Category: Uncategorized

ROCKUARY: BE GLAD FOR THE SONG HAS NO ENDING

Posted on by manny


BE GLAD FOR THE SONG HAS NO ENDING
Dir. Peter Neal, 1970
UK. 50 mins.
English

FEBRUARY 7TH-MIDNIGHT
FEBRUARY 19TH-10PM
FEBRUARY 24TH-7:30PM

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This Rockuary, get ready to smell the patchouli! Although not as well-remembered as some of their peers, The Incredible String Band were an odd and pioneering Scottish psychedelic folk band whose incorporation of Middle Eastern instrumentation and open song structure was a huge influence on The Beatles, Stones, and Led Zeppelin. But while those bands only LARPED in weirdness, The ISB leaned full-tilt into it.

Partially filmed at the ancient Druid stone formation of Pentre Ifan, BE GLAD FOR THE SONG HAS NO ENDING is a half concert doc/ half folk horror film that documents the band at their creative peak. Starting off with several live performances and climaxing with a ritualistic short film that feels like a WICKER MAN precursor, the film is one of the most underseen chronicles of true sixties excess. UK magazine Weird Walk called it “a simultaneously daft and mesmerizing piece of homebrew cinema”, but a more pedestrian elevator pitch might be “THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME meets THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES”. What else could you ask for?

ANTI-VALENTINES: DOLLS

Posted on by sebecerra

 

This Anti-Valentines at Spectacle, join us for a crash course on Agalmatophilia; the sexual attraction to dolls, mannequins, or other similar figurative objects. The four films in this program will explore different perspectives on this state of mind. In some cases, it involves a yearning for complete objectification à la MARIE, THE DOLL. In other instances, it’s a toxic-masculine power trip as in LIFE SIZE. Or sometimes it’s just plain misanthropy. Regardless, these four movies should put you in the mood. So come to Spectacle this month and sit still… very still… as we present the best love stories since Pygmalion kissed that statue.

THE KILLER OF DOLLS
Dir. Miguel Madrid, 1975.
Spain, 98 min.
In Spanish.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 – 10:00 PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16 – 7:30 PM

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In the picturesque Park Güell of Barcelona, the groundskeeper’s son is having a crisis. Prone to mood swings and screaming fits, he begins to see himself and those around him as mannequins. THE KILLER OF DOLLS is a story of a man at war with himself. David Rocha plays Paul, the protagonist, with unforgettable intensity. As Paul begins to kill the “dolls” he says he hates, how much of his own fractured self-image is tied up in his quest for extermination? This film is a perfect 70s exploitation gem. Psychedelic freakouts, off-kilter acting, and gruesome kills will dazzle you, your friends, lovers, enemies, and anyone else with $5.

MARRONNIER
Dir. Hideyuki Kobayashi, 2004.
Japan, 79 min.
In Japanese.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 – 10 PM

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Horror manga icon Junji Ito (Uzumaki, Tomie) presents a feverish odyssey of doll worship, screening for the first time ever in New York! Numai is a peculiar young man who can’t seem to charm any women no matter how hard he tries. He does have one unique skill however… he is able to turn women into dolls that he calls “Marronniers”. When a fan of his work named Marino finds herself trapped in Numai’s workshop, she must fight for her life to avoid becoming a doll herself! This underseen SOV film is director Akira Kobayashi’s first credit. Filled with delirious nightmare-logic and eerie puppetry this one is sure to get under your skin!

MARIE, THE DOLL
Dir. Joël Séria, 1976.
France, 106 min.
In French.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 – 5:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23 – 7:30 PM

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If you enjoyed DON’T DELIVER US FROM EVIL as a part of December’s “Best of Best of Spectacle” programming then you might enjoy this other film by director Joël Séria. MARIE, THE DOLL stars Jeanne Goupil as the titular character, a happy go-lucky girl living in small-town France. Shortly after marrying a rich and eccentric doll-store owner named Claude, she is introduced to his idea of the perfect wife. Claude buys her a new frilly wardrobe, he fashions a cutesy doll room for her, and finally convinces Marie to play “doll” with him. When Marie seems to enjoy the game more than Claude, she has to find other outlets for her enthusiasm. This film is unnerving in its soft, pastel-colored delivery of a sordid narrative. It’s an anti-valentine’s masterwork.

Warning: Contains a scene of sexual violence.

