Parks Are Free Film Series:

Who controls public space? Can it change hands by fiat? Can it be used as a canvas for an art instillation? What happens when animals choose it as their territory? Who is trying to protect it?

The ParksArefree Film Series at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts will be showing four films around the theme of public space and the environment.

The first will be The Garden, playing on March 25th at 7:00. It chronicles the story of America’s largest urban garden, which existed in Los Angeles from 1994 until 2006. Members of a primarily immigrant community turned a 14-acre patch of post-industrial wasteland into a community garden and administered it democratically. There they grew vegetables and fruits, as well as plants used in traditional medicines.

Starting in 2003, a legal battle over the land ensued, with a private company, Alameda-Barbara, led by the developer Ralph Horowitz, claiming that the land belonged to it due to loop holes in the eminent domain laws. The case was settled behind closed doors, and the community farm was lost to a corporate entity.

The local community mobilized, protesting the seizure of land, blocking bulldozers, and committing acts of civil disobedience. A private security company was hired to stop locals from tending to their farms. The LAPD got involved. In the end, the land was lost, and Horowitz stated that whatever would be built on the land was to be ‘market driven.’

The film shows a community come together to protect something shared, important, and beautiful from the crass and cruel bureaucracy of real estate development.

The second film, The Gates, documents Christo’s 14-year struggle to drape orange cloth throughout Central Park.

The film starts in 1979 with the first push by Christo and Jeanne-Claude to decorate Central Park, and chronicles the discussions and debates about public space and art. Christo’s work is not just about the art itself, but about the discussion it generates, and the hidden passions that emerge when art and everyday life collide.

Although the original concept came about in 1979, it was not until 2003 that a contract was signed, and the materials constructed. The processes of creating and setting up the exhibit involved 300 uniformed workers, 5,290 tons of steel, and 116,389 miles of nylon, which were then woven into over a million square feet of fabric. (By way of comparison, the circumference of the Earth at the Equator is 24,902 miles).

The film will be preceded at 6:30 by a tour of the Mellon Park Walled Garden.

The third film. Pale Male, will be shown on March 27th. This film tells the story of a red-tailed hawk who settled down on an apartment building on Fifth Avenue in New York to hunt in Central Park.

The hawk has become a local celebrity in New York. He has lost a mate, raised chicks, fought crows to retain his territory, and become the patron of a multi-generation family.

The film will be followed by a presentation by at 4:00 by the National Aviary and Rachel Carson Homestead.

The last film, A Sense of Wonder, depicts the last year in the life of Rachel Carson Homestead, the writer of Silent Spring and the founder of the modern environmental movement.

Rachel Carson Homestead was a naturalist who devoted herself to learning about, and sharing her knowledge of, nature. After World War Two, she began to warn people about the dangers of pesticides and synthetic chemicals.

Her philosophy was that humans are one part of nature, as affected by it as any other species. Humans, however, have developed a tendency to altar and damage nature like no other species, and she wanted to bring to light the dangers of environmental abuse.

She was always fascinated by the beauty of nature, and her prose about the natural world was lyrical and loving. A Sense of Wonder captures her in her last year of life, retaining her sense of poetry and awe despite her illness.

The film will be preceded by a presentation by at 4:00 by the National Aviary and Rachel Carson Homestead.

References:
The Garden
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3297
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5160542
The Gates
http://www.mayslesfilms.com/companypages/films/films/gates.htm
http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.shtml
Pale Male
http://www.palemale.com/
A Sense of Wonder
http://www.rachelcarson.org/Biography.aspx

Short Films

Granted, the film festival was a few months ago, I finally remembered to come back and post a couple short films from the Symposium. These two films are part of the reason that I enjoyed the symposium as much as I did. Neither one is longer than about 4 minutes, and I hope you will take the time to enjoy them as much as all of the attendees did.

Dear, Sweet Emma

Lucky

Adventures in setting up exhibits…

Pittsburgh, 2009. Picture it. (If you know where “picture it” comes from, you’re my new hero.)

It’s 9 in the morning. 1 degree is the actual temperature. I (native Texan) am dressed in every single piece of warm clothing I own. I have on three pairs of socks, but only one pair of gloves. I begin to wonder what I’m in store for as I clear the snow off my car. I get in and let it warm up, and then I head to the gas station. I pull up to the ONLY pump on the premises that has no latch to keep the pump pumping without me having to hold it. So I stand there, in the bitter cold, waiting to fill up my SUV from empty.

10 minutes and 10 very frozen fingers later, I am in the car heading to Pittsburgh Filmmakers to meet up with my coworker. We get a quick breakfast to warm ourselves up and fortify ourselves for the work and weather. We head back to the office, load my car with pieces of art, and get directions.

As I’m getting directions (on the slowest computer on EARTH), my coworker tells me that we have one more stop in downtown. 15 minutes later, we head out with directions in hand.

