ICONS REBELS & VISIONARIES:
ARTISTS ON FILM
Our 11th annual survey celebrating
extraordinary visions in the visual, performing, literary, moving image
arts and architecture salutes Stan Brakhage, the Beats, Christo and Jeanne-Claude,
Andy Warhol, William Wegman, Cassandra Wilson, Sviatoslav Richter, Richard
Wagner, Carlo Scarpa, Steven Holl, John Szarksowksi , Guy Bourdin, and
others in more than 15 premieres from around the world. A special thanks
to our community cosponsors: BOORA Architects, Fletcher Farr Ayotte PC,
Powell's Books, Savage Fine Art, Sienna Architecture Company and Zimmer
Gunsul Frasca Partnership.
APRIL 3 SAT
8 P.M.
VISITING ARTIST
PORTLAND PREMIERE
THE SOURCE
U.S. 1999
DIRECTOR: CHUCK WORKMAN
From smoke-filled coffeehouses, much traveled roads and real and metaphorical
caves emerged a remarkable cultural movement, the Beats, a generation of
bohemian writers and artists whose impact on popular culture remains a
constant. The Film Center welcomes Chuck Workman (SUPERSTAR: THE LIFE AND
TIMES OF ANDY WARHOL) as he premieres THE SOURCE, a film that uncovers
the underground springs of the Beat movement and follows its influence
to the present day. From the 1940s and the first contacts between Allen
Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, often called the Holy Trinity,
Workman traces the trajectory of those writers' careers through the political
and social upheaval of the 60s and 70s. Interviews and film clips with
such figures as Timothy Leary, Michael McClure, Ken Kesey, Ed Sanders and
Gregory Corso stand alongside those of Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs
as the impact of the cultural revolution unfolds. "The true scope and significance
of the so-called counterculture has yet to be historically examined. In
doing so here, Workman gives us an opportunity to rethink the status quo
of everything from art to social consciousness; from gay, feminist, and
other political changes to popular culture."— 1999 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
(90 mins.) SPONSORED BY POWELL'S BOOKS
APRIL 7 8
WED 7 7:30
P.M., THUR 8 7:30 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
THE ART OF INFLUENCE
U.S. 1997
DIRECTOR: DEBORAH DICKSON
Influence is as much a companion to the creative process as inspiration
as witnessed in Academy-Award nominee Deborah Dickson's (SUZANNE FARRELL:
ELUSIVE MUSE) multi-disciplinary and international inquiry into the creative
process and artistic touchstones. Fourteen contemporary artists in music,
dance, film, theater, painting, photography and literature reveal their
twentieth century influences as Dickson draws from interviews and archival
sources to create a masterful collage. Jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson reveals
what she learned from Miles Davis, South African playwright Athol Fugard
discusses the legacy of Bertolt Brecht, action star Jackie Chan demonstrates
his debt to such masters of physical comedy as Buster Keaton and Charlie
Chaplin, choreographer Bill T. Jones explains how the writings of Marcel
Proust resonate in his autobiographical dances, Sinead O'Connor reflects
on how Bob Marley has given her the courage to write her increasingly spiritual
songs, filmmaker Kenneth Anger champions Jean Cocteau, Chinese dissident
artist Niu Bo relates his affinity with Marcel Duchamp, and painter Helen
Frankenthaler discusses Jackson Pollock. (87 mins.)
APRIL 10 SAT 7
& 9:15 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
SUPERSTAR:
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF
ANDY WARHOL
U.S. 1990
DIRECTOR: CHUCK WORKMAN
Chuck Workman's (THE SOURCE) film is a fascinating portrait of Andy Warhol,
his art, films and the world he was part of and created. Weaving together
varied, and often enigmatic, interviews with the artist shot over three
decades, images of his art and films along with interviews and appearances
with such observers and participants as Viva, Dennis Hopper, Roy Lichtenstein,
Gerald Malanga, David Hockney, Taylor Mead and many others in the Warhol
"family," Workman takes no overt stand toward Warhol other than to confirm
his place as a true visionary. The complex interaction between Warhol's
personal, artistic and celebrity lives, and his profound impact on the
culture of our time, emerge to further illuminate one of the most creative
minds of the century. (90 mins.)
PRECEDED BY
SCREEN TESTS (1963-66)
DIRECTOR: ANDY WARHOL
Between 1963 and 1966, Andy Warhol shot more than 150 screen tests of artists,
those in his inner circle and others he deemed interesting, each running
three minutes. Among the ten screen tests featured in these newly released
works are those of filmmaker Harry Smith, actor Taylor Mead, poet Diane
Di Prima and writer Susan Sontag. (30 mins.)
APRIL 13 14
TUES 13 7:30 p.m,
WED 14 7:30 P.M..
PORTLAND PREMIERES
CARLO SCARPA
GREAT BRITAIN 1997
DIRECTOR: MURRAY GRIGOR
As Goethe said: "Venice can only be compared to itself." Perhaps the same
holds true for Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978) whose restorations
reveal an impeccable blend of design, craftsmanship and a coalescing of
natural materials—stone, tile, marble and wood—in classic fashion. From
such sites as the Querin Stanpalia Palace, the Torcello Cathedral and the
famed Olivetti showroom, Grigor introduces us to both Scarpa the man and
the architect. From his structural rhythms to his concern about the smallest
of details, even the design of hinges, Scarpa could seamlessly merge modern
and classic forms. Murrary Grigor's film admirably introduces a man whose
name is often mentioned alongside Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright.
(58 mins.)
PRECEDED BY
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM BILBAO
U.S. 1997
DIRECTOR: ULTAN GUILFOYLE
Immediately hailed as one of the great architectural achievements of the
20th century, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is truly a modern landmark.
This introduction to the museum offers commentary from its architect Frank
O. Geary as well as from Guggenheim director Thomas Krens, and artists
Robert Rauschenberg, Jenny Holzer, Julian Schnabel and Richard Serra, each
of who has works in the museum's permanent collection. (9 mins.)
SPONROED BY BOORA ARCHITECTS
APRIL 15 18
THUR 15 7
P.M., SUN 18 1 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
RICHTER, THE ENIGMA
FRANCE 1998
DIRECTOR: BRUNO MONSAINGEON
"When Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) died last year—shortly after the completion
of this prize-winning film—it has been said that the great age of Russian
pianist classicism came to an end. Director Bruno Monsaingeon (THE GLEN
GOULD CYCLE; YEHUDI MENUHIN, THE VIOLIN OF THE CENTURY) has made a film
appropriate to both the singularity of its subject and to the complexity
of his milieu. Dominating the proceedings with his still-striking good
looks and an often piercing, self-deprecating wit, Richter narrates the
events of his life with a combination of candor and canniness. Illustrated
with well-chosen archival and performance footage (much of it in impossibly
saturated Mosfilm color), the pianist's journey from provincial obscurity
to international stardom emerges with breadth and clarity."—1998 VANCOUVER
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (144 mins.)
APRIL 16 FRI
7 & 9 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
JOHN SZARKOWSKI—A LIFE
IN PHOTOGRAPHY
U.S. 1998
DIRECTORS: RICHARD B.
WOODWARD & SANDRA MCLEOD Tonight we move from the expansive
range of the gray scale to a kaleidoscope of color. Though a photographer
in his own right, John Szarkowski is best known as the former Curator of
Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, a position he held for almost
30 years. In this finely honed portrait, Szarskowski speaks with great
candor about his approach to photography and photographers, providing insight
into the lives and works of Eugene Atget, Louis Sullivan, Walker Evans,
Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand among others. He also looks at his own
beginnings in Wisconsin with his first Kodak Brownie. Throughout, he reveals
his approach to the medium, his view of its evolution and its humanistic
potential. After years of looking at other people's works, Szarkowski himself
proves to be a worthy subject as he balances his keen reflections with
self-effacing humor. (47 mins.)
