NORTHWEST FILM FORUM
WINTER 2013-14
SCREENING CALENDAR
Last updated October 17, 2013 // Highlighted titles are quarter program
highlights and major events // Please confirm details and all showtimes
with publicity@nwfilmforum.org before release.
NOVEMBER 22 – 24, FRIDAY-SUNDAY AT 7, 9PM
Punk In Africa
(Keith Jones and Deon Maas, 2012, South Africa/Czech
Republic/Zimbabwe/Mozambique, 82 min)
Punk music and politics were bedfellows from the beginning: the Sex Pistols’
anthem, “God Save the Queen,” set down a manifesto for angry youth and their
power, and though punk’s flame burned quickly, its imprint remained. Punk in
Africa tells an unexpected and mostly hidden (even secret and banned) part of
the story, the impact that punk had on southern African nations.
While young people in the West started to pull away from traditional sources of
institutional power as early as 1951, with the publication of On the Road
(questioning authority, hitting the road, growing their hair and making
rebellious music), institutionalized racism in South Africa held such rebellion
under its thumb. The coming of punk rock in the mid-1970s inspired the youth
of the country, for the first time, to create their own culture. The opportunity to
speak truth to power, under a furious beat, had arrived.
Punk in Africa charts the rise of punk rock in South Africa and how it spread to
Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Kenya, and shows the role the music played,
rather amazingly, in the political struggles in each country, covering the most
important bands, the tumultuous concerts they played and the legendary
venues they played in. This is an alternative, and largely unknown, history of
South Africa.
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[MAJOR SERIES]
NOVEMBER 22–25, FRIDAY–MONDAY
Try: Chris Marker’s Revolutionary Cinema
After the turmoil of May 1968, French filmmakers (Jean-Luc Godard and the
Dziga Vertov Group being the best known) got serious about political
filmmaking. Yet in 1967, the elusive photographer, artist, filmmaker and worldclass cat lover, Chris Marker, started his own group, intending to push ideas of
film as activism, and film art that was separate from commerce, forward.
Marker, a pioneer of the gorgeous film essay, liked putting unlike things
together: time travel and populism, dreamed memories and justice, with the
fluid juissance of the globe. The group he formed in 1967, the Society for the
Production of New Works, or SLON (Société pour le Lancement des Oeuvres
Nouvelles), included Godard himself, as well as Alain Resnais, Claude Lelouch,
Agnes Varda and William Klein.
We celebrate Marker's contributions to politically and socially engaged cinema
in this series of films made by Marker and his group, as well as films inspired
by Marker that were created by contemporary filmmakers.
NOVEMBER 22, FRIDAY AT 7PM
New restoration!
50th anniversary
Back by popular demand!
Le Joli Mai
(Pierre Lhomme and Chris Marker, 1963, France, DCP, 145 min)
Exactly half a century ago, a small film crew took to the streets of Paris and
conducted casual interviews with random people that evolved into a
groundbreaking work of nonfiction collage. If you have ever wondered whether
an hour or two is enough to capture a society at a fleeting moment in its
history, come celebrate this film’s return on its 50th birthday.
"The film has lots and lots to say about politics, religion, communism, atheism,
colonialism, music, cinema, money, real and fake flowers, food, transportation,
strikes, housing, the youth, the old, the French, the language, the history of
civilization." —The Stranger
NOVEMBER 23, SATURDAY AT 4:30PM
Director Minda Martin in attendance!
Far From Afghanistan
(John Gianvito, Jon Jost, Minda Martin, Travis Wilkerson, Soon-Mi Yoo, 2012,
United States/Afghanistan, 129 min)
On June 7, 2010, the ongoing U.S. war in Afghanistan surpassed Vietnam as
the longest war in U.S. history. What do the people of Afghanistan have to show
for ten years of war and occupation? Inspired by Chris Marker's 1967
collaborative undertaking, Far From Vietnam, Far From Afghanistan is an
activist documentary that strives to contribute to the international effort to
redirect American policy away from military and political intervention toward
humanitarian and developmental care-giving (if and when requested by the
Afghan people).