LIFE SIZE
Dir. Luis Garcia Berlanga, 1974.
Spain, 101 min.
In French.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3 – 10:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 – 3:00 PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19 – 7:30 PM

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Michel is a well-respected dentist. He is married. He visits his mother. When he receives the silicone Japanese doll he ordered in the mail, he is instantly enamored. Watch as he takes it shopping, introduces it to his family, and takes showers with it. Spanish master Luis García-Berlanga (THE EXECUTIONER, WELCOME MR. MARSHALL!) directs LIFE SIZE with a shocking matter-of-factness. It can be hard to watch but it’s never not entertaining.

XXX XXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXX
Dir. XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX, 1976.
United States, 30 min.

XX XXX XXXX
Dir. XXXXXX XXXXX, 1980.
France, 14 min.

XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
Dir. XXX XXX, XXX XXX. 2008.
South Korea, 30 min.

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Doll-themed shorts to be screened one night only on Valentine’s Day. They run the gamut from terrifying to hilarious. Uncover the mystery, enjoy the show.

 

LOVE IS A HURTING THING: SIX FILMS ABOUT S/M

Posted on by liz

This February, Spectacle presents five recently restored films (four features and one short, four narratives and one doc) exploring sadomasochism and dominance and submission. All controversial in their own time—with L.A. PLAYS ITSELF and MOUSE KLUB KONFIDENTIAL, and going so far as to incite protests and riots upon their initial releases—these five films hold up for their fearless, and, yes, very erotic, probings into the outer reaches of sexuality.

DIDN’T DO IT FOR LOVE
Dir. Monika Treut, 1998.
Germany. 81 minutes.
In English.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – 10 PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH – 10 PM

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“The adventurous life of Eva Norvind…”

Eva Norvind was born Eva Johanne Chegodaieva Sakonskaja in 1944, the daughter of a Russian prince and a Finnish sculptor in Trondheim, Norway. Monika Treut’s DIDN’T DO IT FOR LOVE traces the many stages of her unbelievable life story: from her early success as a showgirl in Paris to her transformation into Mexico’s Marilyn Monroe in the 1960s, her subsequent career as a journalist in the 1970s, and culminating in her establishing herself as New York’s most famous and business savvy dominatrix in the 1980s. DIDN’T DO IT FOR LOVE is an odyssey through the wilderness of sexuality, capturing Eva’s search for the wellspring of her obsessive drive to dominate.

Courtesy of Muscle Distribution.

Preceded by:

BONDAGE
Dir. Monika Treut, 1983.
West Germany. 20 minutes.
In English.

Carol from New York’s Lesbian Sex Mafia talks about her love of bondage and domination.

Courtesy of Muscle Distribution.

THE IMAGE
Dir. Radley Metzger, 1975.
United States / France. 94 minutes.
In English.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 – 7:30 PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 – MIDNIGHT

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“When pain is pleasure, punishment becomes reward…”

When Jean (Carl Parker), an author living in Paris, runs into his old friend Claire (Marilyn Burns) at a boring society party, he becomes intrigued by the S/M relationship she shares with her younger submissive, Anne (Rebecca Brooke). Initially shocked by the harsh manner that Claire punishes and publicly humiliates Anne, Jean soon finds himself becoming a willing and enthusiastic participant in the couple’s sexual games—and learns that the roles aren’t quite as set as they initially appear.

Adapted from the controversial underground novel by the enigmatic Jean de Berg (later revealed to be France’s most famous dominatrix, Catherine Robbe-Grillet) and made shortly before his switch to hardcore filmmaking as “Henry Paris,” Radley Metzger’s THE IMAGE is a sumptuous and transgressive study of sexual power dynamics from one of the true masters of erotic cinema.

New 4K restoration by Distribpix and the Rialto Report, courtesy of Muscle Distribution.

Note: this film contains explicit sex.

L.A. PLAYS ITSELF
Dir. Fred Halsted, 1972.
United States. 60 minutes.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4- 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 – 5 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 – MIDNIGHT

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“New information for me!” – Salvador Dalí

Fred Halsted plays himself in his notorious portrait of Los Angeles. Two men have a fleetingly idyllic meeting outside of town while Halsted shows a young pickup the ropes within city limits, climaxing in what After Dark magazine described as being “the most spectacular scene since the parting of the Red Sea!”

4K restoration by the Museum of Modern Art, courtesy Altered Innocence and Anus Films.

Note: this film contains explicit sex.

Preceded by:

MOUSE KLUB KONFIDENTIAL
Dir. Jim Baker, 1976.
United States. 15 minutes.
In English.

