Guest curator: Adam Abrams

Local filmmaker Adam Abrams is the co-founder with Gordon Nelson of the micro-cinema Jefferson Presents, which has programmed a monthly film series for more than eight years, most recently at Garfield Artworks in Pittsburgh East End. Their programs have offered intrepid filmgoers the first glance at experimental work never before screened in town, and often couples established film artists with those lesser-known. A noted member of the experimental film community at large for his dedication to the field, Abrams also makes films and teaches filmmaking. He will present work that is influential to him as an artist, instructor and programmer.

American Zombie

Who needs George Romero’s zombies? We get to know the misunderstood subculture up close and personal in this mockumentary. Set in Los Angeles, Grace Lee plays herself, an investigative filmmaker on the trail of a secretive group that goes by several names: decedents, the nonliving community, revenants, the living dead; in other words, zombies. The comedy culminates in a three-day, zombies-only retreat called Live Dead, where the filmmaker is forced to re-evaluate her ideas about tolerance, identity politics, and the future of the human race. Lee, an actual filmmaker of great promise has fun ribbing indie-doc makers (like herself) as well as those geekie zombie conventions. (Grace Lee; USA/S. Korea; 2007; 91 min)
Co-presented with the Silk Screen Film Festival.
Preceded by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s Capitalism is an Ism.

An Evening with Kenneth Anger

Legendary avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger visits the Festival with a program of his work. It’s a rare opportunity to see both his original films (restored by UCLA Film Archives) and the new videos on which he’s been working. With a career that’s spanned 60 years, Anger always subverted traditional cinema. His work is characterized by “cine-music” montages, pre-dating today’s MTV-influenced visual culture, playfully mixing the dramatic with the fantastic. He’s been influenced as much by the occult as by fetishized Hollywood icons. Included in the program will be 35mm restorations of Fireworks, Rabbit’s Moon, Scorpio Rising and Kustom Kar Kommandoes. Followed by a reception at Concept Art Gallery.

The Band’s Visit

Winner of the Coup de Coeur prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, this is a warm-hearted story of cross-cultural rapprochement. It’s infused with a wistful nostalgia, when simpler pleasures – a shared meal, a good tune, an open door – had the potential to bring people together. In Eran Kolirin’s directorial debut, we follow an Egyptian police band which gets lost in rural Israel on their way to performing at a concert. Invited to the opening of an Israeli cultural center, the immaculately pressed Alexandria Ceremonial Police Band arrive at the airport only to find their hosts are nowhere in sight, so they decide to take a bus. Hopelessly lost, they encounter not only tensions and friendships with the townspeople who take them in for the night, but valuable lessons as well. Through the connections they forge, the band and the villagers find their cultural assumptions shaken – with one especially memorable scene in a roller disco. With subtitles. (Eran Kolirin; Israel; 2007; 89min)
Co-presented with the Jewish-Israeli Film Festival.

Beaufort

Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, this is not a story of war, but of retreat, set in southern Lebanon in the days leading up to the withdrawal of Israeli troops in 2000. Based on a true story and adapted from a novel by journalist Ron Leshem, it’s about a 22 year-old commander, whose growing awareness of his situation forces him to act, as the mental and physical disintegration of his young soldiers grows.  The tension created throughout the film is a not created with fast-paced editing, but through a series of claustrophobic scenes that take the viewer into the young soldiers’ world. A beautiful, haunting film. With subtitles.  (Joseph Cedar; Israel; 2007; 125 min)
Co-presented with the Jewish-Israeli Film Festival.

Beauty in Trouble

From Jan Hrebejk (Up and Down) comes this superb, sexy, consummately elegant Czech drama, inspired by a Robert Graves poem. It’s the tale of an unlikely romance between an alluring young mother and a kindly, but much older, Czech expatriate. Effectively rendered destitute by the floods that washed through Prague in 2002, Marcela leaves her husband, rounds up her kids, and moves in with her mother. Meanwhile, an elderly Czech émigré comes to Prague from his home in Tuscany for a house that was previously claimed by the communists. When they meet in a chance encounter the benevolent older man clearly takes a shine to the beautiful young woman. It’s easy to like this generous foreigner, but it doesn’t take long for Marcela to question her motives. No stranger to mixing political/social issues with basic human conflict, Hrebejk creates a metaphor for the allure of western culture in post-Communist society in this intelligent comic drama. With subtitles. (Jan Hrebejk; Czech Republic; 2006; 110 min)

