End of Our Fall 2009 Series

This week is the end of our fall series. The Starz Denver Film Festival is here this weekend, so check out these original films. Please come back to join us in the Spring for a whole new set of great films!

SDFF in Boulder! Nov 13-15

Friday, November 13th

7:00 PM FILM IST. A GIRL & A GUN

A battle of the sexes told with myth and magic: Gustav Deutsch's erotically charged epic,crafted from extraordinary archive footage. (93 min)

9:30 PM LEAVES OF GRASS

"One Edward Norton performance is often enough reason to see a movie, so it comes as no surprise that the prospect of two--he plays twins--is very much the main attraction, and reward" of this film says Variety. (105 min)

Saturday, November 14th

7:00 PM BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS

Werner Herzog and Nicholas Cage revisit Abel Ferrara's 1992 film, that "in its own way every bit as sincerely, doggedly demented as its ostensible source." (121 min)

9:30 PM ECCENTRICITIES OF A BLONDE HAIR GIRL

"De Oliveira celebrates his hndredth birhday with a blithe shaggy dog story that shows his storytelling at its simplest and most pleasurable." -Screen Daily (64 min)

Sunday, November 15th

7:00 PM BEST WORST MOVIE

"Strangely moving...insightful...consistently funny and smart about celebrity, vanity and bad movies -and what makes them lovable." -Variety (93 min)

9:30 PM TROLL 2

"Some filmes are so bad they're great. TROLL 2 is so bad that it's actally a life chaanging experience." -Horrorwwatch.com (95 min)

Daily Camera Letter to the Editor 11/05/09

When the Daily Camera contacted me for my opinion on the new art house theater I was away from my desk promoting my series on the radio and missed my chance to remind people about the International Film Series. The resulting article states that “Boulder has not had an art house presence since Landmark Theaters closed its Crossroads Cinema on Pearl Street in 2007.” Yikes! The IFS brings over a hundred international and independent films to Boulder every year, along with many special events. We are sometimes overlooked due to our location on campus, but we do our best to reward cinephiles with affordable and eclectic programming. We’ll even pay for your parking if you buy a punch card. People who patronize us have had a chance to see Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens), Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God), Terry Jones (Life of Brian), John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), and many other filmmakers in-person (often for free). We’ve also been doing this since 1941; that’s not just a good art house presence, that's a singular track-record with bragging rights as Boulder's first art-house series - and still kicking.

Back to the new Dairy Center theater: It can only help to have another place showing quality foreign and independent films in the community. These films desperately need word-of-mouth and buzz which my calendar program can’t sustain since we only show films for a day (or sometimes two). On our Fall program alone we brought over 40 premieres to the Boulder area and only two non-premieres that had already shown at CineMark. Guess which film has done the best business so far? The one that had already shown at CineMark. It just goes to show that awareness is key, and the more the merrier. So welcome aboard!

Pablo Kjolseth

IFS Director

A short local view on the upcoming I CAN SEE YOU

http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/25/i-can-see-you/#more-15417

Happy Halloween Week!!

This week is filled with great movies to get in the holiday spirit! For great specials this week tweet @boulderifs halloween.

Film Festival Fundraiser!

AFRICAID’S

2009 Kisa Film Festival

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Screenings at 4:00 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

Starz Film Center at the Tivoli

900 Auraria Parkway, Denver, Colorado

Admission is free, and parking in the Tivoli Student Union surface lot will be validated in the box office.

African Items, Books & Jewelry **** Coffee and Dessert

AfricAid will be screening several short films created by a number of Coloradans about their connections to, experiences, and work in Africa, as well as other African films. Come join us for some of the evening or for all of it, and share in the experience of personal digital storytelling and African filmmaking. We look forward to spending the evening together watching great films and supporting girls’education in Africa through the Kisa Project. For more information about the festival program, visit www.africaid.com.

The Kisa Project is an innovative AfricAid initiative that will directly link families and groups in the U.S. with some of Africa’s brightest young women – our Kisa scholars. American families and groups will raise funds for a Kisa Project scholarship, which will provide these young women with a school scholarship, entrance into a two-year leadership program, and individualized mentorship. During this period, the American sponsors will develop a meaningful relationship and forge strong bonds with their Kisa scholar, sharing in the joys and challenges of one another’s life stories through an interactive website. Upon graduation, these talented young women will return to their home communities to implement vital community projects and provide life-skills mentoring to other young women. In this way, the Kisa Project helps to uplift and support the next generation of leaders across Africa – and within your own community.

NO IMPACT MAN (Again)

As our screening of NO IMPACT MAN was so heavily impacted by technical problems we are going to show it again on:

Sunday, October 11 at 7pm only.
Sunday, October 18 at 7pm only.

