World CinemaFall 2006 |
Friday, October 6 – 7pm
|
Friday, October 20 – 7pm – Free ScreeningPitfall (Otishiana)*New 35mm Print For Teshigahara's first feature film he adapted experimental fiction writer Kobo Abe's story of a poor mining town. Revolving around a series of mysterious murders by a man dressed in a spotless white suit, Teshigahara mixes stark realism with fantastical elements. Throughout the film, ghosts of the victims appear like a Greek chorus to question the point of their lives and deaths. Exploring states of consciousness and the subjectivity of reality, this psychological nightmare brought Teshigahara's film work international attention and introduced themes and techniques recurring in many of his films. (Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japan, Japanese w/ Eng. St., 97 min., 35mm, 1962) ______________________
Friday, October 20 – 9pm – Free Screenings
|
Friday October 27 – 7pm & 9pm The BridesmaidIt is love at first sight when bridesmaid Senta meets handsome young Philippe at his younger sister's wedding. Though their passion for each other is obvious, Philippe soon discovers that Senta's life is shrouded in mystery and her stories surrounding her past anything but believable. When she asks Philippe for a terrible proof of his love, he must come to terms with who his lover might really be. “A slyly enjoyable thriller with echoes of Hitchcock...quietly menacing...Smet delivers an impressive performance, suggesting her character's seductive sensuality and sinister stillness....Chabrol's perverse humour is still very much intact.” -BBC (Claude Chabrol, France in French w/ Eng. St. , 2004, 35mm, 110 minutes)
|
Special Halloween Screening! Tuesday, October 31 – 7pm – Free Screening – One Show Only! Live Freaky! Die Freaky!It is the year 3069 and the Earth has been robbed of all its natural resources, destroyed by war and ozone depletion, and is now only a barren desert. Nomadic tribes scour the desolate land in search of food. One particular nomad finds something else entirely: the book Helter Skelter , quickly adopted as divine law in the nomad's soon to be doomed society. This musical comedy employs stop-motion animation with the voices of Asia Argento and Billie Joe Armstrong. (John Roecker, US, video, 80 min., 2005)
|
Friday, November 3 – 7 & 9pm Woman is the Future of Man* Milwaukee Premiere As the first snow falls on Seoul , childhood friends, Hunjoon and Munho reunite over food and drinks at a local noodle shop. Chatting about the years gone by, the drinks pour and their musing inevitably evokes the beautiful Sunhwa who Hunjoon abandoned when he went to America . Unbeknownst to him, Sunhwa later found comfort with Munho. Soon Hunjoon decides they should track down the woman they both loved. Playing with linearity and structure, the film reveals these past relationships as if in parallel to the present. “ [M]emory, desire and raw self-interest clash against one another with startling poignancy.” – Manohla Dargis NEW YORK TIMES (Hong Sangsoo, Korea, in Korean w/ Eng. St., 35mm, 88 min., 2004)
|
Thursday, November 9 – 7pm – Free Screening Mystery Science 3000: The MovieDiscussion and Q&A with writer Mike Nelson Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is the big screen debut of the cult TV comedy. Trapped in space and forced to watch truly awful films, Mike and his robot pals (Crow and Tom Servo) try to make the best of it by providing ongoing quips and jokes at the movies expense. In this particular adventure, Mike and the bots riff and mock their way through the 1950's “classic” sci-fi film “This Island Earth”. Bad movies have never been so good. Co-sponsored by The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Club at UWM and CAB.
