FALL 2005

Aug 26-Sep 1

Funny Ha Ha

Graduated from college but not ready to move into adulthood, Marnie has yet to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Unwilling to give up her binge drinking or unfortunate taste in men, Marnie drifts through her days and parties through her nights. While her friends are settling down into lifelong relationships and promising careers, she's still jumping from one temp job to another. A film that perfectly captures the awkward mid-20s in all their hedonism, nihilism and chronic uncertainty, FUNNY HA HA is a dazzling, clever debut from filmmaker Andrew Bujalski.

American Icon: The Films of James Dean

James Dean starred in only three films before his tragic death that same year. One of America's great actors, Dean became a legend the moment he appeared on screen. Fifty years later the icon of tormented youth he incarnated is more potent than ever. He is still beautiful and still-in the best way-bad.

Sept 2-8, Fri-Thurs at 7 & 9:15pm

Rebel Without a Cause

(Nicholas Ray, USA, 1955, 35mm, 111 min.)
REBEL charts a day in the life of three maladjusted suburban teens; misfit newbie James Dean, desperate-to-be-loved Natalie Wood, and abandoned (and closeted) Sal Mineo, whose fates become intertwined after a fatal "chickie run," a car race to the edge of a cliff. The story turns on the aching frustration of James Dean's Jim Stark in the face of the bourgeois adult world and the callow machismo of his adolescent contemporaries. This is the film that rocked a generation and made a legend of James Dean in his red-for-danger windbreaker. See it now in all its CinemaScope glory!


Sept 9-15, Fri-Thurs at 7 & 9:15pm

East of Eden

(Elia Kazan, USA, 1955, 35mm, 115 min.)
Mr. Dean's electrifying first film, and the only one to make it to the screen before his death, EAST OF EDEN is a storm of Dean fury. Based on John Steinbeck's novel, EDEN tells a Cain-and-Abel story of two Salinas Valley brothers who battle each other for the love of their father, played by an intimidating Raymond Massey. Dean's brooding Cal does his best to be good, but remains frustrated--terminally awkward and, as his father yells, irredeemably bad "through and through." In real life, Massey hated Dean, which contributed to their on-screen tension and helped to cast Dean as the "misunderstood kid" for generations to come. In CinemaScope!

Sept 9-15

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Sept 16-18

Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story

Sept 21

NWFF's 10th Anniversary Bash!!!

Super Hits, Vol. 10

Northwest Film Forum celebrates 10 years of great cinema!

Join us in revisiting some of the most memorable films and events from our ten years as Seattle's hardest-working and most adventurous arts organization! For the first time ever, all your favorite movies, performers and personalities are jam-packed into one spectacular festival! Don't miss this rare opportunity to see over two dozen super cinema hits the way they're meant to be seen! From classics to oddballs, Seattle cineastes to world masters, and tons of stuff you just won't see anywhere else, this series has everything! Tickets can be purchased individually or, as a special offer to NWFF members, a full series pass, good for admission to all 30 films/programs, can be purchased for only $19.95!

Super Hits gives you all the great film and fun you've come to expect from the Northwest Film Forum. We invite you to sit in the dark with us, revisit those familiar flickers...and catch a few you missed! And don't forget about our huge 10th Anniversary Party on Wed, Sept 21 starting at 8pm.

ALL THE SUPERHITS YOU CAN EAT!
What would you pay for a collection like this? $100? $200? More? Well we're offering the deal of a lifetime. For a limited time, Northwest Film Forum members can purchase a full series pass to Superhits for the unheard of price of only $19.95! (Not a member? Become one now!)



SEPT 23 Fri at 7pm
INTRODUCTION BY THE RADICAL JAMIE HOOK!

A LITTLE STIFF

(Caveh Zahedi & Greg Watkins, USA, 1991, 35mm, 86 min.)
When we rescued and refurbished the Grand Illusion Cinema in 1997, Caveh Zahedi was the first visiting filmmaker, and his debut feature A LITTLE STIFF was one of the first films to grace the newly improved 30-year-old cinema. Caveh plays a neurotic film student whose therapist diagnoses him as fearful of uncertainty. In his sincere attempts to change and dwell with uncertainty, he finds his biggest obstacle: woman. The wheels of courtship stop and start throughout this hilarious indie comedy.


