVIE ARCHAEOLOGIST), Jack Stevenson brings his trash trove of cult and underground cinema to the Northwest.
Thursday, November 13 at 8 pm
KUCHAR BROTHERS FILMS:
(George and Mike Kuchar, 1965-66, 16mm, 90 min.)
SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS (RESTORED PRINT!)
CRAVEN SUCK
HOLD ME WHILE I'M NAKED
"Forget all those other boring indie brother teams - these guys were the original geniuses of cinema's bargain basement! No art form demands as much spontaneous, imaginative improvisation as low-budget filmmaking, and no American low-budget filmmakers are as imaginative as George Kuchar and his twin brother Mike. Major figures in the American Underground film movement of the 'sixties, they are the acknowledged pioneers of the camp/pop aesthetic that would influence practically all who came after them, from Warhol and Waters to Vadim and Lynch. That influence is still being felt." -Jack Stevenson
Friday, November 14 at 7 pm & Sunday, November 16 at 7 pm
KNOW YOUR ENEMY: TWISTED CLASSICS OF AMERICAN WAR PROPAGANDA
Enter the strange world of the American military and get your brain washed. Learn why the German people are evil. See how easy it is to survive an atomic bomb explosion and find out why communists never have sex. This tour through the hall-of-mirrors of official U.S. military thinking will leave you amazed and confused. These films, from WWII up through the Cold War, were made for both soldiers and civilians, and are particularly relevant in light of the current world situation. The messages conveyed are by turns hilarious, disturbing, and downright unbelievable.
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Friday-Saturday, November 14-15 at 9 pm
AN EVENING OF HORROR AND PLEASURE FOR ADULTS ONLY!
WHIPPED & ABUSED: A SHORT HISTORY OF AMERICAN EXPLOITATION CINEMA
An extremely entertaining yet informative introduction to the history of American exploitation cinema told via a well-paced mix of trailers, clips, out-takes, short subjects, pseudo-documentary newsreels, and amature home movie erotica. It proceeds in chronological order from the silent era to the mid-70s, surveying a range of exploitation sub-genres that were popular at different times. The diverse range of styles that constituted exploitation are illustrated, from the barking mad scare tactics of the sensation-mongers in the 30s to the more charming and humorous amateur erotica that spanned virtually the entire period and was pushing the limits of censorship just as aggressively.
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Saturday, November 15 at 7pm, Sunday, November 16 at 9 pm
CULT OF CAMP
An affectionate tribute to camp cinema as it was first identified in Susan Sontag's famous essay, NOTES ON CAMP (1963). Since it is turning 40 this year, we thought it was time to throw a party and invite some of the high queens of camp, such as Maria Montez, Eartha Kitt, and Jayne Mansfield. Various highlights of camp cinema, both famous and obscure, are revealed. Among the items are WWII-era jukebox films, a Technicolor trailer tribute to Maria Montez and an episode of the 1966 Batman TV show starring Eartha Kitt as the evil Catwoman.
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FIRST PERSON CINEMA 2004
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
A Festival of Independent Documentary
SEPTEMBER 16-23, 2004
This is FIRST-PERSON CINEMA's fourth year exhibiting artistically driven documentary film, hosting Q&As with directors, organizing related filmmaking workshops and conducting thought-provoking forums with Seattle's art and humanities community.
Classically, documentary is seen as an extension of journalism, privileging objectivity over subjectivity. In contrast, FIRST-PERSON CINEMA presents highly personal interpretations of real lives, the real world, individual history and culture. Artistic motivation, read here as personal expression, is the common thread running through the films in this festival. Though personal, much of the work encompasses large societal interests and issues. This festival intends to enlighten the filmgoer, inspire the filmmaker and challenge the theorist.
Over the years this festival has become a touchstone for the changing attitudes, influences, inspirations and innovations of contemporary documentary art. FIRST- PERSON CINEMA intends to pull marginalized artists into the public eye, to recognize the masters and innovators of personal expression in documentary, to illustrate and commend the film history that has influenced them, and to look to the possibilities ahead. To that end we are thrilled to present a retrospective of the dean of first-person documentary, Ross McElwee (SHERMAN'S MARCH, TIME INDEFINITE), including a special screening of his latest film, BRIGHT LEAVES. We are also thrilled to be presenting the Northwest premiere of SCREAMING MEN, a new documentary from Lars Von Trier's production company Zentropa Productions and a special night of Lumiere Brothers' shorts scored live by the Brooklyn-based quartet The Clogs.
SEPT 16 Thurs at 7pm
OPENING NIGHT!
Please join us for the opening night reception THURSDAY SEPT 19 beginning at 7pm with a special screening of the documentary SCREAMING MEN with reception of food and drink to follow. Tickets are $10 General, $7.50 NWFF members.
