Founded in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Big Ears Festival is a renowned event bringing together, music, film, literature, art installations, and more. Year after year, their cinema-related section continues to showcase an eclectic mix of classic and contemporary voices, striving to explore boundary-pushing works in the field. Ahead of next month’s festival, we’re pleased to unveil the 2020 edition of the film lineup.
As part of their Standard Definition program, which explores the transition from celluloid to digital, the festival will present films from Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman, Abbas Kiarostami, and Hal Hartley, along with U.S. theatrical premieres of Dominik Graf’s Friends of Friends and Franco Piavoli Affettuosa presenza and Paesaggi e figure. Also in the lineup is rarely screened works by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Kevin Jerome Everson, along with Michael Snow’s 2002 film Corpus Callosum and his most recent project, Cityscape.
Argentine-British artist Jessica Sarah Rinland will also get the spotlight,...
As part of their Standard Definition program, which explores the transition from celluloid to digital, the festival will present films from Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman, Abbas Kiarostami, and Hal Hartley, along with U.S. theatrical premieres of Dominik Graf’s Friends of Friends and Franco Piavoli Affettuosa presenza and Paesaggi e figure. Also in the lineup is rarely screened works by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Kevin Jerome Everson, along with Michael Snow’s 2002 film Corpus Callosum and his most recent project, Cityscape.
Argentine-British artist Jessica Sarah Rinland will also get the spotlight,...
- 2/24/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes release details on Amnesiac, The Atticus Institute, and Alien Outpost, multiple trailers, premiere details for Head, and a Q&A with the founder of The Philip K. Dick Film Festival:
Amnesiac Distribution and Release Details: “Amnesiac tells the story of a man (Wes Bentley) who wakes up in bed suffering from memory loss after being in an accident, only to begin to suspect that his wife (Kate Bosworth) may not be his real wife. The web of lies and deceit deepen inside the house where he soon finds himself a prisoner.
XLrator Media has acquired North American distribution rights to the psychological thriller Amnesiac starring Kate Bosworth (Still Alice, Superman Returns) and Wes Bentley (The Hunger Games series, Interstellar). XLrator Media will release the film in Summer 2015 on its acclaimed “Macabre” genre label.
Amnesiac Distribution and Release Details: “Amnesiac tells the story of a man (Wes Bentley) who wakes up in bed suffering from memory loss after being in an accident, only to begin to suspect that his wife (Kate Bosworth) may not be his real wife. The web of lies and deceit deepen inside the house where he soon finds himself a prisoner.
XLrator Media has acquired North American distribution rights to the psychological thriller Amnesiac starring Kate Bosworth (Still Alice, Superman Returns) and Wes Bentley (The Hunger Games series, Interstellar). XLrator Media will release the film in Summer 2015 on its acclaimed “Macabre” genre label.
- 1/11/2015
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
I recently sat down with Carlo Chatrian, newly appointed artistic director of the Locarno International Film Festival at his office which is only blocks away from the strikingly picturesque Piazza Grande where the outdoor screen and 8,000 seats are now being set up. We discussed his new position, his vision for the Festival, the American films that will be screened in and out of competition, and some of the many highlights and events that begin on August 7 and run for eleven days.
Of his new role as artistic director of the Festival, Chatrian states: “It was an honor and pleasure to take this position. It is a new adventure for me.”
Chatrian’s passion for filmmakers, cinema and its history is zealously conveyed whether talking about the Festival’s tributes to Christopher Lee, Anna Karina, Faye Dunaway, Sergio Castellitto, Otar Iosseliani, Jacqueline Bisset, Margaret Ménégoz and Douglas Trumbull -- to the Pardi di domani (Leopards of tomorrow) a competitive section that will screen shorts and medium-length films by young independent auteurs or film school students, who have not yet directed a feature -- to the films screened on the Piazza Grande -- to the Festival’s sidebar Histoire(s) du cinéma.
“Films belong to a wider history,” Chatrian further emphasizes when discussing Histoire(s) du cinéma, (a reference to Jean-Luc Godard’s masterpiece). Dedicated to the history of cinema, “this section embodies the identity of the Festival.” These offerings include newly restored prints of rare and important works in film history; (for the George Cukor retrospective an international preview of a remastered 3D version of The Wizard of Oz), documentaries about actors and filmmakers the Festival is honoring, as well as works presented by the Cinémathèque Suisse as part of Swiss Cinema rediscovered.
Chatrian’s Vision
“When you compose a competition you have to work with new films; it’s important to combine various aspects into a wider program. One of the things that is really important in Locarno, here, maybe more than other film festivals, are the films belonging in dialogue with past films to new. To look at cinema in a new way.”