FOLLOWED BY
DREAM GIRLS: THE PHOTOGRAPHS
OF GUY BOURDIN
GREAT BRITAIN 1996
DIRECTOR: NICOLA ROBERTS
"Fashion photographer Guy Bourdin produced outstanding images for French
VOGUE for almost thirty years, particularly in the 1970s. His style is
instantly recognizable. Behind the perfect surface gloss is a sense of
tension and anxiety, almost cruelty, which Jean-Baptiste Mondino described
as a 'Technicolor Nightmare.' This documentary features Bourdin's own Super-8
footage from some of his bizarre fashion shoots. Influenced by Hitchcock,
the film uses a VERTIGO motif to allude to Bourdin's abandonment by his
mother and his subsequent desire to 'shoot' red-haired girls and pin them
down on the page forever. Contributing to this portrait are Helmut Newton,
Jerry Hall, Mondino and fashion editor Grace Coddington."—1998 Montreal
Festival International du Films sur l'Art. (49 mins.)
APRIL 17 18
SAT 17 8
P.M., SUN 18 4 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
VISITING ARTIST
TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE:
CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE:
WRAPPED REICHSTAG, BERLIN
1971-1995
GERMANY 1997
DIRECTORS: WOLFRAM HISSEN
AND JORG DANIEL HISSEN Monumental, yet fleeting, the public
art works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude linger like dreams inhabiting a
scale all their own. From their Valley Curtain and Running Fence
to Surrounded Islands and Umbrellas, man and nature intersect leaving the
spectator with a truly visceral rush. In WRAPPED REICHSTAG, the Hissen
Brothers follow the epic will of Christo and Jeanne-Claude over a 24-year
period as they plan and execute their vision of wrapping this German symbol
of democracy. Through three decades, with 54 visits to Germany by the artists,
the use of more than one million square feet of fabric, 51,000 feet of
rope, the skill of 90 professional climbers, and many other astounding
statistics, the project was completed on June 24, 1995 and on view for
a brief two weeks. The Film Center welcomes co-director Jorg Daniel Hissen
to screen and discuss his film. (98 mins.)
SPONSORED BY SIENNA ARCHITECTURE
COMPANY
APRIL 23 25
FRI 23 7:30
P.M., SUN 25 4 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIEREs
DANCE OF LIFE
NORWAY 1998
DIRECTOR: SØLVI
A. LINDSETH Edvard Munch (1863-1944) is one of the seminal
figures in modern art, a founder, along with Van Gogh, of Expressionism.
His paintings and prints, like "The Scream" and "Anxiety" have become icons.
Drawing upon the artist's letters, diary entries and notes, Lindseth has
re-created important moments in Munch's life—ones that shaped him both
as artist and man. From childhood to old age, a complex portrait full of
a tangle of emotions emerges. Munch eloquently, albeit painfully, brought
these experiences to his art. DANCE OF LIFE, shaped as a series of evocative
vignettes, carefully spans the artist's life's work. (52 mins.)
PRECEDED BY
CIRCLE OF LIFE
NORWAY 1997
DIRECTOR: LARS NILSSEN
Over a span of 40 years, Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) devoted himself to
the making of a 60-acre sculpture garden is Oslo which features 58 bronzed
sculptures, 60 bas-reliefs and a 470-ton obelisk made of 121 intertwined
granite figures. Taken in total, the works depict the circle of life from
birth to death. Shot in 35mm, Lars Nielsen pays homage to Vigeland's lasting
legacy as he follows the Vigeland Park through the life cycle of the four
seasons. Best Documentary, Bilbao International Short and Documentary Film
Festival. (12 mins.)
AND
HUBERT ROBERT— A FORTUNATE
LIFE
RUSSIA 1996
DIRECTOR: ALEXANDER SOKUROV
In contrast to Vigeland and Munch, Hubert Robert (1733-1808) was an artist
of favor from Paris to St. Petersburg whose fanciful paintings of landscapes
and buildings won him many admirers. After a sojourn to Italy, he returned
to Paris and initiated the vogue of painted ruins which proved a lucrative
proposition. Alexander Sokurov (MOTHER AND SON) draws from Robert's works
in the Hermitage Museum as the artist's privileged life is recounted. Winner
of the National Film Board of Canada's Creativity Award at the Montreal
Festival International du Films sur l'Art. (26 mins.)
APRIL 25 SUN
7 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
SING FASTER: THE STAGEHAND'S
RING CYCLE
U.S. 1999
DIRECTOR: JON ELSE
Wagner's RING CYCLE—four operas with a 17 hour running time—is a singular
event and a mammoth undertaking. Imagine, if you will, having to manage
the complexity of launching the space shuttle with the response time of
the best of firefighters and you have the job of the opera's stagehands.
Award-winning director/cinematographer Jon Else (CADILLAC DESERT, THE DAY
AFTER TRINITY) goes behind the scenes of the San Francisco Opera to view
the Cycle from this unique vantage point and the results are invigorating.
"While the gods are out on-stage singing about the great problems in the
world we are doing all the hard stuff," says one stagehand in the middle
of his eighty-five-hour work week during dress rehearsals. According to
the blow-by-blow account of the libretto we get from the ongoing poker
game backstage, the "sexy" Rhine maidens struggle to get their gold back,
and the Valkyries sing "loud...really loud." The relaxed attitude alters
immediately during scene changes, when everyone springs into action like
a well-oiled machine. Then we embark on a visual trek through Styrofoam
rock formations and over painted mountain tops, learning the secrets of
classic Wagnerian special effects: fog, fire, thunder, earthquake, and
of course a dragon."—1999 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL (58 mins.)
FOLLOWED BY
THE PERSONALS
U.S. 1998
DIRECTOR: KEIKO IBI
The transformative power of theater comes to the fore in one of this year's
Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Short Subject. Subtitled IMPROVISATIONS
ON ROMANCE IN THE GOLDEN YEARS, Ibi focuses on a group of senior citizens
on the Lower East Side of Manhattan who are in the process of creating
"The Personals," an original play at a community theater. Drawing from
the lonely world of these DWF, DWM, SWF, SWM, etc. of the senior set, they
rehearse their ensemble play under the direction of a frazzled director,
face budget cuts, illness and more. But throughout their hardships, their
real longing for love and relationships clearly surfaces and their humor
shines through. Tender and bawdy, this is a view of an often neglected,
yet vital, segment of society and art's capacity for rejuvenation.
(37 mins.)
APRIL 27
TUE 7 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
STEVEN HOLL: THE BODY
IN SPACE
U.S. 1998
DIRECTOR: MICHAEL BLACKWOOD
Steven Holl, who studied at the University of Washington, is one of the
most innovative of contemporary mid-career architects. Eschewing both Postmodernist
and Modernist views, Holl takes a geometric, almost scientific, approach
to design while embracing its sensual elements. Light, perspective and
discovery on the part of the user mark his works. Michael Blackwood's (RICHARD
MEIER; ARATA ISOZAKI) profile of the architect follows his Museum of Contemporary
Art in Helsinki from groundbreaking to completion while also examining
his most recent works, including the Makuhari Housing Complex in Chiba,
Japan; the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle; and the Cranbrook Institute
of Science in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. (58 mins.)
WITH
PHILIP JOHNSON:
DIARY OF AN ECCENTRIC
ARCHITECT
U.S. 1996
DIRECTOR: BARBARA WOLF
Philip Johnson, a true inconoclast, has designed elegant buildings that
punctuate the landscape across America—the IBM Tower in Atlanta, the Museum
of Television and Radion in New York, the PPG Building in Pittsburgh among
them. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier,
Johnson has been an influential force of the Modernist Movement. In a most
special way, he is also a landscape architect who not only deals with space,
but embraces the processional. Barbara Wolf’s DIARY OF AN ECCENTRIC ARCHITECT
turns away from Johnson’s larger commissions and focuses instead on his
passion, the evolution of his estate in New Canaan over the last five decades.
