This July, as we find ourselves subjected to the annual bout of flag-waving fervor surrounding our country’s Independence Day, Spectacle Theater invites you to take part in an exploration of another side of American history. A history not written by its “victors”, as the adage goes, but by those at the fringes of our culture, lacking the visibility, political capital, or sheer amount of money needed to reach a wider audience. In the annals of American cinema, few filmmakers have so thoroughly embodied that distinct lack of characteristics more than self-proclaimed “schlockmeister”, Larry Buchanan.

Over the course of his career, Buchanan developed a reputation as a purveyor of low-budget sci-fi and horror, mostly intended for consumption at cheap drive-ins and on late-night television. A deeper dive into his work, though, shows a filmmaker with a deep fascination with American history and popular culture, underscored by a healthy contrarian perspective. Aside from his trademark sci-fi/horror schlock, Buchanan was probably best known for his streak of social issue films, biopics, and historical dramas that recontextualized real-life events in fantastical scenarios. His politics were often foregrounded in these works, which, when combined with his quick & dirty approach to production, resulted in films that ranged from the unintentionally radical— like a courtroom drama centered around Lee Harvey Oswald, produced and released less than six months after the Kennedy assassination— to the outright conspiratorial— like a musical biopic that implicates Richard Nixon in the deaths of multiple 60s musical icons.

Collectively, these films comprise a sort of alternate history of 20th-century America, one committed to exploring different dimensions of major historical events and figures that fall well outside of their traditional narratives. Whether dealing with Lee Harvey Oswald, Marilyn Monroe, or the Vietnam War, these are works that could only have been conceived of by a filmmaker in pursuit of his own specific idea of truth. This is America, through the eyes of Larry Buchanan.

DOWN ON US (aka BEYOND THE DOORS)
dir. Larry Buchanan, 1984
United States. 117 min.
In English.

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SUNDAY, JULY 2 – 5:00PM
TUESDAY JULY 11 – 7:30PM
WEDNESDAY JULY 19 – 10PM
MONDAY JULY 31 – 7:30PM

Hendrix. Joplin. Morrison. Some of the most iconic names in the history of American pop culture (and also Jim Morrison), whose lives were sadly cut short at the height of their popularity. To many, their deaths were seen as another in a long line of tragedies heralding the end of the late-1960s countercultural movement, drawing the Swinging Sixties to a definitive close. But to Larry Buchanan, these deaths taking place within a few short months of one another may have been more conspiracy than coincidence.

What if it wasn’t booze or drugs that were responsible for these stars’ demise, but something much more nefarious? What if these were calculated killings, perhaps in response to their music’s message of peace & love actively turning youth culture against the Vietnam War? These questions form the basis of Buchanan’s late-career opus, which posits that the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison were not an accident, but part of a plot bigger than any of us could imagine, one that can be traced all the way back to that highest of offices held by the Trickiest of Dicks.

In true “schlockmeister” fashion, Buchanan had neither the time nor budget to license any actual music for the film, and instead relied on a series of (surprisingly good) original songs that he commissioned to sound like the work of their respective artists.

GOODBYE, NORMA JEAN
dir. Larry Buchanan, 1976
United States. 95 min.
In English.

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SATURDAY, JULY 1 – 10:00PM
FRIDAY JULY 7 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY JULY 12 – 7:30PM
MONDAY JULY 17 – 10:00PM

Content warning: This film contains graphic depictions of sexual assault.

Norma Jean Baker is a poor munitions factory worker and aspiring actress in 1940s California. After striking up a relationship with a photographer who gives her the confidence she needs to overcome a traumatic past, she sets off for Hollywood to pursue her dream of stardom. Unfortunately for Norma Jean, the road to becoming Marilyn Monroe is fraught with abuse at the hands of every predatory producer and creepy casting director in town.

