Archive
Le Petit Soldat, Godard’s 1963 politically charged film noir in new 35mm print, opens 4/26 Nuart | Film News
As an integral piece of the famous French New Wave movement in cinema from the early 50′s, director Jean-Luc Godard has become a legendary and very unique member of the creative arts over many decades. Purchasing his first 35mm print from earnings he received from a labor job while residing in Swizterland, Godard was a fanatic when it came to film culture in every way possible. Intense amounts of hours spent studying and analyzing film and even more intensity on the end of self technique and cinematic growth. As a human being who found comfort in the immediate nature of the now, many of his early films were put together on the smallest of budgets and featured jagged cut scenes, shaky camera handling and an overall diy aesthetic that still managed to pull something very special out from the center. It was taking risks without the act of taking a risk, just impulsively creating.
The early 60′s would establish Godard as a leading member of the Nouvell Vague movement with many integral period pieces rooted in the first half of the 60′s. The spontaneous nature of his filming style is what characterizes this movement well, spreading light on the beauty of process over product. Le Petit Soldat was created during this fruitful transition Godard took in the early 60′s and became the breeding grounds for the long standing relationship Godard shared with lead actress Anna Karina through marriage. They would work extensively together and Le Petit Soldat remains a very important piece and foundation of work created from the two. Nuart Theatres in Los Angeles is screening a new 35mm transfer of this film for everyone to experience, which we of course highly recommend doing so. Not many chances to see this rare film, especially in a theatre setting with a new transfer in the analog realm.
35mm restoration trailer from Rialto Pictures and more information from the film from Landmark Theatres and Nuart below.
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/
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LE PETIT SOLDAT
Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 politically charged film noir in new 35mm print
Opens April 26, 2013 in Los Angeles
Rialto Pictures presents Jean-Luc Godard’s LE PETIT SOLDAT, opening April 26, 2013 at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles.
LE PETIT SOLDAT (The Little Soldier), writer/director Jean-Luc Godard’s second feature film, was made in 1960 but immediately banned in France due to its sensitive political content and did not premiere until 1963. Michel Subor (Beau Travail) stars as Bruno Forestier, an army deserter caught in the middle of a covert war between the French government and the Algerian Liberation Front in Geneva. With both sides resorting to any means to achieve their clandestine ends, Bruno must decide what he is willing to do to escape with Veronica (Anna Karina, star of Band of Outsiders and A Woman Is A Woman, in her enchanting debut) and lead a free life. Arguably an espionage riff on the filmmaker’s own debut feature, Breathless, this is the film where Godard penned his signature statement: “Cinema is truth 24 frames a second.” Also starring László Szabó. (Made in U.S.A.). Rialto Pictures presents the film in a new 35mm print featuring an all-new translation and subtitles by Lenny Borger.
http://www.rialtopictures.com/soldat.html
“A HEADY, INVIGORATING MIX OF CIVICS AND CINEMA! Godard creates an on-edge atmosphere from the start, [making] audiences viscerally experience and contemplate things they might otherwise not have wanted to.” – Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York
“STILL FEELS DARING AND VITAL, both peculiarly timely and deeply Godardian, a meditation not just on politics and war – the Algerian conflict is the background – but also on morality and art.” – Rachel Saltz, The New York Times
“EQUAL TO BREATHLESS IN ITS INVENTIVENESS AND EXUBERANCE… For Godard, political engagement was a deeply personal practice… [Le Petit Soldat] is that rare occurrence in cinema when action is infused with thought, and when the very nature of thought comes to life on screen.” – Drew Hunt, Slant
LE PETIT SOLDAT opens Friday, April 26, 2013 at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre, showing through Thursday, May 2, 2013 for an exclusive one-week engagement. Show times to be announced. Landmark’s Nuart Theatre is at 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405 Freeway, in West Los Angeles. Program information: 310-281-8223; www.landmarktheatres.com
The Cinefamily in LA presents the documentaries of director Shohei Imamura November 16-21 | Film News
From The Cinefamily | http://www.cinefamily.org/
THE DOCUMENTARIES OF SHOHEI IMAMURA
(feat. “A Man Vanishes”!)