Johnson provides a fascinating tour of his estate—The Glass House, Brick
Guest House, Pavilion, Painting and Sculpture Galleries, Study, Ghost House,
an homage to Frank Gehry, the Lincoln Kirstein Tower and his latest addition,
The Visitor Center, inspired by the work of Frank Stella—and remains throughout
the eloquent grandmaster of American architecture. (60 mins.)
sponsored by zimmer gunsul
frasca partnership.
APRIL 28 29
WED 28 7:30
P.M., THUR 29 7:30 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
WEGMAN'S WORLD
NETHERLANDS 1996
DIRECTOR: CHERYL DUYNS
Not only are dogs William Wegman's best friends, they are also his best
subjects. As a photographer, painter and videomaker, Wegman's sleek Weimaraners
Man Ray and Fay Ray and their offspring have been his subjects for twenty-five
years and whether fitted with costumes or au naturel, the wry situations
they have posed for, in the studio and in the world, are captivating. In
WEGMAN'S WORLD, Cheryl Duyns observes the artist at work, creating the
settings and scenes for his pliable canine subjects. As Wegman says "Dogs
are bred to work with humans, and to not work with them is to neglect them."
(72 mins.)
FOLLOWED BY
WILLIAM WEGMAN: SELECTED
WORK—REEL 8
U.S. 1997-8
DIRECTOR: WILLIAM WEGMAN
In addition to his photography, Wegman is a facile videomaker, producing
works for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, SESAME STREET and NICKELODEON as well as
more personal projects. In REEL 8, comprised of his most recent work, a
series of untitled skits unfold using simple sets and costumes and protracted
shots incorporating Wegman's deadpan wit. While his dogs make fewer
appearances than usual, Wegman turns his attention to the entertainment
industry with a droll flair while special appearances by David Letterman,
Paul Schaffer, Andrea Beeman and the artist himself, tweak the natural
order of things. (25 mins.)
MAY 1 SAT
7 & 9 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
CHUCK CLOSE: A PORTRAIT
IN PROGRESS
U.S. 1998
DIRECTOR: MARION CAJOURI
With a major retrospective of Chuck Close now at the Seattle Art Museum,
CHUCK CLOSE: A PORTRAIT IN PROGRESS is a stirring primer about an artist
whose large scale paintings redefine portraiture. Up close his nuanced
color palette can look like an abstract mosaic, yet at a distance, the
prism of colors he uses metamorphose into works of striking realism. Utilizing
photography and linear grids, the resulting self-portraits and portraits
of friends, family and fellow artists take on an extraordinary, almost
frightening, intimacy. Marion Cajorij follows Close's evolution as an artist
as she brings us into his studio and into a circle that includes Alex Katz,
Philip Glass, Kiki Smith and Robert Storr while subtly drawing correlations
between their artistic practices. (57 mins.)
PRECEDED BY
DONALD JUDD: MARFA, TEXAS
U.S. 1997
DIRECTOR: CHRIS FELVER
As artist and critic, there was a considerable duality to Donald Judd (1928-1994)—he
was at once a man of intellectual rigor and a multi-disciplinary conceptualist
who deftly moved towards a new minimalism. In 1971, he relocated from the
center of the art world, New York, to the prairies of Presidio County in
Southern Texas, 20 miles from the Mexican border. It is here, in Marfa,
Texas, that Chris Felver interviews Judd, providing insights into his process,
his materials—aluminum, brass, Plexiglas, and concrete—and the freedom
he sought to achieve from institutions trying to define what art is. A
rare visit with an exceptional talent and a compelling destination for
art aficionados. (24 mins.)
sponsored by savage fine
art.
MAY 5 6 7
WED 5
7:30 P.M., THUR 6 7:30 P.M., SAT 8 7 & 9 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
THE UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA
NETHERLANDS 1997
DIRECTOR: HEDDY HONIGMANN
Two years ago, Heddy Honigmann charmed audiences with the erotically charged
O AMOR NATURAL in which the director took her camera to the streets of
Brazil and discovered the primal and poetic energy of its people and celebrated
poet, Carlos Drummond de Andrade. In her revelatory new film, she explores
the melancholy world of street musicians in Paris—the accordionists, the
violinists, harp players, Malian singers, tribal singers and others whose
music is a strong echo of their lives. "She encounters people who have
come from all parts of the globe. Each time, she wants to know where they
came from, what forced them to leave, why they are driven to play music.
Their tales are a survey of the troubles of contemporary history--civil
war in Algeria, social dislocation in Romania, genocide in Yugoslavia,
concentration camps in Zaire. In each case, music has been key to their
survival. It is not just a way to wangle loose change from fellow Parisians;
it is a way to mourn and to heal, to maintain a connection, however tenuous,
with a world that is otherwise lost to them. It's intensely moving, the
music they create--it tells of their deepest longings, and also speaks
to ours."—SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (108 mins.)
MAY 12 13
WED 12 7:30
P.M., THUR 13 7:30 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
BRAKHAGE
CANADA 1998
DIRECTOR: JIM SHEDDEN
Since the 1950s, Stan Brakhage (DOG STAR MAN, ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE'S
OWN EYES, STAR GARDEN) has been at the forefront of the avant-garde cinema,
a visionary who has made more than 300 personal and independent works—meditations,
modern and classic mythologies, hand-painted and optically printed films
each with their own poetic sensibilities. In Jim Shedden's provocative
profile, Brakhage speaks of the extraordinary possibilities of the medium
as he shares excerpts from his works and the works of others, including
George Kuchar, Jonas Mekas, Willie Varela. Archival footage is blended
with interviews with Brakhage, his family, friends, colleagues and critics
to create a compelling portrait of the man, his aesthetics and the intertwining
of the personal with his public life. "Stan Brakhage continues to make
his highly personal films. Resonating with an undiminished visual intensity
and a potent engagement with the fundamental questions of life, each new
work bears witness to Brakhage's prolific achievements and his continuing
role as one of the modern masters of the medium."—Bruce Jenkins, Walker
Art Center. (75 mins.)
MAY 14 FRI 7:30
P.m.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
MASTERPIECE OR FORGERY:
THE STORY OF ELMYR DE
HORY
NORWAY 1997
DIRECTOR: KNUT W. JORFALD
How many Rembrandt paintings are there really? How many Van Goghs? Forgery
might have been a form of flattery in the East, but in the West? One of
the great forgers of our time was Elmyr de Hory who made more than 1,000
counterfeit paintings, primarily in the style of the post-impressionists,
before he died—or disappeared—in 1976. A central figure in Orson Welles'
film on hoaxes, F FOR FAKE, his works were sold throughout North America,
Europe and Japan and their total market value has been estimated at over
one hundred million dollars. Shot on location in Europe and America, Knut
Jorfald's intriguing investigation into de Hory's life includes interviews
with such friends as author Clifford Irving and actress Ursula Andress
as well as museum curators, smugglers and auctioneers. (52
mins.)
AND
VISITING ARTIST
MONEY MAN
U.S. 1992
DIRECTOR: PHILIP HAAS
Allen Ginsberg once suggested that sanity is the trick of agreement. The
same might be said for currency. Conceptual artist J.S.G. Boggs tests the
latter of these ideas through his own unique art form. Boggs, whose artwork
has been confiscated by the U.S. Treasury Department, makes money the old
fashioned way, hand-drawn one bill at a time, then engages in a wonderfully
subversive process of spending it (he calls these "transactions")—at restaurants,
hotels, for art supplies—while art collectors then try and retrieve his
playful pieces. Philip Haas (THE MUSIC OF CHANCE, ANGELS AND INSECTS) has
created an ingenious film about a truly enterprising artist. In attendance:
J.S.G. Boggs. (60 mins.)
Tonight's screening presented
in conjunction with Seeing Money: A Unique Art Event of Uncommon Currency,
a project of The Portland Old Town Arts and Culture Foundation, MAY 6—June
6. For information call 228-0252.
MAY 21 22 23 24
9:30 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
HALLELUJAH!
