september/october 2000

SEP 9 - SAT 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
DOCUMENTARY VIEWS
HBO PRESENTS
ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER
US 1999
DIRECTOR: KEVIN MACDONALD   On September 5, 1972, eight Palestinian terrorists from the Black September Movement invaded the Israeli housing compound at the Olympic Village of the Summer Games in Munich, Germany, killing two of the athletes and taking the other nine hostage. This year's Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature, MacDonald's film sheds new light on how a tragic series of errors of judgement led to the final brutal massacre at a German airport. Two-and-a half years in the making, the story remarkably includes an interview with the lone surviving Palestinian terrorist, Jamil Al Gashey, who has been in hiding in Africa for more than twenty-five years, as well as the full range of people whose lives were forever changed by an almost unimaginable fiasco.  (90 mins)  Thanks to HBO for providing a 35mm print for this special preview screening. Admission is free. Co-sponsored by NIKE.

SEP 8 - FRI 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF MICHAEL CACOYANNIS
IPHIGENIA
GREECE 1976
The third (although chronologically the first) in Cacoyannis’ trilogy of plays by Euripides surveys the Trojan War and its aftermath. When Helen, Queen of Sparta, elopes with Paris to Troy, the Kings of Greece take up the cause of her outraged husband, Menelaus. Under the leadership of his elder brother, Agamemnon, they gather in the Bay of Auli  with their armies and a thousand ships, ready to sail. But the winds refuse to blow and the armies become restless and impatient. Agamemnon, desperate to set sail, seeks the advice of Calchas, a seer. Upon hearing his only recourse is the sacrifice of his daughter, Agamemnon sends for her and his wife, Clytemnestra (Irene Papas), under the pretext of marriage. When Clytemnestra discovers his true intentions, the classic drama of honor, love, family and duty unfurls.   (130 mins.)
CLASSIC GREEK THEATRE LINK

SEP 9  - SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF MICHAEL CACOYANNIS
THE TROJAN WOMEN
GREECE 1971
Cacoyannis directed a successful off-Broadway version of Euripides’ tragic play, which then became the basis for his screen adaptation. The dramatic story of the fall of Troy and the fate of its women is powerfully enacted by Katherine Hepburn (as Hecuba), Vanessa Redgrave (as Andromache) and Genevieve Bujold (as the mad prophetess Cassandra), all of whom stand against the murderous rampage of their captors, intent on killing every man in the land. One of the greatest anti-war plays, Cacoyannis presents a memorable picture of Mediterranean life and a powerful treatise on the loss of freedom.    (105 mins)CLASSIC GREEK THEATRE LINK

SEP 10   SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF MICHAEL CACOYANNIS
UP, DOWN AND SIDEWAYS
GREECE 1992
In this fast-paced farce about life in modern Athens, the wealthy widow Maria (Irene Papas) and her hip, gay son Stavros find themselves in a whirlwind of crazy situations involving zany characters, among them terrorists, opera singers and transvestites. The plot is jump-started by a bank robbery, with Stavros mistakenly accused of instigating the crime. Escaping on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle, they find themselves at the opera (both mother and son are opera "queens") inexplicably involved in a series of mistaken identities, misunderstandings and wild encounters with even wilder characters. As in his famed ZORBA THE GREEK, Cacoyannis uses vivid, sympathetic characters to celebrate the richness of life.   (100 mins.)CLASSIC GREEK THEATRE LINK

SEP 12 - TUE 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF MICHAEL CACOYANNIS
ELECTRA
GREECE, 1962
Euripides’ story of insurrection and betrayal provides the basis for Cacoyannis’ most celebrated and "Freudian" film. Electra conspires with her brother Orestes to seek revenge on their mother Clytemnestra for the murder of their father Agamemnon, King of Myceanae. Irene Papas portrays the tormented Electra with a powerful intensity, while Cacoyannis, setting the action in the stark mountain landscape of Greece, manages to make the ancient story timelessly modern.   (120 mins.) CLASSIC GREEK THEATRE LINK

SEP 14 - THU 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF MICHAEL CACOYANNIS
ZORBA THE GREEK
GREECE/USA 1963
Basil (Alan Bates), a young English writer, comes to the harshly beautiful island of Crete to reopen a lignite mine inherited from his native-Greek father. There he meets Alexis Zorba (Anthony Quinn), a tough, wily, lusty Greek peasant whose different view on life is a revelation to the optimistic young man. As the plans for the mine collapse and his relationship with the beautiful widow ends in tragedy, the writer’s optimism is challenged but ultimately reigns triumphant. Based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, ZORBA is a paean to the diversity and strength of the human spirit.   (142 mins.) CLASSIC GREEK THEATRE LINK

SEP 15 16 17  FRI 7&9 P.M., SAT 7&9 P.M., SUN 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
DOCUMENTARY VIEWS
GIMME SHELTER
US 1970
DIRECTORS: ALBERT & DAVID MAYSLES, CHARLOTTE ZWERIN   The Maysles brothers’ powerful documentary on the Rolling Stones’ 1969 tour captured some of the Stones’ greatest performances and, ultimately, one of rock’s blackest days, the concert at Altamont which unexpectedly drew to a close the Woodstock Nation. A work of virtuoso construction, the film juxtaposes the Stones in recording studios, at hotels and during press conferences, with onstage performances of such classics as "Jumpin’ Jack Flash," "Satisfaction," and "Brown Sugar." Giving GIMME SHELTER its exceptional edge is the film-within-the-film, as Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts watch the footage of Altamont violence in disbelief. With the spectacular Tina Turner and the Jefferson Airplane. Thirty years after its September 1970 release, we are pleased to premiere a newly restored print.    (90 mins.)

SEP 15 16 17
FRI 7&8:45 P.M., SAT 7&8:45 P.M., SUN 5&7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
DOCUMENTARY VIEWS
BOOK WARS
US 2000
DIRECTOR: JASON ROSETTE   Winner of the Best Documentary Prize at this year’s NY Underground Film Festival, Rosette’s witty film, shot over five years, is "A gritty, low-fi documentary about Manhattan’s street booksellers which abounds in fascinating detail. The director and narrator [himself one of the booksellers] shows how bookselling is the kissing cousin of another urban art form: drug dealing. Both require a knowledge of profitable corner locations, an experienced eye for potential addicts, and a steady supply of mood-altering substances. In the case of books, you want to be holding works by Carlos Castaneda and Kurt Vonnegut, perennial best-sellers on the street. It’s a hard scrapple existence: most street booksellers do not vend stolen books; they rely on church fairs, garbage picking and the state of New Jersey—’land of the ten-cent book.’ Unlike most war pics, the underdogs don’t win in the end: Mayor Giuliani’s ‘quality of life campaign’ has dispersed much of the community captured here."—Michael Agree, THE NEW YORKER.    (79 mins.)

SEP 21  THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
MENTAL HYGIENE:
CLASS I— MANNERS, MENSTRUATION & THE AMERICAN WAY
Its back to school night for the next three evenings as we welcome Ken Smith, author of the witty and insightful "Mental Hygiene: Classroom Guidance Films 1947-1967." Drawn from the archives of film historian Richard Prelinger, Smith will screen some of the most shrill and strange educational films of all time. Largely made to stem the tide of creeping teen "rebellion" that started in the post-war years, these short films were designed to make sure that wholesome American values were not lost in an evil torrent of sex, cars, drugs and rock and roll. A rare opportunity to relive just where you, or perhaps your parents, went  wrong. Tonight’s program includes THE BENEFITS OF LOOKING AHEAD (1950), CHEATING (1952), CINDY GOES TO A PARTY (1955), LIVE AND LEARN (1951), SOCIAL CLASS IN AMERICA (1957), MOLLY GROWS UP (1953) AND MAKE MINE FREEDOM (1948).