Marina Goldovskaya

Marina Goldovskaya, world-famous award-winning Russian documentary filmmaker, professor (UCLA) presents:

Sunday, October 25, 3-6 pm, HUMANITIES 125

THE HOUSE ON ARBAT STREET, 1993, 59 min
The story of the people who lived in the House on Arbat Street in Moscow is the story of Russia in the 20th

century. Built in the early 1900s, this grand apartment building at first was a residence of rich and privileged families. Then, after the Revolution of 1917, it was turned into a collective housing unit. People from very different backgrounds were brought in and told to live together. Through historical footage and the reminiscences of former residents, some now 99 years old, the incredible story of the House on Arbat Street comes alive.

THE SHATTERED MIRROR, 1992, 60 min
This

film is an extraordinary personal journey through ordinary Russian life at a time of great change. The filmmaker uses her camera and familiarity with Russian society to present an intimate and piercing view of her fellow citizens and her country. At a fast-moving pace, we meet her friends and acquaintances, from the simple laborer to a newly rich entrepreneur. The filmmaker turns the camera on her own life as well, providing deeply personal revelations, through scenes of her own wedding and of her mother's death.

Monday, October 26, 3-5:30pm, ALTAS 102

A TASTE OF FREEDOM, 1991, 46 min. The film is a unique glimpse into the spring of 1990, a time of amazing change and urgency as Russia took its first steps after the fall of a 75-year old totalitarian regime. At the heart of it is a young family of journalists – Sasha Politkovsky (a prominent TV anchor), his wife Anna (who was destined to become a journalist of truly international fame for her coverage of the Chechnyan conflict and contemporary Russian issues) and their children.

THREE SONGS ABOUT MOTHERLAND, 2008, 39 min. This film gives a frank and vibrant picture of Russia today by focusing on its three different cities. In the Far East, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, older Russian citizens cling to the glorious promises of the Soviet Industrialization, and express disappointment at its ultimate failure. Then, Moscow bids farewell to Anna Politkovskaya, the fearless journalist and human rights activist who was assassinated for her political activity amid the chaotic power struggles of the post-Soviet nation. Finally, residents of Khanty-Mansijsk, one of the centers of Siberia’s budding oil industry, speak about their beloved fairy tale-like town, where the communist dream has been swept away by new aspirations for a prosperous future.

All screenings are free and open to the public

THE EVENT IS SPONSORED BY THE GCAH, DEPARTMENTS OF GSLL AND FILM STUDIES, AND THE SLAVIC DISCUSSION GROUP

PARKING SNAFU

Please disregard parking information on our printed schedule and from previous posts. It now appears that the only "FREE AFTER 5PM" lots that we can depend on are 396, 436, and 308.

Please accept our apologies and know that we are currently in talks with people at Parking Management to try to figure out what is going on and to see if we can come up with a creative solution for the problems that are plaguing our customers.

A look back at STINGRAY SAM.

http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/09/27/science-fiction-westerns-music-fun/#more-14667

Westword reviews THE ESCAPIST.

See link below:

http://www.westword.com/2009-09-24/film/the-escapist-university-of-colorado-international-film-series

Another FREE film Event!

As part of ARTS AND CULTURE WEEK the IFS is showing two free films this Sunday. One is THE WINDMILL MOVIE in Muenzinger Auditorium at 7pm, the other one is LAILA'S BIRTHDAY in ATLAS 102 - also at 7pm. And now: this just in - ANOTHER free film event: On Tuesday, October 6th, director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will present his award-winning film RAT TRAP.

More information for all of these films has recently been uploaded to our website.

2009 Art House Project Shorts Program (Oct. 21)

NEXT FLOOR - During an opulent and luxurious banquet, complete with hordes of servers and valets, 11 pampered guests participate in what appears to be ritualistic gastronomic carnage. (Denis Villeneuve, Canada, 12min)


JOHN AND KAREN - John the polar bear apologizes to Karen the penguin after an argument. (Matthew Walker, UK, 4min, Animated)



ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS FROM NEBULA-5 – “Almost” everybody is going to die very soon. (Chema Garcia Ibarra, Spain, 7min)



LOVE YOU MORE – Two teenagers are drawn together by the Buzzcocks' single 'Love You More' in the summer of 1978. (Sam Taylor-Wood, UK, 15min)



OMELETTE - While a woman makes an omelette, we learn how difficult it is to make ends meet. (Nadejda Koseva Bulgaria, 5min)





I AM SO PROUD OF YOU - Dark family secrets cast a shadow over Bill's recovery in this second chapter to the prize-winning short Everything Will Be OK. (Don Hertzfeldt, USA, 22min, Animated)



STEEL HOMES - Self-storage units are windows into human histories: their discarded objects and dust-covered furniture are inscribed with past dreams, secret hopes, and lives we cannot let go of. (Eva Weber, UK, 10min)


COUNTERTRANSFERENCE - An awkward woman with assertiveness issues finds her problems multiplied in therapy(Madeleine Olnek, USA, 16min)



WESTERN SPAGHETTI - Everyday objects become delicious ingredients as we learn how to cook spaghetti through stop-motion photography. (Sarah Phelps, USA, 2min)



SHORT TERM 12 - A film about kids and the grown-ups who hit them. (Destin Daniel Cretton, USA, 22min) - Recipient of the 2009 Jury Prize in U.S. Short Filmmaking

STINGRAY SAM

Just a quick note to let people know I'm on my way to the airport to pick up Cory McAbee and his latest film: STINGRAY SAM - which he's bringing with him as carry-on luggage. Last night his film premiered in San Francisco, and he's got a bunch of other international destinations yet to hit. We feel blessed to get him on the early part of the launch!