RON ATHEY: A STORY OF
DELIVERANCE
U.S. 1998
DIRECTOR: CATHERINE GUND
SAALFIELD The blood of the poet meets the holy rollers
is one way to approach the work of performance artist Ron Athey. Body artist,
extreme masochist, H.I.V.-positive gay man and former heroin addict, Athey
turned from his Pentecostal roots as a child to create public rituals that
possess their own kind of transcendentalism. As he himself says, "There
are many ways to say hallelujah." Saalfield combines interviews with Athey
and his disenfranchised companions with excerpts from his performance trilogy:
"Martyrs and Saints," "Four Scenes in a Harsh Life," and "Deliverance"
to yield an intrepid look into one man's personal and public exorcism.
With piercing, bondage, branding, and more, this is not a film for the
squeamish. "Not to be missed."—THE VILLAGE VOICE (90 mins.)
FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY.
MAY 27 THUR
7:30 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
VISITING ARTIST IN PERFORMANCE
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF
ARC
FRANCE 1928
DIRECTOR: CARL THEODOR
DREYER Tonight we present one of the cinema's true masterpieces,
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, presented with an original score for solo cello
performed live by Laurie Goldstein of The Black Cat Orchestra. Dreyer based
his script on the actual transcripts of the trial of Jeanne d'Arc in Rouen
in 1431, boiling down months of interrogation to a single day's ordeal.
As Jeanne, he chose Renee Falconetti, a stage actress who never made another
film. Shot in stark black and white by Rudolph Mate (TO BE OR NOT TO BE,
GILDA) in extreme close-up, an unheard of practice at the time, and the
results captured the essence of the actors' performances. "JEANNE D'ARC
seems like an historical document from an era in which the cinema didn’t
exist."— Jean Cocteau. (80 mins.)
BRAZIL — CINEMA NOVO &
BEYOND
From the 1960s to the 80s,
Cinema Novo emerged as following Italian neo-realism and the French New
Wave as it explored its country’s dreams and divisions, politics and poverty,
it introduced the world to Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, Carlos Diegues,
Glauber Rocha and Nelson Pereira dos Santos, directors who continue to
influence a new generation of Brazilian filmmakers. The Film Center is
pleased to present BRAZIL — CINEMA NOVO & BEYOND, nineteen newly
struck 35mm prints which move from the 60s to the present to reflect with
vitality and vision a country's unique dynamics. This touring retrospective
is is a collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, Brazil, and the
Department of Film and Video, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
MAR 26 28
FRI 26 7:30 P.M. SUN
28 5 P.M.
DOÑA FLOR AND
HER TWO HUSBANDS
BRAZIL 1977
DIRECTOR: BRUNO BARRETO
A hit in the U.S. and abroad, Baretto's bawdy comedy is based on Jorge
Amado's novel and stars Sonja Braga as Flor, a newly remarried cooking
teacher whose respectable husband, Teodoro (Mauro Mendonca), lacks the
passion she desires. What better than to call up the ghost of her first
husband Vadinho (José Wilker), who she nostalgically remembers as
the embodiment of virility. While this might have been true, he was also
a gambler, a woman chaser and prone to violence. Directed by Baretto when
he was only 23, this potent sex farce easily draws both sexes into its
frame. "The Bahian colors, florid carnival costumes, and palpable flavors
(with cooking instructions: bring a pad and pencil) are a thin mask for
entrenched social conventions that Dona Flor subversively flaunts in making
her uninhibited secret life her reality."—Pacific Film Archive. "Braga
is a joy to watch as the very proper and very sensual Doña Flor."—Judith
Crist. (110 mins.)
MAR 28 29
SUN 28 7
P.M., MON 29 6 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
THE AMULET OF OGUN
BRAZIL 1974
DIRECTOR: NESLON PEREIRA
DOS SANTO Considered the conscience of Cinema Novo,
Nelson Pereira dos Santos (BARREN LIVES, MEMORIES OF PRISON) made this
film "for the people." At once a gangster film and a celebration of the
Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé, the film follows Gabriel, a young
man (Ney Sant'Ana, the director's son) from the impoverished Northeast
who moves to the violent outskirts of Rio. Protected by a ritual amulet
which was given to him by a Candomblé priest, he is soon taken under
the wing of a local crime boss. Like BLACK GOD WHITE DEVIL, also
featured in this retrospective, the film is framed around a balladeer who
sings of one man’s path from innocence to exploitation. Released at the
same time as Dos Santos' "Manifesto for a Popular Cinema," the film reflects
the director's move away from a film industry tailored for the middle-class,
aiming instead for a truer audience, one of the people. (112 mins.)
MAR 29 MON
8 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
OUR INDIANS
BRAZIL 1995
DIRECTOR: SYLVIO BACK
"OUR INDIANS is a collage of hundreds of Brazilian films and films from
other countries—features, newsreels and documentaries—that show how the
film industry has seen and heard Brazilian Indians, since they were filmed
in 1912 for the first time. The surprising images are surrounded by music
and poetry that inaugurate the viewers in the universe of Brazilian Indians,
that is alternately idealized and prejudiced, religious and militaristic,
cruel and magic. The director presents this rich film under the motto of
the documentary-maker Richard Leacock: 'The only good Indian is a filmed
Indian'.Sylvio Back: 'The film archives in Brazil are a treasure chest
of material that can help us find out more about our existence. By discovering
more and more about history, we are able to see the judgments and prejudices
about our country in a different light.'"—Rotterdam Film Festival.
(70 mins.)
APRIL 2 5
FRI 2 7 P.M., MON 5 6 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
ALL NUDITY SHALL BE PUNISHED
BRAZIL 1973
DIRECTOR: ARNALDO JABOR
Winner of the Silver Bear at the 1973 Berlin Film Festival, ALL NUDITY
WILL BE PUNISHED is the story of a wealthy widower, Herculano (Paulo Porto),
and his son, Serginho (Paulo Sacks), each of whom has embraced celibacy
but for different reasons. Breaking Herculano's vow is a challenge too
good to pass up for his brother and he finds a way to lead Geni (Darlene
Gloria), a vivacious prostitute and nightclub singer, to his palatial home.
In this subversive satire and a direct attack on upper-class hypocrisy,
Geni soon breaks down the facade of respectability as father and son find
themselves in a ménage à trois the results of which leave
no one unscathed. ALL NUDITY WILL BE PUNISHED has gusto, bite and a witty
vulgarity that MAY announce a new phase of Brazilian filmmaking."—VARIETY
(102 mins.)
DOUBLE FEATURE
FRI 2 8:45 P.M.,
MON 5 8 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
HOW ANGELS ARE BORN
BRAZIL 1996
DIRECTOR: MURIO SALLES
The poverty in the "morro," the hills of Rio de Janeiro, is matched only
by the crime rate, a situation that forces its children to grow up fast.
So it is with 13-year-old Branquinha who, abandoned by her parents, is
forced to marry Maguila (André Mattos), a local low-level drug-trafficker.
When Maguila challenges and ends up killing his boss, this unlikely couple
find themselves on the run with Branquinha's schoolmate Japa and are soon
caught up in a string of violent mishaps, ultimately taking an American
businessman and his teenage daughter hostage. With excellent performances
by its young actors, especially Priscila Assum as Branquinha, Salles has
fashioned both a poignant drama with its own relentless tensions and an
exploration of the deep divide between Rio's rich and poor. (96 mins.)
APRIL 9 FRI
7 & 9:15 P.M.
BYE BYE BRAZIL
BRAZIL 1980
DIRECTOR: CARLOS DIEGUES
Diegues' (XICA, QUILOMBO) picaresque adventure playfully examines the fusion
of western and indigenous cultures and traditional and technological influences
that shape Brazil. Caravana Rolidei, a small travelling circus à
la Fellini's LA STRADA is led by Lord Gypsy (José Wilker), a magician,
and Salome (Betty Faria), his rumba-dancing mistress. Moving deeper and
deeper into the Amazon jungle to perform their campy circus, they soon
join with Ciço (Fabio Junior) and Dasdo (Zaira Zambelli), an Indian
couple with whom they become sexually entangled. Either one step ahead
or one step behind the ever encroaching television, disco music and Coca-Cola,
they continue to find themselves performing before blank-faced Indians,
lost in the mysteries of Brazil's vastness. "In BYE BYE BRAZIL, progress
is synonymous with incessant flux. . . . Diegues' attempt to corner quicksilver
is exhilarating."— Jay Scott. (110 mins.)