Sponsored By The Finlandia Foundation
SEPT 16, 19, 21-22 Thurs at 7pm, Sun, Tues-Wed at 6, 7:45pm
SCREAMING MEN (HUUTAJAT)
(Mika Ronkainen, Finland/Denmark, 2003, 35mm, 76 min.)
From the documentary arm of Lars Von Trier's Zentropa Productions comes the first film to feature the Finnish men's choir MIESKUORO HUUTAJAT-30 men, impeccably dressed in black suits and rubber ties, screaming high-decibel renditions of everything from children's songs to national anthems. Directed by former choir member Mika Ronkainen, SCREAMING MEN beautifully documents performances all over the globe from this group, now at the forefront of European performing arts, as well as their highly unusual audition process. Like the group itself, the film walks a fine line between deadly seriousness and complete absurdity.
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MEET ROSS: A ROSS MCELWEE RETROSPECTIVE
Series Sponsor
Broadway Video
To watch a Ross McElwee film is to get to know the man himself. His loves, losses, neuroses, fears, justifications and thoughts are on display, for he is the cameraman, editor and subject of his films. As Ross vulnerably questions the meaning of his life, his questioning has a quirky way of transcending the idiosyncrasies of his situation, and begins to charm us and simultaneously to inform us about our own life's questions. This is the compelling subversive act at the center of every Ross McElwee film.
McElwee's bravery on camera has awarded him an iconic status in the evolution of documentary filmmaking. He is a major figure in the first-person cinema movement that began in the 70s as an extension of the one-man-crew objective observational cinema of the Boston-based cinema verite (truth cinema) movement of D.A. Pennebaker, the Maysleses, Frederick Wiseman and Ross' mentor and teacher, Ricky Leacock. First-person filmmakers felt that "true" reality could only be presented by admitting the subjectivity of filmmaking, by including the filmmaker rather than subtracting him/her. They argued that the filmmaker's vision shapes the reality of the documentary as long as there is an editing room involved in the filmmaking process. When truth observed is the issue, Ross McElwee and first-person filmmakers are here to remind us that, when spoken, the first person singular "I" and the organ with which we observe the world make the same sound. Ross is currently a professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard.
SEPT 17 Fri, 7-8pm
ROSS VISION
First-person documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee will show clips from his films, including his early graduate-school film work, talk about his career as an independent filmmaker and how his particular style evolved. Q&A to follow.
Sponsored by American Lung Association
SEPT 17 Fri at 8:15pm
SPECIAL SCREENING!
FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE! Q&A TO FOLLOW SCREENING!
BRIGHT LEAVES
(Ross McElwee, USA, 2004, 35mm, 107 min.)
Feeling a gloomy, Melvillean restlessness, McElwee leaves Boston for his native North Carolina, where his movie-mad cousin shows him BRIGHT LEAF, a Gary Cooper vehicle about an ill-fated tobacco grower that bears a remarkable similarity to McElwee's story of his own great-grandfather. He embarks on a complex, digression-filled hunt into his family's history, that of the rival Dukes and the troubling legacy cigarettes have left for the South and the rest of the world.
BRIGHT LEAVES will come back to Seattle for a theatrical run November 5, 2004 at the Varsity.
"A reflective, wise, often hilarious movie - BRIGHT LEAVES leaves you feeling invigorated by the boundless curiosity, humor and high spirits of its creator." -STEPHEN HOLDEN, NEW YORK TIMES
SEPT 18 Sat at 6pm
INTRODUCED BY FILMMAKER ROSS MCELWEE!
SHERMAN'S MARCH: A MEDITATION ON THE POSSIBILITY OF ROMANTIC LOVE IN THE SOUTH DURING AN ERA OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROLIFERATION
(Ross McElwee, USA, 1986, 16mm, 157 min.)
The film that changed the course of documentary filmmaking in America, Ross McElwee's epic feature debut chronicles his meandering attempts to trace the path of General Sherman's ruthless path of destruction through the South, and ends up being a touching, comic portrait of the filmmaker, his obsessions and his love life as well as one of the most fascinating reflections on the new South to be put on film.
"Magical... the funniest road film...." -J. HOBERMAN, VILLAGE VOICE
"I can't think of another film in which erotic interest has been so finely tempered with respect-not even Woody Allen appreciates and admires women as much as McElwee." -NEW YORK MAGAZINE
SEPT 19 Sun at 7pm
TIME INDEFINITE
(Ross McElwee, USA, 1993, 16mm, 117 min.)
McElwee's masterpiece, in which the recurring demand made of the filmmaker is "Turn off the camera, Ross." In this diary-like continuation of SHERMAN'S MARCH, McElwee marries and is almost immediately hit with a wave of shocks that keep him filming even as he grieves and reexamines his life. A rare film that manages to take up family, time, love and accident in a tone at once casual and profound.