I saw STINGRAY SAM at the last Sundance Film Festival and out of thirty or so films screened there it was definitely one of my favorites. Cory had just finished it with only a few days to go before the festival started and it's a testimony to his creativity that Sundance would make it part of their festival line-up without having a chance to pre-screen it.

What I saw at Sundance was a digital projection. What YOU will see tonight is on 35mm film! They transferred it just days ago...

To add to the magic we're making it a double-feature and adding a VIRGIN film print of AMERICAN ASTRONAUT.

That's all happening tonight at 7pm in Muenzinger.

See you there!

More highlights from the recent Telluride Film Festival.

http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/09/13/highlights-from-the-telluride-film-festival/#more-14246

Telluride Film Festival update

http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/09/06/36th-telluride-film-festival/#more-14076

CEC ArtsLink NYC in collaboration with GSLL Department at CU-Boulder PRESENT:

New short films by 4 award-winning Russian filmmakers
who were selected for their cinematic accomplishments in a competitive nomination process.

a free public screening on Wednesday, September 9th, 5-7:50pm in HUMN 150

The Last Day of I.S. Bulkin (2009, 13 minutes, dir. Aleksey Andrianov) What happens when death comes knocking…
Official Selection at various Russian film festivals.

Field, Clowns, Apple… (2008, 13 minutes, dir. Shota Gamisoniya) Dreamscape and reality meet in this surrealist and sweeping single shot film. Official selection, Rotterdam, Trieste, and Bolzano Film Festivals. Winner of the Film Critic’s Guild Prize at the Festival of Debut Film at the Moscow Museum of Cinema.

Resurrection (2008, 29 minutes, Petr Zebelin) A Tarantino-esque look at Saint Petersburg’s dark underbelly.
Official selection, 2008 Open Cinema International Film Festival (Saint Petersburg).

Sanatorium (2008, 19 minutes, dir. Natalya Govorina) It happens to all of us sooner or later… a film based on the works of Russian literary figures Venedikt Erofeev and Sasha Sokolov. Named Best Narrative Film at 2008 Moscow Short Film Festival.

Aleksei Andriyanov is a filmmaker from Moscow. Born in 1976, he holds a degree in Screenwriting from the Gerasimov Institute (VGIK), and a degree in Film Directing from Moscow’s Higher Courses of Screenwriting and Directing. His cinematography credits include Katya Grokhovskaya and Peter Stepin’s feature length film The Man of No Return (Chelovek bezvozvratnyy, 2006), and numerous promotional advertisements for major clients from Coca Cola to Panasonic. He has directed three short films, including The Last Day of I.S. Bulkin (2009) and Fun Time, which was included in the 2007 Filminute Festival (London).

Shota Gamisoniya is an actor and filmmaker living in Moscow. He was born in 1981 in Sukhumi, a city on the coast of the Black Sea in a politically volatile region of Georgia. He has lived in Moscow since 1993. His first academic pursuit was acting: he graduated from the Vakhtangov Theatre Institute in 2003, and went on to work for two years with Yuri Lubimov’s Taganka Theater. In 2007 he began a Master’s degree in Filmmaking, graduating in 2008 with his short film Field, Clowns, Apple (2008) as a final project. The film received the Film Critic’s Guild Award at the Moscow Festival of Debut Films, and was an official selection at numerous European festivals including Rotterdam, Trieste, and Bolzano. He is currently at work on his next film, with production beginning in August of 2009.

Natalya Govorina, a filmmaker, was born in 1982 in the city of Tomsk in Siberia. As a college student, she studied Philosophy at Tomsk State University and worked for the Russian television program “Rush Hour.” She went on to study at the Internews School of Film and Television in Moscow, and in 2009 she graduated from the Gerasimov Institute (VGIK), Russia’s top film school, with a degree in Film Directing. Her student films, including The Investigative Experiment (Sledstvennyy Eksperiment, 2006), Jazz (2007), and Sanatorium (Zdravnitsa, 2008) have been screened and received awards at Russian and international film festivals.

Pyotr Zabelin is an actor and filmmaker. He was born in 1978 in Leningrad. He studied Acting for Theater and Film at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Theater Arts and received a degree in Film Directing from the Saint Petersburg University of Culture and the Arts. He also studied Theory and Practice of Media Arts at the Pro Arte Institute of Contemporary Arts. He is the founder and organizer of an independent movement, The Society of Creative Adventurer Radicals (S.T.A.R.). He has worked as an actor in various Saint Petersburg theaters and his films have been screened and won awards at Russian and international film festivals. Currently he is working on a full length independent film.

