Reel Blues
The Northwest Film Center invites you to two special outdoor screenings on the Oregonian A&E Front Porch Stage at this year’s Waterfront Blues Festival. All-day admission to the Festival is $5, plus two cans of food for the Oregon Food Bank. The festival schedule is at waterfrontbluesfest.org

JULY 2 FRI 10 PM
OUTDOORS—WATERFRONT PARK
HUBERT SUMLIN: LIVING THE BLUES
US 1987
DIRECTORS: JIM KENT, SUMNER BURGWYN Born in Mississippi in 1931, Hubert Sumlin first played locally at fish fries and juke joints with harmonica wizard James Cotton. In the early 1950s he moved to Chicago, beginning a 25-year association as guitarist with the great Howlin’ Wolf. As Wolf’s steady sideman, and in a career since, Sumlin has recorded dozens of classic performances that remain influential favorites for blues and rock guitarists ever since. Sumlin’s career provides an overview of the evolution the blues from its origins in the Delta to the electric Chicago era that transformed modern American music. Kent and Burgwyn’s loving film gives eloquently testimony to the remarkable career and impact of a living legend. Hubert Sumlin will perform at the Blues Festival on July 4. Jim Kent will introduce the film. 60 mins.)

JULY 3 SAT 10 PM
OUTDOORS – WATERFRONT PARK
THE HOWLIN’ WOLF STORY
US 2003
DIRECTOR: DON MCGLYNN Don McGlynn’s recent film is the definitive portrait of one of the blues’ most forceful artists. Through uncut performances of classic tracks, countless excerpts, and interviews with fellow musicians, band members, friends and family, the tragedy of Wolf’s early years in the Mississippi Delta, family difficulties, little known military service (in Oregon!), and amazing musical legacy receive their just due. Included are vintage performances of many of the Wolf’s (and Hubert Sumlin’s) timeless recordings including “Moanin' at Midnight,” “Shake for Me,” “Dust My Broom,” “Smokestack Lightning,” “Killing Floor,” and “Back Door Man.” Mark Hoffman, co-author of the just released biography “Moanin’ At Midnight: The Life and Times of Howling Wolf” will introduce the film. 90 mins.)

JULY 2 3 5 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, MON 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
KOPS
SWEDEN 2003
DIRECTOR: JOSEF FARES Fares’ charming, quirky comedy takes place in the small Swedish town of Högboträsk, where there hasn’t been a single crime in over 10 years. Ideal for the four-man police force, whose main activities are eating waffles and playing poker. They love the town and can’t imagine living anywhere else. When they hear that their station is being closed down and they’ll be transferred elsewhere, they concoct a phony crime spree in the hope that their services won’t be terminated. Filled with comic chaos and pitch-perfect performances, KOPS is a lighthearted, fantasy-filled parody of police action films and a celebration of a quieter way of life featuring a delightful group of truly eccentric characters. One of the audience favorites at this year’s PIFF, Jim Carey is slated to star in a US remake, not likely to live up to the hilarious original. (90 mins.)

JULY 7 WED 7 PM
SUNDANCE CHANNEL FILM SHOWCASE
GUILD THEATRE
CUL DE SAC: A SUBURBAN WAR STORY
US 2002
DIRECTOR: GARRETT SCOTT In 1995, Shawn Nelson, an unemployed plumber from San Diego, California, stole a U.S. Army tank and ran amok for 30 minutes through his home suburb of Claremont until he was taken down by government gunmen. News stories covered Nelson’s rampage as a random act of violence by yet another disgruntled nutcase. But Scott’s documentary digs deeper. Through interviews with Nelson’s friends and family and archival footage of the San Diego military industry, Scott investigates both the personal stories and the social climate that made this seemingly random act of violence possible. Not just another true crime story, CUL DE SAC analyzes one American town’s precarious entry into a globalized, de-industrialized, unfamiliar 21st century. (60 mins.) With added surprise shorts.
Sponsored by the Sundance Channel. Admission is free for Film Center and Art Museum members AND GUESTS.

JULY 9 10 11 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, SUN 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
MORNING SUN
US 2003
DIRECTOR: CARMA HINTON, GEREMIE BARMÉ, RICHARD GORDON During China’s Cultural Revolution (c. 1966-1976) millions suffered and an untold number of others died. But despite the magnitude of the social and political upheavl, the impact Cultural Revolution remains only vaguely understood in the West. Like their earlier GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE, MORNING SUN provides a riveting look at Chinese history and culture and the forces at play during this tulmultous time. Using rare archival footage and clips from Communist propaganda films of the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, MORNING SUN offers a multi-perspective view of the events and changes that promised a secular form of the sublime, and how that promise and its frustration created the China of the 21st century. (117 mins.)

