Above: Notes of an Early Fall Part 1
The Ann Arbor Film Festival makes for an ideal entry point for festival novices wanting to dive into the cinema referred to as avant-garde, experimental, or simply, artist’s. The Michigan Theater hosts all of the screenings for the fest (minus a straggler here and there), making it easy to catch as many films as your heart desires. After 52 years, the festival has created a community for itself in the city. On one end, you have the pros who’ve been there since the beginning and openly opine for the good old days when the smell of activism filled the theater. On the other, you have “the youth”; the University of Michigan providing an inexhaustible supply of the curious and the studious. And, of course, you have the typical film fans and socializers balancing out the mix. This sense of community is cemented...
The Ann Arbor Film Festival makes for an ideal entry point for festival novices wanting to dive into the cinema referred to as avant-garde, experimental, or simply, artist’s. The Michigan Theater hosts all of the screenings for the fest (minus a straggler here and there), making it easy to catch as many films as your heart desires. After 52 years, the festival has created a community for itself in the city. On one end, you have the pros who’ve been there since the beginning and openly opine for the good old days when the smell of activism filled the theater. On the other, you have “the youth”; the University of Michigan providing an inexhaustible supply of the curious and the studious. And, of course, you have the typical film fans and socializers balancing out the mix. This sense of community is cemented...
- 5/30/2014
- by Alex Hansen
- MUBI
The fourth annual London Underground Film Festival is the first edition of the fest to be run by new caretakers Daniel Fawcett and Clara Pais, two accomplished filmmakers. The festival will run November 14-17 at the legendary avant-garde media center, the Horse Hospital.
Fawcett and Pais have programmed a bold fest, which begins on the 14th with the London-based documentary Grasp the Nettle by Dean Puckett. The film follows the challenges faced by a group of land rights activists fighting for a piece of disused land in West London. Also on opening night is Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow, which was filmed surreptitiously at Disneyland; and Táu by Daniel Castro Zimbrón.
Other films screening at the fest include the award winning doc A Body Without Organs, directed by Steven Graves; Alex Munt’s Warhol homage Poor Little Rich Girls (After Warhol); Irene Lusztig’s history of childbirth, The Motherhood...
Fawcett and Pais have programmed a bold fest, which begins on the 14th with the London-based documentary Grasp the Nettle by Dean Puckett. The film follows the challenges faced by a group of land rights activists fighting for a piece of disused land in West London. Also on opening night is Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow, which was filmed surreptitiously at Disneyland; and Táu by Daniel Castro Zimbrón.
Other films screening at the fest include the award winning doc A Body Without Organs, directed by Steven Graves; Alex Munt’s Warhol homage Poor Little Rich Girls (After Warhol); Irene Lusztig’s history of childbirth, The Motherhood...
- 11/13/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
After 10 years the south-east's most prominent film festival has kept its eclectic edge but grown in status and ambition
The latest instalment in our new Festival radar series is from Neil Mitchell, a freelance writer and editor of World Film Locations: London, among other publications. He also blogs here, and you can follow him on Twitter @nrm1972.
Do you know of any festivals that deserve more attention? If so, email adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.
Festival name: Cine-City.
Location: Brighton, West Sussex.
Date: 15 November – 2 December 2012.
This year saw Brighton's Cine-City film festival reach its 10th edition. Running for 18 days across a dozen venues, the festival celebrated the landmark anniversary by looking to both its own future and that of a host of emerging film-makers. A heavy accent on first-time features dominated the schedule, along with guaranteed crowd-pullers such as opening-night film Seven Psychopaths (Martin McDonagh), local boy Ben Wheatley's...
The latest instalment in our new Festival radar series is from Neil Mitchell, a freelance writer and editor of World Film Locations: London, among other publications. He also blogs here, and you can follow him on Twitter @nrm1972.
Do you know of any festivals that deserve more attention? If so, email adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.
Festival name: Cine-City.
Location: Brighton, West Sussex.
Date: 15 November – 2 December 2012.
This year saw Brighton's Cine-City film festival reach its 10th edition. Running for 18 days across a dozen venues, the festival celebrated the landmark anniversary by looking to both its own future and that of a host of emerging film-makers. A heavy accent on first-time features dominated the schedule, along with guaranteed crowd-pullers such as opening-night film Seven Psychopaths (Martin McDonagh), local boy Ben Wheatley's...
