Category Archive: Uncategorized

  1. Streamers: Explore the Best of Avant Cinema with Tara Bhattacharya Reed

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    As a member of the Experimental Response Cinema collective, Tara Bhattacharya Reed has curated many a thought-provoking screening of avant-garde cinema. So, while so many of us are homebound, we thought we’d reach out to Tara for something a little different and more outside the usual highways and byways of online content.

    Here are some of her recommendations for cinema that might possibly cleanse the sliding doors of your perception, at least temporarily.

    COMMUTE

    (Bruce Baillie, 1995) Available via Amazon Prime

    Bruce Baillie (1931-2020) films an afternoon spin in the rain, from the passenger seat of his old Honda. An audiotape series entitled the “Dr. Bish Remedies (Radio) Show,” designed to alleviate commuter boredom, serves as the gentle soundtrack to this miniature excursion.

    Baillie captures the warmth of Dr. Bish’s rambling monologues and strange personae, interspersed with found sounds, music and a variety of miscellaneous (non) broadcasted materials. From a visual standpoint, Baillie provides the viewer with a dreamlike sojourn in the vehicular space, where time is suspended and they are free to engage or disengage from the surrounding sights and sounds at will. –Meditative.

    NO DATA PLAN

    (Miko Revereza, 2019) WATCH >>

    “Mama has two phone numbers. We do not talk about immigration on her Obama phone. For that we use the other number with no data plan”

    Miko Reverezo’s powerful travelogue reveals a stark and personalized portrait of an undocumented immigrant making a crossing through a dystopic ICE-aged American landscape, by rail. Through an examination of the precarity, boredom and fantasies of its voiceless narrator, the audience is guided moment by moment into the hidden shadows of life, navigating claustrophobic spaces, barren vistas, dreams, anxieties, paranoia, hidden histories and the story of the narrator’s mother and her much younger lover. Fugitivism in the 21st century never hit home, so hard.

    UN RÊVE SOLAIRE

    (Patrick Bokanowski, 2016) – WATCH >>

    A phantasmagoric experience with a hint of déjà vu upon first time viewing. This is the second feature film from experimental filmmaker Patrick Bokanowski, the actors are now fully unmasked, at one with the spectator as they traverse through kingdoms of shadow and light, fire and water, abstraction and figuration. Michèle Bokanowski intuitive compositions enhance the fluidity of images throughout the film. A true partnership of grace and beauty.

    PEACE AND ANWAR SADAT

    (Ulysses Jenkins, 1986) WATCH >>

    A continuous screening in the LACE Video Room, featuring Ulysses Jenkins.

    I attended “Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art”  curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver in New York in 2013. Last week I looked back at the catalogue did some research on the exceptional video art of African American video/performance artist Ulysses Jenkins, whose work featured prominently in the exhibit. His work combines archival footage, text, photos and image processing, and his compositions might be described as “threnodial” in nature. “Peace and Anwar Sadat” is a spellbinding exploration on myth making and African American identity and a heartfelt tribute to peace activist Anwar Sadat. The four-part video work on world peace and our fascination with the earth’s apocalypse.

    JOHN LENNON, YOKO ONO & CHUCK BERRY WITH DAVID ROSENBOOM ON THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW

    (1972) WATCH >>

    After the death of experimental music composer and biofeedback researcher Richard Teitelbaum last week, I went deep diving into the web to search for a wonderful clip I saw of Teitelbaum’s fellow composer and sometime collaborator, David Rosenboom, with Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Chuck Berry on the Mike Douglas show in 1972. The group (sitting on the floor) engage in deep conversation about biofeedback techniques and their uses, followed by a blissed out performance featuring Rosenboom with John and Yoko at the very end. Well worth the watch.

    THE GRAND BIZARRE

    (Jodie Mack, 2018) WATCH >>

    Jodie Mack’s The Grand Bizarre is exclusively playing on MUBI from April 9 – May 8, 2020 in MUBI’s Undiscovered Series. Jodie Mack is among the most refreshing experimental filmmakers around today. Using experimental modes and animation techniques, “Grand Bizarre” explores patterns and textiles from across the globe, examining their functionality as well as their recurring themes and motifs throughout different cultures. Mack’s effervescent homemade soundtrack adds to the film’s uplifting and pleasurable experience.

     

    Bonus Round

    CERTAINTY IS BECOMING OUR NEMESIS

    WATCH >> A program of curated experimental films available March 27-May 2, 2020 from SF Cinematheque (festival online)

    88:88

    by Isiah Medina (2015) WATCH >>

    Atoosa Pour Hosseini Celluloid Works (Vol One)

    (2015 – 2017) WATCH >>

  2. BULL – Watch this AFS-Supported Cannes Selection

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    Directed by AFS-supported filmmaker Annie Silverstein. Kris, a headstrong teenager from a rural neighborhood on the outskirts of Houston, is destined to follow her mother to the state penitentiary, until she’s forced to work for her equally willful neighbor, Abe, an aging bullrider struggling to keep a foothold in the rodeo circuit. Drawing consolation from an unlikely bond, Kris and Abe both attempt to right their paths, before it’s too late.