SEPT 23 Fri at 9pm
INSPIRED BY RUMORS, BALD-FACED LIES, AND HALF-REMEMBERED DREAMS, STEVEN SODERBERGH'S

SCHIZOPOLIS

(Steven Soderbergh, USA, 1996, 35mm, 96 min.)
Ever diligent to never pass up crazy, in 1997 we had the WORLD THEATRICAL PREMIERE of (skitz * AH * puh * liss). A surprising follow-up to the critical and commercial hit SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE, this feverishly inventive satire on workaday boredom, sexual malfunction and Scientology was written, directed, produced and photographed by Soderbergh-he's even the star! For this very special screening we've got Mr. Soderbergh's own personal print (thanks Steve!).
Print courtesy of Steven Soderbergh.

Plays with POPULI (David Russo, 2002, 35mm, 8 min.)

"All attempts at synopsizing this film have ended in failure and hospitalization." -Steven Soderbergh


SEPT 23 Fri at 11pm

SECRET CINEMA, LIVE!

Join us for a revival of an event that helped to destroy cinema as we knew it. One of the worst (or best-you decide) films of the 20th century will be held up for public examination and commentary by a beloved Seattle performance artist. We can't tell you the title of the film or the person involved, but we promise you won't be disappointed!


SEPT 24 Sat at 1pm
HARRY NILSSON'S CHILDREN'S CLASSIC

THE POINT

(Harry Nilsson & Fred Wolf, USA, 1971, 16mm, 74 min.)
Shown in 2002 at our annual Childish Film Festival, THE POINT is a perfect example of the creative, non-commercial family programming we�ve been dedicated to exhibiting. This 70s animated classic based on songs by Harry Nilsson takes place in the land of Point, where everything - buildings, trees and even people - is pointed, except for one little round-headed kid named Oblio. Banished with his dog Arrow, Oblio makes an adventurous hero's journey through the mysterious "Pointless Forest." Don't miss the chance to see this beloved musical masterpiece on film.


SEPT 24 Sat at 7pm
THE YARDSTICK OF CELLULOID COOL, JEAN-LUC GODARD'S

BREATHLESS

(Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1960, 35mm, 87 min.)
We pay tribute to the ever inspiring new wave and its dean Jean-Luc Godard, whose films are often the entr�e into cinephilia. With only a thief, a girl and a gun, BREATHLESS rocked the film world when it debuted in 1960, and movies would never be the same. Print courtesy of New Yorker Films.

Plays with MEASURE (Dayna Hanson & Gaelen Hanson, 2000, 16mm, 7 min.)


SEPT 24 Sat at 7pm
DIRECTOR JAMIE HOOK IN ATTENDANCE!

NAKED PROOF

(Jamie Hook, USA, 2003, 35mm, 108 min.)
In honor of our filmmaking co-founders, Debra Girdwood and Jamie Hook, we are giving Seattle another chance to see the film they wrote together. PROOF is a philosophical romantic comedy about a Ph D candidate whose questions about truth and life are further confused by the unexpected responsibility to care for a mysterious pregnant woman. Borrowing from classic screwball comedies, the sharp dialogue and real-life absurdities of PROOF showcase a strong new voice in American cinema. Print courtesy of Pinwheel Pictures.


SEPT 24 Sat at 9, 11pm

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION

(Eric Zala, USA, 1982-1988, 115 min.)
Filmmaker in attendance! Two showings!
Last winter, audiences were literally lined up around the block for the chance to see this unique, unforgettable cinematic experience that only NWFF could bring to town. Our rare screenings of this amazing, homegrown homage to Hollywood fantasy filled our cinemas with laughter. Don�t miss this one-night encore of the rarely-seen home video epic remake painstakingly crafted in the 80s by three determined Mississippi kids! Director Eric Zala will be on hand to talk about their harrowing adventure of truly independent filmmaking.


SEPT 25 Sun at 7pm
HOU HSIAO-HSIEN'S

FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI

(Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan, 1998, 35mm, 130 min.)
A great six weeks at NWFF was undoubtedly our Hou Hsiao-hsien retrospective in 2000. Kicking off the series was the Seattle premiere of FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI, which takes place in a luxurious 19th-century brothel where the elaborate rituals of social intercourse between customers and the women, the "flowers" of the title, provide a candid look into a fascinating society. Print courtesy of Wellspring Films.