- 1/3/2013
- by Guardian readers
- The Guardian - Film News
Now a permanent part of the south coast city's cultural calender, Brighton's Cinecity Film Festival returns this week to celebrate it's 10th anniversary edition. Under the patronage of Nick Cave, Paddy Considine, Henry Normal, John Hillcoat, Steve Coogan and Barry Adamson, and run as a partnership between the Duke of York's Picturehouse, Screen Archive South East and The University of Brighton, the festival provides just the sort of eclectic programme designed to appeal to the city's bohemian population.
Spread across 12 venues, including the cinema, Brighton Museum and The Nightingale Theatre, this year's festival - running from November 15 to December 2 - features nine separate strands that encompass major upcoming releases, artists' films, queer cinema and live performance. One strand is a series of events dedicated to Brighton-based, avant-garde filmmaker Jeff Keen, who sadly passed away earlier this year, taking in talks, a study day, displays...
Spread across 12 venues, including the cinema, Brighton Museum and The Nightingale Theatre, this year's festival - running from November 15 to December 2 - features nine separate strands that encompass major upcoming releases, artists' films, queer cinema and live performance. One strand is a series of events dedicated to Brighton-based, avant-garde filmmaker Jeff Keen, who sadly passed away earlier this year, taking in talks, a study day, displays...
- 11/10/2012
- by Neil Mitchell
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Cinecity: The Brighton Film Festival | Bradford Animation Festival | Bath Film Festival | William Klein
Cinecity: The Brighton Film Festival
Before Cinecity came along 10 years ago, this most movie-friendly of cities didn't have a regular festival to call its own. The void has been decisively filled ever since, thankfully, and this year's anniversary event springs up in venues across the city, including the Pavilion and The Basement, which becomes a pop-up cinema showing music films. There's the expected roster of new international cinema, such as The Hunt, but off the beaten track are artists, films, live music, and a celebration of the late Brighton-based film-maker Jeff Keen.
Various venues, Thu to 2 Dec
Bradford Animation Festival
Animation might reach the parts live-action can't, but it doesn't always reach the audiences it could. So it's only through events like this you'll even find out what you're missing. Led by the feature-length Crulic, which uses...
Cinecity: The Brighton Film Festival
Before Cinecity came along 10 years ago, this most movie-friendly of cities didn't have a regular festival to call its own. The void has been decisively filled ever since, thankfully, and this year's anniversary event springs up in venues across the city, including the Pavilion and The Basement, which becomes a pop-up cinema showing music films. There's the expected roster of new international cinema, such as The Hunt, but off the beaten track are artists, films, live music, and a celebration of the late Brighton-based film-maker Jeff Keen.
Various venues, Thu to 2 Dec
Bradford Animation Festival
Animation might reach the parts live-action can't, but it doesn't always reach the audiences it could. So it's only through events like this you'll even find out what you're missing. Led by the feature-length Crulic, which uses...
- 11/10/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The 6th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival is taking over all three screens of the Factory Theatre for a blow-out four-day event on Sept. 6-9.
Making it’s World Premiere at the fest on the 8th is the highly anticipated President Wolfman, the latest “green movie” by director Mike Davis that he’s cobbled together from public domain footage and feature films and set to an outrageous new soundtrack. The film looks like it promises to be a rollicking good time.
Other highlights of the fest include Guy Maddin‘s latest trippy film noir, Keyhole, about a mobster revisiting his homestead’s old memories; Bob Ray‘s documentary about Austin, Texas’ homegrown Total Badass; Bobcat Goldthwait’s media takedown God Bless America; Michal Kosakowski’s underground murder fantasy documentary hit Zero Killed; Richard Griffin’s funky The Disco Exorcist; and more.
Some of the extra special events of the fest...
Making it’s World Premiere at the fest on the 8th is the highly anticipated President Wolfman, the latest “green movie” by director Mike Davis that he’s cobbled together from public domain footage and feature films and set to an outrageous new soundtrack. The film looks like it promises to be a rollicking good time.
Other highlights of the fest include Guy Maddin‘s latest trippy film noir, Keyhole, about a mobster revisiting his homestead’s old memories; Bob Ray‘s documentary about Austin, Texas’ homegrown Total Badass; Bobcat Goldthwait’s media takedown God Bless America; Michal Kosakowski’s underground murder fantasy documentary hit Zero Killed; Richard Griffin’s funky The Disco Exorcist; and more.
Some of the extra special events of the fest...
