Temple's Urban Archives screening at The Piazza

Tomorrow night (Tuesday, Sept. 13) at 7:30PM, the Piazza at Schmidts in Northern Liberties will be hosting a reprise of a program of nontheatrical films from Temple University's Urban Archives. Called "Sound and Vision" the program highlights recent preservation and digitization work done on the archive's film and video holdings; it is curated by John Pettit and Kathryn Gronsbell. Some contents:

• David Bowie visiting Veterans Stadium
• free-jazz performer Sun Ra and his Arkestra
• synthesizer expert Gerson Rosenbloom
• Philadelphia International soul legends McFadden & Whitehead
• punk/...new wave stalwart Ken Kweeder
• the organist at the Spectrum
• jazz-vibraphonist Khan Jamal
• The Mummers string band
• the original Electric Factory concert venue

I take it the screening will be in video projection. The event is free and open to the general public.

Secret Cinema: Top Secret Films

The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design presents

TOP SECRET: FILMS YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE

Friday, April 29, 2011
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, April 29, 2011, the Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present a program of short films never intended for viewing by the general public.

TOP SECRET: FILMS YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE includes films produced to convey private information from the government, the military and big business, instructional or motivational in nature, to carefully targeted audiences of battle forces in the field, farmers, middle management and wholesale buyers of products. Spanning from World War II through the 1960s, these forgotten reels reveal long hidden and often surprising views of mid-century America. At least one of these films was originally marked as containing "Restricted" information (and for all we know it is still officially restricted!).

There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

As always with Secret Cinema events, the films will be shown using real film (not video) projected on a giant screen.

Just a few highlights of TOP SECRET: FILMS YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE are:

ARMY-AIR FORCE COMBAT DIGEST #53 (1944) - A weekly newsreel made just for soldiers, bringing news, developments in the war, and aerial footage of bombing missions right to the barracks via portable 16mm projectors. This episode is from October 4, 1944.

CULL FOR PROFIT (1951) - Made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this color educational film argues in favor of eugenics in egg farming, advising farmers to carefully remove from their coops hens that are lower egg producers. It might have just as easily been called KILL FOR PROFIT.

INSIDE TEST CITY U.S.A. (1953) - A promotional film from Readers Digest magazine that declares "Industry has discovered that what happens in Columbus (Ohio) today will be happening all over America tomorrow." The filmmakers interview local businessmen and consumers, all of whom are loyal Reader's Digest readers. Two comment that "most people read the Bible and the Digest." The narrator points out with pride that the Reader's Digest has greater market penetration in affluent areas than in poorer ones.

RECOGNITION OF AFV'S (1943) - Adapted by the U.S. Signal Corps from a British training film, this short aims to teach soldiers a valuable lesson: how to distinguish Allied tanks (or Armored Fighting Vehicles) from those of the enemy.

1104 SUTTON ROAD (1958) - Motivational dramatization shows the story of a dissatisfied factory worker who imagines what it would be like to become foreman or the company president. He learns that every employee must be productive to succeed. Sponsored by the Champion Paper and Fibre Company, with blazing Technicolor views of home and workplace life.

Plus an in-house training film from Bell Telephone, NAVAL AIRCRAFT WORKERS' DIGEST, THE DELCO 12-VOLT SYSTEM, and much more!

Weekend of Avant-Garde and Science Films

This Saturday, the International House will screen three programs of science and experimental films, very few of which are easily seen. For full descriptions of the films, consult the I-House website.

Saturday (Apr 16) 2:00pm

Secret Cinema and Cinema Studies at UPenn present

Cinema/Science

A program of some of the oldest surviving educational films about science and nature and features an assortment of fascinating “popular science” shorts. These ultra-rare reels, many of which haven’t been seen in eight or nine decades, are still potent in their powers to entertain, amuse, and educate modern-day viewers about a variety of subjects. Many of the films have never been shown by Secret Cinema or anyone else since the 1920s! Introduced by science film scholar Oliver Gaycken. Highlights include:

Honey Makers
Pathe Screen Studies, UK, circa 1920s, 16mm

Trip to the Sky
prod Jean Painlevé, France 1937, 16mm

The Battle of the Plants
British Instructional Films, Ltd., UK, circa 1920s, 16mm

Laws of Motion
Encyclopedia Brittanica Films, UK, 1952, 16mm

The Science of Life
Bray Educational Films, US, circa 1920s, 16mm

Saturday (Apr 16) 5:00pm

Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts:

Independent Artist Movement in Cinematography (shorts)

Rien que les heures (Nothing but Time)
dir. Alberto Cavalcanti, France, 1926, 16mm, 45 mins, b/w, silent

Amor Pedestre (Love a Foot)
dir. Marcel Fabre, Italy, 1914, 16mm, 10 mins, b/w, silent

Ritimi di Stazione, Impressioni di Vita N.1 Rhythms (Impressions of Life # 1: Railway Station)
dir. Corrado D’Errico, Italy, 1933, video, 10 mins, b/w, silent

Rennsymphonie (Race Symphony)
dir. Hans Richter, Germany, 1928, 16mm, 5 mins, b/w, silent

La Marche des Machines (The March of the Machines)
dir. Eugene Deslaw, France, 1929, 16mm, 9 mins, b/w, silent

Life and Death of 9413 – A Hollywood Extra
dir. Robert Florey, US, 1928, 16mm, 11 mins, b/w, silent

L’Histoire Du Soldat Inconnu (The History of the Unknown Soldier)
dir. Henri Storck, Belgium, 1931, 16mm, 10 mins, b/w, silent

Saturday (Apr 16) 7:30pm

Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts:

Independent Artist Movement in Cinematography

Limite
Mario Peixoto’s visually entrancing Brazilian classic is a stunning silent poem inspired by a photograph by Andre Kertesz. Described by Peixoto as ‘a tuning fork’ to capture the pitch of a moment in time, it recounts a simple story of three people adrift on a boating trip.