DATE CHANGE

The very first Brakhage Film Series scheduled for Sunday, Sep. 6th, at 7:30 will now actually be on the day before on Saturday, Sep. 5th, at 7:30. (Due to conflict with huge football game on Sunday.)

Ellen Maslow

This post is to share my sadness at the passing of Ellen Maslow. She was a vibrant member of the Boulder Film Alliance and took on the challenge of bringing great films that she felt would help people process difficult issues of our time. She often did this at great personal expense - one time bringing in a screening of HEARTS AND MINDS which I know cost her an arm and a leg. It's one of the best docs ever made on why we go to war, and with our blunders in Iraq in full bloom at that time it was an important film to revisit. That was Ellen: doing what was right, no matter the price.

I wish I could be at the memorial this Thursday, but I'll be hitting the road for Telluride that morning. Last time I saw Ellen was a few months ago for a bite at the Southern Sun. She looked very frail but still had that optimistic glimmer in her eye that she could beat it. Ellen was a staunch fighter for social justice and shared of herself freely. She told me some pretty amazing stories and lived through a lot craziness - always finding ways to be better for it. And we were all better for knowing her.

Rest in peace, Ellen:

http://www.presenttensefilms.com/

Welcome to Fall 2009!

Welcome back to another season of IFS! The schedule has been posted and we are pumped for another season. Be sure to check out our Facebook page and Twitter site. This year twitter is playing a big role in getting you into shows for free and more information on special showings. So follow us, BoulderIFS! Let us know what your looking forward to and what you think about the new schedule.

Parking Update

Parking Update!!

IFS has recently upgraded and printed our map in this fall’s IFS schedule, however, with all the construction around campus, changes have continued to be made to the parking layout. As of September 4^th, the parking layout will become definitive.

This means good news for you! There are now several parking lots around the Muenzinger area that are MUCH closer than the previous free lots. The closest FREE parking lots to the IFS Theater in Muenzinger Auditorium are the following lot numbers:

Lot numbers 380, 378, 360, and 359.

Unfortunately, some of the lots that were previously marked as free on the map, no longer are free after 5. The following lots are now GATED lots, meaning that after 5 you must pay a flat rate of $3 until midnight when they close. The following lots are NO LONGER free:

Lot numbers 208, 204, 310

….and lots 221 and 210 now require permits AT ALL TIMES.

We apologize for any inconvenience and hope you look forward to all the closer lots that are now free after 5!

IFS STAFF

StrongBad gets an email...

Check out this commentary on independent films made by StrongBad, of Home Star Runner. http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html

Weighing in on DISTRICT 9

http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/08/23/catfights-in-district-9/

Check out this list of IFS contenders for the fall - and vote!

http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/05/24/vote-for-your-favorites-part-2/

Because it's summer:

http://wondermark.com/521/

Last Week

This week is the last week of our Spring 2009 film series. Come out and enjoy some great films: BRAZIL, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, TOKYO and the BFD Film Fest! This is your last opportunity to enjoy some excellent movies at an amazing price! General Admission $6 and only $5 with a CU ID. So come down to Meunzinger Auditorium this week and enjoy the series before it goes away for the summer. Look for our new schedules at the beginning of next semester!

TOKYO (April 24 and 25)

Just a heads-up that our website lists TOKYO as only playing on Friday, but correct screenings are:

FRIDAY, APRIL 24
SATURDAY, APRIL 25

7PM and 9:15pm.
All showings play in the Muenzinger Auditorium on the CU Boulder Campus. $6 General Admission. $5 with a CU ID.

John Cameron Mitchell

SPEAKING IN CODE (April 17)

SPEAKING IN CODE is a documentary on all aspects of electronic music. This showing is FREE in Atlas 100, 4:30 & 7 PM, and a Q&A with director Amy Grill will follow. This movie fits in perfectly with the Communikey Festival of Digital Arts and Electronic Music. So come in and enjoy a FREE movie.

As well on Friday, April 17th and Saturday, April 18th, there is a showing of ABSURDISTAN in the Muenzinger Auditorium at both 7 & 9 PM . General Admission $6. Students with CU ID $5. 

Fun trailer

Upcoming Shows

SKILLS LIKE THIS
Wednesday April 8th, 7 p.m. only.
Boulder Premiere!
Special Guest: Producer Donna Dewey

An audience favorite from the SXSW Film Festival that combines a hilarious script with a great soundtrack. This crime caper comedy was shot entirely in Denver by C.U. Film Studies alumni Monty Miranda and uses local talent - both in front and behind the camera. For more information go to skillslikethis.com.

JASON MCHUGH
Sunday April 12 7 p.m. only

McHugh has acted and produced several projects with Trey Parker and Matt Stone and continues to be involved in a variety of eclectic projects. Tonight he'll show clips from past films and shorts that he worked on and share with us his experiences . Clips to be screened include: Man on Mars, Cannibal, Timewarped, Spirit of Xmas, Orgazmo, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, The Hot Show, Mindfield/Lollapalooza and Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo.... and more.