- 8/30/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
As much as the underground film and art worlds mourned the passing of iconic British avant-garde media artist Jeff Keen back on June 21, his passing was, of course, felt more deeply by his surviving family members. At Keen’s funeral, his daughter Stella Keen — aka Stella Starr — delivered an incredibly moving and inspirational eulogy for father, which is reprinted in full below. Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film is honored that Stella has granted us permission to publish it:
They say a person’s life should be measured by their deeds not words.
My dad’s life can be measured by both — and what words! What actions! An amazing legacy of life’s work by a wonderful man who was an original, a genius — true to himself and who just got on with it.
He worked every day and always said an artist shouldn’t have to explain what...
They say a person’s life should be measured by their deeds not words.
My dad’s life can be measured by both — and what words! What actions! An amazing legacy of life’s work by a wonderful man who was an original, a genius — true to himself and who just got on with it.
He worked every day and always said an artist shouldn’t have to explain what...
- 8/14/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This Week’s Must Read: Pfft, forget the Sight & Sound polls — Hey, they never ask for my opinion! — the One+One Filmmaking Journal has compiled a great list of 10 films they love and which you must see, none of which we can really argue with. The list includes films by George Kuchar, Jeff Keen, Derek Jarman, Shuji Terayama and, of course, several more — including one film we ourselves saw and loved just recently, the bat-shit crazy Hausu by Nobuhiko Obayashi.If you want some awesome Sunday experimental film browsing, then a great stop is the Mono No Aware filmmaking workshop films!If you live in Toronto, or want to live there, the Images Festival is looking to hire a programmer for next year’s festival.Film Journal International reviews Pip Chodorov’s Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Film, which has been screening at the Anthology Film Archives. The review asks the question,...
- 8/5/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Australia’s Revelation Perth International Film Festival will be holding it’s explosive 15th annual edition on July 5-15 with one of it’s most jam-packed lineups yet.
One of the most special events that Revelation will be holding is July 14‘s retrospective of the films of Jeff Keen, the pioneering British underground filmmaker who very sadly just passed away on June 21. Keen’s work has been having a major resurgence lately and Revelation is the latest organization to so boldly feature his breathtaking experimental film work, from classics like 1967′s Marvo Movie to modern films like Artwar (1993) and Joy Thru Film (2000). This is absolutely an event not to be missed.
Another staggering event this year is a very special live presentation of Crispin Hellion Glover‘s notorious underground films What Is It? and It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (Click film titles for Bad Lit reviews!) These very...
One of the most special events that Revelation will be holding is July 14‘s retrospective of the films of Jeff Keen, the pioneering British underground filmmaker who very sadly just passed away on June 21. Keen’s work has been having a major resurgence lately and Revelation is the latest organization to so boldly feature his breathtaking experimental film work, from classics like 1967′s Marvo Movie to modern films like Artwar (1993) and Joy Thru Film (2000). This is absolutely an event not to be missed.
Another staggering event this year is a very special live presentation of Crispin Hellion Glover‘s notorious underground films What Is It? and It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (Click film titles for Bad Lit reviews!) These very...
- 6/26/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Experimental film-maker whose Diy spirit led to a huge output of videos, poetry and art
The fiercely original film-maker, poet and artist Jeff Keen, who has died aged 88, defied categorisation. He produced a vast body of paintings, drawings, sculpture and punchy Beat poetry, but is best known for his films, which incorporated collage, animation, found footage and live action – often all in one work. Keen used highly innovative techniques of superimposition and editing, and frequently etched and degraded the film surface. Works such as Marvo Movie (1967), Rayday Film (1968-75) and Mad Love (1972-78) were shot with his friends and family either at home, on the streets of Brighton or at the local tip; their fantastical, Diy countercultural qualities evoked the spirit of Andy Warhol's Factory and the early cinema pioneers of Brighton, where Keen lived. Despite making his first film in his late 30s, he completed more than 70 films and videos throughout his life.
The fiercely original film-maker, poet and artist Jeff Keen, who has died aged 88, defied categorisation. He produced a vast body of paintings, drawings, sculpture and punchy Beat poetry, but is best known for his films, which incorporated collage, animation, found footage and live action – often all in one work. Keen used highly innovative techniques of superimposition and editing, and frequently etched and degraded the film surface. Works such as Marvo Movie (1967), Rayday Film (1968-75) and Mad Love (1972-78) were shot with his friends and family either at home, on the streets of Brighton or at the local tip; their fantastical, Diy countercultural qualities evoked the spirit of Andy Warhol's Factory and the early cinema pioneers of Brighton, where Keen lived. Despite making his first film in his late 30s, he completed more than 70 films and videos throughout his life.