Chatrian describes his vision of the Festival “as a mosaic, composing the puzzle of the story of cinema.” He adds: “Diversity is important.” This diversity is further explored in Chatrian’s Director’s statement in which he writes:
In line with the Festival’s tradition and our own wish to break down barriers, we have tried to establish a dialogue between historic and contemporary cinema, between independent and mainstream productions, documentary and fiction, experimental and essay forms. The only categorical imperative was to work with diversity, take it to extremes, to the point where contradictions emerge. Behind the organization of this year’s Festival lies a concept fed by opposites: not with any intention of molding them into a single line of thought, but rather welcoming them as the different souls that make up cinema and the world.
Reflected in this year’s programs are the connections to past films and how these works are linked to each other, and at times come full circle. Chatrian cites the examples of the Festival’s posthumous tribute to Portuguese director Paulo Rocha, whose films were launched at the Locarno Film Festival fifty years ago -- to the tribute to Anna Karina, “not only a great actress who worked with Godard and George Cukor, there is that connection to Rocha’s films in the Portugal New Wave and Anna Karina’s relationship to the French New Wave.”
Chatrian continues: “It’s like a web that makes different connections. Another example: Joaqim Pinto, Portuguese director of the film in competition, Eagora?? Lembra-Me? (What Now? Remind Me) was just a child when he went on set when Paulo Rocha was shooting his second feature.”
New American Films at the Festival
The five films coming from the United States include SXSW Grand Jury winner Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton and The Dirties directed by Matthew Johnson, which Chatrian describes as “a challenging work of editing. A film within a film. The main characters are supposed to shoot a film, but at the same time they are being bullied by a group of other students because of their identity. The film is funny; sometimes a tribute to Ed Wood, but it also conveys a sort of criticism of the world of school.”
Dedicated to emerging international directors and devoted to first and second features, Chatrian comments on the Concorso Cineasti del presente – (Filmmakers of the Present) “Some of these films raise a lot of questions rather than give answers. They are not straight forward; they are more art-house.”
Chatrian describes Forty Years From Yesterday directed by first-time feature directors Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck: “Works with lengths of shots; it’s deeply emotive. It tries to convey something that is difficult; grief, and empathy between camera and character.”
“Two films that challenge cinematic form are Manakamana and The Unity of all Things.” The feature documentary Manakamana is synopsized by its directors Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez: High above a jungle in Nepal, pilgrims make an ancient journey by cable car to worship Manakamana. Chatrian calls it “a contemplative film with powerful sequences of long takes.” On the first feature The Unity of all Things directed by Alex Carver and Daniel Schmidt, Chatrian states: “A very experimental film based on a big subject, a tough subject -- the idea of time; it has a metaphysical point of view.”
The science fiction film Dignity, directed by James Fotopoulos, is described by Chatrian, “like a 1960s trip” and remarks on this film’s connection to Douglas Trumbull, the special effects artist and director, who will receive Locarno’s Festival First Vision Award. “It is a nice tribute to Trumbull and how it relates to his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and as the director of Silent Running.”
Filmmaker as Journeyman – Werner Herzog
Another connection to the United States is from European director, Werner Herzog, (this year’s honoree of the Pardo d’onore Swisscom) who is now living in the states. The Festival will present the world premiere of the four episodes that comprise Herzog’s new mini-series Death Row II, which documents four more cases from death row prisons in Texas. Chatrian says of this work: “a precise look at the American justice system and the American people.”
For cinephiles the world over, the Locarno International Film Festival offers a wide range of work from the past and present, and inspiration for the future of cinema around the globe.
The Locarno International Film Festival runs from August 7-17, 2013. For more information visit: www.pardo.ch
About Susan Kouguell
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com...
Of his new role as artistic director of the Festival, Chatrian states: “It was an honor and pleasure to take this position. It is a new adventure for me.”
Chatrian’s passion for filmmakers, cinema and its history is zealously conveyed whether talking about the Festival’s tributes to Christopher Lee, Anna Karina, Faye Dunaway, Sergio Castellitto, Otar Iosseliani, Jacqueline Bisset, Margaret Ménégoz and Douglas Trumbull -- to the Pardi di domani (Leopards of tomorrow) a competitive section that will screen shorts and medium-length films by young independent auteurs or film school students, who have not yet directed a feature -- to the films screened on the Piazza Grande -- to the Festival’s sidebar Histoire(s) du cinéma.
“Films belong to a wider history,” Chatrian further emphasizes when discussing Histoire(s) du cinéma, (a reference to Jean-Luc Godard’s masterpiece). Dedicated to the history of cinema, “this section embodies the identity of the Festival.” These offerings include newly restored prints of rare and important works in film history; (for the George Cukor retrospective an international preview of a remastered 3D version of The Wizard of Oz), documentaries about actors and filmmakers the Festival is honoring, as well as works presented by the Cinémathèque Suisse as part of Swiss Cinema rediscovered.