“Unless you have a personal connection to it, you can go weeks or months with
almost no knowledge of our involvement in a major war.” — John Gianvito
NOVEMBER 23, SATURDAY AT 7, 9PM
Far From Vietnam
(Joris Ivens, William Klein, Claude Lelouch, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker,
Alain Resnais, Agnés Varda, 1967, France, DCP, 115 min)
Organized and edited by Chris Marker, Far From Vietnam is an epic 1967
collaboration and essay collage among a handful of cinema’s giants: Jean-Luc
Godard, Joris Ivens, William Klein, Claude Lelouch, Alain Resnais and Agnés
Varda. It was made in protest of American military involvement in Vietnam (per
Marker's narration: "to affirm, by the exercise of their craft, their solidarity with
the Vietnamese people in struggle against aggression.").
"Rich with humanity and indignation...this is a film nobody should miss. It
mirrors both the horror and the hope of our times." —Sanity Magazine
NOVEMBER 24 AT SUNDAY AT 7, 9PM
À Bientôt, J'espère
(Chris Marker, France, 1968, digiBETA, 39 min)
In 1967, Marker and his collaborators (working in a Marxist art collective) put
self-representation in the hands of striking workers at a textile factory. The
resulting film is a fascinating series of interviews and monologues about the
strike, which was an organized rebellion in France in the year before May 1968.
The documentary's title is taken from a stirring speech that translates to “see
you soon, I hope": a light way to speak to capitalism itself. Screens with the film
Class Struggle.
NOVEMBER 25, MONDAY AT 7, PM
To Chris Marker, An Unsent Letter
(Emiko Omori, 2012, United States, 78 min)
This contemplative essay film is inspired by Chris Marker's signature style, and
made as part biography, part tribute to the legendary and ephemeral
filmmaker. To Chris Marker is a cinematic love letter, directed by Emmy-award
winning cinematographer and filmmaker Emiko Omori, whose credits include
Marker's The Owl’s Legacy, Through interviews with Marker's many colleagues
and admirers, Omori lovingly describes a man whose preference for personal
privacy has rendered him perhaps cinema’s most famous enigma: a man who
"is" his work.
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NOVEMBER 25–27, MONDAY–WEDNESDAY AT 7, 9PM
In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter
(Tomas Leach, 2012, United Kingdom/United States, 75 min)
Saul Leiter has made a large and unique contribution to photography. One of
our greatest street photographers, working in both black and white and color,
he worked virtually unknown for 40 years. His high-profile exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art in 1953 could have set his reputation as a pioneer of
color photography, but Saul was never driven by the lure of success. Instead he
preferred to drink coffee and photograph in his own way, amassing an archive
of beautiful work in his New York apartment.
This funny, intimate and moving portrait film follows Saul as he faces the triple
burden of clearing an apartment full of memories, being suddenly famous in his
eighties, and fending off a pesky filmmaker (Tomas Leach, in his first feature)
who only wants to inform the world of his genius.
NOVEMBER 27, WEDNESDAY AT 7PM
Director in attendance!
differently, Molussia
(Nicolas Rey, France, 2013, 16mm, 81 min)
Based on fragments from Günther Anders’ novel The Molussian Catacomb,
which was written between 1932 and 1936, Nicolas Rey’s captivating nine-part
film presents allegorical stories and musings by political prisoners sitting in the
pits of an imaginary fascist state called Molussia. Shown in random order
whenever it is screened (there are 362,880 potential versions of the film), the
film’s nine 16mm reels ruminate on capitalism, imperialism and resistance—
accompanied by gritty, unsettling self-processed images of undefined
landscapes.
A haunting and moving meditation on brutality and control, differently,
Molussia has galvanized audiences at festivals around the world. Since 1993
Rey has been making films that hover between photography, documentaries
and the avant-garde. He is one of the founders of the Paris-based artist film lab
L’Abominable. This is a not-to-be-missed event.