Here we are, driving into downtown Pittsburgh on a Friday morning, and the temperature is barely above zero. We have directions and a vague plan. We stop in front of a gallery and load four pieces of art into my already stuffed car. We take off in the wrong direction for the Pittsburgh Technology Council. We figure out (as we are about to cross a bridge) that we’re heading in the wrong direction and make a u-turn. Finally, we find the street and make the turn.

About 5 minutes and some confused looks later, I accidentally run a red light (I blame it on the bridge) and we wind up at a dead-end street that is very obviously NOT where we are supposed to be. I turn to go around the block, and wind up at the same light I ran as a cop pulls up. I’m trying to determine if this same light is actually green while trying to decide on right or left. After a few fakes in each direction, I turn left and double back. My coworker urges me to turn around so we can try again, but every time I check my mirrors, there are at least 3 or 4 cops in the vicinity.

At this point, I’m convinced that a crazy Texan driver has been called in and all units are on the lookout for me. I’ve turned from a 25 year old film buff into that crazy grandma driver. Or perhaps, someone has seen all the oddly shaped, wrapped packages obscuring my view and called us in as art thieves, leading to not-so-subtle surveillance. Who knows? All of this is happening while we are still in downtown. We finally get turned around, but that was close to where we started. We retrace our steps and realize that the light that I originally ran is the light where I should have turned left. This time, I make the turn.

As we’re on this new street, another cop pulls up alongside me, toying with me, daring me to mess up. Thank goodness I had a navigator or I probably would have had a heart attack! At one point, we pass a right turn (and hey, the directions called for a right turn!) that didn’t have a street sign. I make a (bad) decision to turn right in the off chance this is where we are supposed to be, and we wind up in front of the jail(click on bird’s eye view for the full effect). On a very narrow street. In an SUV.

After a 4396-point turn, I manage to swing the car around and head back out. Wouldn’t you know it, as we get back onto the main street, ANOTHER cop is there ready to pick up where the first left off? We keep driving, and finally wind up in a familiar area. Realization hits us at the same time. We were maybe a mile away from Filmmakers in an area both of us knew. And it only took us about an hour and a half to finally get there!

I park (crookedly) in the handicapped space as people from PTC come out and help us unload. I check my phone and see several missed calls and texts from my boss. Thankfully my coworker reminded me to check, otherwise we would have had to repeat that trip! We unload one of the four extra pieces we picked up downtown, as it is being added to the exhibit. We are happy that the job is done, but the best part is knowing that due to the nature of the business, the exhibit won’t be set up until next week…

We almost always set up early because dear old Murphy usually tries to interfere with the best-laid plans, as this little adventure clearly shows. Oh well though…this misadventure is only an excuse to have an after-work drink and a chance to warm our frozen extremities. All of this is also EXACTLY why we expect to be seeing you at the exhibit (details below) next week!

Symposium–The Short Film: A Genre Unto Itself?

As stated before, I made it to the symposium. I was that girl that showed up late and looked lost until lunch arrived. Lunch always makes me think straight again when I’m confused.

At any rate, my impression of the symposium was fantastic. I got to see Ernie Gehr speaking about time as it affects his art. His speech went through the first optical coin tricks to the first animations and later, moving pictures as first explored by the Lumière brothers. We saw two of his short films, one by the name of Greene Street, where objects and shadows floated surrealistically until you realized it was a time-stop filming of the sun’s movement and the lights and shadows it caused on the buildings of Greene Street.

After the speech was finished, we moved into concurrent afternoon sessions. I could not stay until the very end of the symposium, but what I saw was definitely interesting. The panel discussion I chose was about short film and audiences in the era of YouTube. With the explosion of user-created content, especially short movies and videos, the short film has more exposure than ever, but is it its own market? We first explored the topic by watching this, which got the panel discussion off to a hilarious start:

YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A ‘Good’ Video

Unfortunately, as most know, YouTube is a catch-all (a term used in discussion by panelist Ralph Vituccio) where not every video is of great artistic merit. With this flood of content, what is a viewer to do? Panelist Kim Ann Pfau (who organizes the Sandy Valley Independent Short Film Series) advocated seeing short films as an audience experience, as the reactions of the crowd around you can greatly affect your perception and enjoyment of the film. All expressed concern over wide exposure via sites like YouTube or Atom Films, or the traditional film festival circuit.

It’s definitely an experience I would recommend if film and the visual arts are your passion in life.

Tomorrow’s film symposium

Meet the blogger!

No, don’t go for me (even though I’ll be there for at least a portion of the festivities)…go for the chance to talk with several industry professionals and independent filmmakers. I have briefly mentioned the event before, but I also don’t mind repeating myself!