Friday, November 16th – Wednesday, November 21st
“Widely recognized today as one of the most important directors to emerge from the Japanese New Wave of the 1960s, Shohei Imamura (director of Black Rain, Vengeance Is Mine and The Insect Woman) made films that were ribald, bawdy, and earthy, revealing and reveling in the underpinnings of Japanese society: not the code of the samurai or the rigor of the tea ceremony, but something more primal” (Harvard Film Archive.) While his work in the Sixties quickly gained recognition on the international festival circuit, box office success was not in the cards, and after the release of his groundbreaking 1967 fact-or-fiction docudrama A Man Vanishes, Imamura stayed his ground in the field of documentaries up through the mid-1970s. These works, while at times serene and mournful, dive into the darker side of Japanese life, and often deal with unresolved cultural issues stemming from the divide between the ancient code of honor and post-war guilt. Come discover these emotionally stirring works with us across a week’s worth of Imamura documentaries, all screened from newly-subtitled, high-definition masters (including a run of A Man Vanishes!)
SCREENING SCHEDULE:
A Man Vanishes (1967)
Friday, November 16th – 7:30pm
Saturday, November 17th – 4:00pm, 10:00pm
Sunday, November 18th – 3:00pm (shown with The Pirates of Bubuan), 10:15pm
Monday, November 19th – 10:00pm
Tuesday, November 20th – 5:00pm
Wednesday, November 21st – 9:50pm
Karayuki-san, The Making of a Prostitute (1975)
Friday, November 16th – 10:20pm
The Pirates of Bubuan (shown with A Man Vanishes, 1972)
Sunday, November 18th – 3:00pm
In Search of the Unreturned Soldiers in Thailand (1971) & Outlaw-Masu Returns Home (1973)
Wednesday, November 21st – 7:30pm
Festival of Lights from director Shundell Prasad | Truly Indie and Durga Entertainment
From Steve Indig, Senior Regional Publicist of Landmark Theatres
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
A daughter’s journey from New York to Guyana to find her estranged father
Opens November 9, 2012 in Los Angeles
Truly Indie and Durga Entertainment present FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, opening on November 9, 2012, at Laemmle’s Noho 7 in North Hollywood. INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE: filmmaker Shundell Prasad is LA-based and available for interview. Others from the film may also be available.
A father and daughter are separated but are never truly apart in this touching story of a family tragically divided. Reshma is a troubled teenager in 1980s New York who struggles to discover a sense of self and strength amidst a daunting array of pressures and betrayals. While continually grappling with her tumultuous relationship with her mother, Reshma holds on to her dreams of reuniting with the father in Guyana she has not seen or heard from in thirteen years. Documentary filmmaker Shundell Prasad’s ambitious feature debut, which spans two continents and three decades, offers a nuanced and empathetic lens into the plight of displaced immigrant families struggling to create a brighter future for their children. The cast includes Melinda Shankar (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Aidan Quinn (Michael Collins, Legends of the Fall, Unknown), and Jimi Mistry (East is East, The Guru, Blood Diamond).
Shundell Prasad is an American film director and screenwriter of Indo-Guyanese heritage, making her feature film directorial debut with THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS. Prasad’s first documentary film, Once More Removed: A Journey Back to India, has screened theatrically in New York, Toronto, and Atlanta; the film has also been invited by various governments for screenings worldwide. She has worked for many major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and CNN. She began her career at HBO’s highly acclaimed documentary division in New York.