Leave it to Larry Buchanan to take the story of one of Hollywood’s most revered icons and turn it into a towering work of trash cinema. More BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL than BLONDE, Buchanan’s biopic is a bona fide roughie, depicting Norma Jean Baker’s (played by 70s centerfold, Misty Rowe) up-and-coming years as a waking nightmare of sexual violence and sleaze. Which is not to say that his take on Baker/Monroe isn’t still compelling. Considering this was the very first narrative film to depict the life of the world’s most famous sex symbol, Buchanan’s decision to make sex a dangerous, threatening constant in her life is a radical one, offsetting the film’s tawdriness by adding a layer of tragic irony throughout.

Even though the film focuses almost exclusively on Norma Jean’s pre-fame years, the film was still widely publicized as a Marilyn Monroe biopic, with Buchanan holding a nationwide lookalike contest to find the perfect “Marilyn” for his film. The contest was won by an unknown 21-year-old, Alexis Pederson, who supposedly turned down the part immediately after reading the script, leading Buchanan to offer the role to Rowe instead.

THE TRIAL OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD
dir. Larry Buchanan, 1964
United States. 98 min.
In English.

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THURSDAY, JULY 6 – 7:30PM
SUNDAY JULY 9 – 5PM
FRIDAY, JULY 14 – 7:30PM
FRIDAY JULY 21 – 5PM

November 24, 1963: Lee Harvey Oswald, under arrest for the alleged assassination of President John F. Kennedy two days prior, is fatally shot in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters by local nightclub owner, Jack Ruby.

April 22, 1964: “Lee Harvey Oswald” stands trial in front of a jury of his peers over the alleged assassination of President John F. Kennedy. YOU are the twelfth juror.

In the months immediately following Lee Harvey Oswald’s death, Larry Buchanan put together this legal procedural speculating how Oswald’s trial over John F. Kennedy’s assassination would have played out. Ironically, given the subject matter, this is arguably the least conspiracy-tinged (or maybe most, depending on how you look at it) of Buchanan’s historical fictions, positing the same theory later confirmed by the Warren Commission report that Oswald was the sole shooter.

Coincidentally, Texas-native Buchanan had crossed paths with Jack Ruby just a few years prior, while filming the 1961 mondo nudie, NAUGHTY DALLAS, parts of which were shot at Ruby’s nightclub. According to the director, at one point Ruby had even requested to be in the picture, which Buchanan refused for no other reason than, “I hated him, so he wasn’t.”

TUESDAY, JUNE 13 – 7PM with Newsreel members in attendance
(This event is $10.)
ONE NIGHT ONLY!

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Join us on June 13 for a screening of collectively made films from 1968-1980, presented by Giulia Gabrielli and Matt Peterson, based on their research and interviews with the Newsreel collective (1967-1972), a survey of politically engaged and collaboratively produced international cinema.

Featuring rarely screened works by Newsreel, Collectif Mohamed, IDHEC Student Collective, Elio Petri and Italian Filmmakers Committee Against Repression, the screening is part of a larger series which will also take place at Maysles Cinema in Harlem with Newsreel Shorts on June 22.

MAKE OUT
dir. Newsreel, 1970
5 mins. United States.

As a young couple make out in a car, we hear the woman’s stream of consciousness thoughts. She worries about her reputation and whether he’ll try to “go all the way.” This film is best used with discussions and/or materials about date rape.

THREE HYPOTHESES ON GUISEPPE PINELLI’S DEATH
dir. Elio Petri, 1970
11 mins. Italy.
In Italian with English subtitles.

Some actors, led by Gian Maria Volonté, enact the three different versions that the police provided on the voluntary or accidental fall of the anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli.

PIG POWER
dir. Newsreel, 1968
4 mins. United States.

As students take to the streets in New York and Berkeley, the state violence that follows illustrates Chicago Mayor Daley’s thesis that the police are there “to preserve disorder”.

THEY KILLED KADER
(ILS ONT TUE KADER)
dir. Collectif Mohamed, 1980
21 mins. France.
In French with English subtitles.

After the death of a young man from Vitry, killed by a building guard, the media come to the housing estate to do a report and get images from the Collective. A film that raises many questions about the role of the media in the suburbs, and the need to produce images oneself.

