In case you missed them the first time around, need to see them again, or want to drag your friends to their next favorite flick: join us for our annual encore of the best films and programs that screened in 2022 as voted on by our volunteers and members.
EARTH II
dir. Anti-Banality Union, 2021
97 mins. “United States”.
In English.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25 – 7:30 PM
Earth, present day. With human civilization facing ever-worsening climate calamities, the captains of industry set their sights on a new planet. Soon, a secret public-private partnership is selling tickets to Mars at a premium out of reach for the majority of the population, for whom the choice is either indentured servitude in the new offworld colony or perishing in the coming cataclysm. When the world’s governments decide to speed things up by declaring war on Earth and the rabble they’re leaving behind, the planet forges a strategic alliance with an unlikely partner: an underground luddite movement. Some will join the uprising, others will become fanatical defenders of entrenched power structures, while yet others will do everything in their power to continue living exactly the same way they always have. Its star-studded cast and astronomical production values — painstakingly purloined from some of the biggest blockbusters of the past three decades — make EARTH II the most expensive climate disaster epic to be produced for no money.
Starring Keanu Reeves, Will Smith, and Matt Damon, EARTH II reminds us that no matter how far into its final death spiral our species might be, life finds a way.
THE ANTI-BANALITY UNION is an anonymous collective who recut blockbusters to uncover their latent meaning, chiseling away at them to reveal Hollywood’s shameful, disavowed desires. The collective’s first compilation film was a reaction to the jingoism surrounding the tenth anniversary of September 11th, UNCLEAR HOLOCAUST (2011), which compiled every instance of New York City being destroyed in a Hollywood movie. They followed this up with POLICE MORTALITY (2013), which revealed the suicidal internal logic of the police apparatus by taking dozens of cop movies and cutting out the “bad guys,” leaving the cops free to massacre each other. STATE OF EMERGENCE (2014) was a zombie movie with no zombies, a distillation of the entire genre’s narcissistic immunopolitics into one gory feature. Now, the ABU has set its sights on climate collapse, scouring the past four decades of disaster movies and combining them into an action-packed analysis of Hollywood’s pathological climate grief in EARTH II.
SLEEP HAS HER HOUSE
dir. Scott Barley, 2017; 2021 remaster
United Kingdom. 90 mins.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29 – 5 PM
Structured as if it were the final inhale and exhale of Mother Nature from her deathbed, the carefully assembled long takes and immersive soundscapes that make up Barley’s masterful debut feature transmute shadow-blanketed trees, waterfalls and sparse signs of wildlife into haunting alien figures. With one last breath, a decaying post-human world collapses into eternal abstraction. Shot on iPhone 6 Plus.
SCOTT BARLEY is an artist-filmmaker, drone musician, writer and lecturer working between Scotland and Wales whose films (much of which are generously accessible through his website) have been exhibited over the last decade at venues such as BFI Southbank, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Venice Biennale and Telluride Film Festival. In 2018, Barley co-founded the filmmaking collective Obscuritads, and in 2021, EYE Filmmuseum permanently inducted SLEEP HAS HER HOUSE into its archive. Since 2017, Barley has been making his ambitious second feature film, THE SEA BEHIND HER HEAD, with support from the BFI and DocSociety, along with two new shorts titled THE FLESH and WITHIN WITHOUT HORIZON.
NEW YORK NINJA
dirs. John Liu and Kurtis Spieler, 1984/2021
93 mins. United States
In English.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21 – Midnight
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22 – 5 PM, with Q&A. This event is $10
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27 – Midnight
John is just an average man working as a sound technician for a New York City news station, until one day his pregnant wife is brutally murdered after witnessing the kidnapping of a young woman in broad daylight. Turning to the police for help, John soon learns that the city is overrun with crime and the police are too busy to help. Dressing as a white ninja, John takes to the streets as a sword wielding vigilante hell bent on cleaning up the streets of the city he once loved by ridding it of muggers, pickpockets, rapists, and gang members. However, in John’s quest for justice, he soon finds himself the target of every criminal in the city, including a mysterious villain known only as the Plutonium Killer. Will John survive to become the hero that New York City so desperately needs?