SEP 22 - FRI 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
MENTAL HYGIENE:
CLASS II— DATING, DELINQUENCY AND DIVERSITY
Ken Smith continues his survey  with a clutch of classics depicting an era not as it was, but how the guardians of the culture wanted it to be. The program includes: ARE YOU POPULAR? (1947), A DATE WITH YOUR FAMILY (1950), WHAT ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY (1995), TOWARD EMOTIONAL MATURITY (1954), LAST DATE (1949), SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT (1961) and WHAT ABOUT PREJUDICE? (1959).

SEP 23 - SAT 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
MENTAL HYGIENE:
CLASS III — CONFORMITY, SAFETY AND THE BOMB
Mental hygiene films did not represent pinnacles of film artistry, nor were they expect to. Instead, they took their cues from the widely successful training and propaganda films of World War II and sought to portray life as "realistically" as possible.  This collection of real truth includes GOOD TABLE MANNERS (1951), HABIT PATTERNS (1954), BOYS BEWARE (1961), THE TERRIBLE TRUTH (1951), MORE DANGEROUS THAN DYNAMITE (1941), SPECIAL COURTESY (1950), DUCK AND COVER (1951) and the infamous DATING: DO’S AND DONT’S (1949).

SEP 22 - FRI 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
VISITING ARTIST
NW TRACKING: AN EVENING WITH JOANNA PRIESTLEY
SURFACE DIVE, KALI  YUGA
US 2000
DIRECTOR: JOANNA PRIESTLEY   Joanna Priestley’s amazing body of animated films (13!) have  deservedly earned their place in the pantheon of contemporary international animators. Inventively visioned, superbly crafted, and rich with insight into the physical and spiritual dilemmas that confront all, each new work provides an unexpected pleasure. Tonight we welcome Joanna for the premiere of two new works more experimental in nature. SURFACE DIVE is a visually striking abstract film inspired by  a diving trip in a freshwater lake in the Yucatan. Made from three layers of artwork (each animated separately shot on a multi-level animation stand) more than 600 sculptures, 200 glass plates and 2200 paintings were done to fashion a work of dazzling detail and complexity.  KALI YUGA is made up of two "just had to" experiments: a pixilated document of rock climber Diane Wilson scaling various Portland area cliffs; and a dance of household tools and characters drafted from the bins and boxes of Winks Hardware. Accompanying the piece is a special performance-score composed by Joe Waters and Fear No Music. Plus a classic or two.

SEP 23  - SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
VISITING ARTIST
NW TRACKING: AN EVENING WITH TOM CHAMBERLIN
LA VUELTA: A JOURNEY BACK
VISITNG ARTIST
US 2000
DIRECTOR: TOM CHAMBERLIN  For three decades, Tom Chamberlin’s work has celebrated the heart and soul of what makes us most human and binds us as a community. If there is a backbone to agriculture in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, it is the toil of immigrant farm workers, mostly Mexican, who make their seasonal journey from homes and family across the border. Tom Chamberlin’s poetic LA VUELTA invites consideration of the realities of this world throughout the life of Manuel Rivera, a farm worker from a small village in the mountains of Guerrero. Rivera makes a 3,000-mile journey to Oregon, leaving behind an extended family of fifteen who depend on the money he earns here. Following him back home, Chamberlin captures an impressionistic portrait of a hard, subsistence life dependent on a close-knit community. As we see Manuel’s two worlds juxtaposed, we find that the ironies and injustices of survival are not far from home. Tom Chamberlin and Manuel Rivera in attendance.    (74 mins.)

SEP 25   MON 7PM
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO-NOIR
OUT OF THE PAST
US 1947
DIRECTOR: JACQUES TOURNEUR   Shot mostly at night, OUT OF THE PAST makes tangible the oppressive fatalism at the heart of film noir. The complex screenplay, adapted by Geoffrey Homes (Daniel Mainwaring) from his own novel, begins when a seemingly simple private detective (Robert Mitchum) is hired to track down the mistress of an underworld boss and follows the inevitable spread of malignant corruption from character to character. Co-starring Kirk Douglas and Rhonda Fleming, "Tourneur’s masterpiece... a civilized treatment of an annihilating melodrama."?Andrew Sarris.    (97 mins.)

SEP 28 29 30  THU 7 P.M., FRI 7 P.M., SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM (THU & FRI)
GUILD THEATRE (SAT)
VISITING ARTIST
FOR OPENERS: THE ART OF FILM TITLES
One of the penalties of being late for a film is that you miss the opening titles, sometimes much more creative than the actual film, if not critical to establishing the mood and tone of the film.  Recognizing the brilliance of this underappreciated art form, designer David Peters and art writer Ken Coupland  have built an extensive collection of work by many of the great title designers over the past fifty years, a distillation of which they share in this fascinating, treasure-filled program. Beginning with the first wave of creative energy in the 1950s and the extraordinary work of Saul and Elaine Bass (THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, VERTIGO, PSYCHO, CASINO), their survey features the work of such masters as Pablo Ferro (DR. STRANGELOVE, BULLIT, TO DIE FOR), Kyle Cooper (SEVEN, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU), Fritz Freleng (THE PINK PANTHER), Deborah Ross (THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, THE ENGLISH PATIENT), Maurice Binder (DR. NO), Arcady (BARBARELLA) and many many more. Come give credit where credit is due.   (2 hrs.)
Co-sponsored by the Portland Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Design, Collective Incorporated, Pacific Northwest College of Art and Will Vinton Studios.

SEP 28 29   THU 7 P.M., FRI 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
CRANE WORLD
ARGENTINA 1999
DIRECTOR: PABLO TRAPERO   An unpolished look into the social realities facing Argentinians today, Trapero’s debut film recalls the power and authenticity of the great Italian Neo-realist films of the 1940s. Rulo is a 50-year-old unemployed man and an ex-musician who had one hit song in the ‘70s. His glory days now only memories, he works low-paying manual jobs and shares a home that is little more than a shack. Desperately seeking a steady job to support his elderly mother and struggling musician son, he decides to train as a high-rise crane operator.  But even the most modest dreams are elusive in a world of broken promises. "Trapero employs sensitivity, candor and a firm sense of irony to capture one man’s daily realities of labor, laughter, struggle and hope." -SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.
(90 mins.)

SEP 30 - SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
VISITING ARTIST
EL VALLEY CENTRO
US 1999
DIRECTOR: JAMES BENNING   For over twenty-five years, James Benning has been making films of the American landscape which simultaneously explore issues of representation, meaning, geography and ideology. His latest film is a striking, minimalist meditation on the Great Central Valley in California, which produces food for one-fourth of the US population. Employing natural sound and carefully composed images, Benning lets the content of each frame speak for itself, and they do so powerfully, revealing a vast panorama that while relatively unpopulated has been totally dominated by the hand of man. The land, at once beautiful and nostalgic and scarred and ugly, is a portrait of a landscape that challenges us to contemplate our relationship to nature.   (90 mins.)
Director James Benning in attendance.
Benning, on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts, will talk about his work and personal/experimental filmmaking in workshop on Sunday, October 1.Please see the School of Film section.