The Blue Eyed Six

The most famous insurance-murder trial in Pennsylvania history is called the “Blue Eyed Six,” In this documentary/historical recreation (made in PA, naturally) we get all the fascinating details. It seems in the late 1880s, six rogues from Indiantown Gap got their names and pictures plastered on every major newspaper from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. The gang raided farms, stole livestock and robbed travelers between Lebanon and Harrisburg. When the body of old Joseph Raber was found floating in the icy waters of Indiantown Creek, an investigation revealed recent life insurance policies on Raber, who was expected “not to last very long.” Did the gang hurry up the payoff? Five of the six were hanged, even though the facts in the case didn’t add up. The landmark trial was the insurance industries’ first big challenge. This irresistible history lesson features great location shots, including Lebanon Railroad Station, Schuylkill County Prison, and Carbon County Courthouse. (Brian W. Kreider; USA/PA; 2006; 55 min)
Director Brian W. Kreider is scheduled to attend.
Co-presented with the Master of Entertainment Industry Management program of Carnegie-Mellon University.

The Bothersome Man

Hailed at Cannes, Berlin and Toronto festivals, this eerie mystery is filled with eye-popping imagery and enough oddball humor to recall David Lynch. When we meet Andreas, he’s arrived in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He’s got a job, an apartment – even a wife. But before long, he notices something’s wrong. Sinking deeper into his feverish nightmare, Andreas desperately searches for an escape, but discovers there’s no way out. One day a friend points out a crack in his cellar wall where beautiful music streams out. Will it lead to “the other side”? This highly imaginative morality tale is a rare and special visual treat. With subtitles. (Jens Lien; Norway; 2006; 95 min)
Preceded by Joshua Tonies's Paraffin.

Chronicle of an Escape

Based on a true story of survival, this gripping tale was featured in several film festivals including Cannes and Toronto. In 1977, Claudio Tamburrini was a goalie for a minor league soccer team when he was kidnapped by the Argentine secret military police. He was taken to a dilapidated detention center, wrongly accussed of being an anti-government terrorist. After months of interrogations, beatings, and humiliations, he waited for his fate to be decided. With execution looking certain, Claudio – wonderfully portrayed here by The Motorcycle Diaries’ Rodrigo de la Serna – and three other prisoners decide one night that they must take a chance to make a break. With subtitles. (Israel Adrián Caetano; Argentina; 2006; 104 min)

Artist-in-Residence: Jacob Ciocci

Jacob Ciocci, current artist-in-residence at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, and member of the artist collective Paper Rad, will present a program combining original animation with found footage collected from old VHS tapes, video games, and the internet. Paper Rad will be screening a mix of all new videos never before seen in Pittsburgh, YouTube data mash-ups, cartoon music videos, bizarre collages of VHS found footage, and maybe even a sneak-preview of their in-progress children’s show called "Problem Solvers." Also, to give context to Paper Rad’s wide pool of influences, more examples will be shown of rare art film and video, obscure cartoons from around the world, and cable-access fairy tales. Pittsburgh Filmmakers artist- in-residence program is supported by the Heinz Endowment Creative Heights. (90 min program)

Delirious

Indie director Tom DiCillo scrutinizes the entertainment industry once again (Living in Oblivion, The Real Blonde) in this hilarious film starring Steve Buscemi as a cranky New York paparazzi named Les. Pretty boy Michael Pitt plays a homeless wannabe thespian that Les takes under his wing as an unpaid assistant. But it doesn’t take long before his young protégé hooks up with a pop star du jour and Les is fit to be tied. A wonderful meditation on the nature of fame, the people who sell it, those who buy it, and their mutually parasitic dependence on each other. Also stars Alison Lohman, Anne Heche, Callie Thorne, and Gina Gershon. (Tom DiCillo; USA; 2006, 107 min)
Preceded by Anna Hawkins’ & Chris Smalley’s The View Master.