"One of the ten best films of the year!"-JOHN HARTL, SEATTLE TIMES
"A sequel that eclipses McElwee's cult hit" -WASHINGTON POST
SEPT 21 Tues at 9pm
SIX O'CLOCK NEWS
(Ross McElwee, USA, 1997, 16mm, 103 min.)
An open-ended rumination on natural disaster, God and the way the evening news lays it all out so neatly. Incorporating footage of McElwee's son, Adrian, in a mid-career essay on the way natural ambushes like fires and hurricanes change individual lives, SIX O'CLOCK NEWS is funny and bittersweet, and it finds McElwee once more taking up meaning, meaninglessness, accident and the bizarre in his altogether unique way.
"Evolving McElweeian reflections on the total randomness of life and the deceptiveness of appearances."-NEW YORK TIMES
SEPT 22 Wed at 9pm
TWO SHORT FILMS BY ROSS McELWEE!
BACKYARD
(Ross McElwee, USA, 1984, 16mm, 40 min.)
McElwee turns his camera on his family and their neighbors, finding humorous and poignant moments in a genteel Southern town, among them semi-hilarious Civil War reconstructions.
"BACKYARD is equal parts Samuel Beckett, Jean-Luc Godard and Werner Herzog."- BOSTON GLOBE
CHARLEEN (http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/charleenandbackyard.html)
(Ross McElwee, USA, 1980, 16mm, 59min.)
A month spent with the principal returning character in Ross McElwee's films, Charleen Swansea is a North Carolina poet, mother, high-school English teacher, eccentric, romantic, loudmouth-and beloved alter-ego.
"Charleen is an irresistible force caught beautifully on the run."-NEW YORK TIMES
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Time Indefinite
SEPT 18 Sat at 9:45pm
LUMIERE SHORTS SCORED LIVE BY THE CLOGS
Join us for a special screening of over 25 early Lumiere shorts scored live by Brooklyn-based quartet THE CLOGS.
Pioneers who not only revolutionized the technology behind filmmaking, but are also credited with holding the world's first public screening, Auguste and Louis Lumiere took the camera out of the studio and into the streets, where they and their team of cameramen created beautiful, poignant snapshots of life at the turn of the century around the world. L'ARRIVEE D'UN TRAIN A LA CIOTAT (1895), their film of a train rushing at the camera, famously sent the cinema's first spectators jumping out of their seats, unaccustomed to the shocking power of this brand-new art form.
"THE CLOGS are a classically trained instrumental quartet; guitar, bassoon, percussion and viola. The quartet is led by Australian violinist/violist Padma Newsome. While his works for bassoon, saxophone, guitar, percussion, and his own instruments bear the casual, loose-limbed shamble of Western improvisation, they are largely grounded in the classic folk musics of India and the Jewish Diaspora. At once familiar and alien, comical and disquieting, soothing and overwrought, the Clogs' music walks a fine line between radiance and darkness that is rarely achieved outside Hindu culture -- and even more rarely in a nightclub setting."-SAN FRANCISCO WEEKLY
"An ethereal music for the 21st century."-TIME OUT NEW YORK
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SEPT 17 & 19 Fri & Sun at 9:30pm
SEATTLE PREMIERE!
THE GARDEN
(Ruthie Shatz & Adi Barash, Israel, 2003, BetaSP, 85 min.)
In the run-down center of Tel Aviv's red-light district lies the Garden, where young male prostitutes and transvestites work the streets at night. Award-winning documentarian Ruthie Shaltz (DIAMONDS AND RUST) follows two teenage boys, one of them an Arab illegally living in the country, as they get in and out of trouble with the law and try to make enough money each night to eat the following day. Remarkably candid, this sweet and generous film presents a thorough portrait of gay street life in a harsh, repressive society.
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SEPT 19, 21-22 Sun, Tues-Wed at 9:30pm
SLASHER
(John Landis, 2004, USA, BetaSP, 85 min.)
On his first venture into documentary territory, director John Landis (ANIMAL HOUSE, AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) profiles the "greatest living used car salesman." Part con man, part ringmaster, and part good, old-fashioned salesman, the Slasher travels from town to town creating " slasher sales" for used car lots, unloading vehicles others are unable to sell, living a lonely, often intoxicated, life on the road while his beloved wife and children stay at home.
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SEPT 17-18, 21-22 Fri-Sat, Tues-Wed at 7pm
SEATTLE PREMIERE!
PEOPLE SAY I'M CRAZY
(John Cadigan & Katie Cadigan, 2003, BetaSP, 84 min.)