- 6/24/2012
- by William Fowler
- The Guardian - Film News
Jeff Keen, the iconic British underground filmmaker and artist, passed away on June 21 after battling cancer for the past several years.
Keen began making films in the early ’60s and, although he was geographically distanced from the then burgeoning underground film scene in the U.S., his work was remarkably contemporary to and prescient of the techniques and styles of the art cinema of the time.
Films like his legendary Marvo Movie (1967) are a hyper-kinetic assault of pop culture iconography, American B-movie flair, playful performances, personal observation and other highly stylized visual arrangements filmed through double exposure, single-frame photography, stop-motion painting and other techniques.
Despite making films steadily for over 40 years, knowledge of Keen’s work never transcended much further past his native England. However quite recently there has been a growing global interest in his films and artwork that coincided with his falling into ill health and other recent troubles.
Keen began making films in the early ’60s and, although he was geographically distanced from the then burgeoning underground film scene in the U.S., his work was remarkably contemporary to and prescient of the techniques and styles of the art cinema of the time.
Films like his legendary Marvo Movie (1967) are a hyper-kinetic assault of pop culture iconography, American B-movie flair, playful performances, personal observation and other highly stylized visual arrangements filmed through double exposure, single-frame photography, stop-motion painting and other techniques.
Despite making films steadily for over 40 years, knowledge of Keen’s work never transcended much further past his native England. However quite recently there has been a growing global interest in his films and artwork that coincided with his falling into ill health and other recent troubles.
- 6/22/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
New feature that I tried out last week and which I plan on continuing into the future: Check Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s Facebook page tomorrow (Monday) to see which link got the most clicks.
The L.A. Times published an in-depth profile of filmmaker Nicholas McCarthy about his struggles in trying to get a feature film going. A coda that happened post article publication: McCarthy’s The Pact just got picked up for distribution by IFC Midnight after a few successful Sundance screenings. I remember reviewing the short film version of The Pact about a year ago…Speaking of Sundance, if you want an awesome “boots on the ground” report on what attending the festival is actually like, you have to scroll through donna k.’s tons of film reviews and photo posts about her adventures there. I’ve avoided all other Sundance coverage except hers.
The L.A. Times published an in-depth profile of filmmaker Nicholas McCarthy about his struggles in trying to get a feature film going. A coda that happened post article publication: McCarthy’s The Pact just got picked up for distribution by IFC Midnight after a few successful Sundance screenings. I remember reviewing the short film version of The Pact about a year ago…Speaking of Sundance, if you want an awesome “boots on the ground” report on what attending the festival is actually like, you have to scroll through donna k.’s tons of film reviews and photo posts about her adventures there. I’ve avoided all other Sundance coverage except hers.
- 1/29/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In 2008, the British Film Institute interviewed legendary underground filmmaker Jeff Keen about the movies he’s made, the movies that inspired him, the type of film he prefers to shoot with and exactly what type of art he makes. Plus, the above piece includes lots of cutaways to samples of Keen’s amazing filmography.
Not to give too much away about the little gems that Keen drops throughout the interview, but some of the best bits include: The time a woman cried after a screening of his classic Marvo Movie. (Which may or may not have been a positive “review.”) Keen definitely does not consider himself a pop artist, even though his work includes lots of pop images and references. Yes, he was influenced a lot by American B-movies, particularly Westerns.
However, one of the most interesting tidbits Keen discusses is that in the ’90s he produced a series of...
Not to give too much away about the little gems that Keen drops throughout the interview, but some of the best bits include: The time a woman cried after a screening of his classic Marvo Movie. (Which may or may not have been a positive “review.”) Keen definitely does not consider himself a pop artist, even though his work includes lots of pop images and references. Yes, he was influenced a lot by American B-movies, particularly Westerns.
However, one of the most interesting tidbits Keen discusses is that in the ’90s he produced a series of...
- 1/26/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Jan. 12 — Feb. 11
Opening reception: Jan. 12, 6:00 p.m.
Elizabeth Dee Gallery
545 West 20th St.
New York, NY 10011
Hosted by: Elizabeth Dee Gallery
Legendary British underground filmmaker Jeff Keen will finally have his first ever solo exhibition in the U.S. at the Elizabeth Dee Gallery in New York City from Jan. 12 to Feb. 11. The opening night reception will be on Jan. 12 at 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The exhibition will include both Keen’s paintings and films. Keen has created an extensive and highly influential body of work over his prolific career in England. However, he is not as well-known outside of his home country.