The Dhamma Brothers

A dramatic tale of human potential and transformation, this inspirational film documents the stories of 36 Alabama inmates at a maximum security prison, who enter an arduous, intensive 10-day course of silent meditation. Co-director Jenny Phillips, a cultural anthropologist and psychotherapist interviewed the prisoners (called “the dhamma brothers” from dharma -- the collective teachings of Buddha). Challenging assumptions about the nature of prisons as places of punishment rather than rehabilitation, the film raises the question: is it possible for these men, some of whom have committed horrendous crimes, to change? (Jenny Phillips, Anne Marie Stein, and Andrew Kukura; USA; 2007; 76 min)
Director Jenny Phillips is scheduled to appear.

Eloquent Nude

She was beautiful, smart, and searching. He was a rising star in the world of modern photography. When they met, they fell instantly in love. Setting off across the West with camera and typewriter, Charis Wilson and Edward Weston transformed photography -- and each other. Now age 90, Charis Wilson recounts her years with Weston with great humor, candor, and regret. Combining insight from leading scholars, rare archival images, and convincingly authentic reenactments, Eloquent Nude presents a remarkable true story of love and loss, travel and adventure, and an intimate look at the making of modern photography. Linda Benedict-Jones, executive director of Silver Eye Gallery, will introduce the film. (Ian McCluskey; USA; 2007; 58 min)
Linda Benedict-Jones, executive director of Silver Eye Center for Photography, will introduce the film.
Preceded by Ross Nugent’s A torrent of helplessness swept me away…

Film Kitchen: Trailer Trash a Film Journal

For this edition of the monthly Film Kitchen series, which showcases regional independent film and video, we present an extraordinary personal work about poverty, prejudice, and the harsh reality of drug addiction in rural America. Using Super 8 film, digital video, TV news footage and photographs, West Virginia native Don Diego Ramirez captures his family as they bravely face a complicated mass of intersecting crises. Part home movie, part hard-hitting documentary, he balances distance and intimacy in this disturbing, but compelling story of life and death. (Don Diego Ramirez; USA; 2007; 53 min)
Director Don Ramirez is scheduled to appear. Reception at 7:00pm

Finishing the Game

Premiering to raves at Sundance, this good-natured spoof satirizes the making of Bruce Lee’s final film Game of Death. A martial arts icon and international movie star, Lee died prior to finishing the movie, having only completed 30 minutes of shooting. But studio heads decided to complete the film by launching a search for a look-alike replacement attracting hopefuls from around the world. From the director of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, this comedy also confronts issues of racism and the stereotyping of Asian-American actors. (Justin Lin, 2007; USA; 88 min)
Co-presented by the Silk Screen Film Festival.

Frownland

Winner of a Special Jury Award at this year’s SxSW film festival, Frownland is a savage comedy about a door-to-door coupon salesman named Keith. He chain-smokes and eats popcorn and eggs off the folded-out door of his kitchen oven. Newcomer Dore Mann is painfully good as Keith, a wet-lipped bundle of incoherence, who quivers under an unending struggle to force what he’d like to say out. Frownland’s director, Ronald Bronstein, spent the last seven years below street level in the dingy projection booth of the Museum of Modern Art. There, deprived of both sunlight and fresh circulating oxygen, he watched an average of 600 movies a year. This is his first time making one. (Ronald Bronstein; USA; 2007; 106 min)

Glass Lips

Not well known outside his native Poland, Lech Majewski has produced one astounding film after another. “…a brilliant filmmaker whose haunting aesthetic is formed of much deeper stuff, processed through a lively mind and idiosyncratic imagination, chastened and tempered by history, and captured on screen with the rigor and perfectionism of an artist who might also carve castles out of toothpicks.” – Washington Post. The cinematography is exquisite in Glass Lips, as we follow the story of a young poet whose father’s shadow looms over him, and he recalls traumatic episodes from his life from inside an asylum. Originally titled Blood of a Poet when it was part of a Majewski retrospective at MOMA, this film is based on a video installation composed of 33 pieces shown on multiple screens. With subtitles. (Lech Majewski; Poland; 2007; 97 min)
Preceded by Neil Bhaerman’s and Michael Maraden’s Puppets!