NOVEMBER 29–DECEMBER 5, FRIDAY–THURSDAY AT 7, 9PM
Lenny Cooke
(Benny Safdie and Joshua Safdie, 2013, United States, 90 min)
The Safdie brothers are known for their irreverent, naturalistic comedies, but
their unique style proves surprisingly well-suited to heartbreaking non-fiction
in the new, quintessentially American documentary, Lenny Cooke.
In 2001, Lenny Cooke was the most hyped high school basketball player in the
country, ranked above future greats such as LeBron James, Amar’e Stoudemire
and Carmelo Anthony. A decade later, Lenny has never played a minute in the
NBA. The unfulfilled destiny of a man for whom superstardom was just out of
reach, this poignant film turns the typical sports documentary on its head.
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[MAJOR SERIES]
LIVE AT THE FILM FORUM
Each year, Northwest Film Forum commissions a slate of world-premiere
performances that reflect film's inherent collaborative energy and
experimentation.
Live at the Film Forum is a hotbed of innovation, exploring the intersection of
cinema and performance through collaborations with daring contemporary
artists working in theater, music, circus, literature and more, creating new
work that exists both on screen and off.
DECEMBER 5 – 7, THURSDAY–SATURDAY AT 8PM
Live at the Film Forum: Rebecca Brown
Rebecca Brown is the author of twelve books of memoirs, collections of stories,
plays, and has collaborated on new work around the city, including at On the
Boards and on an opera with Michael Katell. With Monstrous, a new piece for
Live at the Film Forum, she takes as her touchstone the Romantic writers who
pre-date cinema, but whose images and ideas have informed our concept of
what is "cinematic": dangerous romance, aesthetic and political revolution, the
tearing at old ways of seeing, untimely death, resurrection, natural destruction,
beauty and ruins.
Central to Monstrous is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a novel that became a
watershed film in 1931. Brown's live show will take on monstrosity, birth,
death, resurrection, surf rock, pasta, woodenness, God, being a bride and
horrible and gracious forms of (re)animation.
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DECEMBER 6–12, FRIDAY–THURSDAY AT 7PM
At Berkley
(Frederick Wiseman, United States, 2013, 244 min)
Frederick Wiseman’s X-ray portraits of complex worlds like zoos, high schools,
emergency rooms and ballet companies have, over 45 years, produced a
thrilling and labyrinthine portrait of life as collectively lived in institutional
worlds. Now in his 80th decade, Wiseman has turned his gaze on the microcosm
of the world that is a large college campus.
In At Berkley, Wiseman turns his lens on the eponymous University of
California campus, a place that led the student radicalism movement of the
1960s, and whose present reputation includes a high rank among research
schools and severe challenges due to recent state budget cuts. Over four hours,
Wiseman immerses us in the world of the university, including perspectives
from students, faculty and administrators, giving us a living, breathing feel for
the texture of everyday life in academia (filmed at a point in history where the
everyday has become itself a subject of increasing fascination for academic
study).
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[MAJOR SERIES]
DECEMBER 13 – 15, FRIDAY–SUNDAY
Screen Style
Co-presented with Seattle Metropolitan Magazine
Many of us who think about fashion and dress consider style to be the loudest
and loveliest language available for conveying character. What I wear is meant
as a description; I want you to know who I am when we pass each other on the
street. But what happens when we enter the realm of the imagined? Writers,
directors, designers, and costumers speak for their characters in direct and
indirect ways, and we respond in kind. Holly Golightly's coiffed top-bun and
high-neck black dress tell us just as much as her quips about the "mean reds."
We know Truman Capote and Blake Edwards' society girl so intimately that we
affect her faux naiveties; we tie on her playful pearls.
I imagined Screen Style as an opportunity for Seattle tastemakers to share
some of their favorite heroes and villains, knowing full-well that they'd be
interestingly dressed. And surprising. And complex. And illustrative of the
elusive "Seattle style."
