BAM Indie 80s
(Jul 17—Aug 27, 2015) BAMcinématek and Cinema Conservancy present this six week, 60+ film series spotlighting the independent films of the neglected decade between the golden age of 70s New Hollywood and the indie boom of the 90s. Exploring the textures of regional America and uncovering alternative histories to the supposed monoculture of the Reagan years, independent filmmakers of the 1980s offered up an edgy alternative to overblown Hollywood blockbusters and the straight-laced conservatism of the era.
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- DirectorRobert TownsendStarsRobert TownsendCraigus R. JohnsonHelen MartinAn actor limited to stereotypical roles because of his ethnicity, dreams of making it big as a highly respected performer. As he makes his rounds, the film takes a satiric look at African American actors in Hollywood.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsJohn LurieEszter BalintRichard EdsonA New Yorker's life is thrown into a tailspin when his younger cousin surprise-visits him, starting a strange, unpredictable adventure.
- DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsJoe PerrySteven TylerGene SimmonsDocumentary showcase, what life was like for the music artists living during the Los Angeles Heavy Metal scene in the mid and late 1980s.
- DirectorCharles LaneStarsCharles LaneNicole AlysiaTom AlpernNearly silent comedy filmed in black and white follows a street artist (Charles Lane), who rescues a baby after her father was murdered. The artist then sets off to find the mother, but has to first learn how to care for the child. Ultimately he ends up in a horse drawn chase of the murderers.
- DirectorRoss McElweeStarsRoss McElweeDede McElweeRoss McElwee Jr.Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee sets out to make a movie about Union General Sherman's March to the Sea towards the end of the American Civil War, but keeps getting sidetracked by his own love life.
- DirectorRob NilssonStarsRob NilssonConsuela FaustDon BajemaOver 16 hours, in February, 1987, a man confronts jealously and rage as a love affair falters. Photojournalist Mel Hurley returns home to San Francisco on the eve of his birthday, expecting his lover, Carmen, to meet him at the airport and tell him if she will be exclusively his. She's not there, she wants more time. Almost 20 years ago, he'd photographed civil war in Biafra, wanting to tell a story that would save people. He now equates that war with his personal struggle: can his photographs save this relationship? He goes to Carmen to talk to her; first he acts the fool, then they seem to connect. But, can he control his jealousy and not force things with her?
- DirectorJean-Pierre GorinStarsJean-Pierre GorinIdentical young twin girls in the USA have invented their own shared language. Scientists are wanting to study the language but social workers are trying to get the twins to leave their secret language world and enter the mainstream. This means forcing them to speak normal English and lose their secret language. The filmmaker's own questions about this process run across as text at the bottom of the screen, a first use of that technique in documentary.
- DirectorJohn HansonStarsLisa EichhornTom BowerJames CadaShedding her abusive husband, June starts life anew by taking a job as a heavy-machinery operator in an otherwise all-male Minnesota iron mine.
- DirectorLes BlankStarsTeresa PeacockSherry DorstTobe Melora CorrealA charming valentine to women born with a space between their teeth.
- DirectorLes BlankStarsDick PillarWalter SzczypulaJimmy Sturr & His OrchestraA portrait of the life, culture and food surrounding the lovers of Polka music. The title is taken from an old Polka standard. Stars of the Polka world are highlighted.
- DirectorAlan RudolphStarsKris KristoffersonKeith CarradineLori SingerThe lives of an ex-con, a coffee-shop owner, and a young couple looking to make it rich intersect in the fictional and hypnotic Rain City.
- DirectorJoyce ChopraStarsTreat WilliamsLaura DernMary Kay PlaceA free-spirited 15-year-old girl flirts with a dangerous stranger in the Northern California suburbs and must prepare herself for the frightening and traumatic consequences.
- DirectorTim HunterStarsCrispin GloverKeanu ReevesIone SkyeA high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsHeather LangenkampJohnny DeppRobert EnglundTeenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
- DirectorKathleen CollinsStarsSeret ScottBill GunnDuane JonesSara, a cold college professor, and her husband, an ecstatic painter, spend a summer away from the city, straining their rocky relationship.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsTim StreeterDoug CooeyateRay MongeA story of amour fou. Walt is madly in love/lust with a young illegal Mexican immigrant. However, the object of his unrequited affection doesn't even speak any English and finds Walt really strange and undesirable.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsRandall AdamsDavid HarrisGus RoseA film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsChris CooperJames Earl JonesMary McDonnellA labor union organizer comes to an embattled mining community brutally and violently dominated and harassed by the mining company.
- DirectorTony BubaStarsTony BubaSal CaruWerner HerzogTony Buba, a film maker from Braddock, Pennsylvania, tells the story of his hometown's decline (along with the rest of the steel mill towns along the Monongahela River) while he dreams of making higher budget films. The picture documents, in a lighthearted way, the community anxiety and activism that accompanied the failure of the steel industry around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Sweet Sal the street hustler tries to make it big in Tony's movies.