Golden Days

It’s no secret that the entertainment business is a cruel one. This terrific new documentary reinforces the notion. We follow a struggling indie rock band called The Damnwells who finally hit the big time. They sign with a major record label only to have their album and their career nearly destroyed by the people who signed them. Most groups might have succumbed to the intense pressure, but these guys stuck together, picked up the pieces and vowed to play on. Director Chris Suchorsky shot a music video for The Damnwells, which led to this film. Golden Days deserves to be seen as much as its music deserves to be heard. (Chris Suchorsky; USA; 2007; 95 min)
Director Chris Suchorsky is scheduled to appear.
Co-presented with 91.3 WYEP-FM.

The GoodTimesKid

Azazel Jacobs, son of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs, calls his second feature film “a story about stolen love and stolen identities shot on stolen film.”  A quirky, charming story, Kid has a wonderful sense of rhythm that recalls early Jim Jarmusch, as well as some of his dad’s anarchic spirit. The premise is modern romance -- two guys are named Rodolfo, one of whom gets renamed Depresso by the girlfriend of the other – and it’s a tribute to Jacobs’s skill that this is enough. An indie that’s low-budget and proud of it, the effect is magical: intimate close-ups capturing every flicker across the actors’ effortlessly expressive faces. Could be the sleeper hit of the film festival. (Azazel Jacobs; USA; 2007; 77 min)
Preceded rebbyro’s FLOOZIE.

Grace Is Gone

The buzz is that John Cusack might finally secure his first Oscar nomination with this film. The Sundance audience award-winner is a contemplative, understated drama about how to start the healing process. Cusack plays the manager of a Minnesota Home Store who thought he was destined for a military career until his dream was cut short due to poor eyesight. Now he serves customers while his wife serves in Iraq. Suddenly and unexpectedly widowed, Stanley cannot bring himself to tell his two young daughters. Instead he takes the girls on a whimsical road trip while he attempts to sort things out. Features a piano-based score written by Clint Eastwood. This project began with Cusack’s fury over the policy banning footage of caskets returning from Iraq. (James C. Strouse; USA; 2007; 92 min)

Irina Palm

Singer/actress Marianne Faithfull plays Maggie, a widow who desperately needs money to pay for a medical treatment for her 10-year-old grandson. After several unfruitful attempts to find a job, and roaming the streets of London’s Soho, she enters a strip bar called Sex World. Maggie asks about a job advertised in their window for a “hostess,” thinking it would involve cleaning up and making tea. Under the pseudonym of “Irina Palm,” Maggie courageously gets to know her first anonymous customer, and soon builds up an eager clientele whom she services. A mixture of gritty realism and humor, this quirky film was an audience fave at the Berlin Film Festival. (Sam Garbarski; 2007; UK/Germany; 103 min)

The Island

Winner of 5 Nika Awards (Russian Oscars) including Best Film, this stunningly beautiful film will take your breath away. Shot on a tiny snow-covered isle in Northern Russia’s White Sea, The Island is a fascinating parable of guilt, salvation and divine healing. From the director of Taxi Blues, it symbolically presents an island as a laboratory for testing faith. The story is set in a small Russian Orthodox monastery where the monks are confused by the bizarre conduct of one man, whom they believe has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future. He, however, strives only to atone for a sin he committed 30 years earlier under Nazi duress. With subtitles. (Pavel Lounguine; Russia; 2006; 112 min)

Kalkadoon Man with live music by William Barton

One of Australia’s most respected musicians, William Barton, is featured in this fascinating documentary about his 10-day quest to make a didgeridoo using traditional methods passed down from his family and members of the Kalkadunga nation. Throughout the journey William shares his thoughts, stories and compositions which give a rare insight into the life of the young Kalkadoon descendan, trying to resolve his place in the contemporary world as a passionate musician dedicated to his traditional culture. This special screening includes a live didgeridoo performance by William Barton. Digital projection. (Brendan Fletcher; Australia; 2004; 90 min program)
Barton is joined by DJ Soy Sos for a jam session at Shadow Lounge, 5972 Baum Boulevard, 10pm - 12am, which is free to film ticket holders.
Co-presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, as part of the Australia Festival.

Manhattan

Starring Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep and Mariel Hemingway, this hilarious, heartwarming tale of love and loss is considered one of Woody Allen’s greatest films. The stunning use of black-and-white cinematography by Gordon Willis – seen here in a brand new print – and the musical score by Gershwin makes this meditation on life in New York unforgettable. (Woody Allen; USA; 1979; 96 min)
Part of the Independent Vision discussion series, sponsored by Pitt Arts. Harris screening presented with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. Discussion and reception at both screenings.