"If you care about the future of cinema you can't afford to miss it." -Jonathan Rosenbaum, CHICAGO READER


SEPT 25 Sun at 7pm
AKI KAURISMAKI'S

MATCH FACTORY GIRL

(Aki Kaurismaki, Finland/Sweden, 1989, 35mm, 68min.)
This film hits two birds with one stone for ol' NWFF. It was first shown as part of our Seattle-appropriate 2001 Festival of Depression series and our massive and wildly popular fourteen film 2004 Aki Kaurismaki retrospective. A mousy factory girl's tragic and sad life gets worse and worse until revenge is her only hope. The muted brutality is woven with tense absurdity and repressed, stone-faced hilarity for a deadpan masterpiece. Print courtesy of Kino International.


SEPT 25 Sun at 9pm
SAM FULLER'S GRITTY NOIR CLASSIC

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET

(Samuel Fuller, USA, 1953, 35mm, 80 min.)
One of our largest retrospectives was 1999's GUNSHOT FOR ACTION: The Films of Samuel Fuller in 1999, named for Fuller's notorious caprice on set of beginning each scene with a gunshot. Rife with the stifling paranoia of Cold War America, this noir thriller of international intrigue centers on a master pickpocket (Richard Widmark) who stumbles into something much graver than petty theft when working his magic on the subway.


SEPT 26 Mon at 7pm
START-TO-FINISH #1

MONEY BUYS HAPPINESS

(Gregg Lachow, USA, 1999, 35mm, 109 min.)
The first film to receive the innovative WigglyWorld's Start-to-Finish grant, this charming mid-life crisis comedy follows a Seattle couple as they attempt to push a free piano across the city. "This breezy, Seattle-made film is a charming black comedy with touches of poetic realism reminiscent of Godard or Renior." - 1999 Seattle Int'l Film Festival


SEPT 26 Mon at 9:15pm

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN THE FABULOUS STAINS

(Lou Adler, USA, 1981, 35mm, 87 min.)
Over the past five years, we've been the Northwest's leading presenter of new, classic and rare music movies. One of the gems from our three-year Music+Film series at Experience Music Project, we love this rarely seen 80s music industry satire following angst-ridden Corinne "Third Degree" Burns (a 15-year-old Diane Lane) and her riot girl band's rise to fame. The film features appearances by Fee Waybill (The Tubes), Steve Jones and Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), and Paul Simonon (The Clash). Don't miss this rare screening of a cult classic not available on video. Thanks to Paramount.

Plays with CHARM SCHOOL (Zola Mumford, USA, 1997, 16mm, 10 min.)


SEPT 27 Tues at 7pm
START-TO-FINISH #3

BUFFALO BILL'S DEFUNCT

(Matt Wilkins, USA, 2004, 16mm>DV, 84 min.)
Bill, the aging patriarch of a semi-rural Washington family, is hell-bent on tearing down his barn with a hundred foot cable and a winch. His family watches in horror and fascination as the man they love drifts away from them. The third feature produced through WigglyWorld's Start-to-Finish grant program, made by acclaimed Seattle filmmaker Matt Wilkins.


SEPT 27 Tues at 9pm

NINA SIMONE: LOVE SORCERESS

(Rene Letzgus, France, 1976, BetaSP, 70 min.)
We've shown many classic, rare and new jazz films in our four-year collaboration with the Earshot Jazz Festival. We were one of the first in the US to exhibit this lost concert doc capturing the High Priestess of Soul in a 1976 performance in France. Here's one last chance to see this electrifying document of the legendary songstress in action, and if it leaves you wanting more then check out this year's line-up of hot jazz films.


SEPT 28 Wed at 7pm
START-TO-FINISH #4

HEDDA GABLER

(Paul Willis, USA, 2004, BetaSP, 73 min.)
A woman in a small Central Washington town struggles against a new marriage and is forced to reckon with a life that falls short of her ideals. The fourth feature made through NWFF's Start-to-Finish grant program, HEDDA is a daring, urgent update of the Norwegian masterpiece. Finding rich inspiration in the Dogme movement, Willis uses digital video to create an indelible, claustrophobic portrait of Hedda.


SEPT 28 Wed at 9pm

WATTSTAX

(Mel Stuart, USA, 1973, 35mm, 103 min.)
Back when this 70s soul concert film was just a legendary lost treasure, we convinced the director to dig up the only existing print and present a rare screening in person. Join us in celebrating this vibrant documentary featuring Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, The Bar-Kays and commentary from Richard Pryor. Thanks to Sony Pictures Repertory.