Chatrian’s Vision
“When you compose a competition you have to work with new films; it’s important to combine various aspects into a wider program. One of the things that is really important in Locarno, here, maybe more than other film festivals, are the films belonging in dialogue with past films to new. To look at cinema in a new way.”
Chatrian describes his vision of the Festival “as a mosaic, composing the puzzle of the story of cinema.” He adds: “Diversity is important.” This diversity is further explored in Chatrian’s Director’s statement in which he writes:
In line with the Festival’s tradition and our own wish to break down barriers, we have tried to establish a dialogue between historic and contemporary cinema, between independent and mainstream productions, documentary and fiction, experimental and essay forms. The only categorical imperative was to work with diversity, take it to extremes, to the point where contradictions emerge. Behind the organization of this year’s Festival lies a concept fed by opposites: not with any intention of molding them into a single line of thought, but rather welcoming them as the different souls that make up cinema and the world.
Reflected in this year’s programs are the connections to past films and how these works are linked to each other, and at times come full circle. Chatrian cites the examples of the Festival’s posthumous tribute to Portuguese director Paulo Rocha, whose films were launched at the Locarno Film Festival fifty years ago -- to the tribute to Anna Karina, “not only a great actress who worked with Godard and George Cukor, there is that connection to Rocha’s films in the Portugal New Wave and Anna Karina’s relationship to the French New Wave.”
Chatrian continues: “It’s like a web that makes different connections. Another example: Joaqim Pinto, Portuguese director of the film in competition, Eagora?? Lembra-Me? (What Now? Remind Me) was just a child when he went on set when Paulo Rocha was shooting his second feature.”
New American Films at the Festival
The five films coming from the United States include SXSW Grand Jury winner Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton and The Dirties directed by Matthew Johnson, which Chatrian describes as “a challenging work of editing. A film within a film. The main characters are supposed to shoot a film, but at the same time they are being bullied by a group of other students because of their identity. The film is funny; sometimes a tribute to Ed Wood, but it also conveys a sort of criticism of the world of school.”
Dedicated to emerging international directors and devoted to first and second features, Chatrian comments on the Concorso Cineasti del presente – (Filmmakers of the Present) “Some of these films raise a lot of questions rather than give answers. They are not straight forward; they are more art-house.”
Chatrian describes Forty Years From Yesterday directed by first-time feature directors Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck: “Works with lengths of shots; it’s deeply emotive. It tries to convey something that is difficult; grief, and empathy between camera and character.”
“Two films that challenge cinematic form are Manakamana and The Unity of all Things.” The feature documentary Manakamana is synopsized by its directors Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez: High above a jungle in Nepal, pilgrims make an ancient journey by cable car to worship Manakamana. Chatrian calls it “a contemplative film with powerful sequences of long takes.” On the first feature The Unity of all Things directed by Alex Carver and Daniel Schmidt, Chatrian states: “A very experimental film based on a big subject, a tough subject -- the idea of time; it has a metaphysical point of view.”
The science fiction film Dignity, directed by James Fotopoulos, is described by Chatrian, “like a 1960s trip” and remarks on this film’s connection to Douglas Trumbull, the special effects artist and director, who will receive Locarno’s Festival First Vision Award. “It is a nice tribute to Trumbull and how it relates to his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and as the director of Silent Running.”
Filmmaker as Journeyman – Werner Herzog
Another connection to the United States is from European director, Werner Herzog, (this year’s honoree of the Pardo d’onore Swisscom) who is now living in the states. The Festival will present the world premiere of the four episodes that comprise Herzog’s new mini-series Death Row II, which documents four more cases from death row prisons in Texas. Chatrian says of this work: “a precise look at the American justice system and the American people.”
For cinephiles the world over, the Locarno International Film Festival offers a wide range of work from the past and present, and inspiration for the future of cinema around the globe.
The Locarno International Film Festival runs from August 7-17, 2013. For more information visit: www.pardo.ch
About Susan Kouguell
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com...
- 8/2/2013
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
The mighty and all-powerful Chicago Underground Film Festival has done the absolute unthinkable: Reached their 20th year of operation! How many underground festivals have accomplished that feat? None, until now! Well, “now” being March 6-10 at the fest’s new location: The Logan Theatre.
Obviously, there are a lot of people who have worked with the fest over the years to help make it last for exactly two fantastic decades, but, truly, there is one special person who has to be specially lauded for his tireless dedication to the advancement of underground film and its makers. Especially because Cuff hasn’t just been around for 20 years: It’s been fucking awesome for 20 years.
That person, of course, is Artistic Director Bryan Wendorf, who has been with the fest for the very first edition to it’s most recent, mind-blowing one. Year after year, Wendorf has guided Cuff into defining, challenging,...