Manual of Love

This Italian romantic-comedy was nominated for 12 David di Donatello Awards. Observed through a kaleidoscope, it chronicles four phases of love: falling in love, the crisis, betrayal and abandonment. Colorful as a patchwork, each episode is played out by a different couple. All of their stories are thrilling (just like love) sweet, ironic, and humorous. Eventually, they all turn to the reassuringly titled “Manual of Love” for help. The film explores the mysterious and incomprehensible recesses of the human heart where misbegotten love affairs, family relationships, tragedies, fate, all leave indelible marks and deep scars. In the end, this book of love speaks to us all. With subtitles. (Giovanni Veronesi; Italy; 2005; 108 min)

Mark McElhatten presents "Jewels and Binoculars," an evening of Contemporary Avant Garde Cinema

We are pleased to host the head of the prestigious avant-garde showcase for the New York Film Festival. The program includes: "Recreation," by Robert Breer, USA, 1956, 1m; "Beirut Outtakes," Peggy Ahwesh, USA, 2007, 7m; "Antigenic Drift," Lewis Klahr, USA, 2007; 17m with music by Rhys Chatham; "Rehearsals for Retirement," Phil Solomon, USA, 2007, 10m; "Black and White Trypps Number Three," Ben Russell, USA, 2007, 11m; "Capitalism: Child Labor," Ken Jacobs, USA, 2006, 14m; "Light Work 1," Jennifer Reeves, USA, 2006, 8m; "Energie!" Thorsten Fleisch, Germany, 2007, 5m; "and we all shine on," Michael Robinson, 16mm color film with optical sound, 2006, 7m; "Observando el Cielo," Jeanne Liotta, USA, 2007, 17m with soundtrack by Peggy Ahwesh.

Mark McElhatten presents "The Intimate Distance and Beyond..." a Tribute to Mark LaPore

Filmmaker Mark LaPore (who died in 2005) conducted profoundly cinematic, highly-distilled personal investigations into the nature of cultural flux & reverie. He shot extensively in rural Sudan, Sri Lanka, New York, Myanmar, India and Idaho. McElhatten, who was a close friend, will present a selection of LaPore’s groundbreaking work, and recently completed cinema poems to LaPore’s memory by Phil Solomon.

The program includes: "Lunatic Princess," 4m, black and white sound digital video, 2005;"Kolkata," 35m, black and white sound 16mm, 2005; "The Sleepers," 16m, color sound 16mm, 1989; "The Glass System," 20m, color sound 16mm, 2000; "Untitled (for David Gatten)," Mark LaPore and Phil Solomon, 5m, color sound digital video, 2005; "Rehearsals for Retirement," Phil Solomon, 11m, Dvcam, 2007; "Last Days In A Lonely Place," Phil Solomon, 20m, Dvcam, 2007.

My Brother's Wedding

Charles Burnett’s legendary lost film has been restored by the Pacific Film Archive and re-edited by the director. Just like Burnett’s first film, Killer of Sheep, My Brother’s Wedding is an eye-opening revelation -- it is wise, funny, heartbreaking and timeless. Pierce Mundy works at his parents South Central dry cleaners with no prospects for the future and his childhood buddies in prison or dead. With his best friend just getting out of jail and his brother busy planning a wedding to a snooty upper-middle-class black woman, Pierce navigates his conflicting obligations while trying to figure out what he really wants in life. (Charles Burnett, USA; 1983; 81 min)
Preceded by Jessica Fenlon’s VIGIL: a meditation on the remains of the 9th ward of New Orleans.

The Nines

No need for advanced math skills to get the title: three actors play three different roles in three different stories in The Nines, a clever and satisfying film. The scenarios are linked metaphorically, forming a stylish puzzle of coincidences that question the underlying notions of life and art. In The Prisoner, a television star is under house arrest, trapped with his chipper publicist and a neighbor. Reality Television traces the behind-the-scenes tribulations of a sitcom. And in Knowing a video-game designer and his family find themselves stranded in the woods. The film boasts a host of talented folks, from its editor, Douglas Crise (who’s a Filmmakers’ alum), to the top-notch cast (Hope Davis, Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy), to first-time director John August, who’s worked on several Tim Burton films. (John August; USA; 2007; 99 min)
Editor Douglas Crise is scheduled to appear.
Co-presented with the Master of Entertainment Industry Management program of Carnegie-Mellon University.