Originally directed by and starring martial arts actor John Liu (The Secret Rivals, Invincible Armor) in his only American production, New York Ninja was filmed entirely on 35mm in 1984, but the project was abandoned during production resulting in all original sound materials, scripts, and treatments going missing. 35 years later, Vinegar Syndrome acquired the original unedited camera negative and painstakingly constructed and completed the film. Enlisting the voice talents of genre favorites: Don “The Dragon” Wilson (Bloodfist, Whatever it Takes), Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead, Nightmare Sisters), Michael Berryman (The Hills have Eyes, Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies), Vince Murdocco (Night Hunter, LA Wars), Matt Mitler (The Mutilator, Battle for the Lost Planet), Leon Isaac Kennedy (Lone Wolf McQuade, Penitentiary), Ginger Lynn Allen (The Devil’s Rejects, Vice Academy), and Cynthia Rothrock (China O’Brien, Martial Law) Vinegar Syndrome is extremely proud to present this truly one of kind film experience. Restored in 4K from the original camera elements, New York Ninja is finally available in all of its ridiculous over-the-top glory for the first time ever after spending nearly four decades in film obscurity.
INSPECTOR IKE
dir. Graham Mason, 2020
80 mins. United States.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 8 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 – 7:30 PM, with Q&A. This event is $10
After the conniving understudy of an avant-garde theater group knocks off the star actor, he finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with Inspector Ike, New York City’s Greatest Police Detective.
A lost “TV movie” from the 1970’s, INSPECTOR IKE is a warm-hearted satire, a celebration of detective serials, mixing visual gags, slapstick, gross food, and heartfelt emotion, featuring a rogue’s gallery of NYC’s best comedians carried out with a deadpan absurdist sensibility inspired by COLUMBO and THE NAKED GUN.
I, THE WORST OF ALL
(YO, LA PEOR DE TODAS)
dir. María Luisa Bemberg, 1990
105 mins. Argentina.
In Spanish with English subtitles.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 8 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, JANUARY 30 – 7:30 PM
“I do no penance in order to reach Heaven. I am not very pious either. But I am here, doing the only work I can offer to God, without shame: my poetry.”
Adapted from Octavio Paz’s The Traps of Faith, I, THE WORST OF ALL stars Assumpta Serna as Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz, a real-life nun in 17th century Mexico who, having been a poet, a playwright, a philosopher and a composer, is still widely considered the most prolific author of the colonial era. Bemberg’s film details Sister Juana’s persecution at the hands of the Archbishop of Mexico (Lautaro Murua), using the Spanish Inquisition as a lens by which too indict more contemporary misogyny and homophobia within Latin America.
Bemberg’s final work was misrepresented by distributors at the time of its release; vintage VHS packaging quotes the Boston Globe as follows: “Lesbian passion SEETHING behind convent walls… Engrossing, Enriching & Elegant!” Nevertheless, I, THE WORST OF ALL was Argentina’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film of 1991. Ripe for rediscovery, it is a lovingly detailed and introspective historical drama that rewards patient viewing in its analysis of against-the-wall feminism.
“A biopic that apprehends there is no unriddling how genius is made, only observing with delight a mind that receives all of the world’s pleasures and pains through the screen of an animating knowledge. to write is a fervid, inexplicable compulsion that need find its outlet and languishes without” —Film critic Kit Duckworth
“An erotically charged, impassioned work. Assumpta Serna is luminous!” —The Village Voice
“Charged with an ambiguity and an irony that is electrifying… Bristles with a spirit of feminism and has us pondering its inescapable implications for the Roman Catholic Church today: what of the status of its women, of freedom of expression and intellectual pursuit?” —Los Angeles Times
SORCERESS
(Le moine et la sorciere)
Dirs. Pamela Berger and Suzanne Schiffman, 1987
97 mins. France.
