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Home , Coen brothers, Emir Kusturica, Fritz Lang, John Huston, Zhang Yimou

Weekly Schedule

Thursday, July 29 on Film, Curated by Brenda Meara, Block Artspace Intern This program shed light upon an industry very similar to the production and exhibition of visual art. Each of the highlight the strenuous implications of dealing with funding, artistic vision (and its compromises), and the fragile egos/personal issues of everyone involved. 1:00 My Best Fiend (Herzog, 1999) 3:30 Day for Night (Truffaut, 1973) 6:00 Lost in La Mancha (Fulton & Pepe, 2002)

Friday, July 30 Films On Art Beginning with a survey of several contemporary artists in the acclaimed television series Art:21, this program divided the Contemporary from two seminal figures of , Alexander Calder and Marcel Duchamp. These are thorough films with especially perceptive approaches to documenting the creative process and the individual visions of their subjects. 1:00 Art: 21 – Art in the 21st Century: Place and Spirituality (PBS, 2001) 3:30 Calder’s Universe (MOMA, 1977; on loan from Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) Marcel Duchamp: In His Own Words (Jacobs, 1978; on loan from Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art)

Saturday, July 31 Films that are Noir? Normally found in different sections of the video store, both films in this program are influenced by and partially tributary to of the 30s and 40s. Comparing them is meant to highlight the similarities of both plot and style in what are normally considered films of unrelated genres. 1:00 Chinatown (Polanski, 1974) 3:30 Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Zemeckis, 1988)

Thursday, Warped Sense of Humor, Curated by Jaimie Warren, Artspace Projects Assistant Though these films all contain woven notions of greed, absurdity and misfortune, they have been chosen as individual entities for their unique and signature styles. Happiness – for its brutally honest and stomach-wrenching take on contemporary family life. Weekend – for its brilliant cinematography, horrific blood-bath scenes and original approach and critique of the bourgeois and capitalism. Showgirls is a film that speaks for itself-combining the tackiest of settings, the worst acting skills, and the most obvious of plots, through some sort of film miracle, the combination produces an absolute work of genius. 1:00 Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998) 3:30 Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) 6:00 Showgirls (Paul Verhoven, 1995)

Friday, August 6 The , curated by Artspace staff 1:00 (Joel Coen, 1985) 3:30 Raising (Joel Coen, 1987)

Saturday, August 7 Jean-Pierre Jenet and Marc Caro 1:00 City of the Lost Children (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1995) 3:30 Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1992)

Thursday, August 12 Kryzstof Kieslowski’s Trois Couleurs, curated by Rebecca Dolan This trilogy of films based on France’s tri-color flag and national motto: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity plays out each theme through the stories of its characters. Bleu—liberty—is the story of Julie who attempts spiritual suicide after losing her husband and daughter in an auto accident by living anonymously and disconnected from others in the middle of . Blanc—equality—is centered around the destructive dynamics of a relationship that is completely unequal. And Rouge—fraternity—is the story of woven relationships that are unlikely and appear at first to be unrelated. 1:00 Bleu (Kryzstzof Kieslowski, 1993) 3:30 Blanc (Kryzstzof Kieslowski, 1994) 6:00 Rouge (Kryzstzof Kieslowski, 1994)

Friday, August 13 Chinese Film: The Fifth Generation Films of Yimou, curated by Raechell Smith, Artspace Director Chinese filmmakers of the Fifth Generation emerged in the 1980s, receiving international critical acclaim and awards for films that were often banned in their native under the imposed censorial restrictions. In particular, the innovative films of are celebrated for their inheritance from and rebellion against tradition. These important films precede the film, video, and new medial work created by the Sixth Generation; emerging Chinese artists whose works have been included in numerous recent exhibitions and film festivals throughout the and Europe. 1:00 (Zhang Yimou, 1987) 3:30 (Zhang Yimou, 1990) Saturday, August 14 1:00 (Zhang Yimou, 1991) 3:30 (Zhang Yimou, 1994)

Thursday, August 19 The Corrupting Influence of Heat and Sunlight, curated by Daven Gee, Assistant Professor, Film & Media, UMKC Dept. of Communications These films by maverick directors Ida Lupino, and Russ Meyer feature characters contending with the cruel forces of nature—and human nature. What better way to put a Kansas City summer in perspective. The Hitchhiker, the only film noir directed by a woman, tells the story of two men on a fishing trip gone bad. Fans of William Talman—of Perry Mason fame—shouldn’t miss him here as a psychotic killer The Misfits, a nominal cowboy flick written by with a strong but unstable cast (Monroe, Clift and Gable), is a genuine oddity; the riveting final scene of wild horses being trapped is just one reason. Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill , a cornerstone of both camp and punk cultures, shows the thrilling lethal consequences when go-go dancers get bored. 1:00 The Hitchhiker (Ida Lupino, 1953) 3:30 The Misfits (John Huston, 1961) 6:00 Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill (Russ Meyer, 1965)