OCT  1 - SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
VISITING ARTIST
11x14
US 1976
DIRECTOR: JAMES BENNING   The Amercian Midwest, a landscape dominated by cars, highways, and power lines, is the subject of one of the classics of American independent film. Like his EL VALLEY CENTRO, it fuses the impulses of narrative convention with formal structuralist exploration, revealing through meticulous images and rhythmic editing the paradoxical relationship between these two opposing cinematic aesthetics. "A laconic mosaic of single-shot sequences, each offering some sort of sound-image pun or paradox. At once a crypto-narrative with an abstract, peekaboo storyline and fractured painterly study of the mid-western landscape, 11x14 points to the creation of a new, nonliterary but populist cinema."—J. Hoberman, THE VILLAGE VOICE   (83 mins.) Director James Benning in attendance.

OCT 2 -  MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
CAPE FEAR
US 1961
DIRECTOR: J. LEE THOMPSON   Delivering a suspenseful and truly frightening performance, Robert Mitchum portrays Max Cady, a rapist and lethal psychopath. Cady is released from prison after having served his six-year term, bent on revenge against Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) the lawyer who put him away.  Bowden’s terror escalates as harassment charges against Cady fail to deter him. When his wife begins to receive disturbing phone calls insinuating a dire fate for the entire family,  Bowden, left with no choice, must act decisively.    (105 mins.)

OCT 5  - THU 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
INVISIBLE REVOLUTION
US  2000
DIRECTOR: BEVERLY PETERSON    Peterson's extraordinary access to skinheads, gutter punks, and mainstream kids drops the viewer into the front lines of a powerful, passionate and very raw youth subculture. She documents not only the young people involved in the pro-white movement, but also the counter-movement that demonstrates against and often clashes with them: Anti-Racist Action (ARA). After a decade of going unheard, these voices create a stirring and unique perspective on urgent and timely issues that can be conveyed only by actually viewing the physical confrontations between the two groups as they collide in a war of ideas. Viewers will also become aware of the extreme danger that ARA members expose themselves to - in 1998 two members of ARA were murdered in the Las Vegas desert. Leonard, a 21-year-old neo-Nazi skinhead sums up: "We are two separate groups.... There's always going to be racism. There's always going to be hate. We're going to do whatever it takes to get the other one out of the way...."  (55 mins.)
WITH
SUD
FRANCE 1999
DIRECTOR: CHANTAL AKERMAN  Originally conceived as a meditation on the American South inspired by Akerman’s love of William Faulkner and James Baldwin, SUD was transformed by a racist crime that occurred days before her arrival. James Byrd Jr., a black family man, was severely beaten by three white men, then chained to their truck and dragged three miles through predominately black parts of the county.  SUD investigates this brutal slaying and examines its impact on the community. (78 mins.)
Hosted by the Metropolitan Human Rights Center, Oregon Uniting and the Coalition Against Hate Crimes.

OCT 5  - THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
DANCE ON FILM
A HYMN FOR ALVIN AILEY
US 1999
DIRECTOR: ORLANDO BAGWELL   Archival footage of his greatest works and interviews with family and friends tell the story of one of modern dance’s trailblazers.    (57 mins.)
White Bird is presenting The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater February 27 & 28 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
WITH
JENI LEGON: LIVING IN A GREAT BIG WAY
CANADA 1999
DIRECTOR: GRANT GRESCHUK   The legendary tap dancer shares her story of being a black performer in Hollywood in the 1930s and ‘40s and her passion for following her dream.    (49 mins.)

OCT 6  - FRI 7:30 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
DANCE ON FILM
MARGIE GILLIS: INSIDE OUT
CANADA 1999
DIRECTOR: TANYA BALLANTYNE TREE, JOSEPH MACKAY   An intimate portrait of the dramatic soloist with multiple excerpts from performances shot over two years. (47 mins.)
Margie Gillis will perform in the White Bird/PSU Dance series December 14-16.
WITH
BIRGIT CULLBERG: DANCE IN NEW DIMENSIONS
SWEDEN 1986
DIRECTOR: MANS REUTERSWARD Birgit Cullberg (1908-1999) was a pioneer, independent thinker and influential choreographer acclaimed not only for her dramatic ballets but for her imaginative experiments with videodance.   (55 mins)

OCT 6  8 -  FRI  7 & 8:45 P.M., SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
PICKPOCKET
FRANCE 1959
For many Bresson’s masterpiece, PICKPOCKET famously echoes the dark salvation of Dostoevsky’s CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Michael, a petty thief turned master pickpocket, haunts the racetrack and busy Paris Metro, dispassionately drawn to his own depravity. Bresson’s ability to isolate his characters from the world they inhabit is masterfully realized in this, his first film shot in Paris. The chaos of hands, wallets, watches, the empty gazes of strangers follow Michael toward "what may be the most moving, startling, simple gesture in all of cinema… In a watershed year of French cinema, 1959, merely the most contemporary film ever made."—Pacific Film Archive   (75 mins.)

OCT 7   SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
THE DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST
FRANCE, 1950
Adapted from the novel by Georges Bernanos (the director’s favorite post-Dostoevsky author), Bresson worked directly from original dialogue and Bernanos’ own diaries to chronicle the tormented soul of a young country priest scorned by his parish. A simple voice-over accompanies images of the priest’s journal entries to illuminate his progression from torment to grace. Swiss stage actor Claude Laydu effects what has been called Bresson’s "most intimate excursion into the soul."—Pacific Film Archive   (114 mins.)

OCT 7 -  SAT 7:30 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
DANCE ON FILM
STEPPING OUT OF THE FRAME
SWITZERLAND 1999
DIRECTOR: HELENE FAUCHERRE   The Prix de Lausanne is expanding its ballet tradition by incorporating modern choreography in its competition. We see lessons, interviews, and a reflection on the art of teaching dance to future professionals.  (60 mins.)
WITH
YURI SOLOVIEV: I’M TIRED OF LIVING IN MY NATIVE LAND
RUSSIA 1998
DIRECTOR GALINA MSHANKAYA   Called the "genius of the Russian ballet," "Flying Yuri the Spaceman" Soloviev (1940-1977) was a graduate of the famed Vaganova Academy and the star of the Kirov Ballet.    (52 mins.)

OCT 9 - MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
CAPE FEAR
US 1991
DIRECTOR: MARTIN SCORSESE   Scorsese’s remake stars Robert DeNiro as Max Cady, with the return of both Mitchum and Peck in supporting roles. There’s no mistaking this film for the original; with unsettling camera motion and bizarre shot angles, it’s a bravura in audience manipulation and even darker. In a twist on the original, Nick Nolte portrays a mean-spirited Bowden, with his own set of sexual neuroses, making him not quite the sympathetic Peck character. "As Scorsese and his screenwriter, Wesley Strick, have created him, Cady isn’t merely a psychopath, he’s a Nietzschean superman, meting out a remorseless form of punishment."?Washington Post  (128 mins.)

OCT 11 -  WED  7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
GRAND ILLUSIONS
CITIZEN KANE
US 1941
DIRECTOR: ORSON WELLES   Orson Welles’ essay on the nature of power remains for many the greatest film of all time and always worth a repeated viewing when a 35mm print is at hand.   The subject is the rise of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, Welles' thinly-veiled portrait of the infamous William Randolph Hearst. Whatever one makes of the truth of the characterization, this is a  tour-de-force of visual and aural storytelling and one of the most influential works of the cinema.  (119 mins.)
These classic films, open to the public for general admission,  are part of GRAND ILLUSIONS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CINEMA, a class taught by Enie Vaisburd. For optional course enrollment information please seethe web site.