Obviously, there are a lot of people who have worked with the fest over the years to help make it last for exactly two fantastic decades, but, truly, there is one special person who has to be specially lauded for his tireless dedication to the advancement of underground film and its makers. Especially because Cuff hasn’t just been around for 20 years: It’s been fucking awesome for 20 years.
That person, of course, is Artistic Director Bryan Wendorf, who has been with the fest for the very first edition to it’s most recent, mind-blowing one. Year after year, Wendorf has guided Cuff into defining, challenging,...
- 2/13/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
May 7
7:00 p.m.
Microscope Gallery
4 Charles Place
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Hosted by: Microscope Gallery
In anticipation of the 4th annual edition of the experimental media festival that bears the film’s name, the Microscope Gallery will screen James Fotopoulos‘ feature-length Migrating Forms.
Migrating Forms is a modern underground film classic, having won the Best Feature award at the 2000 New York Underground Film Festival and the Made in Chicago award at the Chicago Underground Film Festival the same year. The movie uses a combination of classic experimental, minimalist techniques and a film noir vibe to tell the story of a doomed romance between a solitary man and the woman he has physical relationship with. Many critics have compared the pacing and awkward, painful sexuality of Migrating Forms to David Lynch’s seminal film Eraserhead.
While Migrating Forms has long been available on DVD, this special event will present the film in...
7:00 p.m.
Microscope Gallery
4 Charles Place
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Hosted by: Microscope Gallery
In anticipation of the 4th annual edition of the experimental media festival that bears the film’s name, the Microscope Gallery will screen James Fotopoulos‘ feature-length Migrating Forms.
Migrating Forms is a modern underground film classic, having won the Best Feature award at the 2000 New York Underground Film Festival and the Made in Chicago award at the Chicago Underground Film Festival the same year. The movie uses a combination of classic experimental, minimalist techniques and a film noir vibe to tell the story of a doomed romance between a solitary man and the woman he has physical relationship with. Many critics have compared the pacing and awkward, painful sexuality of Migrating Forms to David Lynch’s seminal film Eraserhead.
While Migrating Forms has long been available on DVD, this special event will present the film in...
- 5/4/2012
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
This Week’s Must Look At: The artist book Don’t Kill the Weatherman by Martha Colburn has an online photograph preview and it looks stunning! I love Martha’s animation, but it always moves so quickly that it’s tough to savor the actual art. But, now I can! The above borrowed image is from frames from the film Spiders in Love: An Arachnogasmic Musical, the first Colburn film I ever saw way back in 2000. (If you go to the photo set, you can find details on how to purchase this limited edition.)Craig Baldwin has published issue #22 of Otherzine. You can read the whole thing here. But, two highlights are: An interview with Dominic Gagnon, who is seeking to save “censored” online videos; and curator Brenda Contreras reviews Sylvia Schedelbauer’s found footage film, Sounding Glass.This one’s for Canyon Cinema members only: But if you are one,...
- 3/4/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
San Antonio Film Festival
The deadline for the 18th annual San Antonio Film Festival is fast approaching, but there’s still a few more days to get your films in. The actual fest will run on Jun. 18-24.
The fest is always a great, eclectic mix of international indie film that also heavily screens and promotes local talent. There does usually seem to be an emphasis on films with a political or social justice bent, but that doesn’t mean Saff will shy away from tossing in a straight-up thriller or comedy to mix things up.
For example, last year’s films ranged from the music doc Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone by Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson to the police thriller Disrupt/Dismantle by Jack Lucarelli to the Indian surrogate mother business Made in India by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha to the comedy Lord Byron by Zack Godshall.
The deadline for the 18th annual San Antonio Film Festival is fast approaching, but there’s still a few more days to get your films in. The actual fest will run on Jun. 18-24.
The fest is always a great, eclectic mix of international indie film that also heavily screens and promotes local talent. There does usually seem to be an emphasis on films with a political or social justice bent, but that doesn’t mean Saff will shy away from tossing in a straight-up thriller or comedy to mix things up.
For example, last year’s films ranged from the music doc Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone by Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson to the police thriller Disrupt/Dismantle by Jack Lucarelli to the Indian surrogate mother business Made in India by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha to the comedy Lord Byron by Zack Godshall.
- 3/3/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
An avid podcast listener (like me) could hardly stumble across better news today than this fresh item from the Zellner Bros: "Mike Plante has great taste and a vast knowledge of film. His venture Cinemad has been many wonderful things; a zine, a blog, a DVD almanac, a distributor and podcast. His latest podcast installment interviews the Zb's, hopefully we did it justice. A lot of important issues were covered from Sasquatches to Salo to Chuck Berry."