This year's panel includes a curator who walks through the galleries in avantgarde asymmetrical layers, a Turkish-born designer who looks like the fifth
Rolling Stone, a pair of shopkeepers who make Seattle feel like a Parisian side
street, and an artist who passionately, theatrically, and philosophically bridges
the soft-sculpture/fashion divide. The curator can tell you about art from the
age of Spanish Exploration as well as Yohji Yamamoto. The leather jacket
craftsman knows why Mick Jagger looked so painfully chic in a seemingly hohum pair of Levi's. The shopkeepers believe that style is something we pass on
to our children and their children after that. The artist's most recent work
imagines the burial clothes of his best friends.
Seattle is rich with expressive characters. Behind them—in their minds and on
their bookshelves and big screens—there are legions more. Screen Style is a
way to introduce you to all of them. —Laura Cassidy, Seattle Metropolitan
Magazine
Guest Curators for Screen Style 2013
Ozen Company (Aykut Ozen and Julianna Vezzetti), Designers
Chiyo Ishikawa, Seattle Art Museum
Jill & Wayne Donnelly, Baby and Co
Mark Mitchell, Artist, Costumer, Custom Designer
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DECEMBER 9–10, MONDAY–TUESDAY AT 7PM
Next Dance Cinema
Presented in partnership with Velocity Dance Center
Velocity Dance Center once again brings Next Dance Cinema to our screens, the
eighth year we have showcased contemporary dance on film. What are the
intersections between the movement of the body and the movement of a
camera? Next Dance Cinema encompasses staged work and choreography
created specifically for the camera, as well as the moving body articulated
through animation and new media.
Join us for an evening that promises to enchant and engage dance lovers and
film lovers alike. Next Dance Cinema is part of Velocity’s Next Fest NW 2013, an
annual new works series.
DECEMBER 13–19, FRIDAY–THURSDAY AT 7, 9PM
Improvement Club
(Dayna Hanson, 2012, United States, DCP, 98 min)
Equal parts musical comedy, dance film and mockumentary, Improvement Club
is a delightful new film that traces a Seattle performance group’s attempt to
probe the failings of the American Revolution. When the ensemble loses its shot
at a New York premiere, their wish for an audience takes them to the
backwoods of the Pacific Northwest on what becomes a surreal quest for trust,
togetherness and the meaning of artistic struggle.
Loosely inspired by the creation of Gloria’s Cause, a live, dance-driven rock
musical by Seattle artist Dayna Hanson, Improvement Club takes an approach
to narrative that borrows freely from dance theater—musical tropes (via
interludes which punctuate the story). Dialogue gives way to songs, dance
breaks and dreamy visual ideas. The film swoops from profoundly human,
everyday situations to soaring flights of the imagination and back again in a
kaleidoscopic story of love, loss and freedom.
DECEMBER 14, SATURDAY AT 1, 2:30PM
Holiday High Notes
Our annual Holiday High Notes concert at Northwest Film Forum is the perfect
way to celebrate the holiday season (with equal parts nostalgia and bright
anticipation for the future). Join us as we welcome the renowned Northwest
Boychoir, Apprentices to our cinema to sing in joyful accompaniment to a new
collection of vintage and classic holiday film footage.
The choir's seasonal repertoire and angelic voices are the perfect soundtrack to
a cinematic wonderland of silent film Santas, animated elves and giddy children
from days gone by.
The Northwest Boychoir Apprentices are young singers who are members of the
training program that prepares choristers for advancement into the highly
acclaimed Northwest Boychoir. This choir of boys ages 7 - 11 maintains an
active performance schedule, as well as twice-weekly rehearsals as part of their
musical training. For nearly 40 years, the Northwest Boychoir's musical
sophistication has earned its reputation as one of the nation's premier choir
programs.
Special ticket prices: $8/Film Forum members and Northwest Boychoir members,
$12/general admission.
DECEMBER 20, FRIDAY AT 7PM
Holiday Party
Free event!
Our annual party gives you the chance to dance it all off, enter into the stiff
competition that is our annual Egg Nog Off (judged by Santa) and perhaps meet
the cast of your next film.
Save the date and bring friends and family. Bring egg nog, too—if you think
you've got what it takes to compete.