SEPT 29 Thurs at 7pm

BEST OF WIGGLYWORLD STUDIOS

(Various directors, years and formats, 70 min.)
For the first time ever under one roof, we'll screen every short film funded and produced by WigglyWorld. Commissioned 35mm work, cinema trailers, performance oddballs and of course, all four auction films! Featuring work by Serge Gregory, Dave Hanagan, Michael Chick, Jamie Hook, Jaime Keeling and many others.


Full program: WIGGLYOPOLIS by Lilith Piri
KODACHROME CONFIDENTIAL by Dave Hanagan
PARADE (AUCTION FILM #3) by Rachel Kessler
5 YEARS OF CINEMATIC STRUGGLE by Michael Chick
POPPERMAN by Deb Girdwood
THE BARN by Serge Gregory
VISION by Rachel Lord-Konega
WHERE I WAS by Steve Les
ANY GIVEN FRIDAY by Wendy Jo Carlton
SIMPLEX PROJECT (AUCTION #4) by Brandon Bay and Jaime Keeling
MEANING OF CHRISTMAS by Dave Hanagan
SATTELITES TRAILER 04 by Dave Hanagan
SATTELITES TRAILER 03 by Wes Kim
OBSOLETE MEDIA TRAILER by Wes Kim
ULTRA TRAILER by Wes Kim
DRAG FEST/LADIES ONLY MOUSTACHE CONTEST TRAILER by Wes Kim
RUN WIGGLY RUN SUPER 8 TRAILER by Wes Kim
HELP! TRAILER by Jaime Keeling and Dave Hanagan
10TH ANNIVERSARY TRAILER by Dave Hanagan/ Pablo Ferro



SEPT 29 Thurs at 9pm

DUTCH HARBOR: WHERE THE SEA BREAKS ITS BACK

(Braden King and Laura Moya, USA, 1998, 16mm, 80 min.)
In 1999, we presented this meditative non-fiction feature with a live score performed by the Boxhead Ensemble. We're happy to include a rare screening of the innovative, W.P.A.-meets-alt-rock documentary film, shown here in all its grainy celluloid glory.

Plays with THE LAST TEN MINUTES OF EXISTENCE (Jon Behrens, 2000, 16mm, 10 min.)



SEPT 30 Fri at 7pm
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI'S

CLOSE-UP

(Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 1990, 35mm, 100 min.)
One our proudest achievements is championing Iranian cinema, especially the films of directors Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf. With five Seattle premieres and three Northwest premieres under our belt, we have shown everything from fiction to documentary to children's films from the fertile cinema of the Middle East. In 1999, we had the Northwest premiere of CLOSE-UP, a film that breaks down all barriers between fact and fiction to tell the true story of a man arrested for impersonating the great Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The "actors" in the film are the actual people from the true story, with real footage from the imposter's trial cut in. Print courtesy of Zeitgeist Films.

Plays with FOSTER ISLAND (Serge Gregory, 2004, 35mm, 6 min.)

"The greatest film of the 1990s!" -Godfrey Cheshire, NEW YORK PRESS



SEPT 30 Fri at 7pm

WRITTEN ON THE WIND

(Douglas Sirk, USA, 1956, 35mm, 99 min.)
This one's for Hollywood! A powerful, hallucinatory piece of purely emotional cinema, WIND was, like most of Sirk's films, overlooked and misunderstood during his lifetime. Today, Sirk is a primary influence on filmmakers as diverse as Todd Haynes, Pedro Almodovar, Guy Maddin and George Kuchar, and his films are revered as the very pinnacle of melodramatic art. All the cinematic stops are pulled in this wrenching story of the very, very rich, whose lack of morality and character lead to ruin and death. Starring Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall. Print courtesy of Universal Pictures.

"I have seen WRITTEN ON THE WIND a thousand times, and I cannot wait to see it again." -Pedro Almodovar



SEPT 30 Fri at 9pm

VISUAL MUSIC

For three years, our annual Visual Music Festival celebrated the great and often overlooked history of experimental filmmaking. This program highlights gems of the series - from experimental animation to assemblage films that blend visual art and music into moving image magic.