During his senior year of college, artist John Cadigan had a psychotic break. He dropped out, cycled through a number of drugs and doctors, then decided, with the help of his filmmaker sister, to film his agonizing battle with mental illness. Photographed and directed by John himself, PEOPLE SAY I'M CRAZY is the first documentary by someone suffering from schizophrenia.
"A remarkable document that goes beyond A BEAUTIFUL MIND." -EDWARD GUTHMANN, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
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SEPT 23 Thurs at 7, 9pm
SEATTLE PREMIERE!
FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE!
SONNY BOY
(Soleil Moon Frye, 2003, USA, BetaSP, 89 min.)
SONNY BOY tracks child star Soleil Moon Frye (TV's Punky Brewster) as she undergoes a cross-country odyssey with her father, character actor Virgil Frye, now in the grip of Alzheimer's. Together, they revisit the scenes of his life: New Mexico, where Virgil partied on the set of EASY RIDER; New Orleans, where he charmed the ladies with his Elvis impersonation; Alabama, where he and his friend Marlon Brando spoke out for civil rights. The two have a difficult past, but Soleil has conceived the trip, and the film, as one last effort at reconciliation before his memories are lost forever.
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SEPT 23 Thurs at 7pm
SEATTLE PREMEIRE!
THE SHERIFF
(Daniel Kraus, 2004, BetaSP, 76 min.)
Sheriff Ronald E. Hewett oversees the rural Southern community of Brunswick County, North Carolina. SHERIFF follows Hewett's pursuit of cold-blooded killers, escaped bank robbers, illegal video poker and stolen ceramic bunnies. It is brutal, funny and bizarre.
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SEPT 23 Thurs at 9pm
SEATTLE PREMIERE!
ROCKETS REDGLARE
(Luis Fernandez de la Reguera, BetaSP, 2003, 90 min.)
350-pound bodyguard and drug dealer to Sid Vicious and Jean Michel Basquiat, comic partner with Steve Buscemi in THE ROCKETS REDGLARE TAXI-CABARET, and actor in over 30 films playing roles not unlike himself-Rockets Redglare is a beloved East Village personality and a downtown New York icon. ROCKETS REDGLARE is a tribute to the last days of Rockets' life, intermixing his own stories with the stories told by his collaborators and friends: Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon, Jim Jarmusch and Julian Schnabel.
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EARLY CIRCUITS: PIONEERS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC
September 24-30, 2004
This special film series celebrates pioneering inventors and artists who have shaped the world of electronic music. These documentaries remind us of the pre-digital history of electronic music and the evolution of this ongoing collaboration between art and science.
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Media Sponsor:
KEXP
SEPT 24-30
Fri-Sun at 6, 7:45, 9:30pm, Tues-Thurs at 7:45, 9:30pm
No show Monday
SEATTLE PREMIERE!
MOOG
(Hans Fjellestad, USA, 2004, BetaSP, 70 min.)
Bob Moog has been inventing electronic musical instruments for nearly half a century. His early synthesizers opened up vast possibilities for artists, and his contributions have greatly influenced the direction of music culture. This new documentary explores Moog's instruments and collaborations over the years, as well as his opinions on creativity, design, interactivity and the spiritual world. The film also features commentary from a variety of artists including Rick Wakeman, DJ Spooky, Keith Emerson, Bernie Worrell, Money Mark and Mix Master Mike.
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Media Sponsor:
KEXP
SEPT 24-30
Fri-Sun at 8:30pm, Tues-Thurs at 6pm
No show Monday
SEATTLE THEATRICAL PREMIERE!
HAACK: THE KING OF TECHNO
(Philip Anagnos, USA, 2003, BetaSP, 70 min.)
Explore the world of electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack. Through his children's records in the 60s (DANCE, SING, & LISTEN), his darker and farther out 70s recordings (THE ELECTRIC LUCIFER), and his early-80s contribution to hip hop (PARTY MACHINE), Haack continually expanded music through his imaginative approach to technology. This documentary illuminates his musical career with interviews and rarely seen films and TV performances--including an early 60s visit to MR. ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD!
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SEPT 24-26
Fri-Sun at 5, 6:45pm
SEATTLE PREMIERE!
SONIC ACTS
(Frank Scheffer, Netherlands, 1999, BetaSP, 60 min.)
Using interviews, performances, and great archival footage, SONIC ACTS traces the development of electronic music and explores connections and conflicts between the music of early electronic pioneers and the dance music of new-generation artists. The film features Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Henry, John Cage and other prominent figures in the genre's history, as well as contemporary artists including Squarepusher and DJ Spooky. Additional performance footage will also be shown before the film.
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OCT 9th, NOV 6th & 20th Saturdays at 11:30pm
Nothing useful ever gets done after 11pm
Come see local artists present an extravaganza of new work in film, video, theater, music and dance into the wee hours of the night. All this at the economical price of $7.50 ($5 for members).
We can stay up as late as we want.