http://www.festivaloflightsfilm.com
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“This film offers such a rare thing in 21st century America—a compassionate, nuanced conversation about immigration.”—STLMag.com
“Weaving between a politically volatile Guyana in the late 1970s and the US in the early 1990s, this is a searching drama about exile, loss, and the ties that bind.”—Guardian Media
Landmark Theatres Engagements begin Friday, November 9, 2012
Laemmle’s Noho 7, 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood 310-478-3836
Universal Horror B-Sides (The Mummy, House of Frankenstein, The Raven, House of Horrors, Weird Woman, Pillow of Death and Dracula) | The Cinefamily, Los Angeles
From The Cinefamily | http://www.cinefamily.org/
UNIVERSAL HORROR B-SIDES
(feat. The Mummy, The Raven, Dracula [Spanish Version] and many more!) throughout October
Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, the Creature From The Black Lagoon — these venerable veterans of movie horror from Universal Studios have chilled us to the bone for now over eighty years, and have deeply (and rightly) cemented themselves in our public consciousness for all time. These legends were born, however, out of only a small handful of pictures, just a mere drop in Universal’s bucket. The studio’s dozens and dozens of other fright flicks from the Thirties, Forties and Fifties represent on their own a deep bounty of imagination and craftiness; across the strange stable of Universal Monster sequels and curious one-offs, there’s a tremendous amount of fun to be had.
Our Cinefamily programming team has just returned from a heartfelt mission: to survey the entire “golden era” of the studio’s horror output, and bring back to you only the most highly entertaining nuggets you might’ve missed during your own travels. So strap yourselves in, and get ready to thrill to character creations by Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Rondo Hatton and more.
Plus, our finale show features a custom hour-long video mix of the most amazing stand-alone scenes from all the cool vintage Universal Horror movies we didn’t have time to show — accompanied by insightful and colorful lecture-style notes from the Cinefamily programming staff!
SHOW LISTINGS
Saturday, October 13th, 5PM:
The Mummy w/ House of Frankenstein
INFO
Saturday, October 20th, 4:45PM:
The Raven w/ House of Horrors
INFO
Saturday, October 20th, 8PM:
MEMBERS-ONLY EVENT: Carla Laemmle 103rd Birthday Party
INFO
Sunday, October 21st, 2PM:
“Inner Sanctum” double feature: Weird Woman w/ Pillow of Death
INFO
Sunday, October 28th, 3PM:
“Universal Horror B-Sides” Video Mix w/ Dracula (Spanish Version)
INFO
TCM Event Series: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 30th Anniversary Event in select theatres October 3, 2012
From Fathom Events | http://www.fathomevents.com
TCM Event Series E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 30th Anniversary Event
10/03/2012
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is coming back to the big screen in an exclusive one day only event on October 3rd in select movie theaters nationwide! Join NCM® Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies and Universal as we celebrate 100 years of Universal Pictures with a special presentation of one of the most beloved tales of all time – E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial – in a newly remastered version made for the big screen.
TCM Event Series
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 30th Anniversary Event
In Select Movie Theaters Nationwide
Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00 PM (local time)*
*Additional matinee showings available at select movie theater locations. Check your local listings for details.
In honor of this cherished classic’s 30th Anniversary, join TCM Weekend Daytime Host Ben Mankiewicz for a special introduction about the making of this magical movie, the story of a boy named Elliott and an alien he calls E.T. Discover where director/producer Steven Spielberg came up with the idea for this movie and what it was like working with the film’s three young stars. As an added treat, you’ll hear from TCM’s The Essentials co-host Drew Barrymore. Drew, who plays “Gertie” in the movie, shares what “E.T.” means to her 30 years later. Then after, watch the movie the way it was meant to be seen – on the big screen.
Relive the magic of one of the most popular and beloved stories of all time, “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” October 3rd.
TICKETING**
Tickets are on sale now! Enter your zip code to find the participating theater nearest you and to purchase tickets today. Limited Seats Available – buy your tickets early!
THEATERS
Click here for a current list of participating movie theaters.
Join the Fathom Community to receive email reminders and updates about events like this one.
**Check back often if ticketing is not yet available for your nearest theater location as updates are being made daily. Please note: Theater locations are subject to change.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is rated PG and will be shown in its original aspect ratio. Bonus content not rated. Host subject to change.
For tickets and participating theater locations visit FathomEvents.com
Cinefamily presents a brand-new 35mm of “Punishment Park” by Peter Watkins (1971) Sept 26-Oct 3
Peter Watkins’ PUNISHMENT PARK
(brand-new 35mm print!)
