El General at Haverford

A screening at Haverford this week, with the director in person:

EL GENERAL
directed by Natalia Almada 2009

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
7:00 pm
Sharpless Auditorium
Haverford College

Filmmaker Natalia Almada will be present to introduce and discuss the film.

In 1910 a revolution erupted in Mexico. Among its rallying cries was "the right to vote." Nearly a century later this same cry is heard as thousands take to the streets during a hotly contested presidential campaign. Through the legacy that filmmaker Natalia Almada inherited as the great-granddaughter of Mexican president Plutarco Elias Calles (1924-1928), one of Mexico's most controversial revolutionary figures, accused of having been a dictator, an "Iron Man" and a "Nun-Burner," yet also acclaimed as the "father of modern Mexico," El General is a portrait of a family and a country under the shadow of the past.

Natlaia Almada was the recipient of the 2009 Sundance Documentary Directing Award for El General; her previous credits include All Water Has a Perfect Memory, an experimental short film that received international recognition, and Al Otro Lado, her award-winning debut feature documentary about immigration, drug trafficking and corrido music. Almada’s films have screened at The Sundance Film Festival, The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim Museum and The Whitney Biennial and have been broadcast on the PBS series P.O.V., The Sundance Channel, ARTE, VPRO and others.

Ed Halter at Temple

The Visiting Filmmakers series continues at Temple, with a speaker known more for his curatorial work. Ed Halter is curator of the New York Underground Film Festival and founder and director of Light Industry, a venus of film and electronic art in Brooklyn.

The event takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, March 23, and starts at 5:15 in Temple's Annenberg Hall (13th and Norris), room 3.

Cheryl Dunye at Swarthmore

This, Friday, filmmaker Cheryl Dunye will be at Swarthmore in person with her latest feature film The Owls.

Friday, March 25
7pm
Science Center 101
Swarthmore College

Opening the 2011 Queer and Trans Conference, “Queer Futures”

Written by Dunye, the Philadelphia-raised director of such acclaimed films as The Watermelon Woman and Stranger Inside, and novelist and playwright Sarah Schulman, The Owls reunites the stars of the lesbian classic Go Fish in a humorous generational anthem for “Older, Wiser Lesbians.” Raised in the shadow of “pathological lesbian” films like The Fox, The Children’s Hour and The Killing of Sister George, these women embraced the utopian vision of a Lesbian Nation. Now, approaching middle age, they are caught between a mainstream culture that still has no place for them, and a younger generation of queers who are indifferent to their contributions. In this low-budget, collectively produced film, Dunye returns to the signature style of her “Dunye-mentaries”--hybrids of fiction and interview footage capturing lesbian communities in all their intrigue. Murder! Infidelity! Dinner parties! The Owls premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was produced by feminist film scholar and video activist Alexandra Juhasz.

Mizoguchi tonight

Image from Ferdy on Films' review

Tonight the International House will be screening Sansho the Bailiff (dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan, 1954, 35mm, 124 mins, b/w, Japanese w/ English subtitles).

When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi’s dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces: a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil.

Film starts at 7:00pm. All Proceeds Donated to Philadelphia – Japan Disaster Relief Fund.

Kiss Me Deadly

Image: DVD Beaver

Tonight (Thursday, March 17), the International House is screening Aldrich's baroque noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955) in all it's 35mm sumptuousness. It's a cult classic that's about... well, I won't spoil the ending for those who don't already know. I'll just say it's an over-the-top and remarkable narrative.

As a bonus, Village Voice critic J Hoberman will be in person to discuss the film and to promote more generally his new book, An Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War. Screening starts at 7:00pm, with book signing to follow.

Scribe screenings at I-House

The International House continues to host screenings by the Scribe Video Center.

Tonight, March 15, they will be showing Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968 (dir. Bestor Cram and Judy Richardson, US, 2009, video, 57 mins). Director Judy Richardson will be there in person.

"On February 8, 1968, eight seconds of police gunfire left three young men dying and at least 27 wounded on the campus of South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, SC. All of the police were white and all of the students African-American. This powerful yet disturbing documentary film explores the eye-witness accounts of student protesters and police officer participants."

Tuesday, April 5 they will screen When the Spirits Dance Mambo (dir. Dr Marta Moreno Vega and Robert Shepard, US, 2002, video, 90 mins). Director Robert Shepard will be there in person.

"Tracing the role of sacred African thought and practices in the formation of Cuban society, culture and music, Cuando los Espíritus Bailan Mambo (When the Spirits Dance Mambo) is a tribute to the spiritual energy that traveled from West Africa to Cuba and New York."

Both screenings begin at 7:00pm.

Calendar Spring update

I have updated the iCal calendar.

Any suggestions on how to make this a helpful feature are welcome.

Temple Cinematheque: Trader Horn

Temple University Cinematheque Presents:

Trader Horn

1931, W.S. Van Dyke, 122m

Time: 3 PM, March 18, 2011
Location: Annenberg Hall (Room 3 - Basement), 13th and Norris St., Philadelphia, PA


"While on safari in an unexplored area of Africa, Trader Horn and Peru find missionary Edith Trent killed by natives. They decide to carry on her quest for her lost daughter Nina. They find her as the queen of a particularly savage tribe, and try to bring her back to civilization."

This pre-code era film is the first non-documentary shot in Africa and was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Picture) in 1931. Most of the crew contracted Malaria, including Director W.S. Van Dyke and actress Edwina Booth. An African crewman fell into a river and was eaten by a crocodile. Another was killed by a charging rhino (which was captured on film and used in the movie). The film will be shown on 16mm.

This screening is being programmed by Temple University Film & Media Arts ungraduate Katy Gronsbell.