Border Radio (Allison Anders, Dean Lent and Kurt Voss)

By: börek - June 1st, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday June 30th 2019, Movie night: Border Radio by Allison Anders, Dean Lent and Kurt Voss, 1987. In English, 87 Minutes, Doors: 20:00, Film 20:30

“‘You can’t expect other people to create drama for your life—they’re too busy creating it for themselves,’ a punk groupie says at the conclusion of Border Radio. And the four reckless characters at the center of the film certainly manage to create plenty of drama for themselves.” Chris Morris, Where Punk lived

No-budget, no-permits and DIY: Border Radio – the first film of UCLA students Allison Ander (Things behind the Sun) Kurt Voss and Dean Lent – is set in the burgeoning LA punk scene of the 80’s and went on to be an underground hit, playing in US cinemas for months. Its heist-based plot and the multiple betrayals the central foursome inflict upon each other are the stuff of purest noir. But the film diverges from its source in its largely sunlit cinematography and its explosions of punk humor.

The film music, but also a number of characters are played by local punk rockers such as the Flesh Eaters, and

“one can see what punk rock looked like, all the way to the margins of the frame: in the flyers for L.A. bands like the Alley Cats, the Gears, and the Weirdos taped in a club hallway, in the poster for Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein and the calendars of L.A. repertory movie houses tacked on apartment walls, in the thrift-store togs and rock-band T-shirts (street clothes, really) worn by the players. But, more importantly, the shifting tragicomic tone of the film, the energy and attitude of its musician performers, and the uneasy rhythms of its characters’ lives present a real sense of the reality of L.A. punkdom in the day.”

It was filmed from 1983 to 1987 – basically at the same time as Susan Seidelman’s Smithereens (1985) set in the alternative and punk seen in New York.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

Tags: , , , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: The films of Pierre Merejkowsky

By: börek - June 1st, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday June 23rd 2019, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: An evening with Pierre Merejkowsky and Nina Zivancevic. Doors open at 20.00, Film starts 20.30.

Pierre Merejkowsky is a fimmaker with an anarchistic bent who resides in Paris. He cares nothing for finesse or the elegance of style. Once, in one of his reviews, the French film critic Serge Daney famously blasted a movie about a German concentration camp, because at one point there was an artful camera movement. How can one consider artfulness in dealing with the holocaust? Merejkowsky is a bit the same: what is the point of endlessly harping on aesthetics and style, when we are facing an era when the entire world is falling apart at the seams?

Merejkowsky investigates images with his cinema, yes, but much more than that. He interrogates our passivity. He throws himself, camera in hand, into volatile situations. He pleads, he battles with ghosts, he confronts everyone in the immediate environment. He insists; where does this sluggish lethargy that is so prevalent today come from? He is only interested in cinema as a catalyst for transformation. His films are provocative, and are meant to archaeologically dig beneath the surface of culture and everyday life.

Together with poet Nina Zivancevic, we will introduce and explore Pierre’s chaotic, vibrant, passionate cinema. In between films, discussion with the public will also be encouraged.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

Tags: , ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Die Beunruhigung / Apprehension (Lothar Warneke, 1982)

By: börek - May 2nd, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday May 19th 2019, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Die Beunruhigung / Apprehension (Lothar Warneke, 1982). 100 minutes. In German with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, Jeffrey’s intro and film start at 20.30

These days we have such a prejudiced view of the former East Bloc, as if it was totally a one-sided thing that never changed, and in our arrogance, we demonize it without the slightest idea what we are talking about. Believe it or not, in the former East Germany there was an effort to make a cinema that was free of propaganda – both the so-called ‘Soviet realism’ of Russia, but also the fake romantic propaganda of Hollywood. And in two areas the East German cinema thematically excelled – they were ‘anti-war’ and ‘pro-women.’ So in the GDR there was an entire genre exploring the real-life situation of women. By contrast, in the so-called “democratic” west women were mostly relegated to side roles in movies – often as secretaries or housewives or love interests. Today we have female super-hero films, but they are as ridiculous as the former roles, and are about as empowering as a shot of arsenic. Because of the recent ‘me too’ movement, there have been a few more films highlighting the female situation… but they don’t hold a candle to what was happening in East Germany 40 years ago.