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THE WAR GAME, CULLODEN and PRIVILEGE
September 26th – October 3rd
Completely singular in the world of cinema due to his one-of-a-kind blurring of the lines between documentary and fiction storytelling, Peter Watkins is one of the most neglected major filmmakers of the last half-century. Since the early 1960s, the British-born director has managed, against trying and often adversarial circumstances, to produce a highly original and powerful body of work that engages the worlds of politics, art, history, and literature. That these films remain obscure is a function of such factors as suppression by producers or weak-kneed film distributors, surprisingly unsympathetic — at times hostile — critics, and the filmmaker’s own legendary iconoclasm.
The Cinefamily is very, very excited to bring to Los Angeles the brand-new 35mm print of Punishment Park, Watkins’ lone 1971 foray into stateside filmmaking. This “social science fiction” what-if film, which plays like an alternate-reality Vietnam-era version of The Most Dangerous Game, finds Watkins melting down the righteous anger of protest politics into a nail-biting flow of pure narrative propulsion, as a European documentary film crew leads us into a penal system gone berserk. Pacifists, feminists, professors, draft dodgers, pop stars, and other ideologically diverse – but uniformly young and groovy – subversives form a panoply of resistance in the face of repressive establishment squares, but survival soon trumps articulateness as the prisoners are plunged into the deepest levels of hell right in the open air: a grueling, four-day desert death race with no food or water, but plenty of ticked-off cops. While insightfully awash in the counterculture of the ’70s, Punishment Park is no time capsule: what’s most terrifying is how relevant its alternate-reality police state still feels forty years later.
Punishment Park Dir. Peter Watkins, 1971, 35mm, 88 min.
In addition to our one-week run of Punishment Park, we’re also doing one-off shows of Watkins’ scathing showbiz satire Privilege (1967), and his early award-winning British productions The War Game (1965, winner of the 1966 Academy Award for Best Documentary Film) and Culloden (1964).
Schedule of films:
- Punishment Park: Wednesday, September 26th – Wednesday, October 3rd
- The War Game + Culloden: Saturday, September 29th
- Privilege: Wednesday, October 3rd
Simon and the Oaks (Simon och ekarna) from director Lisa Ohlin sets to premier in LA and NY October 12 | Film Arcade
From Sasha Berman of Shotwell Media
SIMON AND THE OAKS
(Simon och ekarna )
a film by Lisa Ohlin
opens at The Paris Theater in NYC on October 12
opens at The Landmark in LA on October 12
Film Arcade is proud to present the US Theatrical release of SIMON AND THE OAKS, the award winning feature film directed by Lisa Ohlin. This film has screened at the Palm Springs, Berlin and Seattle film festivals among numerous other festivals, and it will open in New York at The Paris Theater and in Los Angles at The Landmark on October 12, 2012. A national release will follow.
SIMON AND THE OAKS, has received a record 13 nominations for the 2012 Sweden’s Guldbagge Awards (the local equivalent of the Oscars), including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. A major commercial success in its native Sweden, the film went on to gross over $4 million at the Swedish box office.
An epic drama spanning the years 1939 to 1952, this is the gripping story of Simon (played as the adult by Bill Skarsgaard, son of Stellan, and named by the Berlin Film Festival Jury as one of the Shooting Stars of 2012 for this performance), who grows up in a loving working class family on the outskirts of Gothenburg but always feels out of place. Intellectually gifted, he stubbornly persists in acquiring an education normally reserved for young men of the professional classes, much to the chagrin of his parents who fear that he will become stuck up. He finally convinces his father to send him to an upper-class grammar school, where he meets Isak, the son of a wealthy Jewish bookseller who has fled Nazi persecution in Germany. Simon is dazzled by the books, art and music he encounters in the home of Isak’s father Ruben (Jan Josef Leifers), which makes Simon long to know more about his own family background. Isak, on the other hand, draws comfort from learning to do something with his hands, helping Simon’s dad (Stefan Godicke) make boats. When Isak faces trouble at home, he is taken in by Simon’s family and the two households slowly merge, connecting in unexpected ways as war rages all over Europe.