LINCOLN HOSPITAL
dir. Newsreel, 1970
11 mins. United States.

When a city-run health clinic in the South Bronx fails to meet the needs of the city, local residents and health workers force a strike and then run the clinic themselves.

RETURN TO WORK AT THE WONDER FACTORY
dirs. Jacques Willemont, Pierre Bonneau, Liane Estiez, Roland Chicheportiche, 1968
10 min. France.
In French with English subtitles.

In June 1968, after the Grenelle Agreements, work resumed at the Wonder factories in Saint-Ouen, in the northern suburbs of Paris. In the midst of an essentially male group, a young female worker refused to go back to work.

THE CASE AGAINST LINCOLN CENTER
dir. Newsreel, 1968
12 min. United States.

More than 20,000 Latino families were displaced to make way for Lincoln Center, home to the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Symphony. This film examines the patrons of the art-industrial complex (corporations and wealthy families) and the culture displayed there. Juxtaposing the atmosphere of Lincoln Center with the vibrant street culture of a displaced neighborhood, the film correctly predicts the process by which the West Side was to be turned into a high-rent area for the upper middle class.

GIULIA GABRIELLI is an artist, researcher, assistant and director from the Mediterranean. She tries to interrupt work. With what they called a life. Giulia is involved in experiments in and on (dis)organizing communal forms of sociality and encounter. She considers scripts and artistic conventions as sometimes helpful devices.

MATT PETERSON is an organizer at Woodbine, an experimental space in New York City. He directed the documentary features SCENES FROM A REVOLT SUSTAINED (2014) and SPACES OF EXCEPTION (2018), and co-edited the books In the Name of the People (2018), The Mohawk Warrior Society (2022) and The Reservoir (2022). Since 2014 he has collaborated with Malek Rasamny on “The Native and the Refugee”, a multimedia documentary project on American Indian reservations and Palestinian refugee camps.

MISS ME YET
dir. Christopher Jason Bell, 2023
USA
In English

A look back at the presidency of George W. Bush and the impact he had on everyday life exclusively through the lens of archival footage.
A series of 9 episodes shown across two nights.

PART 1 – 105 minutes

TICKETS HERE
SATURDAY, JUNE 3 – 3 PM with filmmaker Q+A!
(This event is $10.)

TICKETS HERE
MONDAY, JUNE 19 – 10 PM

2000
A contentious election leads to the presidency of George W. Bush. Hanging chads, Brooks Brothers, 102 Dalmatians, protests,, and easy-to-access bank credit!

2001
After George W. Bush gets inaugurated amid heavy protesting, a budget is put together favoring tax cuts. Planes strike a few areas in America, most notably the Twin Towers. Osama bin Laden reveals himself to be the orchestrator of the attacks. A few officials receive a delivery of anthrax, an occurrence that is never really followed up on again. America Online 7.0 is released, Funny man Zach Braff vehicle Scrubs premieres.

2002
Do you wear your K-swiss? Do you chew your food before you swallow? Where were you when the first American Idol aired? What color of the Threat Advisory System are we in right now? What danger did Iraq pose in the wake of 9/11? Wait, Dennis Hastert did what?

2003
The push to invade Iraq ramps up as Michael Moore wins an Oscar for Fahrenheit 9/11. The Dixie Chicks receive heat for pushing back against war while people in various parts of the middle east are hit with American sponsored destruction. Barney the dog gets his own holiday special.

2004
It’s George W. Bush versus ketchup mogul John Kerry in another wild election year, chock full with break-ups, live performance slip-ups, and the acting debut of Karl Rove.

PART 2 – 93 minutes

TICKETS HERE
FRIDAY, JUNE 16 – 5 PM with filmmaker Q+A! 
(This event is $10.)

TICKETS HERE
TUESDAY, JUNE 27 – 7:30 PM

2005
Spoilers: George W. Bush is elected to a second term. YouTube gets its first video. More conservative judges are added to the courts. Tom Cruise jumps on a couch with joy. Mass devastation hits domestically as Hurricane Katrina ravages New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The immediate “recovery” causes additional, severe damage.