TYSON Director

The Demise of the Movie Theatre

"Of Buggy Whips and Celluloid

Technology is depriving us of what makes movies special: each other

by James Burrus

I have seen the end of film, and while it may not be pretty, it is certainly sharp. Movies aren’t about to disappear. As long as there is an auteur with a digital recording device and iMovie on his or her Mac Book Pro, there will be movies.

But movies will not be immune from the carnage of digital isolationism and the loss of what amounts to the soul of cinema: its social element.

Oddly, this will not be due to a lack of quality. Quite the contrary; the end of movies will be projected in high-def digital glory on walls and plasma screens and laptops and cell phones across the nation.

Because as the technology gets better and cheaper, more and more people are bringing it home—and therein lies the danger. If you think NetFlix is giving theaters a financial Charlie horse, Blu-ray discs, players and projectors are set to turn the once-communal experience of watching a movie into a relic of the past, just as pulling into the local drive-in for a burger has become an icon of the Good Ol’ Days.

I know this is true because my film aficionado friend, Pablo “Keelsetter,” told me so. In fact, there’s a lot more to the loss of the group experience of watching a film. As he wrote in his film blog—found at moviemorlocks.com:

“…there is a collection of pheromones and audible and physical communications emitted by a large crowd of people reacting to a film that can definitely accentuate the experience. Also, let’s face it: true immersion into a film is more likely in a theater where you cannot pause the action and where your silence and attention are part of the understood bond of that setting.”

In addition is the demise of viewing a story told via a classic medium: film.
Just as a gearhead can tell by the sound of an idling motor that he’s in the presence of a 1968 Cobra Jet Mustang, a film connoisseur appreciates knowing details like aspect ratios and print quality. Because they matter in the same way aspiration and compression matter in an engine or brush strokes matter in a Van Gogh painting..." Continued here

Valeria Camporesi

Monday., March 16 from 6 PM to 7 PM in ATLAS 102.

"Valeria Camporesi, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
'A country as a cinematographic set. Exoticism, landscapes and architecture in the history of cinema in Spain'
(paper proposal for a seminar on Spanish cinema to be held at the University of Colorado at Boulder on March 19-20, 2009).

'Since the mid-1990s, the very idea of the “Spanishness” of films realized in Spain has been the object of scientific debate (a sketchy summary of it can be found in Triana-Toribio; and Zunzunegui; for an influential general appraisal in Spanish on national cinemas, see Sorlin). As a way to deal with this issue from an innovative perspective, my talk shall explore a small group of films which explicitly use recognizable natural settings (landscapes, monuments, historic buildings) as a metaphore of some kind of a collective identity, either rejected or assumed. The sketchy reconstruction will go back to the early 1920s, when French directors shooting in Spain in natural settings inaugurated a new way to look at oustanding sceneries and “real” architecture.' -Valeria Camporesi

Born in Bologna, Italy, Valeria Camporesi is a Lecturer of Film and Audiovisual Media History in the Art History and Theory Department of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She is also coordinator of the PhD Program in Film History of the same University. Author of a book on British reactions to Americanization in broadcasting history in the inter-war years (Mass Culture and National Traditions. The BBC and American Broadcasting, 1922-1954, European Press Academic Publishing, 2001), since 1989 she lives and works in Madrid. Her current research interests range from extensive and intensive analyses of representations of Spanish cultural identity in film history (an overall approach can be found in her book Para Grandes y Chicos. Un Cine para Los Españoles, 1940-1990, Turfán, 1994); transnational aspects of Spanish cinema; historical approaches to intertextuality in European film history; analysis of changing patterns of verisimilitude in production and reception of audiovisual media; contemporary cinema and film theory; film, video and television in European cinema since the 1960s.


BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
AA.VV., La nueva memoria. Historia(s) del cine español, A Coruña, Vía Láctea Editorial, 2005.
V. Camporesi, Para grandes y chicos. Un cine para los españoles, 1939-1990, Madrid, Turfán, 1994.
P. Sorlin, “¿Existen los cines nacionales?”, Secuencias, 7 (1997), pp. 33-40.
N. Triana-Toribio, Spanish National Cinema, London, Routledge, 2003.
S. Zunzunegui, Historias de España. De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de cine español, Valencia, Filmoteca, 2002.

BASIC FILMOGRAPHY
El Dorado (L’Herbier, 1921)
La galería de los monstruos (J. Catelain, 1924)
La aldea maldita (F. Rey, 1929)*
Domingo de carnaval (E. Neville, 1948)*
Surcos (J.A. Nieves Conde, 1951)*
Los golfos (C. Saura, 1959)*
El extraño viaje (F. Fernán Gómez, 1964)*
El espíritu de la colmena (V. Erice, 1973)*
Vacas (J. Medem, 1991)*
Todo sobre mi madre (P. Almodóvar, 1999)*"

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

**REMINDER**

The film HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH will be playing Monday, March 16th at 7 PM only. The showing will take place in the Muenzinger Auditorium and will feaature the director John Cameron Mitchell in person. Plus -its all FREE!!