SIMON AND THE OAKS is based on the Swedish bestseller of the same name, written by Marianne Fredriksson. It offers a unique depiction of fate, destiny and free will and vividly portrays the situation for Jews in Sweden during World War II.
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About the director:
Swedish/American Lisa Ohlin has directed four feature films, TV dramas, TV series and commercials. Her films have been nominated to a total of 21 “Guldbaggen” (Swedish Oscars) and have won three. She has won several awards abroad, among others the “Innovation award” at Montreal Film Festival for “Sex Hope and Love”, and “Best script” at Hamburg Film Festival for “Simon And The Oaks”. Her TV series “Kvalster”/ “Mites” was nominated for best TV series of the year in Sweden. She was educated in Washington DC and New York and has a Masters of Art in Film from New York University. She only learned that she was Jewish when she was 17 years old, thus feels that making movies about “identity” are of great interest to her.
2011 In Swedish and German with English Subtitles 122 min Not Rated
Web Site:
http://thefilmarcade.com/
Nobody Else But You, French offbeat comedic neo-noir, opens 6/8 Nuart-LA
NOBODY ELSE BUT YOU
Neo-noir French thriller and offbeat comedy
Opens June 8, 2012 at Nuart in Los Angeles
From Landmark Theatres
First Run Features presents NOBODY ELSE BUT YOU, opening on June 8, 2012, at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles for a one-week engagement. The neo-noir French thriller NOBODY ELSE BUT YOU is a risqué murder mystery with a comedic sensibility that recalls Fargo and Twin Peaks. Nuanced performances by acclaimed French actors Jean-Paul Rouve (La vie en rose) and Sophie Quinton enrich the offbeat story of a best-selling crime writer and a dead beauty Queen who channels Marilyn Monroe, played out among the stylishly shot backdrop of Eastern France’s gorgeous winter landscapes. David Rousseau (Rouve) is a bestselling crime novelist from Paris with writer’s block.
Candice Lecouer (Quinton) is a troubled beauty and regional celebrity made famous by the “Belle de Jura” cheese company’s ad campaigns. Candice also is convinced she is the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe. The two will come togther in the coldest village in France – when Rousseve witnesses Candice’s lifeless body being removed from a wintry grave. Reality turns out to be stranger than fiction as Rousseau uncovers the truth about Candice’s past…and her possible murder.
Written and directed by Gerald Hustache-Mathieu. http://firstrunfeatures.com/nobodyelsebutyou/
“A hint of Twin Peaks and a large helping of the Coen Brothers in this offbeat, cleverly crafted French thriller…perhaps the closest thing to Fargo to come along in a long while.” – Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
“A neo-noir thriller that combines mystery, noir, sex and more than a little French eccentricity and joie de vivre. Overall, the film is a strange delight, with a great soundtrack to match.” – Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Twitch
“Subversive with an offbeat sense of humor. A Gallic twist on a Coen brothers film.” – Boyd van Hoeij, Variety
The film’s running time is 102 minutes; it is not rated. In French; fully subtitled in English. Digital photos are available at: http://firstrunfeatures.com/nobodyelsebutyou_press.htmlFor more information, please contact Steve Indig at Landmark Theatres San Francisco Office, at 415/352-0832 ext 2, or stevei@landmarktheatres.com. NOBODY ELSE BUT YOU opens Friday, June 8, 2012 at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre, showing through Thursday, June 14, 2012 for an exclusive one-week engagement. Showtimes coming soon. Landmark’s Nuart Theatre is at 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405 Freeway, in West Los Angeles. Program information: 310-281-8223; www.landmarktheatres.com
Rialto Pictures presents Grand Illussion (75th Anniversary 4K Restoration)
From Rialto Pictures / www.rialtopictures.com
May 11 – 24 NEW YORK, NY Film Forum
May 18 – 31 LOS ANGELES, CA Laemmle’s Royal Theatre
May 18 – 31 PASADENA, CA Laemmle’s Playhouse 7
June 1 – 3 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Castro Theatre
June 8 – 14 DALLAS, TX Angelika Film Center
June 16 – 17 AUSTIN, TX Paramount Theatre
July 6 – 12 PORTLAND, OR Cinema 21
July 13 – 19 SEATTLE, WA Northwest Film Forum
July 27 ST. LOUIS, MO Cinema St. Louis
“A MAGNIFICENT RESTORATION WE SHOULD ALL BE GRATEFUL FOR!”
