BAMcinématek presents Punk Rock Girls, an 11-film survey of cinema’s toughest she-rockers, May 7—Jun 1 Opens with a sneak preview of Lukas Moodysson’s We Are The Best! with Moodysson in person Director Slava Tsukerman in person for Liquid Sky The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor for BAMcinématek and BAM Rose Cinemas. Brooklyn, NY/Apr 18, 2014—From Wednesday, May 7 through Sunday, June 1, BAMcinématek presents Punk Rock Girls, an 11-film survey of cinema’s toughest she-rockers. To mark the release of Lukas Moodysson’s (Show Me Love, Lilya 4-Ever) punk rock valentine, We Are the Best!, BAMcinématek pays homage to the fearless, mohawk-sporting, safety pin-wearing, guitar- wielding women who stick it to The Man. Opening the series on Wednesday, May 7 is a sneak preview of We Are the Best!, in which three rebellious Stockholm tween girls start a punk band. Adapted from a graphic novel by the director’s wife, the film premiered at Toronto last year and simultaneously “captures the DIY empowerment of punk rock, the bond of female friendships, and parodies the era’s Oi!-scenester stances all in one blissful swoop” (David Fear, The Village Voice). Moodysson will appear in person for a Q&A following the screening. We Are the Best! is a Magnolia Pictures release and opens May 30. Diane Lane, Laura Dern, and Marin Kanter play another trio of teen punk girls in Lou Adler’s Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982—May 31), which screenwriter Nancy Dowd (Coming Home, Slap Shot) was inspired to write after attending her first Ramones show. A play on Rolling Stones concert movie Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones, the film features cameos by former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook and The Clash’s Paul Simonon, and is a favorite of Courtney Love, Jon Bon Jovi, and underground filmmaker Sarah Jacobson. Two 14- year-old runaways form punk duo the Sleaze Sisters in the proto-riot-grrrl, grimy 70s New York-set Times Square (1980—May 21), the sophomore feature by Allan Moyle (Pump Up the Volume) which Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre has cited as her favorite film. Featuring Tim Curry as the Sleaze Sisters’ DJ promoter, Times Square also boasts a soundtrack of hits from The Cure, Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, The Pretenders, XTC, and Gary Numan, among others. Among the highlights of Punk Rock Girls are Derek Jarman’s Jubilee (1978—May 30 & 31), featuring cameos by Siouxsie Sioux, Ari Up of The Slits, and Adam Ant, plus a score by Brian Eno; Brian Gibson’s post-punk feature debut Breaking Glass (1980—May 14); Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue (1981—May 22), “a movie that crashes a sense of working-class reality into punk nihilism and an appreciation of the absurd…ripe for rediscovery” (Michael Almereyda, Film Comment); Slava Tsukerman’s seminal Liquid Sky (1982—May 30), a major influence on electroclash featuring Tsukerman in person; Gillian Armstrong’s Aussie musical Starstruck (1982—May 15) screening in a rare imported 35mm print; and Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan’s surprisingly subversive Josie and the Pussycats (2001—May 29), starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, and Rosario Dawson. The series also includes the shorts program Popularity is So Boring (May 29) with films by No Wavers Scott B and Beth B and Cinema of Transgression filmmaker Richard Kern as well as music videos by seminal Swiss punkers Kleenex/LiLiPUT. Closing the series on Sunday, June 1 is a Susan Seidelman double bill of her debut feature Smithereens (1982), about a wannabe punk rocker who latches onto a washed up one-hit wonder (played by full-time punk Richard Hell); and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), a reimagining of Jacques Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating in 80s New York with Madonna as “an indolent, trampy goddess” (Pauline Kael, The New Yorker). For press information, please contact: Lisa Thomas at 718.724.8023 / [email protected] Hannah Thomas at 718.724.8002 / [email protected] Punk Rock Girls Schedule Wed, May 7 7:30pm*: We Are the Best! Wed, May 14 7, 9:30pm: Breaking Glass Thu, May 15 7, 9:30pm: Starstruck Wed, May 21 7, 9:30pm: Times Square Thu, May 22 7, 9:15pm: Out of the Blue Thu, May 29 4:30, 9pm: Josie and the Pussycats 7pm: Popularity is So Boring: Punk Shorts Fri, May 30 2, 7pm**: Liquid Sky 4:30, 9:30pm: Jubilee Sat, May 31 4:30, 9:30pm: Ladies and Gentlemen,The Fabulous Stains 7pm: Jubilee Sun, Jun 1 2, 7pm: Desperately Seeking Susan 4:30, 9:30pm: Smithereens *Q&A with director Lukas Moodysson **Intro by director Slava Tsukerman Film Descriptions All films in 35mm unless otherwise noted. Breaking Glass (1980) 104min Directed by Brian