Contemporary Chinese Cinema

Ghost Town

In addition to a screening of Godard's Contempt this evening, the International House is running a series of contemporary Chinese Cinema this week:

Thursday, Feb 23
07:00 PM
Street Life (Nanjing Lu)
dir. Zhao Dayong, China, 2006, video, 98 mins, color, Mandarin w/ English subtitles

Friday, Feb 24
07:00 PM
Ghost Town (Fei Cheng)
dir. Zhao Dayong, China, 2008, video, 169 mins, Mandarin, Nu and Lisu w/ English subtitles

Saturday, Feb 25
01:00 PM
Digital Underground in the People’s Republic
dir. Rachel Tejada, US, 2008, video, 18 mins, color, English and Mandarin w/ English subtitles
San Yuan Li
dir. Ou Ning and Cao Fei, China, 2003, video, 45 mins, color

Saturday, Feb 25
02:30 PM
Tape (Jiao Dai)
dir. Li Ning. China, 2010, video, 168 mins, Mandarin w/English subtitles

Full descriptions are available through their website. It looks like a great series of works that do not screen regularly.

Memories of Underdevelopment

Tomorrow, the International House shows Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomás Gutierréz Alea, 1968). It's a classic of Cuban cinema, that combines European-style art cinema with an examination of the role of the intellectual in a post-revolutionary society. It's formally exciting work that inspired a generation of Third Cinema filmmakers - and it's definitely worth seeing on film.

Thursday, February 16
7:00 PM
The Ibrahim Theater, International House

Temple Cinematheque: David Holzman's Diary

This friday writer/actor/producer L.M. "Kit" Carson will come to discuss his role in the production of David Holzman's Diary, this week's Temple Cinemathèque film presentation. The documentary will be shown in 16mm

Friday, Febuary 17

3PM

Annenberg Hall, AH 3 (basement screening room)

13th and Norris

Temple University main campus

SCT Film Lab Coordinator Len Guercio will introduce the film as well as moderate a post-film Q&A.

In a career characterized by a diverse body of work and a singular independent filmmaking aesthetic, Carson will also discuss his latest documentary, Africa Diary, which will premiere this March on the Sundance Channel.

As before, the screening is free and open to all. However, seating is limited so please arrive early.

This Cinemathèque screening is made possible by support from Temple's FMA Department & faculty as well as the SCT Operations department.

General Idi Amin Dada

I've been meaning to mention the regular screening series of the Cinematheque Internationale of Philadelphia. They screen films of video, but with full rights clearance and with a good discussion afterward - something useful to the repertory film experience.

I will be leading discussion next Wednesday at their screening of Barbet Schroeder's Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait.

Wednesday, February 22

Doors open at 6:30pm. Films begins at 7:00pm.

L'Etage at Beau Monde

624 South 6th Street

Discussion following each film.
$10.00 General Admission

$5.00 Students and Artists

Upcoming films:

03.11.12: THE SCAR – Krzysztof Kieslowski
03.28.12: VERONIKA VOSS – Rainer Werner Fassbinder
04.15.12: PERSONA – Ingmar Bergman
04.25.12: VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS – Jires
05.06.12: COME AND SEE – Elem Klimov
05.23.12: HUKKLE – György Pálfi
06.10.12: VEILED VOICES – Brigid Maher
06.27.12: BEIRUT: THE LAST HOME MOVIE – Jennifer Fox

Experimental: Austrian Avant-Garde and Canyon Cinema

There are two screenings of experimental work at the International House this week. The first, part of the "Archive Fever" series, features found-footage compilation films by Austrian avant-garde makers. The program is tomorrow (Wednesday) and starts at 7:00PM.

Tito-Material
dir. Elke Groen, Austria, 1998, 16mm, 5 mins, color

14. März 1938-Ein Nachmittag
dir. Christoph Weihrich, Austria, 2008, 16mm, 10 mins ,color

Notes on Film 05 CONFERENCE
dir. Norbert Pfaffenbichler, Austria, 2011, 35mm, 8 mins, color

Oceano Nox
dir. Georg Wasner, Austria, 2011, HDCAM, 15 mins, color

Coming Attractions
dir. Peter Tscherkassky, Austria, 2010, 35mm, 25 mins, color and b/w

Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth)
dir. Peter Kubelka, Austria, 1996-2003, 35mm, 13 mins, color

To the Happy Few
dir. Thomas Draschan, Austria, 2003, 16mm, 4 mins, color, sound

Metropolen des Leichtsinns (Metropolis of Recklessness)
dir. Thomas Draschan, Austria, 2000, 16mm, 12 mins, color, sound

This Saturday, Feb. 11, a Bruce Baillie retrospective screens at 5:00pm, while a Chick Strand retrospective starts at 8:00pm.

Program 1, at 5PM: Bruce Baillie’s Early Canyon Cinema Years
Early Canyon Cinema Years comprises seven of Baillie’s films of the early Canyon years. Made between 1961 and 1966, they include canyon “CinemaNews” films as well as some of Baillie’s most famous early experimental works.

On Sundays
dir. Bruce Baillie, US, 1960-1961, 16mm, 27 mins, b/w, sound

The Gymnasts
dir. Bruce Baillie, US, 1961, 16mm, 8 mins, b/w, sound

Mr Hayashi
dir. Bruce Baillie, USA 1961, 16mm, 3 mins. b/w, sound

Here I Am
dir. Bruce Baillie, US, 1962, 16mm, 11 mins, b/w, sound

Termination
dir. Bruce Baillie, US, 1966, 16mm, 5 mins, b/w, sound

Mass For The Dakota Sioux
dir. Bruce Baillie, USA, 1963-1964, 16mm, 20 mins, b/w, sound

Castro Street
dir. Bruce Baillie, US, 1966, 16mm, 10 mins, color, sound

Program 2, at 8PM: Chick Strand: Beginnings, Ends and In-Betweens
This overview of Chick Strand includes both experimental and documentary works. In the mid-1960s, Strand left Canyon Cinema to move to Los Angeles where she began her own filmmaking career. Her intimate, sensual camerawork combined with an exploration of women’s personal and domestic worlds, make her films, shot largely in California and in Mexico, absolutely unique.

Waterfall
dir. Chick Strand, US, 1967, 16mm, 3 mins, color, sound

Kristallnacht
dir. Chick Strand, US, 1979, 16mm, 7 mins, b/w, sound

Soft Fiction
dir. Chick Strand, US, 1979, 16mm, 54 mins. b/w, sound

Señora con Flores
dir. Chick Strand, US, 2011, 16mm, 15 mins. color, sound

Full descriptions of the Austrian program and Canyon Cinema programs available from the website.