Friday, August 20 It's a Pleasant Place to Live if You Don't Want Anything, curated by Amalia Mariño, Artspace Projects Assistant This program is about a place and what comes out of it. The Outsiders is based on the S.E. Hinton novel published in 1967, when Hinton was only seventeen years old. Her novel may be the granddaddy to the self-made productions of television and film generated out of the same location (Tulsa, Oklahoma), first during the 70s with the television show, Mazeppa and now in the contemporary film world with the shorts included inStarting in the Middle. This segment is a collection of short films and several excerpts from a television show (Beef Baloney) by young, unknown filmmakers now working independently in LA and Brooklyn, however, all originate from the same sweaty, strange and at times dingy little town as Hinton and her novel, and all are fueled by an energy that blindly ignores the conventions of their chosen profession. Contributions from Joshua Bohanan, Bracken Klar, Robert Kurtz, Manny Marquez, Jerry Melicar and Earnest Pettie. 1:00 The Outsiders (, 1983) 3:30 Starting in the Middle (Several short films by young, unknown filmmakers)

Saturday, August 21 Here's a Little Story I've Got to Tell, curated by Ryan Fenchel These are cult-films within the subcultures of Graffiti and Jamaican music. The Harder They Come and Wild Style are both lose documentaries of the subcultures they represent, as well as efforts to accurately portray the ups and downs of the main characters as artists. The casts are made of actual members from these cultures: artist Lee Quinones as Zoro and musician Jimmy Cliff as Ivan. Because both Quinones and Cliff are not trained the films seem goofy at points (especially Lee), but get their points across and accurately demonstrate the mindset of these cultures. These films are extremely entertaining and even somewhat educational. 1:00 Wild Style (Charlie Ahearn, 1983) 3:30 The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1972)

Thursday, August 26 Power, Politics, Paranoia: The Early Films of , curated by Dr. Maria Elena Buszek These three early films of legendary Austrian director Fritz Lang—all recently, digitally restored—are renowned for capturing not only the moody look of the period’s Expressionist art, but the tenor of German society between the World Wars, This “trilogy” of Lang’s best known films from his years working in Berlin address, in ways both overt and covert, the strange cocktail of optimism and fear, anarchy and oppression of in the years of the Weimar Republic, during which time and the Nazi party would capitalize on the chaos and rise to power. (In fact, after Lang finished the last of these films—ironically, the symbolic anti-Nazi Testament of Dr. Mabuse—Hitler was so impressed with Lang’s powerful style as to ask him to oversee Nazi film production. Lang chose instead to leave Germany that very day.) Viewed retrospectively, these films document the desire and eventual failure of Europe to stem the rise of fascist politics—and, in our post-9/11, PATRIOT Act-era United States, reflect a moment of intense cultural paranoia that feels eerily familiar. 1:00 (Fritz Lang, 1927) 3:30 M (Fritz Lang, 1931) 6:00 The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933)

Friday, August 27 The Tangled Webs of Political Truth, curated by Artspace staff 1:00 All the President’s Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976) 3:30 Z (Constantin Costa-Gavras, 1969)

Saturday, August 28 Politics: Attempts at Truth, curated by Artspace staff ’s television show The Awful Truth was aired on Bravo for two seasons. Moore’s first television show, TV Nation, aired on Fox. Using the guerrilla-interview tactics that most are familiar with by now, Moore takes on Disney, corporate polluters and evildoers in a weekly format. Larry Litt’s documentary, Before You Don’t Vote…Advice to the Angry, Apathetic and Alienated was commissioned by Michael Rush, Director of the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, as a reminder to the Florida community that the 2000 election debacle wasn’t the end of democracy in America. The Artspace is pleased to be screening Litt’s film, this week it will also be screened at The Kitchen in New York as a series of events planned to coincide with and comment on the Republican National Convention. 1:00 Before You Don’t Vote (Larry Litt, 2003) 3:30 TV Nation (Michael Moore, 2000)

Thursday, September 2 Audio Spectacular, curated by Burack Duvenci, KCAI student In these three films there is an attempt of breaking the traditional "soundtrack" that normally accompanies a movie. While audio is normally employed in movies to enhance moods, feelings, or settings, it can alse be used as a form of communicating information. Very similar to a second narrator, or additional character. In 's Underground the viewer is given the oppourtunity to see characters making the music, a brass band that follows main characters adds to the absurdity of the political climate surrounding these characters. Similarly in Do the Right Thing, a character, Radio Raheem, is responsible for the presence of music. As he navigates through the setting of the movie playing Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" his audio selection highlights and even instigates tension caused by racial politics. One part live concert, one part live theatre, Big Time exists only because of the soundtrack. Made to accompany the mosic of the movie almost becomes a soundtrack, in that it is a by-product of the music; usually the role of the soundtrack. While two films lean toward racial poiltics and social dilemma the other leans towards rgoofball roleplaying, these films combine to illustrate a unique approach on behalf of the makers to the movie soundtracks. 1:00 Underground (Emir Kusturica, 1995) 3:30 Do the Right Thing (, 1989) 6:00 Tom Waits- Big Time (Chris Blum, 1988)