APRIL 11 12
SUN 11 2 P.M., MON 12
6 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
SÃO BERNARDO
BRAZIL 1972
DIRECTOR: LEON HIRSZMAN
In what could be the epilogue for SÃO BERNARDO, E.M. Forester has
written, "Property renders its owner enormously stout, endlessly avaricious,
pseudo-creative, and intensely selfish." Such is the case with Paulo (Othon
Bastos), a man who ruthlessly rose from peasant to plantation owner, and
while building his dream, deconstructed his humanity. Set in the 1920s
on the Sertão, the central part of the country where ownership of
land means power, and based on Graciliano Ramos' socially conscious novel,
SÃO Bernardo is seen through the eyes of Paulo himself, who in flashback
and without remorse, looks back on his actions, including his opportunistic
marriage to an educated woman (Isabel Ribeiro) he slowly destroyed. "SÃO
BERNARDO has the weight and psychological realism of a Balzac novel, and
is shot with a sense of colour and composition of an old-master painter."—British
Film Institute. "Hirszman's methods recall those of Robert Bresson's DIARY
OF A COUNTRY PRIEST."—Vincent Canby, THE NEW YORK TIMES (113 mins.)
DOUBLE FEATURE
SUN 11 4
P.M., MON 12 8 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
INOCENCIA
BRAZIL 1983
DIRECTOR: WALTER LIMA,
JR. This bittersweet love story, also set in the Sertão,
follows a doctor who falls in love with a young woman struck down by malaria.
Yet it is a love thwarted as her father has already chosen her a husband.
Based on one of the masterpieces of Brazilian literature by Visconde de
Taunay, INOCENCIA explores the role of women in the nineteenth century
with a delicate, yet informed touch. (115 mins.)
APRIL 18
SUN 18 6 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
LITTLE BOOK OF LOVE
BRAZIL 1996
DIRECTOR: SANDRA WERNECK
Set against the sensual background of Rio de Janeiro, Sandra Werneck takes
us alphabetically through the A to Z's of love, mixing in a healthy dose
of Brazilian pop music, witty dialogue and a bit of a cynic's grasp of
the subject through a series of vignettes. Ranging from "attraction," "idyll,"
"promises," "revenge," and "separation," LITTLE BOOK OF LOVE mixes documentary-like
scenes with direct addresses to the camera to follow the path of Cabriel
(Daniel Dantas) and Louisa (Andrea Beltrao), two skeptics about the possibility
of love who are thrown together and quickly move through this emotion's
highs and lows. With a gentle humor running throughout, Werneck gives equal
time to both male and female perspectives in this huge box-office hit from
Brazil. (91 mins.)
DOUBLE FEATURE
SUN 18 7:45
P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
A STARRY SKY
BRAZIL 1995
DIRECTOR: TATA AMARAL
"A STARRY SKY is a singularly gritty film. Made with modest resources,
this is one of the best kitchen-sink dramas to emerge from Brazil in recent
years. It strikes at the core of women's role within Brazilian society,
within relationships, and within themselves. Dalva (Alleyona Cavalli),
is packing her suitcase to leave for Miami in search of a better life.
She is abandoning her nagging mother, a passionate but chauvinistic ex-boyfriend,
and a life in the doldrums. Victor, the boyfriend in question, arrives
unexpectedly and forces his way in, spoiling Dalva's attempt to leave secretly.
He desperately tries to persuade Dalva to take him back, and after a song
and dance she starts to give in. Still harboring affections for him, Dalva
listens to him with a mix of patience and suspicion. Victor is a man living
on the edge, out of work and looking for ways to survive: it's clear he
had it easy living with Dalva. What started as a desperate act of reconciliation
rapidly deteriorates into violence as Victor strives to reassert his authority
and keep Dalva in his life. As the police close in, however, Dalva strikes
back."—TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL (85 mins.)
APRIL 24 26
SAT 24 7
P.M., MON 26 6 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
LAND OF ANGUISH
BRAZIL 1967
DIRECTOR: GLAUBER ROCHA
Glauber Rocha's most controversial film at home and influential film abroad,
this is a work of great imagination and beauty, an operatic spectacle that
nevertheless conveys a very true sense of the violence and irrationality
that characterize political life in a country scarred by underdevelopment.
The film, made in the wake of the coup of 1964, takes place in a fictitious
country, Eldorado, where a populist governor clashes with a dictatorial
leader. The protagonist is a poet-journalist who abandons his elite milieu
for radical politics, only to become as disenchanted with his new comrades
as he was with the cowardice of the intellectual class. "Saturated with
anger, eloquence, personal and collective hysteria, [this] is in no sense
a Hollywood film, for it investigates rather than exploits its emotions."—Robert
Stam, BRAZILIAN CINEMA. (115 mins.)
DOUBLE FEATURE
SAT 24 9
P.M., MON 26 8 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
IRACEMA
BRAZIL/GERMANY 1976
DIRECTOR: JORGE BODANZKY
"Iracema (an anagram for America) is a 14-year-old Indian girl who leaves
her Amazon village to find out what life is like in the big city of Belem.
There she survives by prostitution until she meets a truck driver on the
Trans-Amazon Highway route who takes her on the road. The highway symbolizes
the 'new' Brazil of fantastic wealth and mobility, but for Iracema the
journey leads straight back to the same life of resignation. Her abuse
and humiliation mirror the ruthless destruction of the Brazilian landscape,
the beauty and squalor of which is captured in Jorge Bodanzky's color camerawork.
With riveting performances by the two leads, Bodanzky'ssemi-documentary
approach to fiction ran counter to the dialectic/operatic approach of Glauber
Rocha and the main Cinema Nôvo directors, but was no less revolutionary.
Iracema shows the Brazil of the developing outback in images so graphic
that the film was originally banned from release."—Pacific Film Archive.
" "The camera, much like Iracema, sees everything at a distance, as if
for the first time. Not until the film's last frame do we realize the full
measure of the filmmaker's concern and sorrow." —Vincent Canby, THE NEW
YORK TIMES (95 mins.)
APRIL 30 FRI 30
7 & 9:15 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL
BRAZIL 1963
DIRECTOR: GLAUBER ROCHA
Drawing from the legends and folk traditions of northeastern Brazil, Rocha's
landmark film is literally translated GOD AND THE DEVIL IN THE LAND OF
THE SUN, a title Randal Johnson in "Cinema Novo X 5" states "does not imply
a struggle between God and the Devil as much as it does a struggle against
both God and the Devil." Set in Bahia in the 1930s and marked by an hallucinatory
power, Rochas' images depict the trajectory of two peasants, Manuel and
Rosa, who become followers of Sebastião, a messianic priest. The
barren landscape and uninterrupted violence have taken their toll on the
people of the region who now look toward Sebastião for salvation.
As his hunger-crazed followers are led to a massacre at the hands of government
troops, Manuel and Rosa meet Corsico, a hero-bandit of the oppressed, the
"white devil." After years of Brazilian audiences becoming accustomed
to pallid melodramas, BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL, was one of the first films
to confront political and social issues through its allegory. "BLACK GOD,
WHITE DEVIL is the most beautiful thing I have seen in more than a decade,
filled with a savage poetry."— Luis Buñuel. (120 mins.)