What's more, this is Cinemad's sixth podcast and, as it happens, for nearly every one of them, there's a relevant upcoming event worth noting. David and Nathan Zellner's new feature, Kid-Thing, for example, will be making its premiere at Sundance in a few weeks. As for the other five:
Nina Menkes. We've got a cinema devoted to her films even now; its virtual doors are open through July.
Azazel Jacobs. His touching...
What's more, this is Cinemad's sixth podcast and, as it happens, for nearly every one of them, there's a relevant upcoming event worth noting. David and Nathan Zellner's new feature, Kid-Thing, for example, will be making its premiere at Sundance in a few weeks. As for the other five:
Nina Menkes. We've got a cinema devoted to her films even now; its virtual doors are open through July.
Azazel Jacobs. His touching...
- 1/2/2012
- MUBI
Jan. 5 & 6, 2012
Various Times (see below)
Anthology Film Archives
2nd Ave at 2nd St.
NYC, NY
Hosted by: Anthology Film Archives & Microscope Gallery
Insanely prolific filmmaker James Fotopoulos will screen several of his most recent works over two days — Jan. 5 & 6, 2012 — at the Anthology Film Archives. The screenings are also being presented in conjunction with Brooklyn’s Microscope Gallery, which will be hosting an exhibition of Fotopoulos’ artwork beginning on Jan. 7.
The two-day event will begin on Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. with the World Premiere screening of Chimera, a look at the relationship between President Ronald Reagan and CIA Director William Casey, as seen through the eyes of alien living thousands of years in the future. Chimera is part of a recent series of films by Fotopoulos that take an abstract view of politics.
Then, at 9:15 p.m. on the 5th, there will be two more world premieres screening back to back.
Various Times (see below)
Anthology Film Archives
2nd Ave at 2nd St.
NYC, NY
Hosted by: Anthology Film Archives & Microscope Gallery
Insanely prolific filmmaker James Fotopoulos will screen several of his most recent works over two days — Jan. 5 & 6, 2012 — at the Anthology Film Archives. The screenings are also being presented in conjunction with Brooklyn’s Microscope Gallery, which will be hosting an exhibition of Fotopoulos’ artwork beginning on Jan. 7.
The two-day event will begin on Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. with the World Premiere screening of Chimera, a look at the relationship between President Ronald Reagan and CIA Director William Casey, as seen through the eyes of alien living thousands of years in the future. Chimera is part of a recent series of films by Fotopoulos that take an abstract view of politics.
Then, at 9:15 p.m. on the 5th, there will be two more world premieres screening back to back.
- 12/22/2011
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
I presume this article is from a ways back, but I only stumbled upon it yesterday: Jonathan Rosenbaum reprinted his reflections on the Edinburgh Film Festival from 1976. It’s a very long, in-depth piece, but if you want the hot, underground film content, scroll down to Rosenbaum describing a screening of Tom Tom the Piper’s Son causing a near riot and a review of Yvonne Rainer’s Film About a Woman Who….The L.A. Times has a lengthy piece on the ambitious “Alternative Projections” screening series on the avant-garde that just launched in Los Angeles.Mike Plante presents his fourth Cinemad podcast, this time chatting with the elusive James Fotopoulos. (And I mean that in terms of his work, not in terms of getting him on the phone for a chat.)I don’t know much about the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (Empac), but donna k.
- 10/16/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Big announcement from the Zurich Film Festival yesterday: "Director Roman Polanski will attend the upcoming 7th Zurich Film Festival to accept the lifetime achievement award that was intended for him two years ago, to honor his outstanding career achievements as a filmmaker. The World Premiere of a full-length nonfiction film will follow the tribute ceremony. Details regarding the film and the world premiere will not be released before the official screening on Sept 27."
You have to wonder what subject that nonfiction film will be addressing. Meantime, MoMA's Polanski retrospective reels on through September 30 and I've been posting updates on it in the entry for Carnage. Earlier: "Polanski Season," now updated with Criterion's "Three Reasons" for Cul-de-sac (1966).
On view at Microscope Gallery in New York through October 2: Independence Returns, with work by Peggy Ahwesh, Michel Auder, Agnes Bolt, Martha Colburn, Raul Vincent Enriquez, Bradley Eros, James Fotopoulos, Su Friedrich, Andrew Lampert,...
You have to wonder what subject that nonfiction film will be addressing. Meantime, MoMA's Polanski retrospective reels on through September 30 and I've been posting updates on it in the entry for Carnage. Earlier: "Polanski Season," now updated with Criterion's "Three Reasons" for Cul-de-sac (1966).
On view at Microscope Gallery in New York through October 2: Independence Returns, with work by Peggy Ahwesh, Michel Auder, Agnes Bolt, Martha Colburn, Raul Vincent Enriquez, Bradley Eros, James Fotopoulos, Su Friedrich, Andrew Lampert,...