- 1980–19941h 45mPG7.0 (1K)TV EpisodeDirectorRobert M. YoungStarsEdward James OlmosJames GammonTom BowerThe retelling of an incident in Gonzales, Texas in 1901 revolving around a stolen horse, mistaken identity and a killing. An unusual story of the all too usual exploitation of the powerless in Texas History.
- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsMichael RookerTracy ArnoldTom TowlesArriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
- DirectorWilliam LustigStarsRobert ForsterFred WilliamsonRichard BrightAfter his wife and son got brutalized by a street gang, and a corrupt criminal justice system puts the perpetrators back on the street, a NYC factory worker teams up with a vigilante group to find some measure of bloody justice.
- DirectorUlli LommelStarsCarole BouquetRichard HellUlli LommelNada, a beautiful French journalist on assignment in New York, records the life and work of an up and coming punk rock star, Billy. Soon she enters into a volatile relationship with him and must decide whether to continue with it, or return to her lover, a fellow journalist trying to track down the elusive Andy Warhol.
- DirectorJessie MapleStarsObaka AdedunyoRobert DeanLoretta DevineWill is a former college basketball star, without a job and struggling to get off heroin, who cares for a youth whom his friends want to get hooked.
- DirectorJon JostStarsScott AndersenDan CornellMarshall GaddisA telling story of an unemployed Vietnam vet in Butte, Montana, whose wife leaves him after seven years when she feels there is no longer communication between them and - more painfully and pointedly - because she is unable to have a child owing to his sterility from exposure to Agent Orange. Told in a gentle style, richly emotional, Bell Diamond was made with non-professionals drawn from the community of Butte.
- DirectorBill SherwoodStarsJohn BolgerRichard GanoungSteve BuscemiAs Michael and Robert, a gay couple in New York, prepare for Robert's departure for a two-year work assignment in Africa, Michael must face Robert's true motives for leaving while dealing with their circle of eccentric friends, including Nick, who is living with AIDS.
- DirectorNancy SavocaStarsAnnabella SciorraRon EldardAida TurturroDonna and Michael are getting married. But first, they have to plan the reception, get the tux, buy the rings, and cope with their own uncertainty about the decision. Michael fears commitment. Donna has her doubts about Michael's immaturity. Both are getting cold feet.
- DirectorPenny AllenStarsEric SilversteinLola DesmondDaniel OdellIn this low-key thriller, a community of Oregon winegrowers in need of revenue grow marijuana in order to finance their vineyards.
- DirectorBilly WoodberryStarsNate HardmanKaycee MooreAngela BurnettA dramatic look into the life of a family in Watts.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsLori CardilleTerry AlexanderJoseph PilatoAs the world is overrun by zombies, a group of scientists and military personnel sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida must decide on how they should deal with the undead horde.
- DirectorJoel DeMottJeff KreinesIn their final year at Muncie's Southside High School, a group of seniors hurtles toward maturity with a combination of joy, despair, and an aggravated sense of urgency. They are also learning a great deal about life, both in and out of school, and not what school officials think they are teaching.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn GetzFrances McDormandDan HedayaThe owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies, and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsIsabella RosselliniKyle MacLachlanDennis HopperThe discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsSpalding GraySam WaterstonIra WheelerSpalding Gray discusses his participation in the film The Killing Fields (1984) and the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.
- DirectorBruce WeberStarsChet BakerCarol BakerVera BakerDocumentary on the life of jazz trumpeter and drug addict Chet Baker. Fascinating series of interviews with friends, family, associates and lovers, interspersed with film from Baker's earlier life and some modern-day performances.
- DirectorJacob BurckhardtStarsMark Boone JuniorNona HendryxRichard LittA greedy landlord wants to evict a bicycle shop from his property and replace it with a high-rent-paying art gallery. The environment-conscious owner of the bike shop outwits the avaricious landlord in a high-speed bike chase.
- DirectorBeth BScott BStarsJames RussoLydia LunchWilliam RiceA film noirish atmosphere is created to show detective Lunch (a popular underground musician and poet) plow her way through the plans of a corporate businessman who seeks government defense contracts through real "corporate wars" and the manipulation of politicians.
- DirectorGregory NavaStarsZaide Silvia GutiérrezDavid VillalpandoErnesto Gómez CruzAfter their family is killed in a government massacre, siblings Enrique and Rosa flee Guatemala and embark on a perilous journey to "El Norte": the United States.
- DirectorVictor NunezStarsEd HarrisBlair BrownRichard JordanA local reporter gets involved with a corrupt county commissioner.