The shocking life of M*useketeer-turned-gay bondage pornographer Buddy Wilson (Ken Camp) is exposed in this UCLA Project One student film by future videomaker (BLONDE DEATH) and novelist (TIM & PETE, BOY WONDER) James Robert Baker. Are Wilson and his degenerate films merely an aberration, or is there more to “the happiest place on Earth” than meets the eye?

Unseen since its controversial inclusion in the second-ever San Francisco Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival in 1978, MOUSE KLUB KONFIDENTIAL is a hilarious satire of Fred Halsted, America, and a certain cartoon mouse that’s long been credited as causing none other than conservative film critic and talk radio host Michael Medved to abandon his dreams of filmmaking. And we can all be grateful for that.

New 4K restoration courtesy of Muscle Distribution.

Note: this film contain explicit sex.

THE ULTIMATE DEGENERATE
Dir. Michael Findlay, 1969.
United States. 70 minutes.
In English.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 10 PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 – 10PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 – MIDNIGHT

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“The uncommon adventures of a wild nymph in search of erotic playmates…”

Maria (Uta Erickson) is a lesbian exhibitionist who gets her kicks answering personal ads in the back pages of dirty newspapers. One of those ads was placed by Spencer (filmmaker Michael Findlay), a wealthy but depraved voyeur who hires women to perform in strange sex shows at his Vermont home. Maria throws herself into Spencer’s games, but who is the bigger pervert?

Courtesy of Distribpix and Muscle Distribution.

THE SCOTT AND GARY SHOW!

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

THE SCOTT AND GARY SHOW!

THE SCOTT AND GARY SHOW!
Dir. Gary Winter, 1983-89
United States. Appr. 90 min.
In English.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 – 7:30 PM (Q&A with Scott Lewis & Gary Winter!)
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26 – 10:00 PM

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This Rockuary, Spectacle is bringing in local legends Scott Lewis & Gary Winter for screenings of their pioneering NYC-based public access variety program, THE SCOTT AND GARY SHOW!

Originally filmed in New York from 1983 to 1986, before relocating to the D.C. metro area at the invitation of filmmaker (and friend of the theater) Jeff Krulik, the show featured a wide-ranging roster of independent punk, underground, and roots acts— including Butthole Surfers, Ben Vaughn, Half Japanese, Shockabilly, R. Stevie Moore, and a pre-hip hop Beastie Boys— performing before a live audience, interspersed with band interviews, skits, and off-the-cuff commentary from host Scott Lewis. Now, nearly 40 years later, the show’s legacy is closer to that of AMERICAN MOVIE than AMERICAN BANDSTAND, with its staunchly DIY aesthetic and alternative focus echoed in everything from future public access favorites like NEW YORK NOISE to major network programs like 120 MINUTES.

Join us on Friday, February 20th for a special in-person presentation and Q&A with Scott & Gary, featuring an exclusive, never-before-seen compilation of highlights from the show.

THE LUNAR NEW YEAR MARATHON

Posted on by Dan Scanlon

THE LUNAR NEW YEAR MARATHON

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 – 10 AM to 2 AM

ADVANCE DAY PASSES ON SALE NOW!

For the past two years, Spectacle’s brought the tradition of the hesuipian贺岁片 to New York audiences with our recurring series of Lunar New Year crowd pleasers that highlight the festivities, teachings, and customs typically associated with the holiday.

This year, to mark the end of Golden Week, we’re doubling– no, tripling– no, octupling down on our New Year showcase with an all-day mystery marathon featuring EIGHT holiday classics spanning over half a century of Chinese-language cinema. A veritable babaofan八宝饭 of comedy, romance, action, and fantasy guaranteed to bring you good fortune in the year ahead. Bring friends, bring family, bring food (yknow, since we likely won’t be able to work in a dinner break…), or just bring yourself and a healthy appetite for filmic comfort food.

Advance day passes are on sale now for $25. Single film tickets are $5 each and will be available at the door.

Our program begins at 10am and runs through midnight. Programming notes and anticipated start times are below.

NOTE: Given the length of this program, each screening will begin promptly at its listed start time. Seating is available to both passholders and single-film ticketholders on a first-come, first-serve basis, and is not guaranteed for late arrivals.

10 AM
XXX XXXXX XXXX
Dir. XXXXX XXXXXXXX, 1937
China. 94 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Our marathon begins at the beginning with one of the earliest features to be marketed around its Lunar New Year subject matter, following multiple characters as they share in the same token of prosperity.

12 PM
XXX XXXXXXXX XXXXX XXX XX XXXXX
Dir. XXXX XXX-XXX, 1961
Hong Kong. 108 min.
In Cantonese & Mandarin with English subtitles.