2006
George W. Bush starts the year out by understanding violence. Gas prices are up, the Patriot act is up, Lenin and Hitler are equated, Afghanistan gets a Coca-Cola factory… Crash wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

2007
The Madame Speaker arrives. There’s trouble with the American installed government in Iraq, trouble with the American installed government in Afghanistan… violence in school continues. On TV there is a cut to black, on the Internet there is a cut to a music video.

2008
The financial crisis begins, and much of this year is focused on making sure the current economic system remains in place. There is, of course, another election year in America. Prestige TV begins its true ascent, as does a shoe. Deal or no deal? The system goes on, Barack Obama.

Christopher Jason Bell is a former critic and active filmmaker. His first feature THE WINDS THAT SCATTER premiered at Northside Festival and went on to play in Madrid, South Korea (winning Best International No Budget Feature Film at the KIXFF), Cambodia, Chile, Argentina, and numerous places in the USA. You can now watch the film on Means TV. His latest short film, TRAMMEL, premiered in 2020 at the Maryland Film Festival and was selected to play at the Slamdance Film Festival and Ashland Independent Film Festival. He is also a co-op member for the new worker-owned streaming service Means TV.

GRAPE STEAK
dirs. Jen Atherton & Andre Shannon, 2018 – 2023
99 mins. Australia.
In English.

TICKETS HERE
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
THURSDAY, JUNE 15 – 10 PM with filmmaker Q+A!
(This event is $10.)

“Bridget Jones Diary inside Blair Witch Project set in The Zone”
-Garden Reflexxx

Shot over the course of five years using a variety of formats—Arri Amira, iPhone, Sony Handycam, JVC Everio, Sony NX200 and 35mm scratch—GRAPE STEAK is a patchwork portrait of Sydney’s queer  community. As the debut feature of queerdomediamakers Jen Atherton and Andre Shannon—collectively known as Garden Reflexxx—it relishes in their stylistic flourishes, mixing a discomforting but hilarious wryness with a brazen commitment to reinvent the film’s form as it unspools. In many ways, the film’s endless transformations speak to its making, which involved a variety of agents willing to work collectively in opposition to the dominant cinema of Australia.

As far as plot goes, GRAPE STEAK concerns two friends who encounter someone who’s been gay bashed and the rumors circulating the infamous site of said bashing. The film shifts perspectives as audiences are tasked with figuring out its catalyzing mystery. As it spins through various cycles of humor and horror while music by NYC stars Macy Rodman and Magda plays, GRAPE STEAK mines the always-tantalizing relationship between eros and death. The end result is a sprawling mosaic as intoxicating as it is impressive.

Special thanks to Jen Atherton and Andre Shannon, Soda Jerk and Stephen Cappel.

LEMEBEL
dir. Joanna Reposi Garibaldi (2020)
96 mins. Spain.
In Spanish with English subtitles.

TICKETS HERE
FRIDAY, JUNE 2 – 5 PM
THURSDAY, JUNE 29 – 7:30 PM

SPECIAL EVENT TICKETS
FRIDAY, JUNE 23 – 7:30 PM with filmmaker Q+A!
(This event is $10.)

“I don’t turn the other cheek. I turn my ass, comrade.” – Pedro Lemebel

Winner of the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival, Joanna Reposi’s documentary about the eponymous LGBTQ+ activist-artist Pedro Lemebel consists of a series of interviews with him as he nears death. Woven into their conversations are recordings from Lemebel’s life, an assemblage of aged media recovered from the sidelines of Pinochet’s dictatorship. Grappling with the fragility of media and that of her subject, Reposi produces a filmic body that, like Lemebel, finds itself broken and battered, but incredibly powerful nonetheless.

“Chronicling his upbringing, writings, his place in leftist Chilean politics, and his artistic collaborations with Francisco Casa as part of the politically focused artist collective,  Las Yeguas Del Apocalipsis (The Mares of the Apocalypse), Lemebel offers a portrait of an artist who always yearned for more from life and his country.” – Anthony Chassi, Hyperallergic