Keen’s film work is typically frenetically paced using stop frame animation and in-camera editing, and filled with pop culture imagery mixed along with radical political themes. His style has also always been amazingly way ahead of its time. According to the Elizabeth...
Opening reception: Jan. 12, 6:00 p.m.
Elizabeth Dee Gallery
545 West 20th St.
New York, NY 10011
Hosted by: Elizabeth Dee Gallery
Legendary British underground filmmaker Jeff Keen will finally have his first ever solo exhibition in the U.S. at the Elizabeth Dee Gallery in New York City from Jan. 12 to Feb. 11. The opening night reception will be on Jan. 12 at 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The exhibition will include both Keen’s paintings and films. Keen has created an extensive and highly influential body of work over his prolific career in England. However, he is not as well-known outside of his home country.
Keen’s film work is typically frenetically paced using stop frame animation and in-camera editing, and filled with pop culture imagery mixed along with radical political themes. His style has also always been amazingly way ahead of its time. According to the Elizabeth...
- 1/10/2012
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
Savage Witches is the upcoming feature film by British filmmaker Daniel Fawcett. After getting constantly in trouble with their headmistress, Gretchen and Margarita (Christina Wood and Victoria Smith) hide out in their secret location in the woods and transform the world around them with their magic.
Described as a “playful and experimental” movie, the filmmakers are raising production funds through the crowdfunding website Sponsume. It’s basically the same idea as other crowdfunding websites in which the escalating levels of donation come with different gift packages, including, in this case, posters, DVDs, production photos, screening invites and more.
Inspired primarily by two films — Daisies, directed by Vera Chytilová; and Hausu, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi — Savage Witches is designed to be “an ode to cinema, to the magic of cinema, to filmmaking as an art form, as a tool for expression and exploration.”
To help fund this project, please visit the Savage Witches page on Sponsume.
Described as a “playful and experimental” movie, the filmmakers are raising production funds through the crowdfunding website Sponsume. It’s basically the same idea as other crowdfunding websites in which the escalating levels of donation come with different gift packages, including, in this case, posters, DVDs, production photos, screening invites and more.
Inspired primarily by two films — Daisies, directed by Vera Chytilová; and Hausu, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi — Savage Witches is designed to be “an ode to cinema, to the magic of cinema, to filmmaking as an art form, as a tool for expression and exploration.”
To help fund this project, please visit the Savage Witches page on Sponsume.
- 7/13/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The Boston Underground Film Festival wrapped up just a couple of days ago, so reports and reviews from the fest have been pouring in. Our first couple of links take us deep into the world of Buff madness:
First up, The Horror Digest reviews Lucky McKee’s The Woman.The Whore Church has lots of photos from Buff parties. I can name most of the peeps in the last photo, in case somebody needs to be blackmailed, or something.The Geekery checked out the films in Buff’s Future Imperfect short film lineup and was partial to a trio of them: Get With the Program, Spark and The Third Letter.Screw Films was excited that their Change to Me screened at Buff.Buff juror Tim Jackson, who sounds perplexed to have been asked to serve, writes up some of the films he screened, including Profane and The Beast Pageant.Jason Seaver has several Buff reviews,...
First up, The Horror Digest reviews Lucky McKee’s The Woman.The Whore Church has lots of photos from Buff parties. I can name most of the peeps in the last photo, in case somebody needs to be blackmailed, or something.The Geekery checked out the films in Buff’s Future Imperfect short film lineup and was partial to a trio of them: Get With the Program, Spark and The Third Letter.Screw Films was excited that their Change to Me screened at Buff.Buff juror Tim Jackson, who sounds perplexed to have been asked to serve, writes up some of the films he screened, including Profane and The Beast Pageant.Jason Seaver has several Buff reviews,...
- 4/3/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Before we get to the list this week, a special note: I got a very nice email this week from Jackie Keen, the wife of legendary British underground filmmaker Jeff Keen. I’ve written about Jeff a few times on Bad Lit, particularly about his troublesome situation. If you’re not familiar with Jeff’s incredible body of work, read that link and do yourself a favor and check out his official website.