JULY 16 17 18 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, SUN 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
L’AGE D’OR
FRANCE 1930
DIRECTOR: LUIS BUÑUEL "In Paris in the late twenties, Buñuel mixed eagerly with the Surrealists, and both UN CHIEN ANDALOU and L’ÂGE D’OR, collaborations with Salvador Dali, are surrealist films. L’ÂGE D’OR is distinctly Freudian, suggesting Buñuel's violent reaction to the sexual perversions he had encountered at his Jesuit school. The swelling chords of Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde' on the soundtrack add to the erotic atmosphere; the lovers fight continually against everyone else in this symbolic world. Freedom, Buñuel appears to emphasize, exists only in sexual indulgence or, more precisely, in complete unselfconsciousness. The film is rich in cinematic innovations—the interior monologue, the use of mirrors and so on—but it is still deliberately obscure in parts. . . ” —Peter Cowie, "Seventy Years Of Cinema.” “Through Surrealism I discovered for the first time that man is not free.”—Luis Buñuel. (63 mins.)

WITH
UN CHIEN ANDALOU
FRANCE 1929
DIRECTORS: LUIS BUÑUEL, SALVADOR DALI Buñuel and Dali’s classic surrealist film. (16 mins.)

JULY 23 24 25 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, SUN 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
BLIND SHAFT
CHINA 2003
DIRECTOR: LI YANG Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival but banned in China, BLIND SHAFT offers an unforgettable glimpse of Chinese working-class life and a realistic thriller full of twists and turns. In the darkness of a remote, illegal coal mine, loners Jinming and Zhaoyang kill a fellow worker. Claiming that the victim is a relative and threatening to alert government authorities, they extort a sizable compensation from their employer. The plan seems foolproof until they choose their next victim, Fengming, a 16-year-old who has left school in order to support his family. Soon, the killers are faced with a horrible predicament: murdering Fengming is not so easy; yet saving him is next to impossible. A chilling tale of Chinese workers trying to get by any way they can, Li’s secretly shot film is as haunting as it is provocative. “Dazzling. . .A true piece of film magic.”—Elvis Mitchell, NEW YORK TIMES. “The best crime movie now on screen.”—Stuart Klawans, THE NATION. (100 mins.)

JUL 25 29 SUN 7 PM, THU 7 PM
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
MEDIUM COOL
US 1968
DIRECTOR: HASKELL WEXLER Noted cinematographer (WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, DAYS OF HEAVEN) Wexler’s groundbreaking directorial debut focuses on questions of media responsibility and objectivity that remain relevant today. Wexler’s story follows a TV cameraman through the assasination of Robert Kennedy and the police riots at the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, placing his fictional actors in the midst of real events captured in cinema-verite style. As his narrative and documentary threads conjunct, Wexler exposes the media’s detachment as well as its propensity to support the status quo while ignoring minority voices and visions. Starring Robert Forster and Peter Bonerz, MEDIUM COOL takes off from McLuhan's observations of the "Cool Medium," to build a savage commentary on the impact of television on American lives. (110 mins.)

JUL 30 31 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
PICCADILLY
UK 1929
DIRECTOR: E.A. DUPONT Recently restored by the British Film Institute and premiered at the New YorK Film Festival last Fall, PICCADILLY has emerged as a classic from the British silent era. In 1929, after several starring roles in Germany, the young Anna May Wong (SHANGHAI EXPRESS) made her way to London to star in her final silent film and her only feature with German-born director E.A. Dupont. In this melodrama of obsession and murder, she plays a scullery maid named Shosho who, while dancing in the kitchen, draws the attention of her boss and becomes the star attraction at a trendy London nightclub. Dupont lavished Wong with close-ups and glorious costumes, allowing her to easily upstage co-star Gilda Gray. The film also features one of the very first on-screen performances by Charles Laughton, playing a boisterous nightclub patron. "Dupont’s assured direction, Alfred Jünge’s art direction, and Werner Brandes’ lighting create an atmosphere so hauntingly evocative as to be satisfying in itself." —TIME OUT FILM GUIDE. "A visually eloquent and sometimes dazzling backstage melodrama. . . . PICCADILLY is stolen by Wong" —J. Hoberman, THE VILLAGE VOICE. (108 mins.)

AUG 4 WED 7 PM
SUNDANCE CHANNEL FILM SHOWCASE
GUILD THEATRE
MELVIN GOES TO DINNER
US 2003
DIRECTOR: BOB ODENKIRK
Winner of Audience Prizes at Slamdance, South by Southwest and numerous other festivals, Odenkirk's comedic first feature is a based on Michael Blieden's critically acclaimed play "Phyro-Giants." Melvin (Blieden), an aimless, lonely, 30-something misfit, practically lives in his office, home to a bevvy of less- than-sociable practices and unhealthly relationships. A speed-dial mishap thrusts Melvin into an unwanted dinner with a distant friend, where they are joined by two women (Maura Tierney and Stephanie Courtney) whose connection to each other is unclear, as is the explanation of why they're there in the first place. The wine soon overcoming inhibitions, the uproarious conversation between strangers skips through religion, adulthood, sex, infidelity, secrets and everything in between, in the processing providing an entertaining study of how the art of conversation can be life changing. "An intelligent, seriocomic film that, at its best, reminds of what Woody Allen used to deliver in his movies."—VARIETY.
(83 mins.)
Sponsored by the Sundance Channel. Admission is free for Film Center and Art Museum members AND GUESTS.