Plus–lunch. Need I say more? Talking and eating are definitely my fortes. In fact, I believe talking and eating are my DREAMS in life, my raisons d’être.

Details about pricing as well as the ticket-purchasing link to proarts.org can be found here. See you tomorrow!

Andy Horbal Post

From my very esteemed colleague, Andy Horbal of Mirror/Stage:

I’ve lived in Pittsburgh for more than eight years now, which is long enough to have settled into quite a few routines. I walk to work along the same route every day (down Ellsworth Avenue), read the City Paper in the same order every week (Food-On Screen-Savage Love, etc.), and every year I acquaint myself with the lineup of the Three Rivers Film Festival in exactly the same manner. As ruts go, this last one isn’t so bad. The first thing I do is scan the list of titles for movies I’ve been waiting for because I heard good things about them when they played festivals like Cannes, Sundance, or Berlin earlier in the year, like Waltz with Bashir [2008] and Ballast [2008] on this year’s slate. These films take priority when I’m deciding what to see.

Next I look up the showtimes for the special events I’m interested in and the “classic”-type films I’ve never seen on the big screen, like Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1960) at this year’s fest. Whichever screenings I can make it to get added to my list.

Now I have a tentative schedule to work with, which allows me to move on to the last, arguably most important, step: I identify one or two open dates, see what’s playing on them, and pick films I’ve never heard of to see on those days based solely on how compelling their descriptions are. I intentionally avoid reading about these films before I see them and I go into them with an empty, open mind.

Film savvy types have, I think, a tendency to regard anything they haven’t already heard of with suspicion: if it was any good, they would know about it, right? In my experience, though, this argument doesn’t hold up, especially not when we’re dealing with a festival like the 3RFF that uses its strong relationships with talented but unsung filmmakers across the state, country, and even the globe to bring in excellent films that, for whatever reason, aren’t on the critical community’s radar yet.

All year long I look forward to having the opportunity to see the latest work by prominent auteurs like Nuri Bilge Ceylon and Andrzej Wajda before most of my friends; the most memorable screenings I attend each year, though, are invariably the ones where I discover something completely new to me. Last year I was impressed by the potential of Azazel Jacobs, whose newest film Momma’s Man (2008) is at this year’s fest, months before my critic friends were in on the secret; in 2007 I was stunned by the quality of homegrown products like Dodo (2006) and An Independent Portrait (2006); in 2004 I was stymied by a film called Bazaar Bizarre (2004) that was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

These experiences are all special to me because they’re properly mine. My reaction to each of these films wasn’t influenced by either the response of the critics or by expectations based on their directors’ oeuvres: it was just me and the movies together in those theaters, allowed to meet as strangers for once.

So, from one moderately old hand at 3RFF attending (I have been to a third of them), a little advice: don’t be afraid to let the good people at Pittsburgh Filmmakers do a little bit of the work of deciding what to see for you this year. These films were all chosen for a reason: take a chance on one of them. The potential reward of an unforgettable cinematic experience far outweighs the minimal risks involved.

One film ripe for discovery that you might want to take a flyer on is Twists of Fate (2008). Director Jerzy Stuhr is best known in this country as an actor in Krzysztof Kieslowski films like Three Colors: White (1994) and Camera Buff (1979), but his work behind the camera deserves recognition, too. I first discovered his film Big Animal (2000) (which went on to play the 2004 3RFF) at a 2001 CMA Cinema (RIP) series called “Through Polish Eyes” that made such an impression on me that I registered for an Introduction to Polish class the day after it ended.

All three of his films that I’ve seen (all of which are available on Netflix, including my favorite, A Week in the Life of a Man [1999]) star Stuhr himself as a sort of Everyman character faced with a series of moral questions that challenge us, the audience, to ask ourselves what we would do in his situation. They’re “difficult” in a refreshingly different sort of way.

Jerzy Stuhr, who was here in Pittsburgh at that series in 2001, was at Wednesday’s 8pm screening at Melwood to field questions after the film.

As for me, I’m going to take a chance on either Cherry Blossoms (2007) or Mock Up On Mu (2008), or possibly both. If you know anything about them, don’t tell me!

This just in…

This was just forwarded to me by the PF/PCA:

Last Command/Alloy Orchestra event
Just announced: if you have a festival Six-Pack Pass, you can use two
punches instead of paying the $15.

Alloy Orchestra has come to Pittsburgh several years in a row for
shows with Filmmakers or within the festival. They are always
excellent. Yes, one of the guys in Alloy, Roger Miller, is from
Mission of Burma.

