From: Adam Hyman (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Apr 02 2009 - 10:29:25 PDT
Hope to see you there! Especially if you are interested in documentary
filmmaking and new techniques.
Adam
LOS ANGELES FILMFORUM PRESENTS
ANIMATED DOCUMENTARIES,
TWO GENRE-STRETCHING SHOWS
LOS ANGELES, March 20, 2009 ³Animated documentaries² isnıt that an
oxymoron? No longer! Documentary has now moved past the notion that it
needs to be an exact representation of reality, although many in the United
States still resist the expansive concept. And animation has long included
more than kids cartoons, although most people only know the films they see
on Saturday morning television. Now with the recent success of Waltz with
Bashir, a feature-length animated documentary,
It is time to bring a survey of the growing subgenre of such films, which
date back to 1918. Now is the time to break through the bounds of the real,
to get into the minds of real people in real situations, to find visuals for
events that werenıt documented, to raise issues of perception and experience
and reality. Why are most animated documentaries linked still to an
acceptable aural interview an illustrated radio documentary? Where does
animation fall short, and what objections does it raise? And where does it
open up the realm of the possible, and provide a new way to visualize truth?
There will be screenings at two locations on April 5 and 13, 2009, and more
in the Fall.
What: Animated documentaries two shows
Animated Documentaries part 1 - Portraits
Sunday April 5, 7:00 pm
Filmforum at the Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Blvd at Las Palmas
Parking on the streets or at Hollywood & Highland the Egyptian has a
validation stamp, 4 hours for $2.
Admission $10 general, $6 students/seniors, free for Filmforum members
Reservations available by emailing email suppressed
http://lafilmforum.wordpress.com/ <http://lafilmforum.wordpress.com/>
Tonight we look at the range of possibilities of portraits biographical
moments, short profiles, and pointed interviews. Going beyond the filmmaker
(weıll look at autobiographical films later), these play with external
representations to bring out key aspects of the personalities of the
subjects. Sometimes itıs a more traditional biopic, as in McLarenıs
Negatives by Marie-Josee Saint Pierre. Sometimes itıs a more
impressionistic portrait, as in Yurico Murakamiıs Talking About Amy or the
influential Kid Stays in the Picture (with its use of stills manipulation)
by Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen; others illustrate sharp political
points through the tragic tales of interviewees, as in Sheila Sofianıs
Conversation with Haris or Samantha Mooreıs The Beloved Ones. Bob
Sabistonıs popular work is represented by the fabulously humorous tale of
Ryanıs trip to the amusement park in The Even More Fun Trip, and Helen Hill
mixes family films, imaginative fancy, paper cut-out animation and
traditional drawing in her delicately sad film of her grandfatherıs death,
Mouseholes. What do you do when an interviewee doesnıt want himself shown
on screen? Animation is one strategy, as seen in Liz Blazerıs Backseat
Bingo, which brings the humorous views of senior citizens on sex, or in
Ellie Leeıs harrowing depiction of abuse in Repetition Compulsion. And weıll
see how students today are using such materials in new portraits, with Sahar
Alsawafıs tale of her Iraqi relative, Uncle Maıan.
Talking About Amy by Yurico Murakami (2005, 8:20, USA/Japan)
McLarenıs Negatives by Marie-Josee Saint Pierre (2006, 11 min., Canada)
Backseat Bingo by Liz Blazer (2003, 5:25, USA)
Repetition Compulsion by Ellie Lee (1997, 7 min., 35mm, USA)
Excerpt from The Kid Stays in the Picture by Nanette Burstein and Brett
Morgen (2002, 93 min, US)
Conversation with Haris by Sheila Sofian (2001, 6 min, 16mm, USA)
The Beloved Ones by Samantha Moore (2007, 6 min, UK)
Mouseholes by Helen Hill (1999, 16mm, USA) portrait of grandfather
Uncle Maıan by Sahar Alsawaf (2007, 4 min, video, USA/Iraq)
The Even More Fun Trip by Bob Sabiston (2007, 20:45, video, USA)
Animated Documentaries part 2 Rendering the Facts
Monday April 13, 8:00 pm
The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre
611 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, 90036
323-655-2510
Admission $12 general, $8 for Cinefamily and Filmforum members
Tickets and more details for this show at
http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/calendar/events.html
<http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/calendar/events.html>
Tonight weıll look at difficult and entertaining assortment of films where
the animation serves as visual reportage, representing ³the facts.² From
the winsome or rough tales of the loss of virginity in Jonas Odellıs Never
Like the First Time to the bouncy remixed score of sweetpea growers in
England in Samantha Mooreıs Success with Sweetpeas, these films draw upon
interviews and historical events. Weıll also be including such works as the
³Men in Black² segment of Richard Robbinsı Oscar-nominated documentary
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, Jennifer Sachsı The
Velvet Tigress which looks at a 1930s murderess, and the original animated
documentary, The Sinking of the Lusitania by Winsor McKay, which also raises
the question of where documentary meets propaganda. And more!
The Sinking of the Lusitania by Winsor McKay (1916, 12 min, USA.)
Enter Life by Faith Hubley (1982, 6 min., USA, for Smithsonian Natural
History museum)
Adventures in Music: Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom! (1953, 10 min., Disney
Studios)
The Velvet Tigress by Jen Sachs (2001, 11 min, 16mm, USA)
Excerpt from Shayıs Rebellion Americaıs First Civil War by R.J. Cutler,
animation by Bill Plympton (2004, 45 min, video, USA)
Forest Murmurs by Jonathan Hodgson (2006, 12:30, UK)
Success with Sweetpeas by Samantha Moore (2006, 6:30, UK)
Hidden by David Aronowitsch and Hanna Heilborn (2002, 8 min., video, Sweden)
³Men in Black² segment from Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime
Experience, by Richard Robbins (2007, 6 min., from video, USA)
His Motherıs Voice by Dennis Tupicoff (1997, 15 min, 35mm, Australia)
Never like the First Time by Jonas Odell (2005, 14:30, video, Sweden)
Los Angeles Filmforum is the cityıs longest-running organization that
screens non-commercial experimental and avant-garde films and video art,
documentaries, and animation. 2009 is its 33rd year.
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.