– Martin Scorsese
“IF I HAD ONLY ONE FILM IN THE WORLD TO SAVE, IT WOULD BE GRAND ILLUSION.”
– Orson Welles
(1937) “I beg you, man to man, come back!” WWI, and it’s a POW camp for French man-of-the-people Jean Gabin and aristocratic officer Pierre Fresnay after they’re shot down by equally aristocratic German Erich von Stroheim. But meanwhile there are escapes — one by tunnel — to be planned; fellowship with Jewish moneybags Marcel Dalio, music hall cut-up Carette, and engineer Gaston Modot; a necessarily all-male musical revue, interrupted by a dramatic announcement; and a reunion with Stroheim at an escape-proof castle keep.
Partly inspired by stories of the air ace who had saved Renoir’s life in the war, this was, on the brink of another one, a celebration of the brotherhood of man, across class, across frontiers, as well a kind of elegy for an international aristocracy (Fresnay and Stroheim, going monocle to monocle, speak much of the time in English, a language no one else understands). Internationally acclaimed, GRAND ILLUSION received Best Foreign Film awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review, Best Overall Artistic Contribution from the Venice Film Festival (under Mussolini), and an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture – the first ever for a foreign film. Long acknowledged as one of the world’s great classics, GRAND ILLUSION was at one time thought lost.
Declared “cinema enemy number one” by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, its camera negative was confiscated by the Germans soon after they occupied France in 1940, then sent to Berlin’s Reichsfilmarchiv, which in turn was seized by the Red Army in 1945. Even Renoir didn’t know of its existence and had to assemble a new dupe negative for a1958 reissue. In the mid-60s, the Cinémathèque of Toulouse, France, reached a détente with its Soviet counterpart. The GRAND ILLUSION negative was part of a film exchange, but it sat on a shelf in Toulouse for decades before anyone noticed. In the late 90s, the material was transferred to the French State Film Archive for inventory and, in 1999, the first restoration was undertaken by Canal+ Image (now Studiocanal). In 2011, Studiocanal and the Cinémathèque de Toulouse embarked on a new restoration using the latest digital technology. The nitrate camera negative (which was still in remarkable condition) was digitized in 4K by the Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna. The sound was given special treatment; the nitrate variable density soundtrack was scanned, allowing a restoration with sharper sound quality. A 35mm record of the restored element will guarantee the film’s preservation for at least a century.
Film Forum will be showing the restoration in 35mm, with newly-revised subtitles by Lenny Borger capturing the wit of the Renoir-Charles Spaak screenplay like never before. One of the legends of the cinema, GRAND ILLUSION now looks and sounds better than ever.
A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE
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AWARDS & CITATIONS
Academy Awards (1938)
• Nominated, Best Picture (first foreign film to receive Best Picture nomination)
Venice Film Festival (1937)
• Winner, Best Artistic Ensemble
New York Film Critics Circle Awards (1938)
• Winner, Best Foreign Film
National Board of Review Awards (1938)
• Winner, Best Foreign Film
World Film and Fine Arts Festival of Belgium, 1952
• 4th Place, Ten Best Films of All Time, Directors’ Choice (tied with City Lights and Le Million)
Brussels World Fair (1958)
• 5th Place, Twelve Best Films of All Time
Cinémathèque Québecoise (1995)
• 13th Place, 100 Best Films of All Time
French Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences (1978)
• 2nd Best French Film of All Time
Toronto International Film Festival
• Essential 100 Films: #21
Selected by the British film Institute as one of the 350 greatest film classics of all time, 1998
Time Out New York
• Best Foreign Films of All Time: # 22
François Truffaut’s The Films of My Life: #7
The Spectator Magazine’s 50 Essential Films: #14
Czech Film Fest 2012 in Los Anegels May 16-23
(feat. “Daisies” and “Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders”!)