- DirectorCharles BurnettStarsEverett SilasJessie HolmesGaye Shannon-BurnettA man who has struggled personally has conflicts with his upwardly mobile lawyer brother and well to-do fiancee and is reluctantly to be the best man at their wedding.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJames SpaderAndie MacDowellPeter GallagherA sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsRob ReinerMichael McKeanChristopher GuestSpinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsAdrienne ShellyRobert John BurkeChris CookeA man returns to his home town after serving a prison sentence for homicide, and finds that the details of the crime have been forgotten and replaced with local legends and rumors.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsZoë LundBogeyAlbert SinkysA timid and mute seamstress goes insane after being attacked and raped twice in one day, in which she takes to the streets of New York City after dark and randomly shoots men with a .45 caliber pistol.
- DirectorFaith HubleyJohn HubleyStarsDizzy GillespieLinda AtkinsonSam HubleyEarth is visited by a race of aliens, who issue an ultimatum: either peace or complete destruction.
- DirectorRobert KramerStarsJesse JacksonPaul McIsaacPat RobertsonDoc (McIsaac), back from a decade in in Africa, and filmmaker Kramer, decide to follow Route 1, from the Canadian border all the way to the tip of Florida.
- DirectorWayne WangStarsWood MoyMarc HayashiLaureen ChewTwo cab drivers search San Francisco's Chinatown for the mysterious Chan, who disappeared with their $4000.
- DirectorSu FriedrichStarsLore BucherThe Ties That Bind is an experimental documentary about the filmmaker's mother, who was born and lived in southern Germany from 1920-1950. Through a mixture of personal anecdote and social history, she describes the rise of Nazism, the war years, and the Allied occupation, during which she met her future husband, an American soldier. The Ties That Bind breaks with the usual format of war documentaries, thus allowing a different portrait of the individual to emerge, while it reflects on the current political situation in America and the filmmaker's activities in relation to those issues.
- DirectorHaile GerimaStarsJohn AndersonEvelyn A. BlackwellNorman BlalockA troubled Vietnam veteran hoping to forget the war and reconnect with American life struggles with disillusionment, self-worth, and cynicism.
- DirectorJon MoritsuguStarsAmy DavisLesley GrantLisa GuayEvoking the band-in-the-making masterpieces LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS and BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, MY DEGENERATION is the story of three young women and their nascent band, Bunny Love. The Psychotronic Video Guide illustrates the basic plot: "The blonde bass player narrates, has visions of cottage cheese and canned half peaches and falls in love with a (real) pig's head." Featuring music by Vomit Launch, Gov't Issue, Bongwater, Poison 13, Fizzbombs and Halo of Flies.
- DirectorChristine ChoyRenee Tajima-PenaStarsLily ChinRonald EbensStarleneThe film recounts the murder of a Chinese-American automotive engineer in a racially motivated hate crime, and how the murderer escaped justice in the court system.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
- DirectorCharlie AhearnStarsLee QuiñonesLady PinkFab 5 FreddySouth Bronx graffiti artist Zoro is commissioned to paint a backdrop for a hip-hop concert.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreRoger B. SmithRhonda BrittonAfter General Motors closes its factory in Flint, Michigan, eliminating 35,000 jobs, filmmaker Michael Moore undertakes a quixotic quest to interview General Motors' chairman, Roger B. Smith.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsAndre GregoryWallace ShawnJean LenauerTwo old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsTracy Camilla JohnsTommy Redmond HicksJohn Canada TerrellStory of a woman and her three lovers.
- DirectorSt. Clair BourneStarsDanny AielloJennie BourneNandi BoweThe Behind-the-Scenes documentary of the dramatic comedy Do the Right Thing.
- DirectorBill GunnStarsVertamae GrosvenorCarey BarnesAlan BecklesA partly improvised story of a complicated marriage, the people surrounding the central couple, friends they're having affairs with, and unwanted family.
- DirectorGeorge T. NierenbergStarsWillie Mae Ford SmithThomas A. DorseySallie MartinDocumentary about the American gospel music scene, focusing on two of the movement's pioneering forces, Thomas A. Dorsey and Willie May Ford Smith.
- DirectorDavid Burton MorrisStarsChris MulkeyJohn JenkinsKaren LandryIt's Christmas time in the twin cities. Billy's working a lot of overtime, running barges on the Mississippi. He calls his friend Eddie, whom he hasn't seen in six months, and asks a favor: to drive with him to see his pregnant girlfriend, Patti, because Billy hasn't told her he's married and already has two children. The road trip of guy talk becomes a night of truths exchanged between men and women.
- DirectorSara DriverStarsSuzanne FletcherAnn MagnusonDexter LeeA woman is hired to transcribe an ancient Chinese manuscript. She finds that little by little, the manuscript has powers that begin to take over her life.
- DirectorAmos PoeStarsVincent SpanoMichael WinslowKate VernonA New York City drug dealer decides to get out of the business, but has to flee from mobsters.
- DirectorWendell B. Harris Jr.StarsTimothy AlvaroRenauld BailleuxWilliam BallengerDetroiter William Douglas Street poses as a Harvard doctor, Time reporter, African exchange student.