"This film named after a body part truncated in a botched sex-change operation could be disturbing or tragic, but this glam-rock musical sparkles with life-affirming energy. John Cameron Mitchell not only wrote and directed the film but also plays Hansel, a Berlin teen who falls for an army sergeant but to get a marriage license submits to an inept sex-change operation that leaves him with the inch described in the film's title and the abandonment of his GI husband. Hansel becomes Hedwig, falls unrequitedly in love with rock star Tommy Gnosis, and follows Gnosis' tour as he steals her songs and sells out stadiums. In her performances for tips by the salad bar at Bilgewater's, Hedwig works through her identity crisis and pursues her moving quest for affirmation. With lyrics and music by Steven Trask." -IFS website

The showing is sponsored by the Conference on World Affairs.

Brakhage Symposium

This Saturday and Sunday will be the fifth annual Brakhage Symposium. It is held from 10 AM to 9 PM both March 14th and 15th in the ATLAS building on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus. 

"Quickly becoming a tradition in the world of avant-garde filmmaking and artistry, the Stan Brakhage Symposium will again be hosted this year by the Colorado University's Film Studies Department. This symposium will be unlike any before it. Spanning over two days, two programmers from cities on either side of the country will meet at America's core to recognize, honor, and carry on the legacy of the late Stan Brakhage, a man who once all but defined the American Avant-Garde. Cementing together the extensive video and film events being offered will be the symposium's core of academia. Each day will feature either presentations or panels that will contextualize the programs in the light of the contemporary avant-garde world. What Brakhage began, the symposium seeks to continue, by each year bringing memebers of the experimental film and video community together, not only to celebrate art, but to share ideas and promote the evolution of the moving image." -Brakhage Symposium website

Support is provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences & the William H. Donner Foundation. For more information, please check out the Brakhage Symposium website.

Stephen King on DAWN OF THE DEAD

Tomorrow night, IFS is showing DAWN OF THE DEAD at 7 PM and 9:15 PM. Come see this movie that even Stephen King liked.

"I hope Fox and Warner Bros. will settle their nasty cat-fight over Zack Snyder's WATCHMEN movie. I think Snyder's tremendously talented (I just watched his DAWN OF THE DEAD remake to see if it holds up -it does), and WATCHMEN is one graphic novel that cries out for a film adaptation. That one has been made and I might not be allowed to see it seems absurdly unfair." 

-Stephen King, "Wishing and Hoping", Entertainment Weekly, 1/23/09

For the whole article, click here.

Film Reports from February 18-22

Yes, we do still show most of our movies on 35mm film. And we now post our projectionist's take on the film. When you walk in the door you can see how the nights print will be right at the box office. Here are the Projectionist's (Tony's) Opinions for last week:

CHILDREN OF MEN

Condition: Perfect. Print is clean and free of scratches. Print is uncut. Appears to have been run very few times. Possibly a studio archival print.

Comes From: Blowning Cinema in Notre Dame, IN

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID

Condition: Excellent. Clean and splice free. There may be some very minor base scratches on the right side of reel 1. 

Comes From: Criterion Pictures in Morton Grove, IL

FEARS OF THE DARK

Condition: Good. Clean and  splice free. Some base scratches in the middle of the picture throughout the movie, but not too bad. 

Comes From: TCD Wilmington Distribution Center in Wilmington, OH

JCVD

Condition: Fair-good. Some dirt. Some minor base scratches. 3 splices throughout reel 2. Good both cues. Replaced all head and tail splices. 

Comes From: Lyric Cinema Cafe in Fort Collins, CO

Look for this week's projection's review at the box office before the film starts.

Facebook

Ok, we know everyone has/wants one, whether they admit it or not. One cool way to get into the Facebook world and get more information on all of the great films that IFS are playing is by becoming a fan of the International Film Series. Just follow the link here, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boulder-CO/International-Film-Series/38116812724?ref=ts%20 or click on the Facebook link on the side panel. Even if you're curious, just check it out. Facebook is a great and easy way to discuss all of the films we show in Meunzinger, but you can also discuss anything you want pertaining to the film realm. So joining is just a click away. Come on...we know you want to.

Another Round of Youtube Favorites

VIRGIN PRINT!

According the projectionist who inspected tonight's print of THE HUSTLER, it's an untouched print! Power-house performances by Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason in beautiful black-and-white CinemaScope - don't miss it!

On another note from the projectionist: "When the police officer came to talk to that strange guy in the lobby, I overheard him saying to the officer "well why don't the clowns who show movies in here all hours of the night get in trouble too?"

Well... it certainly was a night full of clowns, especially seeing as how last night's film (A BOY AND HIS DOG) was full of 'em. And not the "funny-clown" kind, mind you, but the "post-apocalyptic, underground-dwelling, seamen-extracting" kind.

**UPDATE**

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (originally to play on April 8th) is coming SOONER! On Monday, March 16th at 7PM there will be a FREE showing of HEDWIG with director John Cameron Mitchell at the showing. This showing is sponsored by CWA. Don't miss your opportunity to meet the director and see a great film!