- 9/16/2011
- MUBI
Well, last week’s links experiment was a big bomb, so here we go:
The Winnipeg Free Press reviewed Guy Maddin’s Hauntings installation, which is currently up and being hosted by the Wndx Festival in Winnipeg. The National Alliance for Media Art + Culture profiled Chicago’s Video Data Bank about all the awesome stuff they do. Charles Judson of the Atlanta Film Festival has some awesome advice for filmmakers: How to write a proper film synopsis. I read so many awful ones of those, so please take heed, people! Not sure how much “underground” content is here, but Wide Screen magazine was nice enough to put a couple issues online for free. James Fotopoulos posts up lots of drawings and stills about his upcoming projects with no descriptions whatsoever. This one is pretty gross. Nathaniel Dorsky and his real life a night at the opera in the 1970s, his...
The Winnipeg Free Press reviewed Guy Maddin’s Hauntings installation, which is currently up and being hosted by the Wndx Festival in Winnipeg. The National Alliance for Media Art + Culture profiled Chicago’s Video Data Bank about all the awesome stuff they do. Charles Judson of the Atlanta Film Festival has some awesome advice for filmmakers: How to write a proper film synopsis. I read so many awful ones of those, so please take heed, people! Not sure how much “underground” content is here, but Wide Screen magazine was nice enough to put a couple issues online for free. James Fotopoulos posts up lots of drawings and stills about his upcoming projects with no descriptions whatsoever. This one is pretty gross. Nathaniel Dorsky and his real life a night at the opera in the 1970s, his...
- 9/4/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This week’s Must Look At is way not underground, but this cool site came my way this week: It’s a blog devoted to John Tartaglia, the “cement artist” who casted the footprints and handprints of numerous Hollywood stars outside of the famous Mann’s Chinese Theater between 1953 and 1987. This list contains all the stars for whom Tartaglia served as Masonry master. Interesting stuff.Is Netflix trying to kill the DVD? Filmmaker Mag investigates. By the way: Filmmakers offering films for Bad Lit to review via a password-protected Vimeo page is steadily increasing.Light Industry’s Thomas Beard was interviewed by Art in America for his recent “The Unfinished Film” exhibit.The Chicago Arts Archive interviewed filmmaker Amir George about his recent short feature film The Mind of Delilah.For FilmInk, Jason Reed reviews some of the highlights of this year’s Revelation Perth International Film Festival, particularly singling out Zach Clark’s Vacation!
- 7/31/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
"Cars 2, directed (like several great Pixar films of the last two decades) by John Lasseter, finds itself in the unlucky position of the not-so-bright kid in a brilliant family," finds Slate's Dana Stevens. "No matter if his performance in school is comfortably average; he'll always be seen as a disappointment compared to his stellar siblings. There's nothing really objectionable about Cars 2, although parents of young children should be warned that a few evil vehicles meet violently inauspicious ends. It's sweet-spirited, visually delightful (if aurally cacophonous), and it will make for a pleasant enough family afternoon at the movies. But we've come to expect so much more than mere pleasantness from Pixar that Cars 2 feels almost like a betrayal."
Nick Schager for the Voice: "Pixar's Cars franchise takes a sharp turn from Nascar mayhem and rural red-state-targeted 50s nostalgia to 007 espionage with this upgraded sequel, though in its...
Nick Schager for the Voice: "Pixar's Cars franchise takes a sharp turn from Nascar mayhem and rural red-state-targeted 50s nostalgia to 007 espionage with this upgraded sequel, though in its...
- 6/25/2011
- MUBI
The 23rd annual Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival presents four nights of international avant-garde and experimental media from all over the world. The fest runs June 23-26 with the Opening Night festivities taking place at the Gene Siskel Film Center and the rest of the screenings held at the venerable Chicago Filmmakers, which has been behind the event for the past 11 years.
The Opening Night presentation begins with the new short film from the Brothers Quay, Maska, which was produced in Poland and based on a short story by Polish author Stanislaw Lem (Solaris). Also included in the opening screening are films by Thom Anderson, Mati Diop, Christopher Becks, Milena Gierke and more.
The Closing Night film is the much anticipated new feature by former Chicagoan James Fotopoulos. He will be screening Alice in Wonderland, an adaptation of an 1886 musical based on the classic children’s book. The film features hundreds of drawings,...
The Opening Night presentation begins with the new short film from the Brothers Quay, Maska, which was produced in Poland and based on a short story by Polish author Stanislaw Lem (Solaris). Also included in the opening screening are films by Thom Anderson, Mati Diop, Christopher Becks, Milena Gierke and more.
