It's tough to imagine now, when viewed through the meat grinder of 21st-century perspective, but when punk first came into being, it scared the living shit out of people. Its raw power, obstinate attitude and three-chord rhumba formed a sharp slap heard 'round the world, and just as soon as it was codified, it splintered into a thousand different scenes and subcultures--all with their own influences, wants and needs. It's been thirty-plus years, and we still haven't heard the last of how punk is defined and applied, how it came to be and what it became--what is punk and what isn't. Thankfully, there have been filmmakers who've captured the essence of what they observed all along the way, and this program contains the rarely-screened, the never-screened and the heavily fetishized. These films will rock your ass to the ground.
Each and every night of this series also features a live DJ set by Post-Punk Junk series co-programmer Michael Stock, of Part Time Punks!
2/4 @ 8:00pm / Series: Post-Punk Junk Night Flight presents: A Tribute To New Wave Theatre
The opening of this year's Post-Punk Junk fest brings the return of Night Flight to the Cinefamily! In the '80s, overnight TV was completely staid, except for one anarchic alternative: Night Flight. Premiering on the USA Network in '81, this legendary weekend variety show featured a glorious amalgamation of music videos, short films, cartoons, interviews, concerts, and cult movies -- and the cutting-edge, truly original New Wave Theatre. Hosted by the verbose, fun-loving Peter Ivers, NWT was crammed full of chaotic live performances by So Cal punks and new wavers (Fear, Dead Kennedys, Surburban Lawns), in addition to Dadaist comedy sketches, rapid-fire montages of Hiroshima and outer space, and gonzo monologues preaching optimism for the Nuclear Age (written by crazed visionary producer David Jove.) Running for three years until Ivers' untimely death, NWT gave the best of what the underground L.A. music scene had to offer, and tonight we present a much-deserved tribute to this unsung slab of video history, as well as a fiery blast of vintage punk-themed Night Flight programming.
Watch a clip of The Plugz on "New Wave Theatre"!
Watch a clip of Peter Ivers & 45 Grave on "New Wave Theatre"!
Tickets - $12
2/11 @ 8:00pm / Series: Post-Punk Junk Post-Punk Junk Mix Night (feat. Car Cemetery)
Cinefamily presents a cornucopia of deep cuts and other post-punk junk from around the globe. Want a taste? How about Reading Festival '78, a killer short concert doc profiling the punk bands (Sham 69, The Jam, Penetration, a pre-Midge Ure Ultravox) that controversially found themselves on the same festival bill as Foreigner and Status Quo; classic performances from the late '70s/early '80s NYC club circuit that included venues like Danceteria and Hurrah's; and, as the capper for the evening, the Liquid Sky-meets-Salo-meets-Jesus Christ Superstar French post-apocalypse 1983 TV movie Car Cemetery! Directed by Euro master surrealist Fernando Arrabal (Viva La Muerte), the film entirely takes place in a Tim Burton-esque auto junkyard that's the nexus of life after The Bomb goes off; here, mohawked punks party with neon-tinted fashionistas and a Jesus figure in the guise of a synth-pop spiritualist (singer-songwriter Alain Bashung, who also composed the film's rockin' electronic score.) Entirely unseen in the U.S., Car Cemetery will confound, corrode and captivate! Car Cemetery Dir. Fernando Arrabal, 1983, digital presentation, 90 min.
Watch an excerpt from "Car Cemetery"!
Tickets - $10
2/18 @ 8:00pm / Series: Post-Punk Junk Athens, GA: Inside Out (w/ filmmakers in person!)
Led by the success of the B-52's and R.E.M., Athens, Georgia was the most happening music scene in the country by the mid-'80s. Following many different bands from different genres, director Tony Gayton paints Athens as a magical artistic environment where bands are not in competition, but rather co-exist in harmony, and he intermingles a lush abundance of local color, BBQ, hospitality and energetic tunes with a subtle flair on par with the best of what Les Blank has to offer. Live performances of R.E.M.'s "Swan Swan H" and "Dream (All I Have To Do)" at the Lucy Cobb Institute chapel are included, as well as interviews and songs from the B-52's, Pylon, the anarchic and thrashy B-B-Que Killers, Flat Duo Jets (a clear inspiration on The White Stripes), Love Tractor and more. Athens, GA: Inside Out producer Bill Cody will be in attendance for a Q&A -- and be sure to come early for a program of Athens music video rarities before the feature! Dir. Tony Gayton, 1987, 16mm, 82 min.
Watch a clip of the B-B-Que Killers from "Athens, GA: Inside Out"!
Tickets - $10
2/25 @ 8:00pm / Series: Post-Punk Junk Liquid Sky (w/ director Slava Tsukerman in person!)
One of the coolest, funniest and freakiest distillations of the '80s post-punk underground, Liquid Sky is pure madness, blending drugs, UFOs, death by orgasm and a cacophony of searing synths into a jagged neon time capsule that still thrills. In a dual role, Anne Carlisle plays Margaret (a damaged lesbian fashion model) and Jimmy (an arrogant gay junkie fashion model), who collide in NYC's robotic New Wave netherworld. As well, aliens arrive in a pint-sized flying saucer to extract the lifeforce from the human orgone; landing on Margaret's roof, they vaporize her many lovers in a dogpile of kaleidoscopic nuttiness. Russian emigré director Slava Tsukerman, himself out of place in the alien world of the '80s Lower East Side arthole, has big fun piling on the primitive video abstractions, fractured music and overwrought melodrama in order to deliver a skewering satire of a weird, weird world. Slava Tsukerman will be here at the Cinefamily in-person for a post-screening Q&A! Dir. Slava Tsukerman, 1983, 35mm, 112 min.