MAY 2 3 SUN
2 6 P.M., MON 3 6 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
MEMORIES OF PRISON
BRAZIL 1983
DIRECTOR: NELSON PEREIRA
DOS SANTOS Based on the autobiographical novel by Graciliano
Ramos, MEMORIES OF PRISON is set during the 1936 Brazilian witch hunts
on the leftists by the Vargas regime, but is also a metaphor for
Brazil in the 1980s and the travails of the political era. Because of his
political beliefs, author and school principal Ramos is arrested and sent
to an infamous island prison camp. It is an experience that will permanently
alter his life and writings. "The prison in my film is a metaphor for Brazilian
society. The middle class, teachers, doctors, civil servants, craftsmen,
the military imprisoned for their political opinions mixed together with
common law prisoners, the young, the old, the women, the peasants."—Nelson
Pereira dosSantos (85 mins.)
SUN 2 7:30
P.M., MON 3 7:30 P.M.
FOREIGN LAND
BRAZIL 1996
DIRECTORS: WALTER SALLES
& DANIELA THOMAS In 1990, Fernando Collor de Mello,
the first elected president of Brazil after decades of dictatorships, confiscated
the personal savings accounts of the entire population. It is from that
point this gripping thriller takes off and becomes an intercontinental
road movie shuttling between São Paulo and Lisbon. In Spain, Brazilian
émigré Alex (Fernanda Torres) struggles to survive with her
drug-addicted boyfriend Miguel (Alexandre Borges). In Brazil, Paco (Fernando
Alves Pinto) must deal with the loss of his mother who drops dead because
of Collor's money grab. Now both poverty and exile have pushed them
all into the criminal underworld with crushing results. "A fragmented but
gripping mystery that unfolds with lissome sensuousness. . . . superbly
shot in seductive black and white."—VARIETY (100 mins.)
MAY 7 10
FRI 7 7 P.M.,
MON 10 6 P.M.
THEY DON'T WEAR BLACK
TIE
BRAZIL 1981
DIRECTOR: LEON HIRSZMAN
Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Leon Hirszman's
tight-knit drama has been called a work of Cinema Novo de novo, marking
a new direction in the movement's history. Tião and Maria, a young
couple living in São Paulo, marry when Maria accidentally becomes
pregnant. Meanwhile Tião's father Otavio, recently released from
prison for his political views, becomes involved in a strike at the factory
where all three work. What transpires is a battle of two generations, each
shaped by different political climates. The modern Tião is more
opportunistic and cannot fathom the values of his father—his faith in the
union and solidarity. It is a generation gap that will soon divide
this family. "A small, strong, extremely moving and beautifully directed
and acted new Brazilian film."—Vincent , THE NEW YORK TIMES. (120
mins.)
DOUBLE FEATURE
FRI 7 9:15 P.M.,
MON 10 8:15 P.M.
HOUR OF THE STAR
BRAZIL 1985
DIRECTOR: SUZANA AMARAL
Amaral's poignant first film, made after raising nine children, centers
on Macabea, a naive young woman from the country who moves to São
Paulo and says: I'm a typist, a virgin and I like Coca-Cola"—in essence,
a woman destined to fail. With a knowledge -base consisting of things she's
heard on Time Radio Station, a 24-hour broadcast of trivia, the ill-groomed
Macabea fantasizes a life as a movie star, lives in a downbeat apartment
with three women named Maria and tries to maintain a relationship with
Olimpico (José Dumont), an uneducated brute who berates her. Based
on a novel by Clarice Lispector, Macabea's attempts to overcome her naiveté
and the cruelty with which her unworldliness is met form the heart of this
moving tale. Marcélia Cartaxo won the Best Actress Award at the
Berlin Film Festival for her portrayal of Macabea, "a simple soul transformed
by the most sophisticated artistry into a redemptive icon of all the world's
oppressed."—Andrew Sarris (96 mins.)
MAY 16 17
SUN 16 6 P.M.,
MON 17 6 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
MACUNAIMA
BRAZIL 1969
DIRECTOR: JOAQUIM PEDRO
DE ANDRADE The wild and hilarious MACUNAÍMA dispenses
with good taste from the start, making cannibalism the recurring metaphor
for Brazilian society; director de Andrade declared that "every consumer
is reducible, in the last analysis, to cannibalism." The film's amoral
trickster "hero," Macunaíma (played by the great veteran actor Grande
Otélo), is a composite of characters from indigenous myths of many
regions of Brazil, born fully-grown into a racially-mixed family. Based
on Mário de Andrade's classic 1928 modernist novel, His adventures
in the jungle and the city include sexual adventures and reversals, changes
of race and encounters with man-eating giants, magical objects, a beautiful
urban guerrilla, and, fatally, a cannibalistic river nymph. MACUNAÍMA
is "perhaps the first Cinema Nôvo film to be formally innovative,
politically radical, and immensely popular with the Brazilian public."—Randal
Johnson, BRAZILIAN CINEMA (108 mins.)
DOUBLE FEATURE
SUN 16 7:45 P.M.,
MON 17 7:45 P.M.
LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY
BRAZIL
DIRECTOR: JOSE ARAUJO
A work of great lyricism, LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY mixes elements of fiction
and documentary as it centers around María (María Emilce
Pinto) and Antero (Antero Marques Araujo) and their personal odyssey through
the Sertãto. Maria is the female incarnation of Jesus, representing
the strength of women in her region, a place devastated by drought and
broken political promises. Along with a group of holy women, she embarks
on a mission through the countryside where she meets Antero, a man haunted
by his own religious visions. "In the Sertãto, political agitation
mixes with mysticism and religious fervor. The people live in adversity,
clinging to their belief in a freedom guided by saints and martyrs. LANDSCAPES
OF MEMORY is a tender testimony to their culture, their love for the arid
land, and their memories, poetry and spirituality."—Ramiro Puerta.
(102 mins.)
TRUTH & CONSEQUENCES:
NEW DOCUMENTARIES
The Northwest Film Center
is pleased to premiere some of the most provocative and challenging new
works from the United States, Belgium, Canada, Iran, Germany and Poland,
TRUTH & CONSEQUENCES: NEW DOCUMENTARIES surveys provocative new documentaries
which merge personal and public histories as they uniquely re-examines
major events of the 20th century, tapping not only into the truths of the
past, but into the ways these truths impact the present.
FRI & SAT,
MAR 12 & 13 at 7 p.m.
SUN MAR 14 at 2
& 7 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
THE COLA CONQUEST
CANADA 1998
DIRECTOR: IRENE ANGELICO
Perhaps COKE IS IT, but what does IT want to become? Irene Angelico's fascinating
new film, which could be called "Dallas meets the Cold War and the Carbonated
Generation," has the investigative savvy of I.F. Stone and the smarts of
a great raconteur as it charts the course of this powerful soft drink company
that so successfully sells a product that is more than 99% sweetened water.
Told in three chapters, "The Great Sale," "Cola, War and Peace," and "Cola-Colonization,"
THE COLA CONQUEST is at once a family saga beginning with a snake oil salesman,
a treatise on image-making, advertising and marketing, and a tale of espionage
surrounding pop culture imperialism. Shot in the United States, Canada,
Russia, England, France, Mexico and China, THE COLA CONQUEST begins during
the Civil War and moves to the brink of the 21st century and don't think
arch rival Pepsi is left out. A compelling look at how a simple drink
has affected social struggles, international politics and the inescapable
homogenization of the world. (150 mins.)
MON-WED, MAR 15 -17 at
7:30 p.m.
DIVORCE, IRANIAN STYLE
IRAN 1998
DIRECTORS: KIM LONGINOTTO,
ZIBA MIR-HOSSEINI The Family Law Courts, Tehran. At one
entrance, men are being frisked for weapons. At the other, women
are being forced to remove their make-up." It’s a metaphor," says co-director
Ziba Mir-Hosseinin of these opening shots, "two different entrances,
two different sets of rules." Divorce, Iranian Style offers a slice of
cinema verité which provides fascinating and often humorous insights
into the everyday workings of the Iranian legal system. In particular,
it is the story of three women trying to transform their lives—one because
of physical abuse, one a 16-year-old trying to shed a 38-year-old husband,
and one fighting for custody of her daughters. As the film reveals, under
Islamic laws men can divorce their wives without specific grounds, whereas
women can only divorce with their husband’s consent, or with valid grounds
such as insanity, impotence or financial neglect. This highlight of the
recent Portland International Film Festival, DIVORCE, IRANIAN STYLE is
a film you won't forget. (80 mins.)