For our second feature, we jump forward in time to the Hong Kong film industry’s nascent years with a comedy classic that mines hilarity from an era of changing cultural, social, and material values, helmed by the father of one of the territory’s most prolific future filmmakers.

2 PM
XXX XXX XXX-XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Dir. XXXXX XXXX, 1971
Hong Kong. 98 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.

A new decade, a New Year, a new take on an iconic wuxia character.

4 PM
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Dir. XXXXXXX XXX XXXX-XXX, 1981
Hong Kong. 91 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Nothing and no one is safe in this fast-paced comedic masterpiece, canonically considered to be one of the (if not thee) very first modern Lunar New Year films.

6 PM
XXXX XXX XXX XXXX
Dir. XXXX XXXX XXX, 1985
Hong Kong, 91 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.

The New Year spirit spreads through Hong Kong like wildfire in this comedy about gods, gangsters, and ghostbusters.

8 PM
XXXX XX XXXXXXXX
Dir. XXX XXX-XXX, 1994
Hong Kong. 93 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Hong Kong’s greatest comedic talent takes a bao in this action-comedy that solidified his status as king of the New Year box office.

10 PM
XXXXXXXX
Dir. XXXXXXX XXX XXX-XXXX, 1999
Hong Kong. 120 min.
In Cantonese & Mandarin with English subtitles.

Our penultimate feature is an action-tinged rom-com in which Hong Kong’s favorite son holds his own against two dramatic heavyweights. A long-in-development labor of love for its star, completed just in time to help ring in the new millennium.

MIDNIGHT-ish
XXX XXXX XXXXXX
Dir. XXXXXXX XX XXX-XXXX & XXX XX-XXX, 2002
Hong Kong. 97 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.

What better place to end our marathon than on another Year of the Horse release. 24 years later still the pinnacle of Lunar New Year comedies in which no gamble is too risky and no gag too ridiculous.

ANGST BY AUGUST: ZAPPA and TWIST AND SHOUT

Posted on by mackenzie

ZAPPA
Dir. Bille August, 1983.
Denmark. 102 min.
In Danish with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 — 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 — 10 PM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16 — 10 PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26 — 7:30 PM

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Danish director Billie August’s (Academy Award and Palme D’or winning director of PELLE THE CONQUEROR) coming-of-age dramas, ZAPPA (1983) and TWIST AND SHOUT (1984), offer a tender yet unflinching vision of adolescent passion, cruelty, and discovery set to the sounds of early rock ‘n’ roll. Overlooked for decades, these gorgeously photographed and dramatically nuanced films—breathtaking in their candor and heartbreaking in their sincerity–are here for rediscovery in stunning new transfers, along with newly produced bonus features, that help bring August’s powerful films to audiences anew.

Three young boys, Bjørn (Adam Tønsberg), Steen (Peter Reichhardt), and Mulle (Morton Hoff), navigate the transition from boyhood to adolescence in Bille August’s stunning, period drama. Steen and Bjørn have formed their own small gang, and invite Mulle to join, but humiliation, cruelty, and violence follow as Steen leads Bjørn further into his loveless, frustrated, and, ultimately, sadistic world. Gentle, funny, honest, and fearlessly dark, ZAPPA is a richly textured and unforgettable, novelesque film.

TWIST AND SHOUT
Dir. Bille August, 1984.
Denmark. 108 min.
In Danish with English subtitles.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2 — 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 — 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 — 10 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 — 5 PM 

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Denmark’s biggest indigenous hit at the time of its release, TWIST AND SHOUT once again follows Bjørn (Adam Tønsbrerg). During the explosion of Beatlemania in Europe, Bjørn plays drums in a rock ‘n’ roll band while Erik (Lars Simonsen) must care for his mentally ill mother. Amid the excitement of music, romance, and sex, the young men must confront the harsh realities of the adult world in director Bille August’s stark and beautiful film.

Special thanks to Altered Innocence.

 

DECODER

Posted on by mackenzie

DECODER
Dir. Muscha, 1984.
West Germany. 87 min.
In German, English, and Portuguese.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 — 5 PM (with MUZAK on 16mm)
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 — 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 — 7:30 PM (with MUZAK on 16mm)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 — 7:30 PM

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The early 80s of West Berlin was accessible to David Bowie and Nick Cave, however it remained a secluded scene unto itself, a fallen city shared between the French, the Brits, and the Americans. Much of the architecture was unchanged from the war, and a post-war generation of musicians and artists were able to live cheap, work little, squat housing, and stay out all night. Muscha’s DECODER is a Spectacle favorite making a return appearance. This is a must-see on a bigger screen with a bigger sound.