OCT 12 - THU 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
LE DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE
FRANCE 1945
Scorned by a man, Hélène (Maria Casarés in her first starring role) plots to punish her ex-lover by drawing him into a marriage with the young prostitute Agnès. First offering Agnès and her mother shelter from questionable dance-hall patrons, Hélène then arranges for the meeting that will seal her betrayer’s fate. Bresson’s pre-minimalist Parisian-contemporary of Diderot’s JACQUES LE FATALISTE features piercing dialogue by Jean Cocteau. A story of love in which passion is distilled on the screen.   (90 mins.)

OCT 12 - THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
OUR HOUSE IN HAVANA
US  2000
DIRECTOR: STEPHEN OLSSON    Director Olsson follows the emotionally charged return trip of Silvia Morini, a vivacious 68-year-old Cuban, who, after 38 years living in the US, decides to return to Cuba to search for the house, the neighborhood and the faded remains of her once-opulent, privileged life. Silvia's pilgrimage, full of discoveries, forces her to confront her own myths of Cuba and the revolution. An intimate, thought-provoking cinematic journey, seasoned with Cuban history, culture, music and passion.   (57 mins.)
WITH
I WAS BORN A BLACK WOMAN
BRAZIL 2000
DIRECTORS: Maisa Mendonca &  Vicente Franco   Benedita da Silva - shanty-dweller, domestic worker, mother, organizer, poet, senator. I WAS BORN A BLACK WOMAN recounts the remarkable life of the first Afro-Brazilian woman to be elected to Brazil's senate. Benedita da Silva was born to poverty, started working at age seven and gained stature for herself and her community through education, faith in god and community organizing. Filled with Afro-Brazilian music, poetry and dance, I WAS BORN A BLACK WOMAN weaves a dynamic tale of black Brazil and one woman's victory over racism.   (44 mins.) Hosted by the World Affairs Council of Oregon.

OCT 13 - FRI 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
DANCE ON FILM
DANCES FOR A SMALL SCREEN
CANADA 1997
DIRECTOR: LAURA TALER, MOZE MOSSANEN, NICK DE PENCIER   Three award-winning dances conceived for the camera, as technically sophisticated filmmakers unite with prominent contemporary choreographers in an explosive pas de deux.   (24 mins.)
WITH
BELLA FIGURA
NETHERLANDS 1998
DIRECTOR: HANS HULSCHERAn adaptation of the 1995 Jiri Kylian ballet which he describes as "like standing on the edge of a dream. The moment in which dream intrudes into our lives and life into our dreams." (31 mins.)
WITH
DUNE DANCE
US 1980
DIRECTOR: CAROLYN BROWN   "The elated, rough-and-tumble movement of the dancers improvising on sand has been beautifully and ironically juxtaposed with well-known ballet music...reveals more about the joy of dancing than anything you’re likely to see."—Deborah Jowitt, VILLAGE VOICE.

OCT 14 - SAT 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
LIVE PERFORMANCE - VISITING ARTIST
THE ASYLUM STREET SPANKERS:
THE GOLD RUSH
US 1925
DIRECTOR: CHARLES CHAPLIN   Tonight we welcome The Asylum Street Spankers, Austin's acclaimed contemporary vaudeville troupe,  for a live performance of their score for THE GOLD RUSH. Their southern melange of 20s+30s jazz, hillbilly stomp and sexed-up blues promises to lend fresh perspective to this classic film for which Chaplin most wanted to be remembered. THE GOLD RUSH provides some of the classic moments of screen history—unparalleled comedy set pieces including the famous chicken transformation scene, the banquet of boots and the Fatty Arbuckle-inspired dance of fools. Chaplin’s signature tramp, this time the "Lone Prospector," fights to win the affection of the beautiful dance hall girl (Georgia Hale).  (82 mins.)

OCT 13 15 -  FRI  7 P.M., SUN  7:45 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
A MAN ESCAPED
FRANCE 1956
From a newspaper account of a Resistance leader who escaped from Nazi prison just hours before he was to be executed, Bresson, drawing from his own experience as a World War II prisoner, creates an intensely internal portrait of the solitude of humanity. This is Bresson at his sparsest, and his only true commercial success. An existential action film, each step his character must face?the sharpening of a spoon into a knife, the intricacy with which he deconstructs his cell (set to Mozart’s Mass in C Minor)?is shaped into a profound testament to limits.   (97 mins.)

OCT 14 15   SAT 7 P.M., SUN 6:30 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
THE TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC
FRANCE, 1962
The story of this enigmatic woman’s unending interrogation is told with dialogue comprised solely from trial transcripts and reduced, by Bresson, to his trademark essentials. Says the director: "I was content to use the monotony like a unified background against which the nuances would be more clearly seen… I see her with the eyes of a believer. I believe in the marvelous world whose doors she opens and closes. … She convinces us of a world at the farthest reach of our faculties. She enters this supernatural world but closes the door behind her." "For the first time in film history, one feels that Joan was really burned."—Critic Richard Roud.    (65 mins.)

OCT 15 - SUN 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
VISITING ARTIST
PERIPHERAL PRODUCE  & THE FILM CENTER PRESENT
TRIBUTARY
US 2000
DIRECTOR: RUSS FORSTER    Tonight we are pleased to welcome Detroit filmmaker Russ Forster (SO WRONG THEIR RIGHT) for the world premiere of TRIBUTARY, an exploration of the odd musical subculture know as Tribute bands. Shot during the heyday of the tribute scene in the late 1990s, TRIBUTARY probes the motivations which drive musicians to imitate other musicians and rock out in the process. Following bands in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Forster distills the essence of how bands can turn homage into a cottage industry and keep their own identities in the process.   (60 mins.)

OCT 16 - MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
NIGHT AND THE CITY
UK 1950
DIRECTOR: JULES DASSIN  Set in London, Dassin’s (BRUTE FORCE, NAKED CITY) classic film stars Richard Widmark as schemer Harry Fabian, a man who falls prey to his own ambitions. Desperately trying to establish himself as more than just a common man, Fabian entangles himself in the prize-fighting underbelly of the city and the personal lives of those involved. "Despite the feeling of lonely helplessness, the story proceeds at such a frenetic pace that is utterly captivating. "?James Monaco. (95 mins.)

OCT 19  - THU 7:30 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
VISITING ARTIST
NW TRACKING: AN EVENING WITH LAWRENCE JOHNSON
HAND GAME:
THE NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN GAME OF POWER AND CHANCE
US 2000
DIRECTOR: LAWRENCE JOHNSON  Creator of numerous works which use regional voices to uncover hidden corners of culture, Johnson turns his eye to a world unknown  to most non-Indians. "Hand Game" (also called Stick, Grass or Bone Game) is the most widely played Native gambling game in North America. Every year thousands of Indians pack up their lawn chairs and game sets and hit the Hand Game trail, competing in tournaments and games on reservations throughout the West. Johnson’s carefully crafted examination of the unusual guessing game explores the problems, contradictions and functions of tradition in the modern Indian world.   (70 mins.)
Co-sponsored by The Oregon Council for Humanities

OCT 20 -  FRI 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
AU HASARD BALTHAZAR
FRANCE, 1966
Perhaps the perfect Bressonian actor, with an omnipotent gaze and breathtaking presence, Balthazar the mule is witness to the trivial lives—full of struggle and violence— of his many owners. He is befriended by a young girl who finds herself passionately involved with a leather-clad biker, and the two inhabit a world where monotony is pierced rarely, and fate is sovereign.   (90 mins.)