Pascua Lama: A Contemporary Quest for El Dorado

World premiere from media artist Carolina Loyola-Garcia! This documentary explores the complicated dynamics of the mining industry in Chile, specifically focusing on the mining project called Pascua Lama, being developed by the Canadian Barrick Gold Corporation in Northern Chile. Not one to shy away from controversy, Loyola-Garcia, along wither her sister Gloria Loyola, tackle the issue of governments who lack long-term vision and developing countries who sell their natural resources without considering sustainable development strategies for their communities. The filmmakers believe this fosters a new model of colonization sponsored by the corporate developed world. (Carolina Loyola-Garcia & Gloria Loyola; 2007; USA; 64min)
Director Carolina Loyola-Garcia is scheduled to appear.

Persepolis

Fresh from the coveted spot as the closing night film at the New York Film Festival, comes this groundbreaking animated film. Marjane Satrapi’s spectacular graphic novels about her life as a rebellious young woman in and out of Iran, before and after the Islamic Revolution, have caused a worldwide sensation. This vibrant adaptation is destined to do likewise, for both adults and discerning younger audiences. The bold-faced visual style matches the irrepressible spirit of young Marjane, first as a teenager chafing at the restrictions of the Khomeini regime, and later as a disoriented ex-pat in Vienna. The fabulous Catherine Deneuve and her real-life daughter, Chiara Mastroianni provide the voices. (Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud; France; 2007; 95min)
Co-presented with Simpson and McCrady.
Preceded by Suzie Silver’s and Hilary Harp’s Nebula.

Punk's Not Dead

Blast off with 30 years’ worth of screaming 1-2-3-4! Punk’s Not Dead is a who’s who of luminaries (from The Ramones, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, X, Minor Threat, Green Day, locals Anti-Flag and dozens more) with rare performance clips. It’s also a vibrant proof-of-life statement with an emphasis on punk’s shift from ‘80s No-Wave to grunge-punk’s commercial breakthrough. Neatly ducking in and out of history lessons, the movie gets down to the nitty gritty of how punk is practiced and preached today. The strongest ammunition against punk’s epitaph is fired most eloquently by oldsters still punking 30 years later. Even at fiftysomething, the members of Subhumans, the Exploited, U.K. Subs and the Adicts are inspirational and respectable defenders of their anti-authoritarian faith. (Susan Dynner; USA; 2007; 100 min)
Director Susan Dynner is scheduled to appear.

The Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard

It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh! This is the extraordinary story of legend Maurice “the Rocket” Richard, whose tireless fight on and off the ice ignited –- and forever changed –- a generation. As a young boy from Québec, Richard dreamed of playing in the National Hockey League. Beneath his soft-spoken, working class exterior burned a passion that transformed this young factory worker. In the 1950s pre-helmet days of hockey, and facing discrimination against French Canadians, Richard played with a finesse, speed, and fire that defied all odds. This rousing film stars Roy Dupuis in the title role and features appearances by NHL players Vincent Lecavalier, Mike Ricci, Sean Avery, and Philippe Sauvé. Winner of 9 Canadian Genie awards, including best director and best actor as well as the Canadian Oscar. In English and French with subtitles. (Charles Biname; Canada; 2007; 124 min)

Red Bull Rough Streets - special competition

Pittsburgh has a large BMX bike scene in Pittsburgh, geographically divided North, South, East, West, because of the parks in which they ride. For this special presentation, Red Bull has challenged young people (supplying production equipment) to create portraits of their BMX communities. With a playful rivalry, and split up by North, South, East, and West, the filmmaking teams were asked, “What is BMX in your part of the city?” The four short extreme sport-style videos are edited into one for this exciting evening. Prizes awarded to winning team; a reception to follow the screening.

Short Films Program 2007

Space is devoted in the Film Festival each year for a competitive selection of shorts – a program for media artists to present work that allows them to creatively take risks, break new ground or challenge the viewer. Within the categories of experimental, narrative, animation, and documentary, with a wide variety of themes, there are 21 shorts divided into 2 separate programs. Submissions for the programs are from several regional artists, as well as national and international artists. Prizes donated by Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Kodak will be awarded at the screenings.