DECODER is a quiet bureaucratic surveillance drama, but then it’s a color-soaked, Benjamin-tinged struggle over information and control. It stars Bill Rice (who you know from Andrew Horn’s DOOMED LOVE), a man impeccably sensitive and equally expressive under vibrant colored lights. There are fast food joints, great tunes, Genesis P-Orridge, Christiane F, and the true answer to whether music recorded from frogs in distress can incite revolution.

“Information is like a bank – some of us are rich, and some of us are poor. ALL OF US CAN BE RICH.”

Special thanks to Vinegar Syndrome and the American Genre Film Archive.

Playing with:

MUZAK
Dir. Rhody Streeter and Tony Ganz, 1972.
United States. 6 min.
In English.

World premiere of new 16mm restoration print.

But just how far-fetched were DECODER’s systems of authoritarian aural control? In the early 1970s, documenteurs of all things uniquely, perversely Americana Rhody Streeter and Tony Ganz ventured into the bowels of a high-tech new industry: MUZAK. Military scientists, organ players for the New York Mets, and record executives collide as they promise the viewer a future of happy labor delivered via audio transmission. Both wry and slightly unnerving, Streeter and Ganz’s documentary uncannily predicts Spotify’s nefarious algorithms and a present where art is not meant to be enjoyed but quantified into how it benefits American capitalism.

The films of Tony Ganz and Rhody Streeter distributed by the Film Desk.

Special thanks to the New York Public Library, Elena Rossi-Snook, Jake Perlin and The Film Desk, and Rhody Streeter and Tony Ganz. 16mm restoration completed by BB Optics in 2025.

NEW HOME

Posted on by alfred

NEW HOME
Dir. Anthony Macera, 2025.
United States. 74 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6 – 7:30 PM (Q&A w/ Filmmakers Mike Macera and Adam McAlonie, moderated by Alfred Giancarli)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15 – 7:30 PM (Q&A w/ Filmmakers Mike Macera and Adam McAlonie, moderated by Alfred Giancarli)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 – 5 PM

“Anthony Macera was gifted a video camera in the late 90s. Alongside his trusty sidekick Sandy Girl, he began to capture his life from there. The first tape is titled New Home.”

Filmmaker Mike Macera unearths home movie footage from his father’s first video camera and pays tribute to him in NEW HOME, a new archival documentary by the director of ALICE-HEART. Framed by the first three Christmases at Macera’s childhood home, the film charts the construction of the house itself, the development of the family unit, the milestones of early childhood and the lightning storms over South Jersey. Through Anthony’s eye and viewfinder, we experience the intimacy and joy of fatherhood and the wonder and thrill of capturing it. NEW HOME is a personal reflection on the life of a home and the role of cinema in building it.

 

 

 

ÔRÍ

Posted on by Nicolas Pedrero

ÔRÍ
dir. Raquel Gerber, 1989
Brazil, 93 min
In Portuguese with english subtitles

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3 — 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 — 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 — 10 PM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22 — 5 PM

ÔRÍ means “Head” in the Yoruba language. 

Filmmaker, sociologist, and historian Raquel Gerber started filming ÔRÍ in 1977 with photographer Jorge Bodanzky, and later continued working with important cinematographers such as Hermano Penna, Pedro Farkas, and Adrian Cooper. The film centers on the organization of Black Movements in Brazil throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s and follows the development of Black consciousness among activists of that period. It also presents internationally for the first time, the work of the historian and activist Beatriz Nascimento, whose research on the historiography of the “Quilombos” marked a radical intervention upon Brazilian history, positioning it as the historical identity of Black Brazilians.

After an 11-year production and commemorative screenings across Brazil, ÔRÍ was presented in 1989/1990 at 17 international events and festivals across the globe. It earned multiple awards in the process, including the Paul Robeson Prize of the Diaspora (11th Pan-African Film Festival of Ouagadougou), the Côte d’Azur Man and Nature Award (5th International Film Festival of Tróia, Portugal), the Special Jury Prize (1st Texaco Brazilian Film Festival in Curitiba), an Honorable Mention for Documentary at the Prized Pieces ’89 of the National Black Programming Consortium in Columbus, Ohio (USA), and the Golden Gate Award in its category at the 33rd San Francisco International Film Festival. ÔRÍ remains an essential film about Black Brazilians, political organization, and spirituality; for these, and many more reasons, it is our absolute honor to showcase it for this rare set of screenings here in New York City.