This week’s Must Read is Craig Baldwin’s history and understanding of why San Francisco is such a mecca for found-footage filmmakers such as himself. The article, on the Moving Image Source website, is reprinted from the recent book Radical Light. Speaking of Radical Light, Reed Johnson of the L.A. Times previews the Los Angeles screening tour that’s accompanying the book. Also to celebrate Radical Light, Chuck Stephens of Blip Magazine reviews several films...
This week’s Must Read is Craig Baldwin’s history and understanding of why San Francisco is such a mecca for found-footage filmmakers such as himself. The article, on the Moving Image Source website, is reprinted from the recent book Radical Light. Speaking of Radical Light, Reed Johnson of the L.A. Times previews the Los Angeles screening tour that’s accompanying the book. Also to celebrate Radical Light, Chuck Stephens of Blip Magazine reviews several films...
- 1/16/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
One+One Filmmakers Journal, an online and print non-profit publication, is looking for submissions for their upcoming 6th edition, which will be published in early 2011. Devoted to the celebration of filmmaking, they are looking for a wide range of articles that provide a “thorough and critical analysis of filmmaking and its social and cultural effects and implications.” The deadline for articles is February 1, 2011. Submit here. (As a non-profit publication, there’s no compensation for articles.)
One+One actually shares some goals with Bad Lit, particularly in the way they like to combine both an intellectual and a populist approach to analyzing films and film history. They are looking for articles that conceptually have an academic curiosity towards filmmaking, but are written so that they can be enjoyed by all types of film lovers from serious scholars to casual fans.
Articles can also employ a range of styles from autobiographical to...
One+One actually shares some goals with Bad Lit, particularly in the way they like to combine both an intellectual and a populist approach to analyzing films and film history. They are looking for articles that conceptually have an academic curiosity towards filmmaking, but are written so that they can be enjoyed by all types of film lovers from serious scholars to casual fans.
Articles can also employ a range of styles from autobiographical to...
- 12/21/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In addition to being an acclaimed, legendary underground British filmmaker, Jeff Keen is also quite the prolific artist. Take a small look at his extensive and immense collection of artwork he’s produced over his lifetime. Keen rifles through his broadsides, sketches, poems, photographs, 3-D collage sculptures and more in this 7-minute trip down his artistic memory lane.
Keen is a British national treasure and should be treated as such. Alas, as with a sad amount of great artists, he’s had some troubles in his later years, which I wrote about earlier this year. (Also go to that link to watch his most famous film, Marvo Movies, which is absolutely brilliant.)
He’s been ill with cancer, got evicted from his home and the state of his archives is that, well, they’re not very well archived, as you can see in the above clip. Some filmmakers are helping...
Keen is a British national treasure and should be treated as such. Alas, as with a sad amount of great artists, he’s had some troubles in his later years, which I wrote about earlier this year. (Also go to that link to watch his most famous film, Marvo Movies, which is absolutely brilliant.)
He’s been ill with cancer, got evicted from his home and the state of his archives is that, well, they’re not very well archived, as you can see in the above clip. Some filmmakers are helping...
- 12/14/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
One+One Filmmakers Journal is a Brighton, U.K. based publication that was founded back in May 2009. Issue #5 is about to be launched, so to celebrate the occasion there will be a panel discussion and short film screening at the Cine-City: The Brighton Film Festival on Nov. 28 at 4:30 p.m. at the Sallis Benney Theatre. This is a free and open event.
Daniel Fawcett, a filmmaker and the founder of One+One, will participate on the panel and screen clips from Dirt, his second feature film. One of Fawcett’s stated goals is to further remove cinema from its relationship with money. He has committed One+One to being a free publication, available to read both on the web and in print.
Also, in the first edition of his journal, Fawcett wrote an editorial announcing his refusal to work in the traditional film industry to fund his own personal...
Daniel Fawcett, a filmmaker and the founder of One+One, will participate on the panel and screen clips from Dirt, his second feature film. One of Fawcett’s stated goals is to further remove cinema from its relationship with money. He has committed One+One to being a free publication, available to read both on the web and in print.
Also, in the first edition of his journal, Fawcett wrote an editorial announcing his refusal to work in the traditional film industry to fund his own personal...
- 11/22/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Oct. 12
7:30 p.m.
Light Industry
177 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Hosted by: Light Industry
Restless nurses! Lovesick sheriffs! Sexed-up Girl Scout leaders! Lonely motel managers! And other degenerates populate George Kuchar’s early ’70s mock-Hollywood soap opera, The Devil’s Cleavage.
