Cinema of the Dam’d presents: Hell House

hellhouseSunday October 18th 2015, Cinema of the Dam’d presents: Hell House. Directed by George Ratliff, 2001, USA, 85 minutes. Shorts at 20:30, feature at 21:00. Free admission.

This disturbing documentary takes viewers on a terrifying tour of a Halloween “hell house” in suburban Texas. Every year, the teenage members of Trinity Church stage a Christian version of a haunted house, filled with the real life “horrors” of abortion, homosexuality and drug use. The film follows the church group as they audition, rehearse and finally scare the bejesus out of visitors, all in an attempt to save them from eternal damnation. The scariest film about fundamentalist Christianity you will ever see. Rare screening!

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/T57Dv6NcJWY

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Taxi Blues (1990)

TaxiBluesSunday October 11th 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: Taxi Blues (Такси-блюз) directed by Pavel Lungin, 1990, 110 minutes. High-definition screening. Free admission. Door opens at 20:00, Film starts at 21:00.

This film explores many aspects of modern Russian life by centering on the lives of two very different people, and what happens when their destinies intersect. Ivan is a tough hard-working Moscow taxi driver who is nostalgic about the days of Communism. One night he picks up Lyosha who belongs to the new generation of Russians… he is pessimistic, westernized, an alcoholic jazz saxophonist and totally irresponsible. Because of the turn of events, a long-term connection is formed between the two that is a bit like a bizarre love-hate relationship, and its fascinating to watch it twist and turn, develop and unfold, die down and explode.

The movie is wonderfully shot, both bleak and passionate… and beyond being only a story about two polar opposite men, it is also a moody piece of work about Russia during the latter stages of Perestroika… and the collision of old Russian values against the new Russia. The film stars Piotr Mamonov who is the leader of the new wave band Zvuki Moobut… but he is also a poet and performer. The lush but desolate free-jazz music score for this film is by Vladimir Cherkasin.

Taxi Blues is considered by many to be one of the central masterpieces of contemporary Russian cinema, and it won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990. And, like usual, this is an extremely rare screening of this haunting movie.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

West Sahara movie night: Life is Waiting (2015)

Life_is_Waiting_Referendum_and_Resistance_in_Western_SaharaSunday October 4th 2015, West Sahara movie night. “Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara” directed by Iara Lee (2015, 59 minutes, English subtitles). Following the info and movie night about West Sahara that took place on July 26th, we are very pleased to screen the documentary from Iara Lee. In collaboration with Cultures of Resistance. Door opens at 8pm, event starts at 9pm.

Zondagavond 4 oktober, West-Sahara film avond met ‘Life is Waiting’ van de Braziliaans/Koreaanse regisseur Iara Lee. West-Sahara is een onbekend en verdeeld gebied. Het grootste deel van het land wordt bezet door Marokko. De rest is in handen van de bevrijdingsbeweging Polisario. Een klein uithoekje op een schiereiland staat onder Mauritaanse controle, en daar ligt het vergeten dorpje La Güera.
Na de Marokkaanse invasie sloeg een groot deel van de oorspronkelijke bevolking op de vlucht, naar het oosten, diep de woestijn in. In Algerije zijn de tenten opgezet want daar is men veilig en beschermd tegen Marokkaanse bombardementen. Ook de Saharaanse regering heeft daar zijn hoofdkwartier gebouwd. Na het vredesakkoord van 1991 zou een referendum worden gehouden waarna de vluchtelingen zouden kunnen terugkeren. Maar nog steeds wachten de Saharawi’s op dat referendum.

“Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara” directed by Iara Lee (2015, 59 minutes, English subtitles). http://culturesofresistancefilms.com/western-sahara
Forty years after its people were promised freedom by departing Spanish rulers, the Western Sahara remains Africa’s last colony. While a UN-brokered ceasefire put an end to armed hostilities in the territory in 1991, the Sahrawi people have continued to live under the Moroccan armed forces’ oppressive occupation, and what peace exists in the area is fragile at best. Tens of thousands of Sahrawis have fled to neighboring Algeria, where over 125,000 refugees still live in camps that were intended to be temporary. In spite of these difficulties, a new movement, with youth at its center, is rising to challenge human rights abuses and to demand the long-promised referendum on freedom. Today’s generation of young activists is deploying creative nonviolent resistance for the cause of self-determination. In doing so, they have persevered against a torrent of conflicting forces. While risking torture and disappearance at the hands of Moroccan authorities, they are also pushing back against those who have lost patience with the international community and are ready to launch another guerrilla war.
The new film from director Iara Lee will examine these tensions as it chronicles the everyday violence of life under occupation, giving voice to the aspirations of a desert people for whom colonialism has never ended. Trailer: https://player.vimeo.com/video/123847322

Cultures Of Resistance Network http://culturesofresistance.org/, connects and supports activists, agitators, educators, and artists to build a more just and peaceful world through creative resistance and nonviolent action!

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

Movie Night: The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orléans (2009)

The_Bad_Lieutenant_Port_of_Call_New_Orleans_2009Sunday September 27th 2015, Movie Night: The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orléans (Werner Herzog, 2009, fiction, 122 minutes). Door opens at 8pm, film begin at 9pm. Free admission.