WED & THUR, MAR 24
& 25 at 7 p.m.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
VISITING ARTIST
HOUSE OF THE WORLD
U.S. 1999
DIRECTOR: ESTHER PODEMSKI
In Poland, after the Holocaust, modest monuments were quickly put up
as reminders where Jewish cemeteries once stood, small acts of reverence
for the dead. In HOUSE OF THE WORLD (Hebrew for cemetery), former Portlander
and second generation survivor Esther Podemski takes us on a personal odyssey
as she seeks to come to terms with her family's and Jewish Poland's tragic
past. Through a montage of historical footage, amateur photographs, archival
music and moving testimonies, she discovers a Poland all but cleansed of
Jews. Her poignant film, with its themes of loss and reverence, does more
than link generations—it allows us to reconcile deeply felt emotions.
(54 mins.) POST-FILM DISCUSSION WITH THE DIRECTOR. THIS PROGRAM COSPONSORED
BY THE OREGON COUNCIL ON THE HUMANITIES.
TUES & WED, MAR 30
& 31 at 7:30 p.m.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
ETERNAL MEMORY:
VOICES FROM THE GREAT
TERROR
CANADA 1997
DIRECTOR: DAVID PULTZ
Featured in the 1998 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, ETERNAL
MEMORY examines Joseph Stalin's suppression of any and all forms of social
and political resistance through state-induced famine, forced labor and
wholesale executions which caused the death of 20 million citizens of the
USSR during the 1930s and 40s. David Pultz journeyed to the Ukraine just
after the break-up of the Soviet Union as citizens were, for the first
time, able to speak freely about the great terror. Paralleling interviews
with survivors and former prisoners, the KGB, other government officials
and leading historians along with rare archival footage, the calamitous
times unravel with riveting testimony. For the Ukrainians, the ritual exhumation
and reburial of innumerable mass graves are seen as one form of healing.
Narrated by Meryl Streep, Pultz has taken a lost history and brought it
to the front with affecting clarity. (81 mins.)
THUR APRIL 1 at
7:30 p.m. & SAT APRIL 3 at 6 p.m.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
DIAL H-I-S-T-O-R-Y
BELGIUM/FRANCE1997
DIRECTOR: JOHAN GRIMONPREZ
Joining the vanguard of found footage filmmakers Craig Baldwin and Bruce
Conner, Johan Grimonprez has taken discarded and forgotten footage to reinterpret
the 60s and 70s. "Assembled Frankenstein-fashion from exhumed newsreel
footage of hijacking scenes, terrorist attacks and their gruesome
aftermaths (and with a little 'Do the Hustle' for good measure), Grimonrez's
pseudo-documentary follows the flight path of skyjacking, concentrating
on the glorious double decade of the 60s and 70s when violent assaults
were as predictable as lost luggage. The cavalcade of crises is familiar:
Tel Aviv, Athens, Tokyo--each a distant image of some lethal act. The reductive
details are often frightening in their simplicity: on one flight hijackers
demand birthday cake and champagne for a flight attendant; on another the
pilot orders sandwiches for his famished terrorists lest the slaughter
begin. Grimonprez culls the writings of novelist Don DeLillo for the intermittent
flight announcements; one compelling quote declares that artists have disappeared
from the radar screen, having lost the air to terrorists who still have
a grip on reality."—SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. (68 mins.)
PRECEDED BY
WHAT FAROCKI TAUGHT
DIRECTOR: JILL GODMILOW
In a brilliant conceit, Jill Godmilow (FAR FROM POLAND) has made an exact
replica of Harun Farocki's 1969 German short, INEXTINGUISHABLE FIRE, about
Dow Chemical's development of Napalm B. Adding a new dimension to the discussion
of art in the age of mechanical reproduction, Godmilow's inspired film
is a direct challenge to the form of the documentary. "As reconfigured
by Godmilow, the film is intellectually rigorous and emotional frightening,
a ferocious, committed, important historical/political tract for the amnesiac
90s."—Gerald Peary (30 mins.)
TUES APRIL 21 & WED
APRIL 22 at 7:30 p.m., SUN APRIL 25 at 2 p.m.
PHOTOGRAPHER
POLAND 1998
DIRECTOR: DARIUSZ JABLONSKI
In 1987, in
a Viennese antique shop, about 400 color slides were discovered in mint
condition, some of the first color pictures ever made on a newly developed
Agfa film stock. They were taken by Walter Genewein, the chief accountant
of the Lodz Ghetto. Genewein used the Ghetto and its 300,000 inhabitants
to perfect his skills with the camera and to document "subhumans" in the
process of being civilized by the Germans’ culture of work and organization.
Genewein never realized that he was, in fact, crafting a vivid—if not chilling—pictorial
document of "the final solution." Narrated by Arnold Mostowicz, one of
the few survivors of the Lodz Ghetto, Jablonski’s gripping document is
terrifying testimony to not only the events in that city, but the depths
of man’s inhumanity to man as it strikes a powerful emotional chord. Grand
Prize, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. (80 mins.)
SAT MAY 15 at 7:30
P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
VISITING ARTIST
REGRET TO INFORM
U.S. 1998
DIRECTOR: BARBARA SONNEBORN
One of this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Feature
and winner of two Sundance Jury Awards for Best Director and Best Cinemathography,
"REGRET TO INFORM superbly portrays the lasting devastation of the Vietnam
War as seen through the eyes of women, both American and Vietnamese, who
lost their husbands. This is the story of one woman's journey to Vietnam,
twenty years after her husband was killed there, and the women she encounters
who were affected by the war. Hoping to find some closure for her pain
and loss, Barbara Sonneborn wants to see and feel the places where her
husband spent his last days. By intercutting emotional testimonials
from women on both sides of the war who share their suffering, she
makes us understand how real this war remains. Through seeing many different
women's perspectives, we recognize how their emotions contrasted: helplessness
on the part of those in the United States versus inevitable participation
by North and South Vietnamese women. A very powerful, yet quiet, film,
REGRET TO INFORM develops a yet-unseen perspective: that of those left
behind. Focused on Vietnamese and American women, the film is filled with
exceptional interviews which are revealing and poignant. Deeply personal
and vastly universal, REGRET TO INFORM is an involving and moving lesson
about the painful legacy of war."—1999 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. One of this
year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Feature and winner of
two Sundance Jury Awards for Best Director and Best Cinemathography, (72
mins.)
WED & THUR, MAY 19
& 20 at 7:30 p.m.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
MADE IN GERMANY
GERMANY 1997
DIRECTOR: THOMAS HAUSNER
"Few countries have had their 20th-Century drama played out on as widely
viewed a stage as Germany, and the idea that his country’s collective identity
has been largely mediated by its international image is one that German
documentary filmmaker Thomas Hausner relates with rare perspicacity and
flair. In MADE IN GERMANY, Hausner eschews voice-over and interviews,
instead piecing together archival footage of newsreels, beer and car commercials,
movies, television specials and the like to describe a country that has
had its political and cultural identity defined by its global performance.
Even the fall of the Berlin Wall is seen by Hausner, who strings together
Wall-related ad campaigns from AT&T, Caterpillar tractors, etc., to
be a less monumental world event than an advertiser’s wet dream.
By introducing such intertitles as "It’s no wonder we lost the war," Hausner
hints at his amused displeasure not only with a world unwilling to let
his country rise above playing a relatively meager role internationally,
but with a country that would cultivate that role from within."—LA WEEKLY
(85 mins.)