As Raquel Gerber has stressed, much of what is shown and articulated in her film is still relevant:

“The central issues it raises are still to be discussed: overcoming the racial question through the challenge of planetary survival, and the Black question within the broader national question—emerging themes in Europe, Africa, and the Americas through the struggles for ethnic and national independence taking place in many countries around the world.”

Special thanks to Raquel Gerber.

END OF AMERICA DOUBLE FEATURE

Posted on by smonohan

As we continue to begrudgingly drag ourselves through “unprecedented times,” Spectacle theater presents two films that meet the madness of our moment. Ian Bell’s WTO/99 (2025) and Soda Jerk’s HELLO DANKNESS (2022) bookend two decades of America’s self-cannibalization, from the streets of Seattle at the turn of the Millennium to paranoid suburbia during the first Trump administration.

Both films are masterpieces in editing and composition that immerse viewers not only in particular historical moments but in the psychological atmosphere that characterized them. The on-the-ground archival footage of WTO/99 captures the urgency felt among a broad coalition of protestors who recognized the significant precipice the U.S. (and the planet) was on due to globalization. HELLO DANKNESS‘ remixing and recontextualization of media/pop culture samples, meanwhile, expresses the chaotic, brainworm-added “reality” in which we currently find ourselves, where day-to-day life is mediated by corporate ads, surveillance, and conspiracy.

WTO/99
Dir. Ian Bell, 2025
United States. 102 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 – 7:30 PM (Q&A w/ Editor/Producer Alex Megaro moderated by critic Dan Schindel)
SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 – 5 PM (Q&A w/ Editor/Producer Alex Megaro and Special Guest Moderator)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 20 – 7:30 PM (Q&A w/ Editor/Producer Alex Megaro moderated by professor/author Whitney Strub)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 – 7:30 PM (Q&A w/ Editor/Producer Alex Megaro moderated by Sleazy Femme programmer/filmmaker Maren Moreno)

TICKETS

From November 30th to December 3rd 1999, tens of thousands of people occupied the streets of downtown Seattle to make known their concerns about the existence of the World Trade Organization and its impacts on the environment, human rights, and labor in the largest protests against economic globalization the US has ever seen.

The protests brought together people from divergent sections of society—anarchists, environmentalists, labor unions, consumer protection advocates, pro-democracy groups, and even religious organizations—who gathered in direct action hoping to dissuade world leadership from continued support of the WTO and strived to focus the public’s attention to the kind of future the WTO would bring forth.

Building from a roughly 1,000 hour archive, WTO/99 reanimates the ideological conflicts that drew thousands to the streets of Seattle in hopes for a better future. The film is an immersive visual artifact of a week that brought 40,000 people together to warn of environmental collapse, the vanishing middle class, and what the full inclusion of China in the World Trade Organization would mean for our collective future. The protesters—seen as a rabble-rousing nuisance at the time, yet appearing prophetic today—were met with extreme violence by a militarized police force, an all-too-fitting way to usher in a new century; one that is now defined by US failure to address climate change and increasing state aggression.

HELLO DANKNESS
Dir. Soda Jerk, 2022
Australia. 70 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 9 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 11 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JANUARY 20 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 – 10 PM

TICKETS

HELLO DANKNESS is a political fable that bears witness to the psychotropic spectacle of American politics from 2016 to 2021, and the mythologies and lore that took root around it. Taking form as a suburban stoner musical, the film follows a neighborhood through these years as consensus reality disintegrates into conspiracy and other contagions. What unfolds is a rogue retelling of history in which hotdogs debate the culture wars, trash cans preach QAnon, zombies rally for revolution, and real events are refashioned as Broadway bangers from Cats, Les Miserables, Annie, and The Phantom of the Opera. There are songs and dancing, moments of menace and melancholy, shitposting and deep sincerity. Created with Soda Jerk’s signature methodology, HELLO DANKNESS is entirely composed of sampled media. Utilizing extensive rotoscoping and digital VFX, the feature length narrative has been grafted together from almost one thousand film, television and audio sources.

The cast of characters include Tom Hanks, Annette Bening, Bruce Dern, Ice Cube, Wayne and Garth, Maya and Ana, Rue and Jules, Seth Rogen and Reyn Doi. American politicians play themselves, with Jesse Eisenberg in the role of Mark Zuckerberg, and The Phantom of the Opera as Vladimir Putin.