|
Friday, November 10 – 7 & 9pm La Moustache* Milwaukee Premiere One evening Marc decides on a whim to shave off the mustache he's worn all of his adult life. He waits patiently for his wife's reaction, but neither she nor his friends seem to notice. Stranger still, when he finally tells them, they all insist he never had a mustache. Is it madness or conspiracy? Adapted from his own novel, Carrère has crafted an engrossing existential thriller, a story about a man who inadvertently loses himself . “Carrere captures the small fissures that lurk in even the best relationships, both marital and professional… a keen glimpse into a marriage that appears perfect on the surface but when examined shows its deficiencies.” – Duane Byrge HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (Emmanuel Carrère, France, French/English/Cantonese w/ Eng. St., 35mm, 86min., 2005)
|
Special Screening! Monday, November 13 – 7pm – Free Screening King of MasksWu Tianming will be present for the screening and discussion along with filmmaker Luo Xueying. Set in 1930's Sichuan , this touching, exquisite tale combines theatrical flamboyance and evocative settings in which a traveling magician adopts a boy disciple who turns out to be a girl. Director Wu Tianming is a major influence on “Fifth Generation” filmmakers such as Zhang Yimou. Co-sponsored by Center for International Studies, The Department of Comparative Literature and Film, and The ChinaFilm Project & The BlackFilm Project. (Wu Tianming, China, Mandarin w/ Eng. St., 101 min., 1999)
|
Friday, November 17 – 7 & 9pm Fallen Idol*New 35mm Print Filmed between Odd Man Out and The Third Man and long unavailable to the public. 8-year-old Phil is left with the butler, Baines who he idolizes, while his parents take a weekend trip. This thrilling story of moral ambiguity revolves around Baines' unhappy marriage and interest in another woman, seen from Phil's perspective. The gap between what the child sees and understands of the adult relationships provides the tension and suspense aided by the use of disconcerting camera angles. "This is an example of a writer and director working in perfect harness, with Reed smoothly ratcheting up the story's suspense and Greene speculating on his cardinal theme of moral ambiguity." – Ann Hornaday WASHINGTON POST. (Carol Reed, UK, 35mm, 95min., 1948)
|
Special Screening! Monday, November 20 – 7pm – Free Screening Pandora's BoxG.W. Pabst's scintillating silent masterpiece is re-released on a new 35mm print in commemoration of the centennial of legendary icon Louise Brooks. As the manipulative, destructive, yet magnetic demimondaine Lulu, Brooks created a landmark sexual persona so subtly charged that today's audiences are still electrified. Based on plays by German writer Franz Wedekind. “A TOUR-DE-FORCE OF CINEMATIC EROTICISM! Capable of inspiring some critics to babbling gush — and reducing others to awed silence... Brooks's performance as Lulu retains a vitality, a live physical and affective presence, that has rarely, if ever, been matched on screen.” – A.O. Scott, NEW YORK TIMES (G.W. Pabst, Germany, Silent w/ live musical accompaniment, 110 min., 1929)
|
Tuesday – Sunday, November 28 – December 3 Alchemist of the Surreal: A Jan Švankmajer RetrospectiveOne of the great Czech filmmakers, Jan Švankmajer first encountered film at the Laterna Magika Puppet Theatre. Making films since 1964, he continues creating some of the most memorable and unique animated films ever made. His work has influenced filmmakers from Tim Burton to The Brothers Quay. Often mixing stop-motion animation with live-action and puppeteering, Švankmajer's vision remains as strikingly surreal and uncannily inventive as ever. __________________________
Tuesday, November 28 – 7pm – Free Screening Švankmajer Shorts( Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic, TRT 101 min., 16 & 35mm, 1964 – 1988) The Last Trick (1964) Švankmajer's first film shows two magicians dueling to top each other with theatrics. In Don Shayn (1970) an adaptation of the Don Juan story, Švankmajer mixes wooden puppets with live actors dressed as puppets to bring the old tale to life. Dimensions of Dialogue (1982) features Archimboldo-esque animations interacting on the premise of domestic situations. Also included: J.S. Bach: Fantasia in G Minor (1965) , Punch and Judy (1966) , Leonardo's Diary (1972) , and Virile Games (1988) ( Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic, TRT 101 min., 16 & 35mm, 1964 – 1988) _______________________
Wednesday, November 29 – 7pm – Free Screening AliceŠvankmajer's first feature film a characteristically witty and subversive adaptation of Alice in Wonderland which dives into the story's dark psychological dimensions. Cutting away to close-ups of her lips, Alice narrates her adventure and voices all the characters. Seamlessly combining live action with toy objects and animation, Svankmajer creates a surreal dream world unlike any other presented on film. (Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic/Switzerland/UK/West Germany, 35mm, 84 min, 1989) _______________________