In French with English subtitles.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, JANUARY 30 – 10 PM
In 13th century France, a Dominican Friar descends upon an Edenic village on orders from the Vatican to root out heretics in the countryside. There is little evidence of such heresy to motivate the hunt, but so sayeth the good book, seek and ye shall find. News of a “healing woman” practicing homeopathic medicine (and her practice’s provenance in the local legend of a saintly greyhound) disturbs the friar, and his subsequent confrontations with the healer begin a gentle philosophical march into the nature of faith and its many means of expression. Brooding on the peripheries are struggles of power, secular and otherwise, which are dissected for their tendencies to contradict and align when convenient.
SORCERESS is the collaboration of two filmmakers; Pamela Berger and Suzanne Schiffman. Pamela Berger is a medievalist specializing in iconography. She teaches film and medieval art at Boston College, and has directed two other films, The Imported Bridegroom and Killian’s Chronicles. Suzanne Schiffman was a behind-the-scenes powerhouse of the French New Wave, serving as a script-supervisor for Godard, writing numerous films for Truffaut (Day for Night, The Last Metro, among others) and collaborating closely with Rivette throughout his career, providing the scenario for many of his films and co-directing Out 1.
Special thanks to Pamela Berger.
JOHN AND JANE
dir. Ashim Ahluwalia, 2005
78 mins. India.
In English with English subtitles.
MONDAY, JANUARY 16 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27 – 10 PM
JOHN AND JANE centers on the personal and professional lives of six telemarketers working in a Bombay call center. Tasked with cajoling American customers into buying things, the workers single-mindedly chase the American dream in neoliberal India. Darkly comic and deeply unnerving, the refreshingly unconventional style of the documentary blurs the line between fact and fiction and provides a sobering look at the insidious effects of globalization on culture and identity in a highly unequal world.
“Call it George A. Romero’s Bollywood OFFICE SPACE… an enraged critique of Western excess that you can dance to.” –Slant Magazine
88:88
dir. Isiah Medina, 2015
65 mins. Canada.
In English.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19 – 10 PM
You’re unable to pay your bills. Your light, heat, and water are cut. Once you’re able to pay again, the digital appliances flash 88:88, –:–, -.
SKINNED DEEP
dir. Gabriel Bartalos, 2004
97 mins. United States.
In English.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6 – Midnight
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 – 10 PM
A family’s flat tire on a barren stretch of road, with only a diner dotting the landscape, leads them to Granny, the seemingly nice old woman who runs the establishment.
Released in 2004, SKINNED DEEP plays like a surreal riff on THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE from an alternate dimension. It follows a family on a cross country road trip who stumbes into a hellish diner run by ‘the Surgeon General’ and his nightmare family, including ‘Brian’ (who has a massive cranium) and ‘Plates’ – a maniac who throws….plates – played by Warwick Davis.
Clearly crafted with a lot of love and care, SKINNED DEEP is mandatory midnight viewing for slasher fans.
LES VAMPIRES
(THE VAMPIRES)
dir. Louis Feuillade, 1915-1916
417 mins. France.
Silent with English inter-titles.
PART 1: SUNDAY, JANUARY 15 – 7:30 PM | PURCHASE TICKETS
PART 2: SUNDAY, JANUARY 22 – 7:30 PM | PURCHASE TICKETS
PART 3: SUNDAY, JANUARY 29 – 7:30 PM | PURCHASE TICKETS
A secret organization of ruthless criminals known as The Vampires haunts the streets and ballrooms of Paris. Journalist Philippe Guérande seeks to unravel their nefarious plot. At the center of it all stands the mysterious and elusive muse to the criminals, Irma Vep, brought to life with a dangerously seductive glamour by the legendary Musidora.
Released in its day as 10 “episodes” over the course of 7 months, Les Vampires is now typically shown in marathon format—a drawn-out affair clocking in at 7 hours, by turns tedious and exhilarating. Its plotting is byzantine, consisting of reversals of identity and double- and triple-crosses, straining logic in deference to the theatricality of a given scenario.
Olivier Assayas has once again renewed interest in this classic of serialized cinema with the enormously entertaining mini-series revamp of his 1996 film Irma Vep. If cinema is truly in crisis, as Assayas enthusiastically proclaims (he promises this is good news), then perhaps a means of diagnosing its illness can be found in searching the images and modes of its past that still haunt us today. Though Irma Vep’s series run is now complete, those uninitiated to Feuillade’s vision are likely eager to spend more time within this fantastical world. With this in mind, Spectacle is pleased to present a marathon screening of Les Vampires, with a soundtrack composed of original works from local artists and friends of the theater.