    Watch a Virtual Intro from director Annie Silverstein

    https://youtu.be/6az93m5GBCo

     

    Watch a Virtual Q&A with Annie Silverstein, Producer Monique Walton, and stars Rob Morgan and Amber Havard.

    REVIEWS

    “A wondrous vision of life on the edge.”- Indiewire

    “It’s not often that a piece of cinema like this comes along, something so simply composed and precise, that it is genuinely affecting. …A masterstroke.”- Forbes

  3. THE BOOKSELLERS – Charming New Doc Explores the Places Keeping Print Alive

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    NOW PLAYING

    Antiquarian booksellers are part scholar, part detective and part businessperson, and their personalities and knowledge are as broad as the material they handle. They also play an underappreciated yet essential role in preserving history. THE BOOKSELLERS takes viewers inside their small but fascinating world, populated by an assortment of obsessives, intellects, eccentrics and dreamers.

    Watch this: Austin Bookshop Workers Dish in Celebration of THE BOOKSELLERS

     

    Watch Lars Nilsen’s Virtual Intro

     

    REVIEWS

    “THE BOOKSELLERS is a documentary for anyone who can still look at a book and see a dream, a magic teleportation device, an object that contains the world.”– VARIETY

  4. Watch This: The TV Commercials Of HAUSU director Nobuhiko Obayashi

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    We recently received word of the passing of Nobuhiko Obayashi, who is probably best known to many for making one of the most unique films in all of cinema history, the surrealistic teen haunted house movie HAUSU.

    That film is only one of many wonderful titles made by the late master. We certainly recommend that you watch as many as you can. In the meantime, enjoy a few examples of his work in the Japanese TV commercial industry.

    Special thanks to Marc Walkow for providing these many years ago, and to Laird Jimenez at Alamo Drafthouse for excavating the old files and uploading some of the ones that were not otherwise available on YouTube. The videos aren’t translated and the video quality isn’t the best but the magic is all there.

    Thanks for all the memories, Mr. Obayashi!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEqA84R0lYU

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGO0nVCsUUw

  5. Watch This: Low Budget Horror Auteur Andy Milligan’s Bizarre TV Sitcom

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    Andy Milligan was a virtual hurricane of creativity – he wrote and staged plays for years and then switched his focus to making micro-budget horror and erotica films. He also happened to inspire an uneasy combination of terror and loyalty among the members of his stock company.

    His films, while not for everyone, can be enjoyed on many levels. While they have very low budgets, the production values are better than could be expected in some ways, especially in the costume department – Millington himself made many of the clothing items. They are also very well-written, and Milligan’s virulent misanthropy really shines through. It’s his special gift, and the bickering sequences in his films are always highlights.

    There’s an excellent biography of Milligan called “The Ghastly One” by Jimmy McDonough. It’s been hard to find in recent years but a new edition is coming out on April 15, presented by director and Milligan superfan Nicolas Winding Refn. The films are a little out there too. AFS Programmer Lars Nilsen recommends his Sweeney Todd adaptation BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS and the rancorous THE RATS ARE COMING, THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE starring the amazing Hope Stansbury.

    One Milligan rarity Lars had never seen until today was his sitcom project, made in conjunction with playwright Donald Tobey. It is called THE ADVENTURES OF RED ROOSTER and has been posted to YouTube by star George Meyers. It’s a highly unusual and, one would think, deeply non-commercial, series about a group of wacky characters who are marketing a get-rich patent medicine called the Red Rooster Rejuvenator, sort of a proto-Viagra.

    As the great Michael Weldon of Psychotronic Video Magazine has written, “if you’re an Andy Milligan fan, there’s no hope for you.” This is unlikely to add many names to that list of the doomed, but for those who are already over the fence, you may enjoy it.

    https://youtu.be/XA0u5HbhN_w

    You can follow the continuing adventures of Red Rooster on Meyers’ YouTube page.

    Note: this page has been updated with new info about the new edition of the book “The Ghastly One.”

  6. Watch This: EUROPA, EUROPA Q&A with Director Agnieszka Holland

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    Back in October 2019, we were privileged to host director Agnieszka Holland for a screening of EUROPA, EUROPA (1990), her brilliant account of the absurdities of fascism and war. With Criterion Channel adding it to their lineup just last week, we thought you might want to follow up your viewing of that with this Q&A. Watch the Q&A below or listen to it as a podcast.