SEPT 30 Fri at 9:15pm

COLD WATER

(Olivier Assayas, USA, 1994, 35mm, 92 min.)
With our ear to the ground and finger on the pulse, we've had the pleasure of premiering the theatrical run of the work of contemporary cinema's great French filmmakers: Francois Ozon, Arnaud Desplechin, Cedric Kahn, Bruno Dumont, Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Patrice Chereau, Olivier Assayas, and others. A drifting, achingly beautiful story of teenage love and longing, this early Assayas film is one of his most personal. The 70s are recreated with loving, unsentimental nostalgia while pulsating classic rock tunes fill the soundtrack of what many consider to the director's best film. Print courtesy of Universal Pictures.



SEPT 30 Fri at 11pm

HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT

(Jeff Krulik, USA, 1986-2000, 114 min.)
What better way to remember our funky and eclectic Little Theatre (1999-2004) than to bring back the films of our favorite eclectic nut magnet and archivist of bizarre Americana, Jeff Krulik. Coordinating his first-ever Northwest tour and retrospective back in 2003 was a wild ride. Don't miss this dirt-rockin, wrassslin', porn-obsessed, laugh-out-loud monkey-business stew of short films from the man that gave the world HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT. The screening includes other not-to-be-missed shorts BLASSIE GOES TO WASHINGTON, KING OF PORN, I CREATED LANCELOT LINK, ERNEST BORGNINE ON THE BUS and Jeff's public access gibberish from his days in the industry! Print courtesy of Jeff Krulik.



OCT 1 Sat at 7pm

SEVEN YEAR ITCH

(Billy Wilder, USA, 1955, 35mm, 105 min.)
Themed programming has been the quirky heart and soul of repertory showcasing at NWFF. One of our favorites was Summer Blondes in 2000 celebrating American cinema's obsession with bleach�bleached curls, platted waves and towering perms. Peroxide queen Marilyn Monroe struts her hot stuff over subway grates (oops!), and makes Tom Ewell's frustrated married man Richard Sherman pant in this fun sexual tension farce by the impish Billy Wilder.



OCT 1 Sat at 7pm

THE GLEANERS AND I

(Agnes Varda, France, 2000, 35mm, 82 min.)
Early campaigners for documentary as big screen art rather than made-for-tv, we distilled our rallying cry in 2001 with our First Person Cinema documentary festival (2001-04), which anticipated the documentary explosion to come. Here is a perfect example of what we're talkin' about: a delightful personal documentary from the Grand Dame of French cinema, GLEANERS seeks out those who thrive on what society discards. In her joyous investigation into a new way of looking at the world, filmmaker Varda finds heroes in the least likely of places. Print courtesy of Zeitgeist Films.



OCT 1 Sat at 9:15pm

CREMASTER 2

(Matthew Barney, USA, 1999, 35mm, 79 min.)
Always on the cutting edge, we premiered CREMASTER 5 & 2 only a year after their completion, acquiring them before they had secured any conventional theatrical distribution. Even edgier was having the west coast theatrical premiere of CREMASTER 2. C2 is an epic western featuring Barney (as Utah serial killer Gary Gilmore), Norman Mailer (as Harry Houdini), Slayer's Dave Lombardo, and the Canadian Mounted Police. This film will never release on home video (artist's restriction) so see it while you can. Print courtesy of Palm Pictures.



OCT 1 Sat at 11pm

BENNY, MARTY AND JERKBEAST

(Brady Hall & Calvin Reeder, 2003, DV>BetaSP, 90 min.)
Outsider cinema is alive and well in Seattle! From the brains of Brady Hall and Calvin Reeder come three unsuspecting heroes who rise to the peak of rock and roll stardom, only to face the most difficult challenge possible. Join one of the worst rock and roll bands EVER, along with their foul-mouthed drumming monster, in their lackluster rise to the top.

Plays with PHANTASM ORGASM (Rachel Lord, Super 8 + CD, 5 min.)



OCT 2 Sun at 1pm

BEST CHILDREN'S FILMS EVER!

(Various directors, Various formats, 70 mins.)
Since purchasing the Grand Illusion Cinema in 1997, NWFF has dedicated itself to being the Northwest's premiere presenter of cinema for and by children. Program includes the French cinema masterpiece THE RED BALLOON (Albert Lamorisse), the animated classic COCKABOODY (Faith and John Hubley), RENT'S DUE a homage to silent slapstick films (Andy McCone), avant garde theatre troupe The Compound's BLUECOATED STORY (Erich Maahs), and selected masterpieces of Czech animation.