JANUARY 10–16, FRIDAY–THURSDAY AT 7, 9:30PM
Faust
(Aleksandr Sokurov, 2011, Russia/Germany, 135 min)
There have been more than thirty film productions based on the legend of
Faust, dating from the earliest days of cinema (in the 1890s), up to Aleksandr
Sokurov's contemporary re-working, which features his trademark poetic
imagery, spiritual allusions, large-canvas themes, and long takes.
In the classic tale, Faust is an ambitious seeker of wisdom, craving power and
incapable of being satisfied with the limitations of human understanding. After
being temped by the Devil, Faust signs away his soul in exchange for knowledge
and power.
Sokurov's enigmatic, challenging and unforgettable Faust creates a cinematic
work heaving with life in all its clutter, chatter and carnality, offering us in the
bargain an allegorical coda to his recent film trilogy of historic tyrants (Moloch's
Hitler, Taurus's Lenin, The Sun's Hirohito).
JANUARY 3 –JANUARY 9, FRIDAY–THURSDAY AT 7, 9:30PM
A Touch of Sin
(Jia Zhangke, 2013, China, 125 min)
Internationally acclaimed Chinese master Jia Zhangke (Platform, The World)
won the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes for this startling — and violent —
modern wuxia tale of four outcasts on the margins of a rapidly changing China
who channel their underclass rage into a bloody and murderous rampage.
In A Touch of Sin, Jia confronts utilizes a fascinating mix of social realism and
contemporary kung fu to portray China's extreme social changes. Jia has a
daring aesthetic, drawing inspiration from real-life events to compose a visually
arresting, emotionally disturbing fresco of the underprivileged.
His portrait of China unfolds in four chapters, following an episodic structure
that seems to adopt the brevity and concision of weibo (China's Twitter-like
microblogs). The film unveils the tragic destiny of four sinners from four
different provinces: a miner (Jiang Wu) who takes revenge on a corrupt village
chief; a gun-loving migrant worker (Wang Baoqiang) who shoots his way to easy
money; a modest sauna receptionist (Zhao Tao) who, humiliated by a client,
turns into a fierce, dagger-wielding goddess; and an abused youth (Luo
Lanshan) who endures long working hours and all manner of psychological
violence.
JANUARY 10–16, FRIDAY–THURSDAY AT 7, 9PM
Pig Death Machine
(Jon Moritsugu & Amy Davis, 2013. United States, 84 min)
After eating rotten meat, a brainless brunette is transformed into a dangerous
genius, while in a Doctor Doolittle twist, a misanthropic-punk-rock-botanistbabe gains the power to "talk to plants." Dreams become nightmares as they
choke on the sweet nectar of envy and desire.
Writhing underneath and beside independent cinema is a thriving underground
film culture, devoted to all things psychotronic, cult and strange. Filmmaker
Jon Moritsugu has made more than 25 years worth of films that align with this
cinematic tradition (think of New York's Cinema of Transgression or John
Waters). Come on in to this perverse, sci-fi comedy set in the acid burn
landscape of Santa Fe: the water's fine.
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[MAJOR SERIES]
JANUARY 23 – FEBRUARY 2, THURSDAY-SUNDAY
Children's Film Festival Seattle
Take a one-of-a-kind celluloid ride around the globe during our
Children's Film Festival Seattle–the largest international festival of its kind in
the Pacific Northwest. Our annual festival for children and families is inspiring,
magical, and definitely not available on Netflix.
An 11-day extravaganza celebrates the best and brightest in children's cinema,
with more than 100 films from all over the world. It's a mind-blowing mélange
of live performances, animation, features, shorts, meet-and-greets with
filmmakers and hands-on workshops, all crafted with care to appeal to the next
generation of movie lovers.
Opening weekend includes our traditional rockin' pajama party— dance for joy
with the acclaimed kindie band Recess Monkey!—and a yummy pancake
breakfast. As the festival unspools, enjoy award-winning feature films from
countries including Germany, the Netherlands, China, Ethiopia and Brazil.
Four rarely-seen animated silent films by genius animator Lotte Reiniger,
including Doktor Dolittle, will get the not-so-silent treatment, with new scores
composed and performed live by local composers. childrensfilmfestivalseattle.org
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