What is this film about? It doesn’t have a huge overarching story, but rather focuses more on a specific situation. Our main character Inge is a mid-thirties social worker and a single mother, magnificently portrayed by actress Christine Schorn. She is told she has breast cancer, possibly malignant. The entire film is about her thoughts and emotions, her conversations and behavior. It is based on an autobiographical novel by the popular GDR writer Helga Schubert. The style is stripped-down, allowing real discussions to occur about real things. In a way, this film is like a cinematic detox session that cuts the audience off from all spectacle, cheap tricks and quick thrills. Personally, I found it exhilarating. It’s a biting flick, made even more heart-wrenching by its unsentimentality, and Its documentary-like edge also makes it valuable as a poignant document of East Berlin in 1981.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

Tags: , , , ,

Sugar Cane Alley / La Rue Cases-Nègres (Euzhan Palcy, 1983)

By: börek - May 2nd, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday May 12th 2019, Sugar Cane Alley / La Rue Cases-Nègres (Euzhan Palcy, 1983). 103 minutes | French | English subtitles | Doors: 20:00, Film 20:30

Sugar Cane Alley is set in Martinique and directed by Euzhan Palcy who was born there. Casting back to the 1930s, based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Joseph Zobel.
Jose attends school at the insistence of his grandmother, who does not want him to end up working in the fields, the probable fate of most of his class. Jose is successful academically, but for a poor black boy the course of his life is never going to be straight-forword in a country where blacks working sugarcane fields were still treated harshly by their white employers.
It is the first film by Euzhan Palcy, made in 1983, on a limited budget, it went on to win 17 awards, including getting Sundance support. This launched her carrier so that her next film Dry White Season (1989) she was the first black woman to direct a film for a major studio. We will be showing Dry White Season in ‘The Budapest’ at the end of the month. It’s a more graphic, and gritty, film. Where Sugar Cane Alley maintains the perspective of a young black boy, Dry White Season opts for the white slave owner who comes to the realization of the situation.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

Tags:

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Blame it on Fidel! (Julie Gavras, 2006)

By: börek - March 29th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday April 12th 2019, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Blame it on Fidel! (La faute à Fidel!) directed by Julie Gavras, 2006. 99 minutes. In French with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, Jeffrey’s intro and film start at 20.30

This film focuses on a little nine-year-old girl named Anne who has grown up in Paris in the 1960s. Her father is a lawyer and the family is doing fine. But in 1970 everything starts changing. Her uncle has gone to Spain to fight some politician called Franco (the dictator). Anne’s father also starts bringing in activists from Chile into their home, where strategies are debated. As the apartment fills up with people from all over the world, the atmosphere becomes tense and serious, and little Anne finds herself being taken care of by a host of people rather than just her mother and father. She is told that Mickey Mouse is a fascist, and her father decides to share all of his money with everyone, not just spend it on the family. Anne has lost her comfortable Parisian bourgeois life, and her radical parents try to explain the reasons to her, but she understands nothing of it…. which is understandable!

That is the premise of this film, and it is both funny and insightful to see how all this unfolds. As those who frequent my cinemas realize, France is the only country that allows women to make movies on a large scale. Here we have female director Julie Gavras, the daughter of Oscar winning Greek director Costa-Gavras, who made such legendary films as Z and Missing. Since he was a politically-charged filmmaker, one has to feel that director Julie Gavras is drawing on her own experiences as a child. So many films today are just bad copies of other movies. Not this one… this is a poignant, witty, and unique gem.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

Tags: , ,

Lipstick Under My Burkha (Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016)

By: börek - March 29th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday April 7th 2019, Lipstick Under My Burkha by Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016, 117 minutes. Hindi with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, intro and film at 20.30.