Thursday, May 16th – Wednesday, May 23rd
Co-presented by the Czech Film Center & the General Consulate of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles
See what’s new in contemporary Bohemian filmmaking with this series featuring the directorial debut of late playwright/former Czech president Vaclav Havel, award-winning narrative and documentary films, and director Q&As. Plus, in addition to the line-up of brand-new films, we also have archival 35mm screenings of vintage Czech masterpieces!
Films included in the series:
- Walking Too Fast (2010)
- Four Suns (2012)
- Identity Card (2010)
- Matchmaking Mayor (2011)
- Long Live The Family (2011)
- Alois Nebel (2011)
- A Tribute To Vaclev Havel (feat. Leaving & The Garden Party (2011/2010)
PLUS
- Valerie & Her Week Of Wonders (1970)
- Daisies (1968)
- Fruit Of Paradise (1970)
- The Collected Shorts of Jan Svankmajer
For up-to-the-minute info on showtimes, click here!
This presentation of a touring series is organized by The Cinefamily along with the Czech General Consulate in Los Angeles and the Czech Film Center. Curated by Irena Kovarova.
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 5/16 10PM
“Virtually every shot is a knockout.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
As joyful as it is impossible to pin down, Valerie is a haunting, psychoactive period piece which plunges the beautiful heroine Valerie into a phantasmagorical world of thirsty vampires, the dark arts and dreamy free love — all set to one of the great film scores of the era, a cocktail of psych-folk and avant-garde classical by the great Luboš Fišer. The film opens with 13-year-old Valerie’s first menstruation and subsequent sexual awakening, her unsteady discovery of which lets loose a torrent of quixotic, hallucinatory experiences both terrifying and beautiful; amongst a haze of shifting tones and a flurry of role reversals and Gothic nightmares in broad daylight, Valerie floats along, buoyed by the fears and fantasies that come with nascent sexuality and teenage fantasy. This bewitching brew is a must to behold on 35mm — do not miss it.
Dir. Jaromil Jires, 1970, 35mm, 73 min.
Watch excerpts from “Valerie and Her Week of Wonders”!
Animation Breakdown and Cinefamily presents “Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective”
Animation Breakdown presents:
Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective
Screenings throughout the month of May in Los Angeles with Cinefamily
Cinefamily super-proudly presents a ten-film, month-long retrospective of Studio Ghibli, the legendary Japanese animation house led by visionary genius director Hayao Miyazaki! Started in the mid-1980s, Studio Ghibli has brought to life some of the most breathtaking and colorful wonders in the history of film. Whether you’re age 9 or age 90 — or even somewhere in-between — you’ll be moved, tickled, and thrilled by these landmark works of animation.
In addition to evening shows, we also have weekend matinees of certain key titles, presented with English-dubbed audio tracks (for the kiddies!)
For up-to-the-minute info on showtimes, click here!
The first film screening is “My Neighbor Totoro” from dir. Hayao Miyazaki on May 4, 2012 / $12 and free for members of Cinefamily.
Director Hayao Miyazaki’s most biographical and affectionate creation, My Neighbor Totoro has given rise to the most recognized, reproduced and well-loved monsters in Studio Ghibli’s canon. Evocative and immaculately designed, the sweet compelling quality of this film remains undiminished by exposure. Here, we enter a modern, yet nostalgic world of rice paddies, adorably thrill-thirsty young gals (Satsuki & Mei), and the majestic reverence of nature we have come to recognize from this animation giant. But within this tranquil realm there lies a dormant mythical creature so huge, so powerful and so terrifyingly cute that one can only squeal with glee at the sight of him, jumping instantly onto his big fluffy belly. Unforgettably iconic interactions with fabled floating “soot sprites”, a giant multi-legged cat-bus and the cuddly king of the forest himself, make this classic animation treasure too gorgeous to miss.
Our May 4th presentation of “My Neighbor Totoro” is presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1988, 35mm, 86 min.