Tix are $15

Sun Nov 16 — 8:00 — Regent Square

This restored print of legendary director Josef von Sternberg’s
acclaimed melodrama was nominated for Best Picture in 1928, and won
its lead actor, Emil Jannings, the first-ever Best Actor Oscar. It
tells the story of a Hollywood extra (Jannings) called upon to play a
general in a movie about the Russian Revolution. But he’s no ordinary
extra. He is Sergeus Alexander — former commanding general of the
Russia army! And in a cruel twist of fate, the director of the movie
happens to be an old adversary (William Powell), who delights in
humiliating the general. Even the costume department bullies him.
When Alexander is directed to give a speech to a group of actors
playing soldiers, he loses his grip on reality. The Last Command is
one powerful movie with brilliant acting all-around, and is enhanced
by Alloy Orchestra’s live music — a stirring combination of found
percussion and state of the art electronic synthesizers. For years
Alloy has captivated Pittsburgh audiences performing with Blackmail,
Phantom of the Opera and other silent classics. (Josef von Sternberg;
1928; USA; 85 min)

Alloy’s homepage

A Film Review

My first Film Kitchen

Last night marked my first experience with Film Kitchen. After seeing the crowd that showed up last night, I doubt it will be the last. When I arrived to help with ticketing, there was barely room to stand, indoors OR out.

They did have hot-dogs last night (grilled outdoors, tailgate party style), and in addition to hot-dogs, local vendor D’s Six Pax and Dogz donated pizza and even held an after party with $1 drafts! Granted last night was a special occasion…independent filmmakers, the Graziano brothers and their star, Lawrence “Deuce” Skurcenski were present, and watching the commotion was fascinating. It was similar to a close family reunion meets football. The tackle-hugs would have made any coach proud.

Most of the people there either knew Deuce or knew the Graziano brothers. In the course of handing in their movie rating ballots, many of them also informed me that they fully intended to come back for next month’s film kitchen event. You can’t beat all-in-one pricing for dinner and a movie.

Speaking of movies, if you’d like to submit a movie for consideration for Film Kitchen, contact Matt Day.

Additions and Corrections

There have been a few additions (and a correction or two) to the lineup for the film festival.

Correction:
Monday November 10th’s showing of The Speed of Life at the Melwood Screening Room has been canceled.

Additions:
On Saturday, November 15th, there will be a special 10 pm screening of JCVD at the Regent Square Theater.

Reality TV has finally met up with the big-screen with this fictional story about actor/action star Jean-Claude Van Damme. In the movie, he is himself, an ordinary man and former actor. When he finds himself in the middle of a bank robbery, all eyes fall on him to be the savior of the day. For a man who’s confronted all in the manner of evil (think: aliens, ninjas, bad dialogue), how he handles day-to-day life becomes apparent in this comedic take of reality.

On Sunday, November 23rd, there will be a special surprise screening to end the festival with a bang. The event will be happening at the Regent Square Theater at 8 pm. Tickets will be $9 unless you have a Silver Screenie Pass or have a used Six-Pack ticket. Make sure to hold on to your used Six-Pack passes…there is no need to save a punch on the pass for this screening since it’s a special event. Just use it like a coupon after you’ve seen movies with it. If you have a Silver Screenie pass or used Six-Pack pass, admission will be only $6. The only way to get tickets is to be in line 30 minutes before the show starts.

Opening weekend events

Reminder! The festival starts TOMORROW! Get your tickets now!

Now that opening night has been covered, it’s time to move on to the other happenings over opening weekend. Don’t worry…opening weekend is not the only time filled with special events. A special showing or event is happening almost every day throughout the duration of the festival.

At 11 am on Saturday, join us for brunch at the Melwood facility with Steeltown Entertainment and a panel of artists for discussion. Scheduled to attend are:

MODERATOR:
Adrienne Wehr — Producer: The Bread My Sweet, Actress, Associate Producer: Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

PANELISTS:
David Conrad — Producer: Tamas: A Portrait; Actor: Ghost Whisperer, Wedding Crashers, Men of Honor.

Laura Davis — Producer: A Shot Felt ‘Round the World; Public Enemies, Miami Vice, Memoirs of a Geisha DVDs

Tjardus Greidanus — Director of Photography: A Shot Felt ‘Round the World, Public Enemies, Miami Vice DVDs; Editor: My Tale of Two Cities

Mark Knobil — Director of Photography: My Tale of Two Cities, The Bread My Sweet, NOVA’s The Great Robot Race.

Carl Kurlander — Producer and Director: My Tale of Two Cities, Screenwriter: St. Elmo’s Fire, Writer/Producer: Saved By the Bell.

During the day Saturday, four movies will be shown at the Regent Square. Four will also be shown at the Harris theater, and two at the Melwood screening room. A schedule and synopsis (and a link to purchasing tickets) for each movie can be found here.

Sunday marks the first special event performance of The Passion of Joan of Arc with the Bach Choir at the Regent Square Theater at 2 pm. In addition to Joan, two movies will be shown at each theater. A small preview of this incredible performance can be found on the homepage of the Pittsburgh Bach Choir’s website