The Closing Night film is the much anticipated new feature by former Chicagoan James Fotopoulos. He will be screening Alice in Wonderland, an adaptation of an 1886 musical based on the classic children’s book. The film features hundreds of drawings,...
- 6/10/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
June 11
8:00 p.m.
Millennium Film Workshop
66 East 4th St.
New York, New York 10003
Hosted by: Millennium Film Workshop
Sarah Pucill is a British experimental filmmaker whose short works explore the magic in images, which is fitting given that her latest film, Phantom Rhapsody, is composed of a series of sideshow magic acts.
Millennium Film Workshop will be screening Phantom Rhapsody, plus a trio of her earlier films. The full lineup is below.
Pucill’s films, one of which is embedded below, are typically composed of staged tableaus that function as optical illusions intricately staged and performed within a tight frame in front of the camera. They mix elements of still life photography, live performance and autobiography.
Phantom Rhapsody is described as such:
Three women stage tricks of appearance and disappearance, punctuated by trumpet, cello and drums.
Interchanging between the roles of magician, nude and filmmaker, they perform the preparation...
8:00 p.m.
Millennium Film Workshop
66 East 4th St.
New York, New York 10003
Hosted by: Millennium Film Workshop
Sarah Pucill is a British experimental filmmaker whose short works explore the magic in images, which is fitting given that her latest film, Phantom Rhapsody, is composed of a series of sideshow magic acts.
Millennium Film Workshop will be screening Phantom Rhapsody, plus a trio of her earlier films. The full lineup is below.
Pucill’s films, one of which is embedded below, are typically composed of staged tableaus that function as optical illusions intricately staged and performed within a tight frame in front of the camera. They mix elements of still life photography, live performance and autobiography.
Phantom Rhapsody is described as such:
Three women stage tricks of appearance and disappearance, punctuated by trumpet, cello and drums.
Interchanging between the roles of magician, nude and filmmaker, they perform the preparation...
- 6/7/2011
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
"A onetime yakuza turned jailbird turned filmmaking enfant terrible, the now-75-year-old Japanese director Kōji Wakamatsu has long been loved by cinema cultists for an outrageous string of 1960s provocations made under the guise of the pinku eiga — or 'pink' film." Steve Dollar at GreenCine Daily: "These typically low-budget sex romps could be as insane, surreal, or mind-bending as possible, as long as they included a minimum amount of nudity and softcore humping. Wakamatsu, seizing the opportunity, used the form to pursue the extremes, reveling in obsessive sex and violence as a leftist critique of Japanese society. Beyond the outrage and sleaze of The Embryo Hunts in Secret [1966]; Go, Go Second-Time Virgin [1969]; and Ecstasy of the Angels [1972], was a form of perverse shock treatment. Wakamatsu took a break from the camera in 1977, and didn't return for 27 years. But he still wants to mess with your head."
Steve Erickson for Moving...
Steve Erickson for Moving...
- 5/8/2011
- MUBI
Happy Mother’s Day! Let’s get to it:
This week’s Must Read is j. j. murphy’s review of the Candy Darling documentary Beautiful Darling. Murphy usually writes about indie film screenplays, but I also really like his writings on Warhol, since I’ve been a Warhol nut since college.For Artforum, Amy Taubin reviews James Fotopoulos’ new feature Alice in Wonderland, which just made its World Premiere at Brooklyn’s Microscope Gallery. Taubin said it was a must see and now I’m dying to see it, too.Also, Fotopoulos has totally relaunched his company Fantasma Inc. on the web. Check out their new redesigned homepage, then hit ‘em up on Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and subscribe to the blog.For Time Out Chicago, Patrick Friel interviews the legendary Ken Jacobs about his lesser-discussed live-performance pieces.Bob Moricz was wowed by a Cinema Project screening of the films of William Eggleston.
This week’s Must Read is j. j. murphy’s review of the Candy Darling documentary Beautiful Darling. Murphy usually writes about indie film screenplays, but I also really like his writings on Warhol, since I’ve been a Warhol nut since college.For Artforum, Amy Taubin reviews James Fotopoulos’ new feature Alice in Wonderland, which just made its World Premiere at Brooklyn’s Microscope Gallery. Taubin said it was a must see and now I’m dying to see it, too.Also, Fotopoulos has totally relaunched his company Fantasma Inc. on the web. Check out their new redesigned homepage, then hit ‘em up on Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and subscribe to the blog.For Time Out Chicago, Patrick Friel interviews the legendary Ken Jacobs about his lesser-discussed live-performance pieces.Bob Moricz was wowed by a Cinema Project screening of the films of William Eggleston.
- 5/8/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
May 7
7:00 p.m.
Microscope Gallery
4 Charles Place
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Hosted by: Microscope Gallery
Update: 2nd screening added Monday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. Fotopoulos will be in attendance again, plus the premiere of two of his new short films!