Films included in the series:
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
- Castle In The Sky (1986, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
- My Neighbor Totoro (1988, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
- Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
- Porco Rosso (1992, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
- Pom Poko (1994, dir. Isao Takahata) trailer
- Princess Mononoke (1997, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
- Spirited Away (2001, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) *winner of the 2002 Oscar for Best Animated Film trailer
- Howl’s Moving Castle (2004, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
- Ponyo (2008, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) trailer
“Surviving Progress” from executive producer Martin Scorsese opens at Nuart Theatres LA April 20, 2012
From Steve Indig of Landmark Theatres / landmarktheatres.com
SURVIVING PROGRESS
Cautionary tale of evolution, inspired by best-seller “A Short History of Progress”
Documentary Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese & Mark Achbar (The Corporation)
Opens April 20, 2012 at Nuart-Los Angeles
First Run Features presents SURVIVING PROGRESS, opening on April 20, 2012, at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles for a one-week engagement.
Technological advancement, economic development, population increase – are they signs of a thriving society? Or too much of a good thing? Based on Ronald Wright’s best-seller “A Short History of Progress,” this intelligent, provocative documentary by Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks explores the concept of progress in our modern world, guiding us through detailed survey of the major “progress traps” facing our civilization in the arenas of technology, economics, consumption, and the environment. Featuring powerful arguments from such visionaries as Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood, Stephen Hawking, Craig Venter, Robert Wright, Marina Silva, Michael Hudson, and Ronald Wright himself, this visually spectacular film invites us to contemplate the progress traps that destroyed past civilizations and that lie treacherously embedded in our own. Leading critics of Wall Street, cognitive psychologists, and ecologists lay bare the consequences of progress-as-usual as the film travels around the world – from a burgeoning China to the disappearing rainforests of Brazil to a chimp research lab in New Iberia, Louisiana – to construct a shocking overview of the way our global economic system is eating away at our planet’s resources and shackling entire populations with poverty.
Director and co-writer Mathieu Roy is a Montreal-based filmmaker. His first feature documentary, François Girard en Trois Actes, was awarded the 2005 prix Gémeau for best cultural documentary. Mathieu’s latest documentary, Ecclestone’s Formula, is the first project to tell the story of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Co-director and co-writer Harold Crooks is an author and writer/producer whose award-winning documentary film credits include The Corporation; Karsh Is History; Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space; and The World Is Watching.
survivingprogress.com/
firstrunfeatures.com/survivingprogress/
Full info for this special one week screening of Surviving Progress: landmarktheatres.com
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“A cinematic wakeup call so cogent and non-didactic even Tea Partiers would be hard-pressed to shrug it off… does a remarkable job weaving together these and many other big ideas in a crisp, coherent, easy-to-take fashion…a stellar cast of articulate and authoritative interviewees.” – Dennis Harvey, Variety
“A who’s who of great thinkers are riveting as they walk us through the question of whether we will or can survive progress.” – Ernest Hardy, Village Voice
“One of the most thought provoking documentaries I’ve ever seen, and also one of the best looking. Epic in scope….takes Jared Diamond’s Collapse a step farther.” – Ain’t it Cool News
“Koyaanisqatsic meets The Corporation in this thought-provoking, brilliantly crafted film about nothing less than the history of the modern world and the fate of civilization.” – Montreal Hour
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Porter Records
2935 S. Fish Hatchery Rd, #414
Madison, WI 53711 / USA
Porter Records was born in 2005 out of a love for crate digging in the basements of record shops. Porter’s founder, Luke Mosling, has a talent for finding the obscure, beautiful and strange recordings that may have previously gone unheard by a larger audience. This talent started the reissue portion of the Porter Records catalog.
When doing reissues, Porter works hard at creating strong relationships with the original artists or their estates. This allows Porter to respect not only the original vision of the artist and their recordings, but also to respect the vision the artist has for the future. Porter’s goal is to make these reissues more widely known and recognized as important pieces of art within their respected genres.
Porter Records is more than a reissue label. Porter has over 40 releases by modern composers and performers that bring something special to the current day music tapestry. Each release is like a hidden jewel providing its own unique color and brilliance. Porter Records is very proud to have such talented artists and a diverse catalog of genres in a time when the music industry is pumping out replica after replica.
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