Program A: Sun Nov 11, 7:00.
Fission, Kun-I Chang; U: The Underwood Company, Joseph Varhola; Wooden, but wonderful, Justin Crimone; Orbit, Kerry Laitala; The Predator’s Return, Jerald Fine; El Otro Lado, A.Wallace; Gravida, Lucas McNelly; The Green Grass of Twilight, Richard A Sherman; Hand of God, Payman Maadi; We Hear Sirens, Alex Harder; Sampsonia Way: City of Asylum, Jose Muniain.

Program B: Mon Nov 13, 9:00.
Plainview, Scott T. Jones; Archaic Blues, Gregoire Picher; Through These Trackless Waters, Elizabeth Henry; Absolute Zero, Alan Woodruff; Glimpse, Dustin Grella; Loose Connection, Andrew Batista; The Lonely Bliss of the Cannonball Luke, Levi Abrino; The Lost Journal of Vice Marceaux, J.R. Burningham; Adam Taylor’s Dracula, Adam Taylor; A Sunday Brunch, Hye Mee Na.

The Signal

It’s New Year’s Eve in the city of Terminus and chaos is this year’s resolution. All forms of communication have been jammed by an enigmatic signal that preys on the fears and desires of everyone in the city. Told in three parts from three unique perspectives by three directors, this sci-fi/horror film was originally conceived as an experimental project. One filmmaker would begin a story, hand it off to another filmmaker to continue, then to another, and so on until the movie was complete. The story eventually evolved into a thriller that imagines a world where everyday anxieties become the catalyst for inhuman terror. The Signal is a horrific journey towards discovering that the most brutal monster might actually be within all of us. (David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry; USA; 2007; 99 min)

Strange Girls

World premiere of this locally made thriller! Strange Girls features Adrienne Wehr (local actress, educator, artist, producer of The Bread My Sweet) as a pill-popping psychiatrist who takes on the case of dysfunctional twin sisters, who seem to be unable to live together and unable to live apart. The twenty-something girls speak to no one and do everything in complete synchronization. Shot in Pittsburgh, Connellsville and New Kensington, Strange Girls is a dark tale of horror, manipulation and obsession. (Rona Mark; USA/Pittsburgh; 2007; 98min)
Director Rona Mark is scheduled to attend.

Terror’s Advocate

Director Barbet Schroeder investigates the mystery of the terrorist’s mind in this gripping documentary. What exactly drives an outrageous man like Jacques Vergès? Schroeder interviews this smooth-talking, affable French lawyer who began his career by defending (and then marrying) an Algerian café bomber and would gain greater notoriety for his associations with Carlos the Jackal, Klaus Barbie and Slobodan Milosevic. From scandalous cases to terrorist explosions, Schroeder traces the intricate path of this “terrorists’ advocate,” and reveals the connection between blind terrorist networks. Known for his narrative features (Reversal of Fortune, Barfly), Schroeder has long maintained an interest in the documentary form. His nonfiction films (General Idi Amin Dada, The Charles Bukowski Tapes) confirm his interest in moral ambiguity. (Barbet Schroeder; France; 2007; 135 min)

Times and Winds

Set in a rural Turkish village, this coming-of-age tale focuses on three best friends, two boys and a girl. These young people have a contemporary awareness of the rest of the planet but feel shackled to their lives, and to their parents keen on getting their children to assume their roles. Their youthful struggles play out against a natural backdrop of passing hours and changing seasons. Perched above the sea, they could be at the edge of the world -- or at its end. Stunningly photographed and with an evocative musical score, this award-winner earned top prize at last year’s Istanbul Film Festival. Featuring a winsome cast of nonprofessional children, it emerges as one of the most thoughtful depictions of childhood ever committed to film. Times and Winds offers an unforgettable glimpse of rural Islamic life that is at once timeless and out of time. With subtitles. (Reha Erdem; Turkey; 2007; 110 min)
Co-presented with Silk Screen Film Festival.