OCT 2 Sun at 6pm

FIRST LOOKS SHORTS

Continually championing new and exciting work by lesser-known artists, our programs have provided glimpses of future masters in their formative years, showcased great talents before the masses have caught on, and kept our audiences way ahead of the curve. First Looks features shorts from two filmmakers who have released debut features this year to great acclaim: Miranda July (NEST OF TENS) and Mike Mills (DEFORMER). Also included are short works by Guy Maddin (HEART OF THE WORLD, ODILON REDON) - whose newest film was made with NWFF's new production initiative The Film Company - and Michael Almreyda (THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER), whose new doc on the photographer William Eggleston premieres later this fall. Prints courtesy of Zeitgeist Films, The Director's Bureau, and Video Databank.

"HEART OF THE WORLD: the best 6 min. of your life!" - Jaime Keeling, NWFF Program Director



OCT 2 Sun at 8pm
ORIGINAL LIVE SCORE BY WAYNE HORVITZ

WOMAN OF TOKYO

(Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1933, 35mm, 47 min.)
The complete existing work of master filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu graced our screens last winter, including ten rarely-seen silent films that lit the screen to the accompaniment of NWFF commissioned scores from some of Seattle's most talented musicians. We are thrilled to bring back Wayne Horvitz to play his powerful score to Ozu's sizzling melodrama WOMAN OF TOKYO. Elder sister Chikako secretly moonlights in a sleazy nightclub in order to put her brother Ryo through college. When the unsuspecting Ryo finds out, he attacks her for bringing shame to the family, then comes rapidly unhinged with guilt. In Japanese with English subtitles. $13/$10 NWFF members Print courtesy of Criterion Collection/Janus Films



Oct 7-13

8th Annual Local Sightings

Oct 14-20

Games of Love & Chance

OCT 21-27 Fri-Thurs at 7:30, 9pm
Robert Bresson's

Pickpocket

(Robert Bresson, France, 1959, 35mm, 75 min.)

Dazzlingly sensual and profoundly spiritual, Robert Bresson's 1959 masterpiece confirmed his status as the most important French filmmaker of his generation. This impressionistic study of crime and redemption follows Michel, a petty thief whose criminal life separates him from the woman who loves him. Michel learns the art of a pickpocket while the police breathe down his neck. Crafted with extraordinary delicacy and bursting with intensely gorgeous images, PICKPOCKET showcases Bresson at his most vital, dynamic and accessible. Massively influential and universally revered, Bresson's work stands alone as a unique, towering achievement unlike anything else in cinema or elsewhere. Screened in a brand new, fully-restored 35mm print!

"The release of PICKPOCKET is one of the four or five great dates in the history of cinema... a profoundly inspired film." �Louis Malle



Extended!!!
Fridays and Saturdays at 11pm
Oct 28-29, Nov 5 (Sat only), Nov 11-12, 18-19, 25-26

We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen

(Tim Irwin, USA, 2005, BetaSP, 90 min.)
Sponsored by KEXP & Easy Street Records

WE JAM ECONO explores the evolution of one of the most creative and exciting bands to emerge from the fertile 1980s American underground, The Minutemen. Initially misunderstood by some and embraced by others in the LA hardcore scene, they would help to build the bridge between hardcore/punk music and mid-eighties art/avant-garde bands like Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, and Dinosaur Jr., and they did it themselves without compromise. Two best friends and one surf dude from the unlikely town of San Pedro, California, The Minutemen were driven by LA punk, British post-punk, and rock greats like Blue Oyster Cult and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Unfortunately for all in 1985, the band would prematurely end when singer, poet and guitar great D. Boon tragically died in a car accident. Featuring interviews with surviving members Mike Watt and George Hurley and their contemporaries Greg Ginn, Keith Morris, Richard Hell, Raymond Pettibon, Thurston Moore, Colin Newman and many more.


Northwest Film Forum and Earshot Jazz present...

EARSHOT JAZZ FILMS

Oct. 26-30, 2005
Sponsored by Easy Street Records and KEXP

Each year, NWFF presents the film component of the Earshot Jazz Festival, bringing to light the history of this vibrant music and exploring its most inspiring and innovative artists. This year's program features new documentaries, rarely seen archival performance films, and even a special screening of swingin' cartoons!

OCT 26 Wed at 7pm

JAZZ JUKEBOX FILMS FROM THE 1940S

Long before MTV, a movie jukebox system featured performances by the hottest music stars of the wartime era. Known as Soundies, these one-song short films played in bars, hotels and amusement parks from coast to coast. Music historian Joe Vinikow will present this special archival screening of some of the best of these rare films, featuring early performances by Nat "King" Cole, Fats Waller, Louis Jordan and many others! Buy your tickets now!