FOES
Dir. John Coats, 1977
United States, 90 min
In English
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 – Midnight
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25 – 10 PM
After obliterating a fighter jet and its pilot, a mysterious flying object stalks a nearby island and its inhabitants: a young couple manning the lighthouse, and two visiting scuba divers. The craft jams all communications, making the nearby military installation unable to offer any help or deduce the intentions of this uninvited guest. The ship interacts with these poor trapped souls like a child wielding a magnifying glass over ants, possibly not realizing the violent effects of its own actions, making escape from the island a nightmare.
Released the same year as Spielberg’s CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and another movie about wars in stars (or something like that), FOES was written and directed by a young John Coats. Coats also did the special effects and appears on screen as Larry, the lighthouse operator. While this would be his only directorial credit, Coats went on to have a prolific career as a visual effects artist with credits including: RAMBO III, AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, UHF, and WHITE CHICKS. With that career in mind, one can look at FOES as the auteur triumph that it is: the creation of a young artist working with what they had at their disposal. An incredible achievement for such a low budget. It’s a shame that Coats did not go on to direct more features, as this is a rather remarkable freshmen effort.
Shot around the Anacapa island off the coast of southern California, the location is one of the biggest stars in this film. Coats combines stunning helicopter shots with dazzling special effects to create a vibe that is solely FOES.
BARRAVENTO
dir. Glauber Rocha, 1962
78 mins. Brazil.
In Portuguese with English subtitles.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24 – 10 PM
“The Tricontinental cinema must infiltrate the conventional cinema and blow it up.” – Glauber Rocha
Shot on location in a highly stylized high-contrast black & white, Glauber Rocha’s debut film, BARRAVENTO (1962) tells the tragic tale of a man who tries to liberate his people from the mystical Candomblé religion, which he recognizes an oppressive tool of social and political control.
Screening in a new restoration. Special thanks to Kino Lorber.
Screening with:
ENTRE O MAR E O TENDAL
Dir. Alexandre Robatto Filho, 1953
21 mins. Brazil.
In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Dental surgeon Alexandre Robatto Filho had been filming documentary shorts in Salvador since the 1930s, but it was with ENTRE O MAR E O TENDAL that he refined and developed his authentic style. Shot in the Chega Nego and Carimbamba beaches, this short portrays the daily work of a fishing community as they catch xaréu fish (Caranx hippos).
CINEMANIA
Dir. Angela Christleib and Stephen Kijak, 2002
USA, 83 minutes
In English
MONDAY, JANUARY 23 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31 – 10 PM
“It’s better than sex. It’s better than love.” It’s cinema! Or CINEMANIA, to be exact. Stephen Kijak and Angela Christlieb’s documentary follows five film-obsessed New Yorkers in their daily trevails as they struggle to fit as many films as possible into a single day (3-6 is the average number). From spending their unemployment checks on movie tickets to surviving off meat-heavy, constipating diets (it reduces mid-screening bathroom visits), to hoarding stacks of old program notes, CINEMANIA is as vivid a portrait of what it means to be a film-lover as you can find on screen. As the film celebrates its 20th anniversary, we’re happy to host two of the film’s subjects on 10/23 to give their differing, and sometimes contentious, opinions on the film.
“I don’t go to weddings; I don’t go to funerals; I don’t visit people in the hospital if I have a screening to go to.”
“These are not crazy people. Maladjusted and obsessed, yes, but who’s to say what normal is? I think it makes more sense to see movies all day than to golf, play video games or gamble” – Roger Ebert
CHRONOPOLIS
dir. Piotr Kamler, 1982
Poland, 52 min
In Polish w/ English subtitles
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4 – 10 PM
MONDAY, JANUARY 9 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20 – MIDNIGHT
“There is not sufficient evidence for the non-existence of the city of Chronopolis. On the contrary, dreams and manuscripts similarly conclude that the history of this city is a history of eternity and desire. Despite the monotony of immortality, they live in expectation; a turning point will occur during a momentary encounter with a human being. This moment is, in fact, being prepared for.”
SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABS: SELECTED VIDEO WORKS
Founded in 1978 by inventor and engineer Mark Pauline, Survival Research Laboratories bring the concept of Industrial Performance Art to its most logical and extreme end. The bodies in a typical SRL happening are not breathing, but they’re certainly alive. Weapons-grade robotics and fresh carcasses find themselves engaged in a dangerous, cacophonous marriage of flesh, fire, steel, blood, oil, and electrocution. Tonight the field is filled with smoke, cannonballs, shattered glass, and hypnotized excruciating screams. The only institution that does mechano-mortal combat better is the U.S. Military.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, JANUARY 23 – 7:30 PM
A BITTER MESSAGE OF HOPELESS GRIEF
Dir. Jonathan Reiss, 1988
United States. 13 min
A SCENIC HARVEST FROM THE KINGDOM OF PAIN
Dir. Jonathan Reiss, Joe Rees, 1984
United States. 46 min
THE WILL TO PROVOKE: AN ACCOUNT OF FANTASTIC SCHEMES FOR INITIATING SOCIAL IMPROVEMENTS
Dir. Jonathan Reiss, 1989
United States. 45 min
JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE
dirs. Kate Kirtz and Nell Lundy, 1996
58 mins. United States.
In English.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20 – 10 PM
This fascinating political look at a little-known chapter in women’s history tells the story of “Jane,” the Chicago-based women’s health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training.
Screening with:
WITH A VENGEANCE: THE FIGHT FOR REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM
dir. Lori Hiris, 1989
40 min, United States.
In English.
This urgent and timely film is a history of the struggle for reproductive freedom since the 1960s, reflecting the wider history of the contemporary women’s movement. WITH A VENGEANCE is an empowering look at the strength and breadth of the current women’s movement which asks why current battles resemble those of the 60s. Rare archival footage and interviews with early abortion rights activists, including members of Redstockings and the JANE Collective, are intercut with young women who testify to the need for multi-racial grassroots coalitions. Flo Kennedy and Byllye Avery exemplify African American women’s roles as leaders, making connections between racism, reproductive freedom and healthcare for the poor.
Special thanks to Women Make Movies.
POULET AU VINAIGRE
(aka COP AU VIN)
dir. Claude Chabrol, 1985
110 mins. France.
In French with English subtitles.
MONDAY, JANUARY 9 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31 – 7:30 PM
A deliberately-paced dark comedy/murder mystery whodunit which begins as a tale of class struggle when a group of three wealthy land-developers try pressuring a young postman and his handicapped mother (played by Chabrol’s real-life wife) to sell their family home. Filled with conspiracy, blackmail and pranks gone too far, POULET AU VINAIGRE is an indictment of the wealthy starring an eccentric ensemble cast, each with their own duplicitous intentions.
GHOST DANCE
dir. Ken McMullen, 1983
100 mins, United Kingdom.
In English.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 – 5 PM, with Q&A. This event is $10
Jumping between Paris and London as it traces the lives of two young women (Pascal Ogier and Leonie Mellinger) as they muse about ghosts and memories, Ken McMullen’s Ghost Dance falls somewhere between Celine and Julie Go Boating and San Soleil in its investigation into Jacques Derrida’s phantasmagoric philosophy. Though intellectually rigorous, the film maintains a humorous tone, balancing heady ideas alongside entrancing visuals and witty dialogue.
DEATH GAME
dir. Peter S. Traynor, 1977
87 mins. United States.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 – Midnight
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13 – Midnight
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 – Midnight
On a dark and stormy night, while his family are away, two strangers ring George Manning’s doorbell. He probably shouldn’t have answered it, he really shouldn’t have invited them in, and he definitely shouldn’t have slept with them. Now George must fight for his life and escape their DEATH GAME…
Staring academy award-nominated actors Sondra Locke and Seymour Cassel, DEATH GAME is a home invasion fever dream about a man’s poor decision-making.