SKILLS LIKE THIS will now be played on April 8th at 7 PM only. $6 GA and $5 with a CU ID. This is a great local film, shot entirely in Denver using local people. Another super film you shouldn't miss!

For more information on all the IFS films, check out our website at www.internationalfilmseries.com

Manager Comments

I've been bugging the managers to add more comments to their nightly account forms and am happy to report that they are now finally giving me more detailed views on how things went. Here's a sample:

CHOCOLATE - SAT - 2/7/9: "2 guys were so excited that digi-beta meant $4 tix that they almost vomited all over the place...Speaking of which, the encrusted vomit from last night's narcoleptic was kept warm under a carpet square and the stench was only detectable up to 2.5 feet away, though the general color -" (okay, I'm going to skip the rest of this one. Next-)..."One kid came out of the theater half-way through to tell me how funny the movie was and then went back in... And after the 2nd show half the audience hung around yammering about how bitchin' kung-fu is."

Customer comments: "What it lacked in plot it made up 4 in 12 yr olds kickin' ass" On a scale of 1-5, all people who submitted cards give it a 4 or 5.

OSCAR SHORTS - ANIMATION - 2/8/9: "Refund for the 1st show for two tickets because he thought the crowd was too intellectual because they laugh at every joke." (?!) "We're busting people pretending to be film students." Tsk, tsk, tsk!

CHOCOLATE - missing can still M.I.A.

I won't bury the lead. The answer is "no."

We had hopes for a "hail-mary"-last-minute find of the missing 35mm can of CHOCOLATE for tonight (Friday). That did not happen. Still... I've had my cell phone on all night hoping that, maybe, the missing can would be located in time to give our audience the celluloid awesomeness of CHOCOLATE by tomorrow/Saturday night. But it's approaching midnight, and the film is still missing. So we're still stuck screening a DigiBeta copy this Saturday as well.

I'm tempted to post the actual emails from Technicolor, UPS, and other folks associated with shipping that are all madly trying to find the missing cannister of CHOCOLATE - but I won't. It's a long needless slog and I can sum it up in far fewer words.

There are are SEVEN prints of this film- and all are spoken for. SIX are hitting the screen. Ours is not. Two days ago we received one-of-two cannisters for the film, and the alert went out. At first, it seemed like maybe it was not a big deal and the other can was simply in Commerce City. But the next day the alarms went up a notch: the missing can with half of the 35mm film reels we needed was neither in Commerce City or in its previous scan location of California. It was missing. Lost. Lots of people were - and still are - working on the case, and they all came - and are still coming up - with zeroes.

Still: A lot of scrambling took place to make sure the show could go on tonight here in Boulder and Magnolia overnighted to us a nice DigiBeta Tape. It has way better resolution than your regular DVD, and our digital projector has 2,500 lumens to ensure a good show. We're selling tix at $4 to give you a discount and, my manager tells me, the audience for both shows this Friday (over 200 folks!) enjoyed the proceedings.

Sure... I'm still hoping my phone will ring before the Saturday screening with good news. And, if so, I'll share it with blog readers immediately. But it probably won't. And I'm hoping you'll still take a chance on the DigiBeta screening because, really, unless your home theater can compete with the large-screen you get in a theater with 400 seats, the martial arts magic will still be better at Muenzinger.

NEW: PROJECTIONIST REPORTS TO BE PLACED AT CASHIER'S TABLE

Our first week was plagued with some bad prints. If we get a bad print well in advance of our screening date, we can always try to replace it (if there are enough copies). But, sometimes, as in the case of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, the print gets to us just hours before the screening - so the only person who can relay to us what kind of condition the print is in is the projectionist.

To this end, I'm going to instruct the projectionists to provide a sheet of paper that will be visible to all buying tickets at the cashier's desk. This will let people know what shape the print is in for that night. For example, this Wednesday, for THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, the print report reads as follows:

ORIGINAL PRINT FROM 1964 IN GREAT SHAPE FOR ITS AGE. DOESN’T LOOK SCRATCHED, BUT IT’S BRITTLE, WITH SOME SPLICES (NOTHING TOO JARRING).
MGM ASSURES US THAT IT’S THE BEST PRINT THEY HAVE.

(Postscript: It is ironic to me that older prints we show are often in better shape than the new prints we get stuck with. Ironic, but not surprising given how many films are now sent to platter-houses where everything is automated and there is no print condition oversight.)

Fun Video from YouTube -THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT

If you have a video on youtube that you would like to share leave a comment with the url and we will check it out.

Oscar Nominated Shorts

We now know the Oscar Nominated Shorts for both animation and live action. The animation shorts will be played on Febuary 8th at 7 & 9:30 pm and the live action shorts come to IFS on the 15th of Febuary at 7 & 9 pm.