Ainslie Pryor stars as Nurse Ginger, who is stuck married to a total slob, so she takes to cheating on her hubby with anybody she cans. Eventually, she leaves home and becomes the object of obsession of a seedy Oklahoma motel manager played by Kuchar compatriot Curt McDowell.
The Devil’s Cleavage is one of Kuchar’s rare feature-length outings. The film is credited by its distributor, Canyon Cinema, as having been completed in 1973. While the film may have had screenings in that year and in 1974, it gained a wider release in 1975, perhaps to capitalize on the success of Thundercrack! the semi-pornographic cult comedy directed by McDowell and written and starring Kuchar.
7:30 p.m.
Light Industry
177 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Hosted by: Light Industry
Restless nurses! Lovesick sheriffs! Sexed-up Girl Scout leaders! Lonely motel managers! And other degenerates populate George Kuchar’s early ’70s mock-Hollywood soap opera, The Devil’s Cleavage.
Ainslie Pryor stars as Nurse Ginger, who is stuck married to a total slob, so she takes to cheating on her hubby with anybody she cans. Eventually, she leaves home and becomes the object of obsession of a seedy Oklahoma motel manager played by Kuchar compatriot Curt McDowell.
The Devil’s Cleavage is one of Kuchar’s rare feature-length outings. The film is credited by its distributor, Canyon Cinema, as having been completed in 1973. While the film may have had screenings in that year and in 1974, it gained a wider release in 1975, perhaps to capitalize on the success of Thundercrack! the semi-pornographic cult comedy directed by McDowell and written and starring Kuchar.
- 10/7/2010
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
Sept. 14
7:30 p.m.
Light Industry
177 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Hosted by: Electronic Arts Intermix
Back in 1977, Anthony Ramos created About Media, a deconstruction of the evening news that focuses on President Jimmy Carter granting amnesty to Vietnam War draft dodgers as well as Ramos’ own stint serving time for conscientious objection. For his “crime,” Ramos was incarcerated for 18 months.
The video compares Ramos’ unedited interview footage, which shows a patronizing attitude and line of questioning by reporter Gabe Pressman and his crew, with the final report that eventually made it onto the news. The goal of the piece is to break down the illusion of the news’ alleged objective approach to storytelling.
At the time, criticism of the media from the left was something of a rarity. While the right had long complained about the mainstream media’s alleged “liberal bias,” About Media shows how the news skews...
7:30 p.m.
Light Industry
177 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Hosted by: Electronic Arts Intermix
Back in 1977, Anthony Ramos created About Media, a deconstruction of the evening news that focuses on President Jimmy Carter granting amnesty to Vietnam War draft dodgers as well as Ramos’ own stint serving time for conscientious objection. For his “crime,” Ramos was incarcerated for 18 months.
The video compares Ramos’ unedited interview footage, which shows a patronizing attitude and line of questioning by reporter Gabe Pressman and his crew, with the final report that eventually made it onto the news. The goal of the piece is to break down the illusion of the news’ alleged objective approach to storytelling.
At the time, criticism of the media from the left was something of a rarity. While the right had long complained about the mainstream media’s alleged “liberal bias,” About Media shows how the news skews...
- 9/11/2010
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
The uniformity of today's digitally colour-graded films can never match the spontaneous look of deteriorating celluloid
The other week I was at the BFI Southbank to see Brian Clemens's sole directorial feature, the hugely enjoyable and inventive Hammer film Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, a favoured movie of mine that I'd never before had the chance to see in its natural environment: the big screen. Before the screening started, a representative from the BFI informed the audience that the print had arrived fairly last minute and the quality wasn't all that great; it was an old print, from the original 1974 release and not only had a lot of surface damage and patched together breaks but had also started to rot away, giving much of it a pinkish hue. Well, I wasn't going to get another chance to see this so I "bravely" decided to stick with it and was quite...
The other week I was at the BFI Southbank to see Brian Clemens's sole directorial feature, the hugely enjoyable and inventive Hammer film Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, a favoured movie of mine that I'd never before had the chance to see in its natural environment: the big screen. Before the screening started, a representative from the BFI informed the audience that the print had arrived fairly last minute and the quality wasn't all that great; it was an old print, from the original 1974 release and not only had a lot of surface damage and patched together breaks but had also started to rot away, giving much of it a pinkish hue. Well, I wasn't going to get another chance to see this so I "bravely" decided to stick with it and was quite...