OCT 26-30 Wed-Sun at 9pm
U.S. PREMIERE!

MY NAME IS ALBERT AYLER

(Kasper Collin, Sweden, 2005, Beta SP, 79 minutes)
With director Kaspar Collin in attendance Wed, Oct 26.
Saxophonist Albert Ayler was a great innovator of free jazz in the 1960s. Collaborating with such artists as Cecil Taylor and Don Cherry and championed by John Coltrane, Ayler continually pioneered new sonic territory until his untimely and still unexplained death in 1970. Seven years in the making, MY NAME IS ALBERT AYLER pieces together rare archival material and interviews for the first in-depth exploration of the jazz innovator's life and unique approach to music.


OCT 27-29 Thurs-Sat at 7pm
SPECIAL WORK-IN-PROGRESS SCREENING!

THIS IS GARY MCFARLAND

(Kristian St. Clair, USA, 2005, 96 min.)
Director scheduled to attend
This new documentary from Seattle director Kristian St. Clair explores the life and times of self-taught musician, composer and producer Gary McFarland, who despite great contributions and affiliations with such notables as Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Hodges, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Clark Terry, Gabor Szabo and Cal Tjader, is largely forgotten today. Discover his great talent and impact through the archival footage, candid interviews, and unreleased music in THIS IS GARY MCFARLAND.


OCT 29 Sat at 1pm

ANIMATION+SYNCOPATION: Swinging Cartoons For The Whole Family

Don't miss this rollicking anthology of rarely seen jazz cartoons! Be astounded when Betty Boop dances with Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway. Sing along when the Boswell Sisters morph into surreal animated characters. And trip out when a hot trumpet blows a feline Fats Waller out of this world--literally!


OCT 29-30 Sat-Sun 5pm
SEATTLE PREMIERE!

JAZZ ON THE WEST COAST: THE LIGHTHOUSE

(Ken Koenig, 2005, USA, 77 min.)
This new documentary tells the story of the Hermosa Beach club and its house band that became a home and family for West Coast jazz and traveling East Coast artists in the 1950s and 60s. The unlikely collaboration of bass player Howard Rumsey and club owner John Levine, The Lighthouse helped establish modern jazz in the Los Angeles area, hosting such musicians as Shelley Manne, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Max Roach and many others.


OCT 30 Sun at 7pm

JAZZ WOMEN ON SCREEN

Music historian Joe Vinikow presents a special program of legendary divas captured on film in their prime. Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Ethel Waters and other jazz and blues vocalists make their screen debuts in this selection of rare performance footage. Don't look for the DVD: this program was created exclusively for this one-time screening!


Oct 27-30

Naked Island

With Live Score by Aono Jikken Ensemble

LET'S ROLL NOV 4-9

We've teamed up with the Rat City Rollergirls to present a film extravaganza on wheels. With three favorite films on skates, highlights from RCRG�s 2005 season (ending Oct 15 - to purchase tickets to the championship bout, click here), and a hot opening night party on Fri Nov 4 featuring the World Premiere of extended highlights and the girls themselves on hand to give a bow! TRIPLE FEATURE SATURDAY NIGHT! SEE ALL THREE FILMS FOR ONE ADMISSION!


NOV 4 Fri at 9pm

ROLLERGIRLS IN ATTENDANCE!

WORLD PREMIERE OF 2005 RAT CITY ROLLERGIRLS SEASON HIGHLIGHTS + PARTY!

If you missed any bouts from this season you'll not want to miss this! Watch the triumphs, the defeats, and the inspiring play by play. Plus a sneak peak at upcoming roller derby docs in the making. Don't miss RCRG favorite UNHOLY ROLLERS playing at 7pm. Stay for the party!


NOV 4-9 Fri at 7pm, Sat-Mon at 9pm, Tues-Wed at 7pm
RARE 35MM PRINT! NOT AVAILABLE ON VIDEO!

UNHOLY ROLLERS

(Vernon Zimmerman, USA, 1972, 35mm, 88 min.)
Played by 1970 Playmate of the Year Claudia Jennings, the sexy Karen is fed up, quick to violence and ready to become a derby diva. As she fulfills her destiny as queen of the derby, Karen incurs the wrath of her equally violent and jealous teammates. Don�t miss this (sometimes topless) girl-on-girl action and the most bone-crushing, adrenaline-pumping derby excitement ever put on film. + RCRG highlights!