Gibson. With Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels, Jon Finch, Jonathan Pryce. The seminal British post-punk scene provides the backdrop of this showbiz saga of rocking out vs. selling out. Frizz-haired New Waver Kate (O’Connor)—clad variously in Kabuki makeup and luminescent robot suit—faces that age-old conundrum: go mainstream, or stay true to her anti-establishment roots? This blistering transmission from late-70s England captures the era’s nonconformist spirit, outré fashion, and simmering political tension. Wed, May 14 at 7, 9:30pm Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) 104min Directed by Susan Seidelman. With Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn. A bump on the head and a case of amnesia leads a vanilla Jersey housewife (Arquette) to take on the persona of a Lower East Side-dwelling hipster (“Like a Virgin”-era Madonna) who’s being pursued by killers. Susan Seidelman’s goofball take on Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating is a spirited slice of retro 80s cool featuring cameos from downtown mainstays John Turturro, Richard Hell, John Lurie, and more. Sun, Jun 1 at 2, 7pm Josie and the Pussycats (2001) 98min Directed by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan. With Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, Rosario Dawson. Josie (Cook) and her Pussycats (Reid & Dawson) go from garage rock wannabes to pre-fab pop-stars, thanks to the engineering of a diabolical record industry exec. Plastered with ironic corporate logos, this candy-colored satire of 90s teenybopper culture “winningly channels the spirit of Frank Tashlin… A sly, sustained spoof of consumerism, infectious pop songs, and cute girls in tight pants” (Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club). Thu, May 29 at 4:30, 9pm Jubilee (1978) 106min Directed by Derek Jarman. With Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox. “As long as the music’s loud enough, we won’t hear the world falling apart.” Queen Elizabeth I (Runacre) gets zapped to late-70s England, a post-punk apocalyptic nightmare in which distaff anarcho-freaks run amok in a decaying landscape of urban ultra-violence. Derek Jarman’s nihilist anti-comedy features a Brian Eno score and appearances from punk pioneers Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Slits, and Adam Ant—plus cinema’s most disturbing use of ketchup. DCP. Fri, May 30 at 4:30, 9:30pm Sat, May 31 at 7pm Ladies and Gentlemen,The Fabulous Stains (1982) 87min Directed by Lou Adler. With Diane Lane, Laura Dern, Marin Kanter. Seventeen-year-old orphan Corinne (Lane) chucks her job flipping burgers, discovers eyeliner, and becomes a counterculture icon as Third Degree, frontwoman for the eponymous skunk-haired garage girl- band whose motto is “We don't put out.” This brash and bratty music industry satire boasts a super-group of punk rock royalty, with members of The Clash and The Sex Pistols jamming together as “The Looters.” Sat, May 31 at 4:30, 9:30pm Liquid Sky (1982) 112min Directed by Slava Tsukerman. With Anne Carlisle, Paula E. Sheppard, Susan Doukas. This startling sci-fi New Wave vision of New York City follows a team of invisible aliens as they descend upon Earth looking for drugs and land in an apartment inhabited by a drug dealer and his androgynous lover. Starring and co-written by the magnetic Anne Carlisle, this cult classic is a riot of color and perversion. Fri, May 30 at 2, 7pm Out of the Blue (1980) 94min Directed by Dennis Hopper. With Linda Manz, Dennis Hopper. Just out of prison for drunk-driving his truck into a school bus, bad dad Don (Hopper) returns home to the planet’s most messed up family: a smack-addict wife and a self-destructive rebel-punk daughter (Manz), whose mantra is “disco sucks, kill all hippies.” Dennis Hopper’s hurricane-force domestic tragedy is the 80s answer to Easy Rider; it follows troubled youth subculture to its frightening, screaming, self- annihilating extreme. Thu, May 22 at 7, 9:15pm Popularity is So Boring: Punk Shorts Riot grrrls, queer punks, and No Wave icons fly their freak flags in this shorts program, featuring films by downtown shock artists Richard Kern and Scott and Beth B, as well as Kleenex/LiLiPUT videos. Among the highlights are Kern’s You Killed Me First, starring downtown muse Lung Leg (cover girl for Sonic Youth’s 1986 album EVOL), and Black Box, a visual and auditory assault about torture and mind control featuring underground musician Lydia Lunch and artist Kiki Smith. Digital. Thu, May 29 at 7pm Smithereens (1982) 89min Directed by Susan Seidelman. With Susan Berman, Brad Rijn, Richard Hell. Talentless but determined Jersey girl Wren (Berman) moves to the East Village with dreams of joining the punk rock scene, opportunistically latching onto anyone who can help her get ahead, including rocker Eric (punk godfather Richard Hell).