- 8/18/2010
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
Sort of a truncated link list this week. That’s because a) well, that’s just all the links I could find; and b) I had to compile this a few days early since I went to Comic Con on Saturday. Still much to enjoy, though:
Jeff Krulik is the world’s greatest documentary filmmaker and slowly but surely the world is starting to catch up. The Washington City Paper has a wonderful profile/interview with Krulik about his latest project, Heavy Metal Picnic. Plus, read about his recent screening adventures in Texas, where he and Chuck Statler were guests of the Alamo Draft House. Engadget reports that the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens is getting a $67 million makeover, but even more exciting is that in the new facility they will screen a specially commissioned animated video by Martha Colburn called Dolls vs. Dictators based on her photos...
Jeff Krulik is the world’s greatest documentary filmmaker and slowly but surely the world is starting to catch up. The Washington City Paper has a wonderful profile/interview with Krulik about his latest project, Heavy Metal Picnic. Plus, read about his recent screening adventures in Texas, where he and Chuck Statler were guests of the Alamo Draft House. Engadget reports that the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens is getting a $67 million makeover, but even more exciting is that in the new facility they will screen a specially commissioned animated video by Martha Colburn called Dolls vs. Dictators based on her photos...
- 7/25/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
July 13
7:30 p.m.
Light Industry
177 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Hosted by: Light Industry
A Burning Star is Japanese filmmaker Onishi Kenji’s feature length experimental documentation of his father’s funeral. But, rather than a sentimental tribute, Kenji films the cold reality of death by undressing his father’s corpse on camera and filming the body’s cremation.
The film was made in 1995 and, in 1999, it had its U.S. premiere for a one-night only screening that was reviewed by Light Industry’s Ed Halter for the NY Press. Halter positions the film in the tradition of other “scandalous” Japanese avant-garde works as wells as traditional American underground filmmaking:
Despite [Kenji's] scandal-mongering rhetoric and extreme subject matter, his approach has more in common with the arty abstract narratives of Hollis Frampton or Stan Brakhage than with the attitudinal Cinema of Transgression or mainstream-friendly post-Tarantino artsploitation.
Kenji’s films rarely screen in the U.
7:30 p.m.
Light Industry
177 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Hosted by: Light Industry
A Burning Star is Japanese filmmaker Onishi Kenji’s feature length experimental documentation of his father’s funeral. But, rather than a sentimental tribute, Kenji films the cold reality of death by undressing his father’s corpse on camera and filming the body’s cremation.
The film was made in 1995 and, in 1999, it had its U.S. premiere for a one-night only screening that was reviewed by Light Industry’s Ed Halter for the NY Press. Halter positions the film in the tradition of other “scandalous” Japanese avant-garde works as wells as traditional American underground filmmaking:
Despite [Kenji's] scandal-mongering rhetoric and extreme subject matter, his approach has more in common with the arty abstract narratives of Hollis Frampton or Stan Brakhage than with the attitudinal Cinema of Transgression or mainstream-friendly post-Tarantino artsploitation.
Kenji’s films rarely screen in the U.
- 7/10/2010
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
July 3
8:00 p.m.
The Old American Can Factory
232 Third St. at 3rd Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Hosted by: Rooftop Films
Rooftop Films, the summertime underground film screening series that takes place on rooftops all across New York City, will be paying tribute to another unique film festival with this special screening of several short films. The Umami Festival is a biennial event that uses art to shine a spotlight on the challenges of modern food production.
The word “umami” is a Japanese word that describes the human tongue’s fifth taste after sweet, salty, bitter and sour. This is the taste sensation of what could be called “meaty” or “earthy.”
So, using that as a guideline, the Umami Festival showcases films that take a unique, creative look at food, not just the simple food preparation shows one might find on the Food Network. Food, too, can be as much of...
8:00 p.m.
The Old American Can Factory
232 Third St. at 3rd Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Hosted by: Rooftop Films
Rooftop Films, the summertime underground film screening series that takes place on rooftops all across New York City, will be paying tribute to another unique film festival with this special screening of several short films. The Umami Festival is a biennial event that uses art to shine a spotlight on the challenges of modern food production.
The word “umami” is a Japanese word that describes the human tongue’s fifth taste after sweet, salty, bitter and sour. This is the taste sensation of what could be called “meaty” or “earthy.”
So, using that as a guideline, the Umami Festival showcases films that take a unique, creative look at food, not just the simple food preparation shows one might find on the Food Network. Food, too, can be as much of...
- 6/29/2010
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
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