Off-screen tension between neophyte director Peter Traynor and actors Locke and Cassel added organic chaos to the scripted mania. Producer Larry Spiegel agreed, saying that “the onscreen madness of DEATH GAME was fueled by the behind-the-scenes volatility.” Traynor’s inexperience as a director frustrated the cast, with Locke writing, “whenever the director didn’t know exactly what he was doing, which was all the time, he would suggest that either Colleen or I eat something or break something.” This sentiment was likely shared with actor, Seymour Cassel, who refused to loop his lines in post-production after filming a particularly brutal food-based scene. Cinematographer David Worth ultimately lent his voice to the film by painstakingly dubbing all of Cassel’s lines himself.
Eli Roth later remade the film, KNOCK KNOCK (2015), which was executive produced by DEATH GAME director Peter Traynor and lead actors Sondra Lock and Colleen Camp.
Special thanks to Grindhouse Releasing.
A NOITE DO ESPANTALHO (THE NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW)
dir. Sérgio Ricardo, 1974
92 min. Brazil.
In Portuguese with English subtitles.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15 – 5 PM
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26 – 10 PM
In the miserable Northeastern Brazil, a ruthless land Baron wants to throw a poor farming community out of their land. They unite in an attempt to overthrow the Baron and win back their freedom.
One of the zaniest Brazilian musicals is directed by one of the greatest film composers of Brazilian cinema. The film played the NYFF in 1974, but has since received little attention outside Brazil, where it has become a kind of cult hit over the last 20 years. The music is wonderful, and the campy aesthetics feel like nothing out of Brazilian cinema from this period.
Special thanks to Cinelimite & Marina Lutfi
TRANSEXUAL MENACE
dir. Rosa von Praunheim, 1996
78 mins. Germany.
In English.
MONDAY, JANUARY 16 – 10 PM
PURCHASE TICKETS – ADVANCE TICKETS SOLD OUT
Rosa von Praunheim teamed up with acclaimed photographer Mariette Pathy Allen for this nuanced portrait of American trans lives and politics in the 1990s. Similar in form to ARMY OF LOVERS and the AIDS Trilogy, this film explores the various factions of the burgeoning trans rights movement, from pioneers like Leslie Feinberg and Virginia Prince to events like the activist group Transexual Menace’s protest at the first Transgender Lobby Day and the Southern Comfort and Fantasia Fair conferences. Woefully underseen and rarely screened, TRANSEXUAL MENACE is an essential piece of trans film history that’s sadly now more relevant than ever.
ROSA VON PRAUNHEIM is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. In over 50 years, von Praunheim has made more than 150 films (short and feature-length films). His works influenced the development of LGBTQ+ rights movements worldwide. He began his career associated to the New German Cinema as a senior member of the Berlin school of underground filmmaking. He took the artistic female name Rosa von Praunheim to remind people of the pink triangle that homosexuals had to wear in Nazi concentration camps, as well as the Frankfurt neighborhood of Praunheim where he grew up. A pioneer of Queer Cinema, von Praunheim has been an activist in the gay rights movement. He was an early advocate of AIDS awareness and safer sex. His films center on gay-related themes and strong female characters, are characterized by excess and employ a campy style. They have featured such personalities as Keith Haring, Larry Kramer, Diamanda Galás, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Judith Malina, Jeff Stryker, Jayne County, Divine and a row of Warhol superstars.
ALIEN
Dir. Mickey Reece, 2017
80 min. USA.
In English
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24 – 7:30 PM
A mythic portrait of Elvis Presley (Jacob Snovel) and those in his orbit—particularly his wife Priscilla (Cate Jones)—during the weeks that led to his television comeback special in 1968. Haunted by surreal visions and ridden with self-doubt, the listless King of Rock ‘n Roll quarrels with his management, friends and family on the Graceland estate before a sudden tabloid claim of a bastard son sends him on an existential road trip.
From there, writer/director Mickey Reece conjures an entrancing journey that ruminates on the enigma of celebrity, the profundity of progeny, and the anxieties of art, while Joe Cappa’s stark black and white cinematography envelops the outstanding ensemble cast in a dreamlike glow that is unlike any Elvis flick you’ve ever encountered.