Wonder of wonders: The Bad Lieutenant remake is not actually bad at all. German film-maker Werner Herzog has taken Abel Ferrara’s 1992 saga by the scruff of the neck, shifted the action from New York to New Orleans and cast Nicolas Cage in the old Harvey Keitel role, as a morally bankrupt law enforcer. The purists are raging and Ferrara is incensed. If ever a movie arrives hexed with dark voodoo, this movie is it.
And yet Herzog’s devil-may-care insouciance has paid off brilliantly. He does not retread Bad Lieutenant so much as reinvent it. Out goes Ferrara’s dark marinade of blood, semen and Catholic guilt. In comes an espresso of caffeine and amphetamines that, in its way, is just as effective. […Lees verder]

Iranian Movie night: At Five in the Afternoon (2003)

At_Five_in_the_Afternoon_Maysam_MakhmalbafSunday September 20th 2015, Iranian Movie Night: At Five in the Afternoon (Persian: پنج عصر, Panj é asr‎) by Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran, 2003, 106 min.). In Dari Persian with English subtitles. Door opens at 8pm, film begin at 9pm. Free admission.

It tells the story of an ambitious young woman trying to gain an education in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban. The title comes from a Federico García Lorca poem and is a tale of flourishing against the odds. At Five in the Afternoon was the first film to be shot in Kabul after the NATO invasion.
After the fall of the Taliban regime, the schools again open their doors to girls. Nogreh (Agheleh Rezaie) dreams of liberation. She wants to become Head of State (following Benazir Bhutto’s example), in order to reform the status of the Afghan woman. But the girl and her family only meet misery and desolation in a country in ruins.
This third full-length film by the talented Iranian filmmaker is without question her most pessimistic. It’s the prolongation of the segment she directed within the framework of the collective film 11′ 09′ 01. It also echoes the film Kandahar, directed by her father.

More info about the director: http://www.makhmalbaf.com/?q=marziyeh
More about the film: http://www.makhmalbaf.com/?q=film/At-five-in-the-afternoon

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: White Dog (1982)

white_dogSunday September 13th 2015, Can Dialectics Break Bricks Cinema: White Dog (1982). Directed by Samuel Fuller, 90 minutes, in English. High-definition screening. Free admission. Door opens at 20:00, Film starts at 21:00.

Back in the 80s this was a piece of cinematic dynamite. Just the premise of it sent shock waves through the film industry. Whats it about? It centers on a young girl who injures a stray dog, and takes it home to bring it back to health. Although its a beautiful dog, it does act strange at times. Soon she finds out that it is a “white dog”- a dog which has been programmed into attacking black people by a previous racist owner. That is the premise and the movie then goes into how to deal with the situation.

Adapted from a book by Romain Gary (to whom the picture is dedicated) and it based on a real life event that happened to his wife Jean Seberg. Originally Roman Polanski was signed up to direct it, but then he was forced to escape America after he was charged with a sex crime. So finally, six years later, it fell into the hands of the maverick director Samuel Fuller.

Once it was finished the studio felt it was too volatile and it was shelved (basically banned) so it wasn’t allowed to be screened in America. Director Fuller was pissed off and moved to France and never made another movie in America. It splits audiences like crazy… is it a well-made film or not? Is it racist or anti-racist? Its a controversial film that stirs up a wild discussion in any event. The music score is by Ennio Morricone. […Lees verder]

Cinema of the Dam’d presents: Danger: Diabolik

DiabolikSunday August 23rd 2015, Cinema of the Dam’d presents: Danger: Diabolik. Directed by Mario Bava, 1968, 105 minutes. Doors- 20h, Short films- 20:30, Feature- 21h. Free admission.

Masked criminal mastermind Diabolik (John Philip Law) and his sexy sidekick Eva (Marisa Mell) stage a series of bold heists, hauling their loot to a luxurious underground lair. When Diabolik sets his sights on the nation’s tax buildings, he becomes the world’s most wanted terrorist, sending cops and mobsters in hot pursuit. Mario Bava’s stylish caper boasts striking comic book compositions, eye-popping colors, psychedelic set design and a swinging 60s score by Ennio Morricone. Adapted from a long-running Italian comic book series, DANGER: DIABOLIK is widely-regarded as one of the best translations from panel to picture— a subversive celebration of the super villain as antihero.
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEdqvkBKvaI

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net

Movie Night: Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

End_of_the_worldSunday August 16th 2015, Movie Night: Encounters at the End of the World (Werner Herzog, 2007, documentary, 99 minutes). Door opens at 8pm, film begin at 9pm. Free admission.

Read the title of “Encounters at the End of the World” carefully, for it has two meanings. As he journeys to the South Pole, which is as far as you can get from everywhere, Werner Herzog also journeys to the prospect of man’s oblivion. Far under the eternal ice, he visits a curious tunnel whose walls have been decorated by various mementos, including a frozen fish that is far away from its home waters. What might travelers from another planet think of these souvenirs, he wonders, if they visit long after all other signs of our civilization have vanished?

Herzog has come to live for a while at the McMurdo Research Station, the largest habitation on Antarctica. He was attracted by underwater films taken by his friend Henry Kaiser, which show scientists exploring the ocean floor. They open a hole in the ice with a blasting device, then plunge in, collecting specimens, taking films, nosing around. They investigate an undersea world of horrifying carnage, inhabited by creatures so ferocious, we are relieved they are too small to be seen. And also by enormous seals who sing to one another. In order not to limit their range, Herzog observes, the divers do not use a tether line, so they must trust themselves to find the hole in the ice again. I am afraid to even think about that. […Lees verder]