OCT 21 22 -  SAT 7 P.M., SUN 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
MOUCHETTE
FRANCE, 1967
As through the quiet eyes of Balthazar, MOUCHETTE examines the cruelty of existence through the final day in the life of a peasant girl in an isolated French village."An almost unbearably moving portrait… MOUCHETTE anticipates by three decades the harsh stories and far-from-Paris locales of France’s New New Wave."—Harvard Film Archive. "The Masterpiece of all the masterpieces of Bresson."—François Mauriac   (80 mins)

OCT 19 - THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
PUBLIC ENEMY
FRANCE/GERMANY 1999
DIRECTOR: JENS MEURER   "We're going to organize ourselves, we're going to stand up, we're going to arm ourselves and we're going to walk on this racist, pig-assed power structure and we're going to say, 'stick-em-up. motherfucker, we've come for what's ours", says Bobby Seale, public speaker, activist, author and the co-founder of the Black Panthers. With this opening tour-de-force speech, the tone is set for an electrifying, visceral, in-depth look at the Black Panther movement. Along with Seale, we meet law professor Kathleen Cleaver, the highest ranking female in the movement; poet and playwright Jamal Joseph, who served nine years in prison for his activities; and Nile Rodgers, who went on to form the 80s rock group Chic. A portrait of four vibrant, talented, passionate people whose political force has carried on into their lives, and who still feel the power and exhilaration of the early days of a unique social-political revolution that changed both the societal image and the self-image of all African-Americans. (88 mins.)

OCT 20 21 22
FRI 7& 9,  SAT 7& 9, SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY
US 2000
DIRECTORS: FRANCIS REID & DEBORAH HOFFMAN   Not all wounds were magically healed following the fall of apartheid in South Africa; citizens on both sides of the struggle are still left with the daunting task of coming to terms with the horrors and finding a way to move beyond them into a new future. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was created to encourage a sense of closure by investigating the crimes of apartheid and offering complete amnesty to the perpetrators in exchange for full disclosure of their involvement. Filmed over a two-year period, the film shows the universality of the conflict in following several cases from both sides. A white special-forces officer attempts to reconcile with the wife of a black man he murdered; a young black activist revisits his killing of a white student during a riot; after years of knowing nothing, a group of mothers finally learn how their sons were betrayed and murdered in a police conspiracy. Heart-wrenching footage of the trials and interviews with both victims and perpetrators provide a remarkable glimpse of history in the making. Winner of the Peace Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.   (95 mins.) Co-sponsored by the Oregon Peace Institute and Metropolitan Human Rights Center. MORE INFORMATION ON THE FILM

OCT 23 - MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
NIGHT AND THE CITY
US 1992
DIRECTOR: IRWIN WINKLER   Winkler’s NIGHT AND THE CITY ?with a screenplay by Richard Price that departs radically from Dassin’s 1950 film?takes place in New York, with Fabian (Robert  DeNiro) as an ambulance-chasing lawyer sick of consistently finding himself running errands for men more powerful than himself. When a frivolous lawsuit initiated by Fabian is thrown out of court, he entertains notions of winning entry into the city’s hob-nobbing circuit by becoming a boxing promoter. Entangled in debt, cuckoldry and the do-or-die gangster code, Fabian is trapped by his ambitions as Winkler beautifully portrays the delicate dynamics of power that bind the characters.   (104 mins.)

OCT 24 - TUE  7:30 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
FILMMAKERS-IN-THE-SCHOOLS PREMIERE
BROWNFIELDS IN OUR BACK YARD
The Film Center’s FILMMAKERS-IN-THE-SCHOOLS Program and McCoy Academy Public Charter School have teamed up with the Multnomah County Health Department to produce BROWNFIELDS IN OUR BACK YARD, a video about abandoned and potentially contaminated properties which threaten public health and stifle economic development. McCoy students Ashea Adolphues, Iresha Allen, Maurice Banks, Richard Carr, Alina Hayes, Sedell Jones, Brandon Henderson, LaToya Martin, Jeffrey Peters and Sahaune Randle worked with videomaker Patrick Rosenkranz to interview various business leaders, county personnel and neighborhood residents about the problem. Join us for the premiere of this important work with the young mediamakers in attendance. Spanish and English versions will be distributed throughout the community this fall. For more information, contact Kristin Konsterlie at (503) 221-1156. Free admission.

OCT 26  - THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
DARING TO RESIST
US   1999
DIRECTORS: MARTHA LUBELL & BARBARA ATTIE   Is "resistance" always a matter of guns and explosives? Or can it be practiced with photography, ballet, forgery and wits? What is it that leads a person to choose defiance, rather than submission, when her whole world is collapsing around her? DARING TO RESIST looks at these questions in a gripping documentary. Three Jewish women reflect on their lives in Holland, Hungary and Poland during World War II, when they refused to remain passive in the face of Nazi genocide. As teenagers all three girls acted without family support, joining other young people determined to fight back. The film interweaves the women's varied and astonishing stories, as they tell of resisting the forces of hatred in unexpected ways. Never-before-published photographs and home movies enrich the women's vibrant narratives.    (58 mins.)
WITH
ZYKLON PORTRAIT
CANADA   1999
DIRECTOR: ELIDA SCHOGT   Zyklon B is a crystal that produces the deadly gas used in concentration camps during WWII. Impressionistic imagery, family photographs, and home movies are set against a narrative that alternates between familial intimacy and a voice of authority, producing a haunting reminder of how human evil is manifested when science is used in the service of destruction.  (15 mins.) Hosted  by The American Jewish Committee Oregon Chapter.

OCT 26   THU 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
LANCELOT OF THE LAKE
FRANCE, 1974
The unique style with which Bresson constructs a soundtrack is more evident in this modernization of the tale of King Arthur than in any of his other works. Long periods lapse without dialogue… sounds are pulled by Bresson as reeds of a basket which hold his spartan visual form. The simple sound of armor when heard over lovemaking opens the viewer to the folly of an unsuccessful heroic journey.  A story he wanted to tell for twenty years, it is among the most beautiful ever made, with a jousting sequence that stands as one of the best action sequences in all of cinema.   (85 mins.)

OCT 27   FRI 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
THE DEVIL, PROBABLY
FRANCE, 1977
The most controversial film of Bresson’s career, Truffaut lauded it as his "most voluptuous" film and Fassbinder made illusions to it throughout THE THIRD GENERATION. This dark tale of an arrogant young man, sent into despair by modern society and searching for the meaning of death, was feared to cause teen suicides and thusly given the French equivalent of an "R" rating at its release. Rarely in Bresson’s work has a sinner been left so bereft of salvation.   (93 mins.)

OCT 28 -  SAT 7:30 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
VISITING ARTIST
NW TRACKING : AN EVENING WITH ROSE BOND
MEMORIA MORTALIS:
LOSS,  CREATIVITY AND REMEMBRANCE
US 2000
DIRECTOR: ROSE BOND  Portland animator Rose Bond’s new film, a mature addition to an accomplished body of work, shifts from her past exploration of Celtic mythology to examine her own. A deeply personal film archiving her own childhood brush with family illness, the threat of loss and the unspoken reality of death, Bond strikingly uses 2-D computer animation to bring alive a long-buried chapter of her own evolution.  Joining together for the premiere of her beautiful new film—on the eve of Halloween, All Souls and Los Dios de los Muertos— are some of Portland’s leading artists. Introduced by writer Kim Stafford, Dawn Joella Jackson’s Day of the Dead altar, Susan Banyas' moving performance piece and Courtney Von Drehle’s music will focus on the complexities of loss, creativity and remembrance. The evening promises to evoke and awaken memory and emotion and to honor the creativity loss inspires.