An indian black comedy by Alankrita Shrivastava about four small-town Indian women their secret world – their acts of rebellion and their sex lives – and their trying to break free from the conservative society they live in. As a result, the Indian film certification initially banned the film as being too “lady-oriented”

“In a culture where female actors do ‘item songs’ – in which they dance among crowds of ogling men and the camera mindlessly moves up and down their bodies – a small, independent, spirited films like Lipstick Under My Burkha threatens to challenge the status quo.” – Alankrita Shrivastava

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

Tags: ,

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Black and White in Colour (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1976)

By: börek - March 7th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday March 31st 2019, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Black and White in Colour / La Victoire en chantant, Noirs et Blancs en couleur, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1976, 92 minutes. In French with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, Jeffrey’s intro and film start at 20.30

When I was attending university during the protest-fueled 1970s, this was one of the most popular films screened on campuses. It captured the spirit of the time, when people understood colonialism and the anti-war demonstrations were blazing. This film is set during 1915 and is a biting look at both colonialism and war, but one with a wicked sense of humor. Just the title of the film already shows a playful satirical wit. This was the first film by Jean-Jacques Annaud, who later went on to make The Lover and Name of the Rose.

This flick centers on two European outposts in central Africa, one French and one German. The French soldiers are pretty lazy and mostly concerned about food and sex, and are just waiting for retirement… while the Germans are more interested in regulations and disciplining their black servants (slaves) to march correctly. Communication is slow at such an outpost (no internet back then), it only comes in newspapers sent from Europe that arrive six months late. From such a newspaper the French discover something that the Germans don’t know yet – their two countries have been at war since August of 1914! The French decide they have to do something about this, take action first and defend their country. What unfolds is a devastating satire about imperialism and the tragic results of World War One.

Filmed on location on the Ivory Coast, it is based on Annaud’s own experiences while working in Cameroun as part of his French national service. While he was there he read a history book of the country, and about the great battle of Mora when Europeans caused African tribes to war with their own neighbors. In the last 30 years this film has almost completely vanished, which is pretty shameless… especially since this movie won the academy award for best foreign film in 1976.

And just to be clear: up to today only one film from sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) has ever won an Academy Award for best foreign-language movie, and it was this one, a French production flying under the flag of the Ivory Coast. This pretty much shows how racism is alive as ever, and is still kicking. So I think it is about time we dust this flick off and throw it on the big screen again after decades of absence. It remains totally relevant today, since it seems our mentality about imperialism, racism and war haven’t improved even a bit.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

Tags: ,

Libertarias (Vicente Aranda, 1996)

By: börek - March 7th, 2019  Filed under: Filmavond

Sunday March 24th 2019, Libertarias (Vicente Aranda, 1996), 131 minutes, in Spanish with English subtitles. Doors open at 20.00, film at 20.30.

Spain, 19 July 1936. The revolution has begun in a city near Barcelona. María, an innocent young nun, flees her convent when revolutionaries invade the area and finds refuge in a brothel. Here she meets a group of “Libertarias,” anarchist militia women who are fighting not only Franco, but also the conservative attitudes toward women that prevail as well in the revolutionary ranks. The group is led by hard-liner Pilar, whose seconds-in-command are the clairvoyent Floren and the big-hearted prostitute Concha. Pilar quickly feels a strange fascination for this young nun whose father is a fascist. On their way to the front, the group runs into a defrocked priest who joins up with them and falls in love with María. There are three main locations: the vicinity of Barcelona, the trenches, and Saragossa. Aranda describes the daily existence of these anarchist freedom fighters, not without a touch of humor, as in the scene when Floren does an imitation of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. When the protagonists arrive in Saragossa, the streets are strewn with bodies and weeping women. María catches her first glimpse of the face of war and her sympathies, despite her background, go out to the freedom fighters. The defrocked priest arrive with the strange news that the anarchist leader Durutti has forbidden women to go to the front: the militarisation of politics has won out over utopian ideals.
Libertarias is an epic of sorts that mixes documentary, tragedy, romance, comedy, objectivity and introspection in order to dramatize not only a war for freedom, but also a more underground struggle, the war between the sexes.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net

Tags: ,