TUES & WED, MAY 25
& 26 at 7:30 p.m.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
POWER: THE JAMES BAY
CREE
VERSUS HYDRO-QUEBEC
CANADA 1997
DIRECTORS: MAGNUS ISACSSON
& GLEN SALZMAN
Echoing concerns very much
alive in the Northwest, POWER is sure to ignite debate on such issues as
First Nation rights, environmental issues and political engagement. Tracing
the battle of the Cree of Northern Quebec to protect their land and wild
rivers from the completion of The James Bay Project, one of the largest
hydroelectric undertakings in the world with over 30 dam and hundreds of
dikes in an area the size of France. Magnus Isacsson and Glen Salzman were
given unusual access not only to the public activities to stop the dam,
but the confidential talks between the parties themselves. The result is
a riveting tale of successes and failures—the galvanizing campaigns and
the divisions created —from the 1970s to the 90s. Among those who share
their points-of-view are Quebec's premieres over the period, the Grand
Chief of the Cree and Robert Kennedy, Jr. (90 mins.)
SPECIAL PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
MAR 18 19 20 21
THUR 18 7:30
P.M., FRI 19 6 & 8 P.M., SAT 20 6 & 8 P.M,
SUN 21 2 P.M.
FRENCH KISSES
SEVENTH HEAVEN
FRANCE 1997
DIRECTOR: BENOIT JACQUOT
A highlight of this year's "Frames of Mind" series, this subtle and complex
look at the dynamics of a marriage in crisis explores the relationship
between Mathilde (Sandrine Kiberlain, A SELF-MADE HERO) and her successful
husband Nico (Vincent Lindon, BETTY BLUE, LA BELLE HISTOIRE). As the film
opens, Mathilde is seen shoplifting and suffering from fainting spells.
Though her husband is concerned, he expects a rational approach to her
problems. But Mathilde meets a mysterious man who introduces her to hypnotherapy,
theories of Jacques Lacan and Feng Shui, the Far East practice of living
harmoniously with the energy of the surrounding environment. Canvassing
her erotic history, the 29-year-old Mathilde soon experiences a sexual
awakening, an event which shifts the power in her marriage. As Mathilde
undergoes her personal metamorphosis, her husband begins to question his
own staid realities. Jacquot's humane portrait foregoes melodrama, instead
drawing its authority from the whirlpool of daily emotions to reveal its
truths. "Middle-class marital 'seventh heaven,' it suggests, is a state
of functioning imperfection, in which powerful psychological forces reach
an equilibrium that is tenuous and unsatisfying at best, but somehow workable."—Stephen
Holden, THE NEW YORK TIMES. (91 mins.) COsponsored by alliance francaise.
MARCH 27 SAT
7:30 P.M.
BEST OF THE NORTHWEST:
THE 25TH NORTHWEST FILM
& VIDEO FESTIVAL TOUR
Tonight's 16 shorts from
this year's NORTHWEST FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL are about to hit the road.
These audience and critic favorites—including a healthy dose of Portland
work— will travel the region and beyond, playing at art house cinemas,
media arts centers and universities. If you missed them at the festival,
or you just can’t get enough, come say bon voyage to the best from the
more than 300 works submitted from filmmakers in five Northwest states.
"I was looking for work that was provocative, arresting and, last but very
much not least, entertaining. I was delighted that so many of the works
I saw [also] had the ability to surprise."—Christine Vachon, 1998 Festival
Judge.(128 mins.)
MAR 22 MON
7 P.M.
OPEN SCREENING
Regional film and videomakers
are encouraged to bring or send work for open screening. Admission is free
and there is no charge to show work. To ensure we can arrange for the equipment
you require, please make sure your works arrive at the Film Center office,
1219 S.W. Park, by March 18. FREE POPCORN.
APRIL 11 6:30 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERE
HOT IRONS
U.S. 1999
DIRECTOR: ANDREW DOSUMNU
Hair has long been an expressive medium in black American culture, from
traditions emerging from African ancestry through styles indelibly fused
with politics, entertainment, athletics and fashion. New York fashion stylist
and music video director (for Isaac Hayes, Aaron Neville, Ziggy Marley
and Morcheeba among others) Andrew Dosunmu dives headlong into the world
of big hair, Detroit-style, emerging with a visually striking documentary
portrait of contemporary "hair with an attitude" and the competitive world
of black fashion "hair wars." What was once Motown might now be called
"Hairtown" as stylists, contestants, press and hair-care product makers
from throughout the mid-west and south converge to out do each other's
dos'. (61 mins.) Tonight's screening, with director Andrew
Dosunmu in attendance, is sponsored by Paper Magazine and Saucebox and
is a benefit for the Black United Fund of Oregon's ARTIST SCHOLARSHIP
Program and the Northwest Film Center's School of Film. Screening only
tickets $10; ADVANCE Film and post-screening party at Saucebox $25.
APRIL 19 MON
7 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
1999 STUDENT ACADEMY
AWARDS JURYING
Tonight the Film Center
hosts the regional jurying for the 25TH ANNUAL STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS presented
by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. During this public
screening, jurors will view the top entries from college students in nine
western states, among them USC, UCLA, CalArts, San Francisco State and
Stanford, selecting the best animation, documentary, dramatic and alternative
films which will be forwarded to Los Angeles for the final competition
in May. Admission is free to this singular opportunity to see the work
being done at the top west coast film schools.
MAY 21 22 23 24
FRI 21 7
P.M., SAT 22 7 P.M., SUN 23 7 P.M., MON 24
7 P.M.
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
LIFE ON EARTH
MAIL 1998
DIRECTOR: ADBERRAHMANE
SISSAKO
The Film Center is pleased
to reprise two films showcased as part of 2000 SEEN By in this year's Portland
International Film Festival. On the eve of the year 2000, Abderrahmane
Sissako, a Mauritania filmmaker living in France, goes home to visit his
father in a small village in Mali. He roams the streets filming the visually
stunning landscapes. An antiquated radio station broadcasts the news and
details of new year celebrations around the globe. At the post office,
residents attempt to reach the outside world on the village’s only telephone,
while on the streets daily life goes on peacefully and unchanged as the
new millennium arrives. Sissako’s poetic and incisive meditation asks how,
on the eve of the new century, can the age of technological advancement
have passed by entire sections of the world? (61 mins.)
FOLLOWED BY
THE BOOK OF LIFE
U.S. 1998
DIRECTOR: HAL HARTLEY
December 31, 1999. In Hartley's
(HENRY FOOL, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH) darkly comic retelling of the Apocalypse,
Jesus (Martin Donovan) arrives at JFK Airport with his beautiful and intriguing
assistant, Magdalena (PJ Harvey). The pervading question on everyone’s
mind is: will the beginning of the new millennium mean the end of life?
Jesus holds the key. Over the course of the day, he will battle the Devil
for human souls, risk the wrath of God and banishment from heaven and struggle
with himself to determine whether these lives are worth saving. In
an unrelenting kaleidoscope of fast-moving images and heart-pounding music,
amidst a techno driven, computerized world, the fate of man unfolds much
like an espionage thriller—holding the viewer until the final moment.
(62 mins.)
MAY 28 29 30
FRI 7 P.M.,
SAT 29 7 P.M., SUN 30 7 P.M.
PORTLAND PREMIERES
THE 37TH ANNUAL ANN ARBOR
FILM FESTIVAL TOUR
The Film Center is pleased
to present the best of the 37TH ANN ARBOR FILM FFESTIVAL, one of the oldest
and most respected festivals celebrating American and international independent
and experimental cinema. From animation to the avant garde, the ANN ARBOR
FILM FESTIVAL is the only festival in the nation devoted solely to short
works originating in 16mm. The exact works being screened are still being
decided as we go to press, but with this year's judges, including Portland
animator/filmmaker Chel White, Stanford University's Jan Krawitz and Canadian
experimental filmmaker Michael Holbloom, the tour should boast a diverse
selection of the celebrated and the unknown, the sacred and profane.
(2 hrs.)