Head out to the Microscope Gallery for the World Premiere of James Fotopoulos‘ latest feature film, Alice in Wonderland! Being a Fotopoulos film, however, this is far from a traditional adaptation of the classic book by Lewis Carroll. The filmmaker will be in attendance for a post-screening discussion.
Fotopoulos has adapted not the book, but the 1886 musical based on the book, “Alice in Wonderland: A Dream Play for Children,” which was written by Henry Saville Clark and Walter Slaughter. In addition, the filmmaker was also inspired by a 2003 Lewis Carroll daguerreotype exhibit.
Using sculpture, drawing, text and original music, Fotopoulos also examines the relationship between Carroll and the writer/art critic John Ruskin; plus,...
7:00 p.m.
Microscope Gallery
4 Charles Place
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Hosted by: Microscope Gallery
Update: 2nd screening added Monday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. Fotopoulos will be in attendance again, plus the premiere of two of his new short films!
Head out to the Microscope Gallery for the World Premiere of James Fotopoulos‘ latest feature film, Alice in Wonderland! Being a Fotopoulos film, however, this is far from a traditional adaptation of the classic book by Lewis Carroll. The filmmaker will be in attendance for a post-screening discussion.
Fotopoulos has adapted not the book, but the 1886 musical based on the book, “Alice in Wonderland: A Dream Play for Children,” which was written by Henry Saville Clark and Walter Slaughter. In addition, the filmmaker was also inspired by a 2003 Lewis Carroll daguerreotype exhibit.
Using sculpture, drawing, text and original music, Fotopoulos also examines the relationship between Carroll and the writer/art critic John Ruskin; plus,...
- 5/3/2011
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
April 23
7:00 p.m.
Microscope Gallery
4 Charles Place
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Hosted by: Microscope Gallery
Tapeless Melodies is an event curated by Marianna Ellenberg that features several short films and a live interactive performance.
The performance, entitled “Make Anyone Fall in Love With You,” is an interactive inspirational workshop conducted by filmmaker Oriana Fox that also includes live audio interventions by Ellenberg and Melanie Neergaard, as well as excerpts of self-help scripts and advertisements all designed to help the audience with their mental well-being and internet-dating.
The films include Laida Lerxtundi’s My Tears Are Dry, which you can read a review of on Bad Lit here; Ellenberg’s own Blossom, which features a restaging of scenes from Wes Craven’s classic horror flick Last House on the Left; and Fox’s shockingly titled Cunt, in which the filmmaker casts herself in a variety of roles, including “Betty Crocker brunettes, soap-opera blondes,...
7:00 p.m.
Microscope Gallery
4 Charles Place
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Hosted by: Microscope Gallery
Tapeless Melodies is an event curated by Marianna Ellenberg that features several short films and a live interactive performance.
The performance, entitled “Make Anyone Fall in Love With You,” is an interactive inspirational workshop conducted by filmmaker Oriana Fox that also includes live audio interventions by Ellenberg and Melanie Neergaard, as well as excerpts of self-help scripts and advertisements all designed to help the audience with their mental well-being and internet-dating.
The films include Laida Lerxtundi’s My Tears Are Dry, which you can read a review of on Bad Lit here; Ellenberg’s own Blossom, which features a restaging of scenes from Wes Craven’s classic horror flick Last House on the Left; and Fox’s shockingly titled Cunt, in which the filmmaker casts herself in a variety of roles, including “Betty Crocker brunettes, soap-opera blondes,...
- 4/19/2011
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
I’m working on another big, site-wide project that I haven’t come up with a snappy name for yet, but it’s another type of project I can work on in mini-chunks that will eventually add up to a major positive development for the site. (Knock on wood.)
The project involves making Bad Lit’s archives more accessible and search friendly, as well as better spotlighting more filmmakers. This doesn’t involve creating new pages. Instead it’s making the filmmaker index pages more useful with more detailed information.
For any filmmaker that’s covered in-depth on Bad Lit, I create a “tag page” for them, which is a handy index linking to every article that mentions that filmmaker’s name, including film reviews, embedded videos, film festival lineups and more. An example of this would be for James Fotopoulos, which if you click his name there you’ll...
The project involves making Bad Lit’s archives more accessible and search friendly, as well as better spotlighting more filmmakers. This doesn’t involve creating new pages. Instead it’s making the filmmaker index pages more useful with more detailed information.
For any filmmaker that’s covered in-depth on Bad Lit, I create a “tag page” for them, which is a handy index linking to every article that mentions that filmmaker’s name, including film reviews, embedded videos, film festival lineups and more. An example of this would be for James Fotopoulos, which if you click his name there you’ll...
- 9/4/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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