AUG 6 7 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE — VISITING FILMMAKER
BLOSSOMS OF FIRE
US/MEXICO 2000
DIRECTORS: MAUREEN GOSLING, ELLEN OSBORNE
Can a matriachal utopia exist in a remote region of modern-day Mexico? Veteran film editor and Les Blank collaborator Maureen Gosling and codirector Ellen Osborne illuminate the infectious self-confidence, creativity and outspoken spirit of the Zapotec women of southern Oaxaca, Mexico in this lively portrait of an often mis-represented culture. It’s a society marked by female independence, progressive politics, and an unusual tolerance of homosexuality. Juchitecan women, celebrated by artists Frida Kahlo and Miguel Covarrubias, run their own businesses, embroider their signature fiery blossoms on clothing, and share household and childrearing duties with the men in their community to preserve the soul of their traditional culture. “Exuberantly upbeat.. . .A socialist realist travelogue in the style of a latter-day Orson Welles, with the philosophy of a feminist Hemingway and the palette of the great muralist Diego Rivera. The film is almost drunk with color, as if its glorious reds were a visual Prozac to ward away the blues.”—Bay Area Reporter. In Spanish and English.
(74 mins.)

AUG 7 SAT 11 AM
GUILD THEATRE
FLICKER: FILM CLUB PRESENTS
YOU CAN BE A WOMAN MOVIEMAKER
VISITING ARTIST: MAUREEN GOSLING Wondering if you have what it takes to have a career in film? What are the qualities and skills required? Is it harder for women to succeed? How do you get started? Join visiting artist Maureen Gosling, a national award-winning filmmaker based in Oakland, California, for this FREE special session especially for girls, their parents, teachers and counselors who work with young women. She will talk about her more than 20 years of experience as an editor, producer and director of films for public broadcasting and theatres. Bring your questions! Her new documentary, BLOSSOMS OF FIRE, screens on Aug 6 and 7 (above) and she offers a workshop on Aug 8 (see page 7). FREE
FLICKER: FILM CLUB offers free programs for film-interested teens the last Saturday of the month at the Guild Theatre throughout the school year. Starting its 5th year in September, the club lets teens meet local and visiting filmmakers, view and analyze film, discuss aspects of film production and find out about local film resources. Membership is free and no experience is required. Just show up and join the fun! Our thanks to the Adams Foundation for helping to make Flicker possible.

AUG 13 14 15 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, SUN 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS
CHINA 2002
DIRECTOR: SIJIE DAIE Based on the best-selling novel written by the director, BALZAC is a lush vision of life in a remote Sichuan mountain village in the early 1970s. In the lingering grip of the cultural revolution, two university students wrongly deemed reactionary intellectuals are sent to the village as part of their re-education duty to the state. Their cruel sentence (hauling human waste for fertilizer and designed to purge them of their western-oriented education) is carried out under the stern and watchful Maoist eye of the village chief. When the boys discover a hidden cache of forbidden books, they read exotic stories to the beautiful granddaughter of the local tailor in order to woo her. The power of literature unlocks and awakens in each of them the ability to change their worlds in truly revolutionary ways. “Funny, touching, beguiling. . . Using a familiar but effective metaphor for a lost time and a buried past lost beneath the waters created by a huge dam on the Yangtse.”—The Guardian. (110 mins.)

AUG 20 21 22 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, SUN 7 PM
GUILD THEATRE
DISTANT
TURKEY 2003
DIRECTOR: NURI BILGE CEYLAN Winner of three major awards at the Istanbul Film Festival and the Grand Jury and Best Actor Prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, DISTANT tells the story of an impoverished young man from the country who arrives in a snowy Istanbul to stay with his cousin, a world-weary older photographer. Yusuf is hoping to find work at the docks and eventually to board a ship that will take him away from a troubled life. Mahmut takes him in, despite the disruption to his ordered and solitary life. What follows is an eloquently detailed series of small episodes in which the passive, uncommunicative young man and his obsessive older relative try to get along together. Combining a sly, minimalist aesthetic with a wryly observed character-study, writer-director-cinematographer Ceylan (CLOUDS OF MAY) presents a film of infinite sadness and alienation, revealed through the often funny and touching contrasts between a man looking for his dream and a man who has long since given up. (110 mins.)