Trigger Man

Inspired by true events (naturally), this is the story of hunters who mysteriously become the hunted. Featuring a cameo from producer Larry Fessenden, Trigger Man is a chase film with a visceral approach to horror. Three old friends, determined to get out of the city, set off for a hunting trip in the woods of rural Delaware. Taking their time, they carefully survey the scene, look for wild game, drink beer and discuss their home lives. But when a surprisingly horrific incident occurs, their lives are changed forever. In a kind of nightmarish version of The Fugitive crossed with Diner, this silly buddy movie turns into a tongue-in-cheek, high-octane thriller. Just like Orson Welles, its young director was only 25 when he achieved success directing his first feature, The Roost. (Ti West; USA; 2007; 80 min)
Preceded by Matt R. Day’s Earl Shackelford’s XtremeQuarter Back.

Underworld
With Alloy Orchestra

Alloy Orchestra – a three-man band from Boston who’ve made a career of writing and performing live music to classic silent films – is back with their new score and a new print of Underworld. It’s a doomed love story – a triangle between crime kingpin, Bull Weed, his girlfriend Feathers McCoy, and his trusted friend and right-hand man, Rolls Royce. Visually expressionistic, but sentimental in tone, this tale of tough gangsters has the most delicate of looks, gestures and flutters of emotion. The masterpiece is enhanced by Alloy’s live music – an unusual combination of found percussion and state of the art electronic synthesizers. (Josef von Sternberg; USA; 1927; 80 min)
Co-presented with the Master of Entertainment Industry Management program of Carnegie-Mellon University.

The Violin

Set in a small Mexican village during the 70s, this drama tells the story of a family of peasants who make a humble living as traveling musicians. Responding to the tyrannical regime in their region, they also become part of guerrilla movement. The elderly Plutarco does not appear threatening -- he’s a sweet, old man with a gift for the violin. So, in exchange for playing music, Plutarco is allowed to go into his cornfields, where he secretly removes cached ammunition, smuggling it bit by bit in his violin case. Shot in stunning black and white and unfolding with a dreamlike languor, the film transcends traditional social commentary. The Violin is a tribute to the curative nature of art, as well as a tender story about a father’s love for his family and the sacrifice of an unlikely hero. With subtitles. (Francisco Vargas Quevedo; Mexico; 2006; 99 min)

Walkabout

Being shown in a beautiful new print, this ravishing film from 1971 was director Nicolas Roeg’s first feature. It’s the nightmarish story of two siblings who become stranded in the Australian outback after their father inexplicably goes mad. As the adolescent sister and six-year-old brother wander, they join a teenage Aborigine boy on a walkabout -- a tribal initiation into manhood. Initially, the three inhabit a dream-like Eden, but tension mounts and tragic consequences occur when modern city attitudes are juxtaposed with nature, in all of its terror and beauty. (Nicolas Roeg; Australia; 1971; 100 min)
Co-presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, as part of the Australia Festival.

The Walker

Featuring an all-star cast (Lauren Bacall, Woody Harrelson, Lily Tomlin, Kristen Scott Thomas), this delicious film, fresh from the Toronto Film Festival is set in the opulent world of Washington’s political upper crust, where one man’s passion for the good things in life entrench him in a world of betrayal and murder. Escorting the elegantly coifed but desperately lonely wives and widows of Washington’s elite is the favored pastime of Carter Page III (Harrelson). Page – all southern-gentlemanly – is their most sought after companion, or “walker.” At night, Page discreetly goes home to his lover, a photographer named Emek, to cattily regale him with the day’s activities. When the beautiful and adoring wife of a Senator discovers her lover has been brutally murdered, she instinctively turns to Page for help. Caught in a web of intrigue and mixed motives, he suddenly finds himself the prime suspect. This is Harrelson as you’ve never seen him before. (Paul Schrader; USA/UK; 2007; 107 min)
Preceded by Olivia Ciummo’s Help me Search for Henyo.

The Way I Spent the End of the World

A testament to the transcendent power of love, this heart-tugger from the Toronto Film Festival is the first feature from a promising young director, Catalin Mitulescu. It tells the story of teenaged Eva and her little brother in the months leading up to the deposition of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu -- the end of the only world these two young souls ever knew. When Eva gets herself in trouble, she’s sent away to reform school. Meanwhile, her adorable brother is eager to lose his baby teeth but gets into plenty of mischief himself, like planning with his friends an assassination attempt on Ceausescu – who’s coming to hear their school choir perform – as revenge for driving Eva away. With subtitles. (Catalin Mitulescu; Romania/France; 2006; 106 min)