OCT 27 28 29  FRI 7&9 P.M., SAT 5,7&9 P.M., SUN 5 & 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
DOCUMENTARY VIEWS
KESTREL’S EYE
SWEDEN 1999
DIRECTOR: MIKAEL KRISTERSSON   Kristersson’s exquisitely beautiful film is unlike any nature film you’ve ever seen. Filmed over several years with cinematic virtuosity, he distills an intimate, wonder-filled portrait of a family of kestrels (European falcons) who live in a church tower high above a small Swedish town. Not meant to inform us about the life of a kestrel, the film is an attempt to compel us to feel like one. We do not hear the narration of Richard Attenborough accompanied by bird-watching music. Instead we enter the time and space of the birds themselves, surviving life, watching and hearing the bustle of life as they hear it and (thanks to a camera affixed to a glider) sense their flight, and fight, for life. Watching the birds watch us, we also witness the parallel drama of human life below and come to know, from a new perspective, the nature of nature. "As technically agile as it is aesthetically fowl-minded, [it] does for birds what David Lynch’s STRAIGHT STORY does for old men." —VARIETY.    (86 mins.)

OCT 29  -  SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE THANHOUSER COLLECTION
At the beginning of the century The Thanhouser Company, alongside Edison, American Biograph and Vitagraph, shaped the early cinema. Entrepreneur Edwin Thanhouser, based in New Rochelle, NY, produced more than 1,000 films between 1909 and 1917, only 187 of which are now known to exist. Portlander Ned Thanhouse has led a one-person charge in recovering and restoring his grandfather’s works, and tonight we welcome him for an illustrated lecture on the Company, followed by a screening of some of the most recently restored titles, including ONLY IN THE WAY (1911),THE EVIDENCE OF THE FILM (1917), and THE UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE (1917).   (120 mins.)

OCT 30 -  MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
KISS OF DEATH
US 1947
DIRECTOR: HENRY HATHAWAY  Arrested for robbery, Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is asked to inform the police about his knowledge of criminal activity involving gangster Tomy Udo (Richard Widmark) . Refusing to snitch, Bianco is sent  to prison, where he subsequently learns that his wife has killed herself and his children now reside in an orphanage. After receiving another blow with information about his deceased wife’s affair with Udo, Bianco decides to talk, which ultimately serves as his death warrant, when Udo is acquitted of the charges and comes after both Bianco and his family.    (98 mins.)

NOV 1 -  WED 7:30 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BRESSON
L’ARGENT
FRANCE, 1983
"The last work of Bresson, made when he was past 80, is one of magisterial beauty and up-to-the-minute modernity. Here, he moves from Dostoevsky to Tolstoy for his source: a severe morality tale about a young man falsely accused of passing a counterfeit note. After that, he becomes the very criminal he is accused of being, and then far worse, on an immutable path to murder. Bresson’s adieu to cinema is unmitigated pessimism: there are no happy endings on this earth, only afterward, for the truly repentant." —Harvard Film Archive   (85 mins.)

NOV 1 -  WED 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
GRAND ILLUSIONS
DO THE RIGHT THING
US 1989
DIRECTOR: SPIKE LEE   A meditation on the nature of racism and the pressures of urban violence, DO THE RIGHT THING unfolds on the hottest day of the season on Stuyvesant Avenue in the black ghetto of Brooklyn. Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) offers his hellos, Sal (Danny Aiello) and his sons open the pizzeria, and Mookie (Spike Lee) begins his deliveries. The block fills with the sounds of Radio Raheem’s boom box playing "Fight the Power," and Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), who wants black heroes on the "wall of fame" in Sal’s Pizzeria, is about to lead his own small revolution.  Thus begins an incendiary series of events that Lee unravels with purposeful controversy.    (120 mins.)
These classic films, open to the public for general admission,  are part of GRAND ILLUSIONS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CINEMA, a class taught by Enie Vaisburd. For optional course enrollment information please see the web site.

NOV  2 - THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
GOOD KURDS, BAD KURDS: NO FRIENDS BUT THE MOUNTAINS
US 2000
DIRECTOR: KEVIN MCKIERNAN     A war of national liberation or a war against terrorism? Filmmaker and acclaimed freelance journalist Kevin McKiernan poses this question at the outset of a stirring, provocative film lensed by legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler. It's all in how you define "good" and "bad": "Good Kurds" are those in Iraq; they're Saddam Hussein's victims whom we want to help. "Bad Kurds" are those waging an armed insurrection against US-ally Turkey; they're at the receiving end of US weapons. McKiernan went to northern Iraq to cover the uprising against Saddam. Just a few miles away, no one was covering the hidden war in Turkey, so he decided to bring out the story. GOOD KURDS, BAD KURDS brings sharp clarity to a complicated history while providing disturbing insight into both US immigration and foreign policy.
(79 mins.)
WITH
ICC: A CALL FOR JUSTICE
US 2000
EVC's YOUTH ORGANIZERS TELEVISION    What is the International Criminal Court (ICC)? Who will benefit? Why won't America ratify the treaty? Through archival footage, spoken word poetry and interviews with survivors of torture and ICC advocates, the Youth Organizers crew explores these and other questions surrounding the ICC.  (15 mins.)   Hosted by Amnesty International, Portland State University.

NOV 6 - MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
KISS OF DEATH
US 1995
DIRECTOR: BARBET SCHROEDER   Loosely based on the original and noticeably contemporized, Schroeder’s remake boasts an outstanding performance by Nicholas Cage as the bad boy Little Junior. Set in the sordid underworld of car thievery and in the shadow of the 7 train in Queens, ex-con Jimmy (NYPD BLUE’s David Caruso) desperately tries to walk the straight and narrow, but soon finds himself caught in a tug of war between former shady associates and the District Attorney’s office. "Caruso’s Jimmy Kilmartin... emerges as the sort of character American movie-goers love—the lone outlaw hero who wears the stain of corruption, but aches for a clean and decent life…[but] even a guy like Caruso can stay calm for only so long."—SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE.    (104 mins.)

NOV 9  - THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
LIVE FREE OR DIE
US 2000
DIRECTORS: MARION LIPSCHUTZ & ROSE ROSENBLATT   In a small New England town a doctor practices medicine. An OB-GYN, Dr. Wayne Goldner has delivered over 2,500 babies, and has been marked because he chooses to provide legal abortions. Goldner contributed to making this documentary, a stinging indictment of the government's inability to protect citizens doing legitimate work. When first encountered, Dr. Goldner is fighting a merger between two local hospitals - one Catholic - that threatens abortion services in the city of Manchester. This brings protesters who, up until then, had seemed content to picket outside his offices, right to the doorstep of his home, as well as to the local junior high school where Wayne teaches a sex education class. In order to get rid of the protesters, the school board gets rid of Wayne, banning him from giving the class at school. As the film follows his fight to be reinstated, it becomes apparent that while most of the town supports abortion rights and Dr. Goldner's work, few want to confront the right-to-lifers and the controversy they bring with them.  (70 mins.)  Hosted by Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette.