And the animation nominations are:

LAVATORY - LOVESTORY, by director Konstantin Bronzit, 10 min
OKTAPODI, by director Julien Bocabeille, 3 min
LE MAISON EN PETITS CUBES, by director Kunio Kato, 12 min
THIS WAY UP, by directors Adam Foulkes and Alan Smith, 9 min
PRESTO, by director Doug Sweetland, 5 min

(This nights shows will be followed with an additional 40 min of animated shorts)

The live action nominies are:

AUF DER STRECK (ON THE LINE), director Reto Caffi, 30 min
NEW BOY, director Steph Green, 11 min
TOYLAND, director Jochen Freydank, 14 min
THE PIG, directors Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh, 22 minMANON ON THE ASPHALT, directors Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont, 15 min

These should all be great and we hope to see you all there!

First Week

Just a reminder that this is week 1 for IFS. So be sure to come see this weeks amazing lineup!

 On Wednesday we have RELIGULOUS at 7 & 9:15 pm

Thursday night is KNIFE IN THE WATER at 7 & 9 pm

Friday and Saturday is LET THE RIGHT ONE IN at 7 & 9:30 pm

and Sunday we are showing PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL at 7 pm only.

All showings are in the Muenzinger Auditorium on the CU Campus.

Hope to see you all there!

Mailing of Calendars Delayed

I just got back from Sundance and found out that the IFS schedules that were delivered to a mailing business two weeks ago - and that should have been mailed at that time - were only dropped into the mail yesterday. This was due to the fact that this business (whose name I won't mention) will only send out the mailings upon receipt of pre-payment from the university. Unfortunately, even though I put a RUSH payment request on their invoice about a month ago, the university (unbeknownst to me) ignored that rush request, and processed payment at their usual snail's pace of three-to-four weeks.

Compounding the problem were vague communications from the mailing company: Here's the email exchange between me and the contact for the mailing business. Keep in mind that the schedules were delivered to this company on January 9th:

Jan 13 -

Hi Pablo,

We have received the calendars and we should be dropping the mail on 1/15/09.

I also needed to check on the postage.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you~~

Jan 15

Hi -

- I'm at Sundance, but feel free to call if there's any issue - otherwise I'll presume we're good to go. Thanks!
Sent from my iPhone

Jan 15 -

Hi Pablo,

We just need to check on the postage check.

Thank you

Jan 15:

Hi -

I'm unclear from your email below if what you mean is that the mailing of the IFS schedules is being held up because you have not received a check yet from the university.

To that end, I'm cc'ing (name of guy who handles our accounting) so that, if need be, you can email him directly with any inquiry into the status of the check.

Because I'm in screenings throughout the day, my cell phone is off and I can only catch-up on emails late in the evenings, so I apologize in advance for not being more accessible.

Best,

pk

Jan. 16 -

Hi Pablo.

I sent an email to (accountant) to check on the status of the postage check.

I will keep you updated.

Thank you~~

Jan 23 -

Hi Pablo,

The mailing went out yesterday, 1/22/09.

So the schedules that I gave this company two weeks ago only got mailed yesterday. That means many of you won't get it in time, and this is unacceptable. To that end I promise you this; I will take my business to a different mailing company, one that either accepts credit card payment (which would have avoided this mess) and/or accepts some other form of payment other than a check, especially since the university bureaucracy is unreliable in such matters. But, either way, I will take my business to a company that will not sit on time-sensitive mailings and also communicate effectively with the customer. For example, in this case, it would have helped to have gotten the following email: "Your schedules will not be dropped in the mail until payment is received, and we still have not gotten payment from the university." The vagueries of "We have received the calendars and we should be dropping the mail on 1/15/09. I also needed to check on the postage" is misleading and instills a false confidence that everything is fine. In reality, the situation was far from fine.

News from Sundance

Here is some news from the Sundance Film Festival which was recently posted on another blog site, TCM Movie Morlocks:

"Sundance 2009

Posted by keelsetter on January 18, 2009

Today I’ll discuss my favorite film at Sundance… so far. But first:

As I mentioned last week, this year’s pilgrimage to the Sundance Film Festival was preceded by three days of round table discussions and seminars tailor-made for our nation’s Art House theaters. Upon landing in Salt Lake City I went straight to the Peery Hotel where everyone gathered, introductions were made, and then we sat down at tables for food and drink. The first special guest to take the podium was Sundance Director of Festival Programming and Creative Development, John Cooper. His speech to us was off-the-cuff, frank, humorous, and inspirational. Personally, my biggest inspiration came from knowing that he was taking time to be with us at the height of the craziness that is Sundance..." continued here.

Oscar Nominated Shorts, showing at IFS

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to a great new semester of films with IFS. This looks to be a great season with new and old, funny and tragic, horrifying and heartbreaking all coming together on the silver screen. I am especially looking forward to seeing some of my favorites in new 35mm prints. The outrageous BRAZIL, classic french BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and my personal favorite BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID will all be great to see on the big screen. But of course, IFS is all about seeing movies you've never seen before. I can't wait to see HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, FEAR(S) OF THE DARK, and director Francoise Truffaut in WILD CHILD. So what are you looking forward to most? Is the Apocalypse theme right up your alley? Let us know what you think of our new season at IFS by posting a comment (just hit the comment button right below this post). Thanks for all your support and I hope you are just as excited about these films as we are!