     

  7. Listen here: The Unsung Sounds of The Library Music Era (Mix)

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    For as long as budget-strapped film and TV productions have existed, there’s been a cottage industry of “stock” music libraries providing them with cheap canned soundtracks, cutting the cost of hiring a dedicated composer. While the utilitarian intersection of creativity and commerce hardly seems like fertile creative ground, at its heyday in the 60s, 70s and 80s, this niche “library music” market yielded surprisingly eclectic sounds, as dozens of catalogues competed to offer increasingly unique moods and styles for every imaginable scenario.

    The promise of a quick paycheck and relatively few creative restrictions attracted musicians of all stripes, including mainstream talent like Piero Umiliani, BBC Radiophonic Workshop alumni, and even the great Ennio Morricone. Buried amidst an abundance of AM radio rock imitations and waiting room muzak are some truly inspired and innovative musical experiments: bubbling synth arpeggios for underwater exploration, cosmic electronic soundscapes for science fictions, raw and funky break-beats for crime dramas, and everything in between.

    Over the years, a growing cult of adventurous listeners has tuned in to this private world of “library music.” Production catalogues like KPM, Bruton, De Wolfe and Sonoton have garnered almost the same reverence among DJs and producers as labels like Blue Note, Brain, or ESP. AFS staffer Gabe Chicoine, who moonlights as DJ Adult Themes, has put together a mix of his favorite library music sub-genre: synth-heavy, high energy compositions to soundtrack your stay-at-home adventures (and be sure to keep scrolling for a gallery of his favorite library LP cover designs).

    While most instances of library music use faded along with the ephemera of the past, a few have endured, including Alan Tew’s production music used in the BBC TV show The Hanged Man, certain library cues employed by George Romero in DAWN OF THE DEAD, and more recently, Curb Your Enthusiasm has resurrected the music of Italian library composer Franco Mizallini to instant recognition.

     

    Bonus: feast your eyes on some of the charmingly industrial library record designs.

  8. Streamers: Director Kat Candler Recommends Some Favorite Films & TV

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    As part of our ongoing response to the Coronavirus crisis, we are asking some of our best pals for home streaming recommendations.

    We go way back with this week’s guest. Kat Candler was a part of Austin’s film community for many years, making her own films and serving as an all-around catalyst for the moviemaking ecosystem here. AFS was honored to be able to help her with several grants along the way.

    Her feature film HELLION (2014) made a major splash at Sundance and Austin’s secret was out. Soon she was directing, producing and writing for television. Her run on Ava DuVernay’s show Queen Sugar started with directing and progressed to show-running. Her career has taken her (so far) from zero-budget indie shorts to the cutting edge of the peak-television revolution. We can’t wait to see what the next few years hold for Kat.

    Here are her picks, which, understandably, feature a television series.

    BILLY MADISON (Amazon Purchase)

    1995, D. Tamara Davis
    This is my all time favorite comfort film. It just makes me smile and laugh because it’s so deliciously dumb. It’s an escapist movie at its finest.

    SHOPLIFTERS (Amazon Purchase)

    2018, D. Hirokazu Koreeda
    This is in my top ten of the last decade hands down. I love Hirokazu Koreeda with all my heart and soul. And this film is pure humanity and empathy and love. It’s about a family of shoplifters but as it untangles it’s so much more layered, complex and heart exploding. And if you can find it, his film AFTERLIFE from early 2000 is one that was my entrance into his work. That film buried its way into my heart and hasn’t left ever since.

    ATLANTICS (Netflix)

    2019, D. Mati Diop
    It’s a story about a young woman who’s married off while the man she really loves is lost at sea. And to say anymore would take away from the surprise and poetry of the film. It took me by surprise and left me unpacking it long after. And if you’re so  inclined Mati Diop’s short of the same name is on the Criterion Channel.

    AMERICAN FACTORY (Netflix)

    2019, D. Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar
    When a Chinese businessman takes over an old GM factory in rural Ohio, Chinese workers come to the states to work alongside their American counterparts and the insights and observations are extraordinary and human.

    PEAKY BLINDERS – series (Netflix)

    Five seasons (2013-2019)
    My latest television obsession. I devoured all 5 seasons. Cillian Murphy, Helen McCory, Sophie Rundle, Tom Hardy, Noah Taylor, Adrien Brody, Finn Cole, Sam Neill, Paddy Considine … wrapped up with Steven Knight’s words and scrumptious cinematography. That’s all.

  9. SLAY THE DRAGON – Watch “One of the Key Political Films of the Decade” (Variety)

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    A secretive, high-tech gerrymandering initiative launched 10 years ago threatens to undermine our democracy. Slay the Dragon follows everyday people as they fight to make their votes matter.