NOV 13  -  MON. 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
CRISS-CROSS
US 1949
DIRECTOR: ROBERT SIODMAK   A year after their divorce, Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster), an armored car guard, still cannot shake the memory of his ex-wife, Anna (Yvonne De Carlo). One night his life is thrown into chaos as he catches a glimpse of Anna on the dance floor of a bar they once frequented, leading him into a new affair with her.  When Anna’s fiancé, Slim (Dan Duryea), catches them together, Thompson improvises a cover-up in which he says he’s planning the big heist and needs Slim to assist him. The web of lies, love, passion and jealousy embroils them all in a serious jam.  (88 mins.)

NOV 15 -  WED 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
GRAND ILLUSIONS
TOKYO STORY
JAPAN 1953
DIRECTOR: YASUJIRO OZU   Ozu’s sad, simple story is regarded by many as his masterpiece and regularly included in international critics’ top ten polls. Examining the widening gap between Japan’s generations, Ozu tells the story of an older couple’s visit to the city to see their children, who, absorbed with their own lives, treat them with indifference and ingratitude. Shunted delicately off to a health resort, it takes illness and the death of the mother to spur painful family reconciliation.   (134 mins.)
These classic films, open to the public for general admission,  are part of GRAND ILLUSIONS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CINEMA, a class taught by Enie Vaisburd. For optional course enrollment information please see the web site.

NOV 15 -  WED 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
A TRIBUTE TO AARON COPLAND
OF MICE AND MEN
US 1939
DIRECTOR: LEWIS MILESTONE   In conjunction with The Oregon Symphony’s November 12-21 celebration of the 100th birthday of composer Aaron Copland we present Lewis Milestone’s moving adaptation of John Steinbeck’s OF MICE AND MEN. Featuring one of Copland’s finest film scores, Steinbeck’s simple morality tale still resonates in the 21st century, as does Copland’s magnificent music.  Lon Chaney Jr. gives a stirring performance as the sweet, but feeble-minded Lennie, who with his vagrant, migrant-worker friend George (Burgess Meredith), look for their dream in a hostile Depression-era world.    (125 mins.)
Introducing tonight’s film is Murry Sidlin, Resident Conductor of the Oregon Symphony.

NOV 17 -  FRI 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
A TRIBUTE TO AARON COPLAND
THE HEIRESS
US 1949
DIRECTOR: WILLIAM WYLER   Henry James’novel WASHINGTON SQUARE is brought to the screen with uncommon taste and skill with Olivia de Havilland as the plain, unloved spinster who falls under the spell of a cunning fortune hunter (Montgomery Clift) while enduring the torment of her arrogant father (Sir Ralph Richardson.) In many ways a precursor to films celebrating the empowerment of women, THE HEIRESS features superb performances, artful direction and a haunting, telling score by Copland, who received an Academy Award for his work.    (115 mins.)   Introducing tonight’s film is Murry Sidlin, Resident Conductor of the Oregon Symphony.

NOV 16 -  THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
900 WOMEN
US   2000
DIRECTOR: LALEH KHADIV   The Louisiana Correctional Institute is located in the swamps of southern Louisiana in the small town of St. Gabriel. Built in 1970 to house an increasing population of female convicts, today it houses the state's most dangerous female prisoners and often exceeds its population capacity of 900. Three-fourths of these are mothers and one-fourth of them are serving sentences of fifteen years or more. The prison compound has a surreal quality; there are no searchlight-capped towers or barbed-wire fences. Filmmaker Khadiv delivers a striking, sensitive portrait of life in this deceptively peaceful atmosphere, which is filled with stories of life on the streets, abuse, childbirth and motherhood. Six women?a grandmother, a young high school student, a pregnant woman, a recovering heroin addict, a prison guard, and the only woman on death row? were brave enough to share their frustrations and hopes. Produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Jonathan Stack (THE FARM).   (73 mins.)  Hosted by the Western Prison Project

NOV 16 18 19 20   THU 7:30 P.M., SAT 7 P.M., SUN 5 P.M., MON 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE SORROW AND THE PITY
FRANCE 1970
DIRECTOR: MARCEL OPHULS   Marcel Ophuls’ monumental documentary about life in occupied France during World War II draws into focus the moral dilemmas faced by a nation and its people. Moving back and forth between interviews of those who resisted the Nazi occupation and those who did not, Ophuls juxtaposes commentary alongside newsreel footage which often contradicts what has been said. One of the cinema’s epic triumphs, this powerful work about the citizens of Clermont-Ferrand is a fascinating study of both the collaboration of the Vichy government and the resistance movement. This restored 35mm print, "presented by Woody Allen," remains one of the truly great pieces of investigative journalism.    (260 mins)

NOV  17 18   FRI 7&9 P.M., SAT 5,7:15 & 9:15 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
CINEMA VERITE: DEFINING THE MOMENT
CANADA 1999
DIRECTOR: PETER WINTONICK   Peter Wintonick’s (MANUFACTURING CONSENT: NOAM CHOMSKY AND THE MEDIA) award-winning film is must-see viewing for anyone interested in the evolution of non-fiction media and communications. Tracing the origins and history of the free-form filmmaking style variously dubbed "Free Cinema," "Direct Cinema," and "Cinema Verite," what we see today in everything from broadcast journalism, "reality" tv shows, rock videos and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT to the French New Wave and today’s Dogma 5 aesthetic, has evolved from pioneering work in the 1950s and ‘60s in Britain, France and Canada (most crucially by the visionary work done by the National Film Board of Canada) and by such better-known American talents as Robert Drew (PRIMARY), Albert and David Maysles (SALESMAN) Richard Leacock and D.A. Pennebaker (DON’T LOOK BACK).  Liberated by a new generation of light-weight equipment, these filmmakers took to the streets and behind the scenes to tell their stories, in the process inventing a radical new style and approach to filmmaking.   (105 mins.)

NOV 20  - MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
NOIR/NEO NOIR
THE UNDERNEATH
US 1995
DIRECTOR: STEVEN  SODERBERGH   The remake of the superb CRISS-CROSS closely follows the plot of the original, but places strong emphasis on issues of personal responsibility and culpability. Chambers (Peter Gallagher) returns home, ostensibly for his mother’s wedding, but his true motivation is his obsession with his ex-wife, Rachel (Alison Elliott). After running into her at a bar, they initiate a clandestine affair, only to be discovered by Rachel’s fiancé, Tommy Dundee (William Fichtner).Chamber’s quick talking leads to a completely reworked ending with Chambers’ in his armored vehicle, his new step-father behind the wheel.  (99 mins.)

NOV 24 25 26 27
FRI 7&9 P.M., SAT 4, 6 & 8 P.M., SUN 3, 5 & 7 P.M., MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
2000 BRITISH ADVERTISING AWARDS
DIRECTOR: VARIOUS   One of most popular and anticipated treats of the year, this annual showcase culled from over a thousand submissions reflects the creativity, daring, dry wit and production excellence that have come to be the hallmarks of the best work of the British advertising industry. With a candor that often goes where American advertising fears to tread, these "commercials" manage to blur the lines between commerce, information, education and art in provocative fashion, creating the ultimate genre: advertising as irresistible entertainment. Special thanks to the Museum of Modern Art for circulating this program.    (85 mins.)