Watch the trailer for "Liquid Sky"!
Tickets - $10
Cinema Eye Honors presents: What's Up, Docs? / Thursdays in March
With new technologies and audiences, the last decade allowed filmmakers to experiment and push the form of documentary in exciting new directions, and two years ago, New York City saw the debut of the Cinema Eye Honors: a new award given to nonfiction features that are both innovative and firmly dedicated to artistic craft -- not just those that are "good for you" or feature "an important cause," but ones that create a lasting resonance. Join the Cinefamily for three of this year's Cinema Eye nominees (each a visually dazzling tour de force,) and for a special salute to the groundbreaking work of the San Francisco-based documentary video collective TVTV. As well, each night also features an in-depth live discussion with the filmmakers after the screening!
3/4 @ 8:00pm / Series: Cinema Eye Honors presents: What's Up, Docs? A Night With TVTV
Before The Daily Show sent their "reporters" out into the world for satirical newscoverage, before Christopher Guest and This is Spinal Tap utilized cinema verité's natural deadpan to devastating comic effect, and before American Movie and Heavy Metal Parking Lot popularized the comic documentary form -- there was TVTV. Radical, hilarious and influential, "Top Value Television" was an ad hoc collective of documentarians whose pioneering use of portable, low-tech video gear allowed them unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to everything from presidential conventions to the Super Bowl. Their philosophy,articulated in co-founding member Michael Shamberg's 1971 manifesto "Guerrilla Television", was to "demonstrate the potential of decentralized video technology" as a means to break free from the ideological strangehold broadcast technology had on American culture -- forecasting the media free-for-all that's rapidly becoming our day-to-day lives. The Cinefamily celebrates the TVTV spirit, and the top notch documentary filmmaking they produced, with a panel discussion/reunion of TVTV members, a video "primer" of past works, and a screening of Lord Of The Universe, an expose on sixteen-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji and the national gathering of his followers at the Houston Astrodome. This evening marks the first time that all principal members of TVTV have been reunited at a retrospective event -- do not miss it!
3/11 @ 8:00pm / Series: Cinema Eye Honors presents: What's Up, Docs? Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Working backwards through history, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo explores the mystery of the development of Japan’s love affair with bugs. While people of many other countries fear all manner of creepy crawlies, the Japanese love and respect them: they're sold live in vending machines and department stores; they're the subject of the No. 1 videogame MushiKing; and a single beetle recently sold for $90,000. Insects have been an integral part of the centuries-old traditions of the country, once described as the “Isle of the Dragonflies." The film's gorgeous imagery links people with the strength of beetles, the music of crickets, the magic of fireflies and the endless colors of butterflies. Using bugs like an anthropologist’s toolkit, the film uncovers Japanese philosophies that will shift Westerners’ perspectives on nature, beauty, life, and even the seemingly mundane realities of their day-to-day routines. Director Jessica Oreck will appear in person for a Q&A after the screening! Dir. Jessica Oreck, 2009, 90 min.
Watch the trailer for "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo"!
Tickets - $10
3/18 @ 8:00pm / Series: Cinema Eye Honors presents: What's Up, Docs? 45365 "In an age where most docs are grafted over by pop narratives for greater suspense, drama or momentum, 45365 works specifically because of its wonderfully curated aimlessness." - GreenCine Daily
From the patrol car to the courtroom, the playground to the nursing home, the parade to the prayer service, 45365 explores the congruities of daily life in a small American town -- Sidney, Ohio, to be exact. The stories of a father and son, a young relationship, cops and criminals, officials and their electorate coalesce into a mosaic of faces, places, and events. First-time filmmakers Turner and Bill Ross not only do a fantastic job collecting engaging documentary subjects unfettered by the presence of their cameras, but also crafting a mood in which they trust you'll be persistent, that you'll let their quiet rhythm build -- that your enjoyment of the unforced cinematic whisper is not only OK, but desired in its own right. Dirs. Bill Ross IV & Turner Ross, 2009, 90 min.
Watch the trailer for "45365"!
Tickets - $10
3/25 @ 8:00pm / Series: Cinema Eye Honors presents: What's Up, Docs? Big River Man
Every once in a while, an amazing human feat that tests the boundaries of endurance actually makes you go "wow" -- and then your mind is blown again when you learn about who pulled it off. Big River Man (winner of the World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary award at Sundance '09) follows Martin Strel, four-time world record holding endurance swimmer, and his insane attempt to be the first person to swim the world’s most hostile and dangerous river, the mighty Amazon. By the way, Strel is 53 years old, overweight, and a heavy drinker. Director John Maringouin captures the incredible journey and unusual man with equal amounts of respect and “what-the-fuck?!?” attitude, as we watch Martin down a bottle of wine and shots of whiskey per day -- while swimming. NOTE: This screening is a special double feature, capped by an incredibly stylish and captivating family portrait made by Maringouin of his own eccentric, excessive father!
Night Flight presents:
Post-Punk Junk Mix Night
Athens, GA: Inside Out
Liquid Sky
A Night With TVTV
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
45365
Big River Man