Thursday, November 30 – 7pm – Free Screening Little Otik
|
Tuesday – Sunday, December 5 – 6, 8 – 10 The Word and the Image: A Peter Whitehead RetrospectiveLegendary filmmaker, author, lover of some of the world's great beauties, and falconer to Arab princes, Peter Whitehead was at the heart of Swinging London and the counter culture of the 1960s. Whitehead's films stand as an unrivaled document of the era. The first ever American retrospective of Peter Whitehead's work marks the 40th anniversary of his career in film. __________________________
Tuesday, December 5 – 7pm – Free Screening Time Capsules: Peter Whitehead ShortsIn The Perception of Life biological ideas expand as technology improves. Filmed through microscopes scientists used from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Wholly Communion effectively launched Whitehead's career, capturing the historic event at the Royal Albert Hall where American and English Beat poets first met. Among the performers featured are Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Gregory Corso. Finally in Benefit of a Doubt Peter Brook directs the Royal Shakespeare Company in US, a semi-improvised work protesting England 's unseen and unacknowledged role in the Vietnam War. (Peter Whitehead, UK, video, TRT 128 min., 1964 – 1967) __________________________
50 Years of Music Movies Wednesday, December 6 – 7pm – Free Screenings Peter Whitehead: Pop FilmsWhitehead's work with The Dubliners, The Small Faces and, above all, The Rolling Stones was the very inception of the artful, experimental and daring pop promo. This program includes the films Whitehead made with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Nico, The Stones, Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett performing live and in the studio, and some rare surprises from the director's extensive archive. (Peter Whitehead, UK, video, 120 min., 1966 – 1969) ________________________
Friday, December 8 – 7pm – Free Screenings The FallThe Fall is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, an extremely personal statement on violence, revolution and the turbulence within late sixties America . Whitehead captured the mood on the streets of New York in the immediate aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and spent several days inside the occupied buildings of Columbia University with subsequent mayhem and violence. Filmed entirely in and around New York between October 1967 and June 1968, it features Robert Kennedy, Paul Auster, Tom Hayden, Arthur Miller, Robert Lowell, Robert Rauschenberg and The Deconstructivists. (Peter Whitehead, UK, video, 120min., 1969) ______________________
Friday, December 8 – 9pm – Free Screening DaddyWhat began as a documentary about French sculptress Niki de St Phalle finished up as a fantasy about a woman's attempts to exorcise the influence of her sexually domineering father. Alternately gothic and surreal, de Saint Phalle and Mia Martin are the two protagonists in a kind of ‘Let's Get Daddy' charade, acting out their fantasies on the poor unfortunate patriarch, as played by Rainer Diez. (Peter Whitehead, UK, video, 90 min., 1973) _______________________
Saturday, December 9 – 5pm – Free Screening Fire in the WaterIn this alchemical allegory, a filmmaker reviews his brief movie career in the highlands of Scotland while his girlfriend explores the countryside alone. With Nathalie Delon, The Animals, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, David Hockney and John Lennon. (Peter Whitehead, UK, video, 90 min., 1977) _________________________
Saturday, December 9 – 7pm – Free Screening Tonite Let's All Make Love in London w/ Nothing to Do with Me One of the few filmmakers trusted by the 60s rock illuminati, Whitehead was allowed unparalleled access into the center of the pop circle. With contributions from the likes of Mick Jagger, Michael Caine, Julie Christie, Lee Marvin and David Hockney, Tonite presents a dazzling and intimate record from the very core of the ‘in-crowd.' “Not a documentary in any ordinary sense,” said Variety, “but rather an impression-istic view of the ‘land of mod' as seen by a sympathetic participant.” Shown with Nothing To Do With Me ; after returning from the United States to shoot The Fall , Whitehead philosophizes in this remarkable autobiographical document. (Peter Whitehead, UK, video, TRT 100 min., 1967 & 1968) ______________________
Sunday, December 10 – 7pm – Free Screening In the Beginning was the Image: A Conversation w/ Peter WhiteheadA newly filmed interview with Whitehead, including clips from his films and television appearances, and a wealth of still images exploring his work and life as a filmmaker. (Paul Cronin, 90 min., 2006)
|
Friday, December 15 – 7pm UWM Student Film and Video FestivalA juried showcase of the best short films and videos from the students of the pioneering UWM Film Department. Followed by an exhibit of photography work. _____________________
Saturday, December 16 – 7pm Senior Projects ScreeningA special evening showcasing the films and videos completed by the UWM Department of Film's graduating seniors.
|