NOV 24 25 26
FRI 7&9 P.M., SAT 5 & 7:15 P.M., SUN 5 & 7:15 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
ME & ISSAC NEWTON
US 1999
DIRECTOR: MICHAEL APTED   "The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." This statement sets the tone for Apted’s compelling portrait of seven scientists, the sources of their work and the vital questions that drive their inquiry. Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku humorously tells of building an atom smasher in his garage during high school, a step on the road to formulating his theories about the cohesion of the universe; biologist Patricia Wright, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner, has spent her life studying monkeys and the keys to behavior; computer scientist Maja Mataric studies artificial intelligence and thinks that biological axioms are not decisive: ‘everything can be programmed.’ Delving into the minds and lives of these and others (cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, environment physicist Ashok Gadgil, cancer researcher Karol Sikora, and pharmaceutical researcher Gertrude Elion), Apted is as much interested in what makes them tick as what they have accomplished. Their commonalties: optimism, persistence, humor and infinite curiosity.    (105 mins.)

NOV 27 - MON 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
NOIR/NEO NOIR
CHINATOWN
US 1974
DIRECTOR: ROMAN POLANSKI  With the combination of an Oscar-winning screenplay, cinematography by the acclaimed John A. Alonzo, and the expertise of the cast, CHINATOWN ranks not only as one of Hollywood’s most popular films, but also as one of the most artistically successful.  The ultimate "post-noir" work, the film pays a loving homage to the classic genre, while simultaneously reevaluating it. Jack Nicholson stars as Jake Gittes, the antithesis of the honorable Sam Spade of Bogart’s character repertoire. While investigating the affair and subsequent murder of a prominent city official, Gittes finds himself inextricably involved in a scandal whose scope extends beyond his understanding.   (131 mins.)

NOV 30 - THU 7 p.m.
GUILD THEATRE
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
SHOWDOWN IN SEATTLE:
FIVE DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WTO
US  2000
With startling footage of flagrant police brutality, total disregard for First and Fourth Amendment rights by the authorities and the repressive tactics of a police-state type curfew, SHOWDOWN IN SEATTLE lays out a visceral indictment of the Seattle police, local politicians and the entire global market power structure. Following the course of the five-day WTO summit and the peaceful protests that paralleled those meetings, the film moves into the streets of Seattle to witness firsthand what happened during those momentous days. The slanted coverage by  the mass media, particularly television news coverage, is exposed in depth. Including footage from a vast array of video makers covering the events, SHOWDOWN IN SEATTLE was produced for the Independent Media Center and Deep Dish TV by an unprecedented collaboration of video producers from around the US: Big Noise Productions, Changing America, Headwaters Action Video Collective, Paper Tiger TV, VideoActive and Whispered Media.  (60 mins.)   Hosted by Jobs With Justice



SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

CACOYANNIS

Greek filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis, born in Cyprus in 1922, has divided his creative life between filmmaking, directing live theater and opera and translation: Shakespeare into Greek, and Greek classics into English. His internationally acclaimed films range from ancient drama to political documentary to modern comedy. Fiercely uncompromising in his art and often forced to work on the slenderest of budgets, he has nevertheless managed to attract the most talented collaborators to his films and secured his position as the preeminent Greek director of his generation. Among his proudest accomplishments is a trilogy of films based on the plays of Euripides, which we are presenting in co-sponsorship with Portland’s Classic Greek Theater and its FESTIVAL 2000 celebration of ancient Greek drama. September 16-October 1, The Greek Festival will present Sophocles’ masterpiece, OEDIPUS AT COLONUS, in the beautiful outdoor amphitheater on the Reed College Campus. For information on the performances and a schedule of other events call 258-9313.
Presentation of Michael Cacoyannis’ films is made possible by the support of the Greek Film Center, Athens; American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, Collins Foundation, Regional Arts and Culture Council and Classic Greek Theater. Special thanks to Keith Scales, Tom Doulis, Buck Skelton, Voula Georgakakou and Michael Cacoyannis.
 

NOIR/NEO-NOIR

As the name "noir" indicates, it was French film critics who saw in certain American films of the 1940s and ‘50s a dark view of life that contradicted the Hollywood version of our national optimism. Influenced by the German Expressionism, film noir combined the criminal underworld saga, the hard-boiled detective narrative, and the psychoanalytic thriller to produce a small collection of brooding masterpieces. The series examines some of the quintessential works to come out of this genre along with their 1990s remakes, suggesting that the noir sensibility is not entirely in the past. The series also provides the context for a course, FILM NOIR & NEO-NOIR, co-offered by the Film Center and Portland State University and taught by Tom Doulis for credit or non-credit. Series screenings are open to the public for general admission. For information on the course, which includes pre-film discussions, please see Film Center School of Film section.
Thanks to Mike Clark’s Movie Madness Video & More for sponsoring this series.
 

THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL

No greater testimony to the power of media can be found than in the body of personal work  by activist filmmakers dedicated to the struggle for human rights and social, political and economic justice. The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival was created in 1988 to advance public education on these issues by recognizing and showcasing outstanding new films incorporating these themes. Presented in London, and in New York in collaboration with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Festival sheds a global perspective on the inhumanities that confront us all, challenging those with the power, be they the perpetrator of injustice, or the witness, to act.

We are pleased to present a thirteen-film selection drawn from this year's Human Rights Watch International Traveling Film Festival co-presented by the Soros Documentary Fund. Special thanks to Andrea Holley. The presentation at the Northwest Film Center is co-sponsored by Amnesty International-Portland State University, American Jewish Committee-Oregon Chapter, Coalition Against Hate Crimes, Jobs with Justice, Metropolitan Human Rights Center, Oregon Peace Institute, Oregon Uniting, Planned Parenthood of  the Columbia/Willamette, Western Prison Project,  Willamette Week and the World Affairs Council of Oregon
 

DANCE ON FILM

The Dance Films Association’s annual Dance on Camera Festival is the premiere showcase of collaborative works by dancers and filmmakers. In co-sponsorship with White Bird, we are pleased to present a selection of outstanding new works from this year’s 28th Dance on Camera Festival 2000, presented with the Film Society of Lincoln Center. We wish to thank to Deirdre Towers and Joanna Ney, Festival Co-Directors, for their assistance in making these programs possible.
 

THE JOURNEY WITHIN: ROBERT BRESSON

Robert Bresson (1901-1999) is best known for his method: an ascetic sensibility able to distill cinema to its purest and most powerful moments. With exquisite visual restraint, he commands the viewer’s attention at will to a certain gesture, a vein of inner turmoil. A devout Christian, the internal quest for grace lay at the heart of Bresson’s work. "For me, cinema is an exploration within." he said, "Within the mind the camera can grasp anything."

For a man known for his method, Bresson’s body of work is full of masterpieces. His influence has been claimed by Fassbinder, Truffaut and Scorcese among many. Bresson said of his early LES AFFAIRS PUBLIQUE: "I was a painter at the time and I wanted to make a film—a slightly crazy film…I did it without knowing anything about how to make a film. But I wasn’t mistaken, I did right away what I was going to do afterward: work by instinct." This instinct graced cinema with an unflinching vision comparable only to the singular Godard, who said of the director: "Bresson is the French cinema as Dostoevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is German music."

An anecdote from the Harvard Film Archive which shows the urgency Bresson can elicit: "When screened at the Museum of Modern Art, his retrospective sold out every show—and people were witnessed outside clamoring for tickets, dangling incredible prices, as if DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST were the Superbowl. Bresson must have been amused, money changing hands is the most persistent image in his cinema."

We are pleased to present this series, originally organized by James Quandt of the Cinematheque Ontario, through the efforts of Veronique Godard, French Cultural Services, New York, and Salvatore Botti, Austin Film Society. Special thanks to Trilogy for sponsoring our presentations.

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