    Watch our Virtual Introduction with special guest Evan Smith of The Texas Tribune.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqa6q1YhFlo

    REVIEWS

    “SLAY THE DRAGON is the most important political film of the year, and it may prove to be one of the key political films of the decade.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

    “The film does a skillful job of distilling a complicated history.” – Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times

  10. VITALINA VARELA – Watch the Beautiful, Award-Winning New Film from Pedro Costa

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    A film of deeply concentrated beauty, acclaimed filmmaker Pedro Costa’s Vitalina Varela stars nonprofessional actor Vitalina Varela in an extraordinary performance based on her own life. Vitalina plays a Cape Verdean woman who has travelled to Lisbon to reunite with her husband, after two decades of separation, only to arrive mere days after his funeral. Alone in a strange forbidding land, she perseveres and begins to establish a new life. Winner of the Golden Leopard for Best Film and Best Actress at the Locarno Film Festival, as well as an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, Vitalina Varela is a film of shadow and whisper, a profoundly moving and visually ravishing masterpiece.

    Watch our Virtual Introduction by SXSW Film Programmer Jim Kolmar.

    https://youtu.be/ypIVoCeNOdI

     

    REVIEWS

    “A ravishing masterpiece. The mystery and wonder of Pedro Costa’s filmmaking defies any specific category… Gorgeous. Transcendent.” — Eric Kohn, Indiewire

    “A singular visual, aural, and emotional experience… A lush, almost luxuriantly beautiful approach to light and color… Vitalina Varela (the actress) is mesmerizing… Essential viewing.” — Jim Hemphill, Filmmaker Magazine

  11. Watch This: Thousands Of Digitized VHS Tapes to Get Lost In

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    Whether you are a hardcore VHS horror collector or not, chances are you have come into contact with these rectangular blocks of polypropylene #5, housing magnetic ribbons of ever-increasingly fussy and fragile videotape.

    You may not have as many as the author of this piece, depicted below having an existential crisis and starring at one small section of his collection, but chances are you have a few around, labeled “Family Picnic ’96” or “E.T. – DO NOT ERASE!!!!!”

    If, for any reason you should find yourself with a lot of free time, you can explore a virtual mountain of videotapes using this amazing resource from the always indispensable site Archive.org. It’s a multi-user collection called the VHS Vault.

    There is frankly a lot of unwatchable trash here, but you can give yourself the joy of the hunt as you bound through hours of chud and then finally land on, let’s say, a 1996 instructional guide for Sheriff’s departments as they deal with the growing menace of Satanism. Or possibly an old Bjork interview from MTV’s 120 MINUTES. There’s a LOT, including just raw tapes recorded directly from TV with commercials and everything.

    Clearly, this is not for everyone, but it is a potentially pretty fascinating way to kill 400 or so hours if you need one. Thank us – or curse us – later.

     

  12. AFS Viewfinders Podcast: Author & TV Movie Expert Amanda Reyes

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    On the latest AFS Viewfinders podcast we are joined by Amanda Reyes, who has certainly staked out a place as one of the preeminent experts on that much-maligned hybrid entertainment form, the Made-For-TV movie. Amanda runs the podcast and site Made For TV Mayhem and has done a large number of disc commentaries, most recently for the excellent TV Movie PRAY FOR THE WILDCATS. She has also lectured all around the world on the subject of TV movies. Her book “Are You In The House Alone: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999” is both an essential resource for fans of the form and a very entertaining read.

    Here, we talk about the origins of the TV Movie, the creative forces behind the best ones, and why they were an important outlet for some very talented women. We also take a moment to discuss the episodic television show CHARLIE’S ANGELS, since our History Of Television screening on that subject was so rudely canceled in light of the current crisis.

    Finally, Amanda offers some recommendations of Made For TV movies available on Amazon Prime for streaming.

    Here are Amanda’s recommendations for streaming TV Movies, though you will find many more films for your watchlist mentioned in the discussion, so take notes as you listen, or use this handy Letterboxd list as a resource.

    • GO ASK ALICE (1973, D. John Korty)
    • BORN INNOCENT (1974, D. Donald Wrye)
    • COME DIE WITH ME (1974, D. Burt Brinckerhoff)
    • SHADOW OF FEAR (1974, D. Herbert Kenwith)
    • INVASION OF CAROL ENDERS (1974, D. Burt Brinckerhoff)
    • NIGHTMARE AT 43 HILLCREST (1974, D. Dan Curtis, Lela Swift)
    • TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975, D. Dan Curtis)
    • KILLJOY (1981, D. John Llewellyn Moxey)
    • POLICEWOMAN CENTERFOLD (1983, D. Reza Badiyi)
    • THE EXECUTION (1985, D. Paul Wendkos)
    • FEAR STALK (1989, D. Larry Shaw)
    • CAROLINE? (1990, D. Joseph Sargent)
    • FACE OF EVIL (1996, D. Mary Lambert)

    Listen via the embedded player below or on your preferred podcast platform.

    Can’t find us? Let us know and we’ll work on adding our podcast to your preferred service.

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