NOV 5-7 Sat-Mon at 7pm
RARE 35MM PRINT! NOT AVAILABLE ON VIDEO!
1979's ROLLER DISCO MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

SKATETOWN, U.S.A

(William A. Levey, USA, 1979, 35mm, 98 min.)
A roller disco musical with a teen-powered cast to make any red-blooded rollergirl (or boy) swoon: heartthrob Scott Baio, newcomer Patrick Swayze (in his film debut!), the Brady Bunch's Maureen "Marcia" McCormick, and more recognizable faces. See them fight to the finish as clashing roller skate gangs battle for the gold. With a soundtrack featuring Earth, Wind and Fire, the Jacksons, Heatwave and others. + RCRG highlights!


NOV 5-9 Sat at 11pm, Tues-Wed at 9pm, No shows Sun & Mon
TECHNICOLOR 35MM PRINT!

ROLLERBALL

(Norman Jewison, USA, 1975, 35mm, 129 min.)
There is no war�only Rollerball. The year is 2018 and it looks a lot like the fashionable 70s. Nations have dissolved and corporations rule the world, and the spectator sport of choice is Rollerball, a futuristic version of roller derby (only with motorcycles, spiked gloves and death). James Caan plays the undefeatable star rollerball athlete in this hell on wheels sci-fi Roman circus. + RCRG highlights!


Nov 5

Seoul Train

Mon, Nov 7 at 7pm
Third Eye Cinema

Featuring the films of Len Lye

Third Eye Cinema is excited to present a selection of painstakingly handmade films along with five classics by kinetic sculptor, writer and filmmaker Len Lye, one of the great early pioneers of direct cinema and cameraless animation.

OTTOMON

(Jon Behrens & R.K. Adams, 2005. 16mm)
We're pleased to host the world premiere of this brand new hand-painted opus by Seattle filmmakers Jon Behrens and R.K. Adams.

PICTURE YOURSELF HERE

(Inna-Marie Strazhnik, 2003, 16mm)
A flickering onslaught of hand-contact printed, hand-processed images from thousands of tourist sites and family vacations. PICTURE YOURSELF HERE celebrates the serene dream of the perfect get-away, while questioning the validity of the manufactured tourist experience. The film is a clever montage of sunlit resorts and hopeful gazes that eerily and comically imitates the fleeting happiness inherent in our search for paradise.

HARDWOOD PROCESS

(David Gatten, 1996, 16mm)
A history of scarred surfaces, an inquiry, and an imagining: for the marks we see and the marks we make, for the languages we can read and for those we are trying to learn. "... HARDWOOD PROCESS traffics in chemically manipulated and optically reprinted images of this world. Marks on scruffy floor boards, swirls of dust and fallen hairs, weather bruised walls of an old barn, words etched into film, vividly colored and solarized windows, fields aglow with otherworldly light, lover's hands feeling lover's hands, painterly abstraction that borders on blind light, the darkly voided screen itself - Gatten mindfully, imaginatively, poetically, generously regards these marked realms not as chaos, not as visual noise, but as enigmatic languages." - Zack Stiglicz

RAINBOW DANCE

(Len Lye, 1936, 16mm)
In this film Lye makes amazingly imaginative use of a new and innovative color process called Gasparcolor, managing to produce intricately layered composite images, with colored after-images lingering behind every gesture. Drawings are combined with live-action silhouettes of dancer Rupert Doone against stylized backgrounds. Lye considered his new technique to be an "opportunity to transform realism into color hyroglyphics."

COLOR CRY

(Len Lye, 1952, 16mm)
One of Lye's greatest cameraless films, and certainly the most elaborate "photogram" film ever made. He exposed 16mm films strips through stencils, fabrics, color gels, and various objects to create complex textures and shapes. The images are accompanied by blues musician Sunny Terrys Fox Hunt a song Lye interpreted as the feelings of a black slave fleeing from a lynch mob.

FREE RADICALS

(Len Lye, 1958, revised 1979, 16mm)
A scratch film described by Stan Brakhage as "an almost unbelievably immense masterpiece (a brief epic). Lye used anything from surgical and dental tools to arrowheads and saw teeth to etch rhythmic and dynamic dancing lines into black leader. The film's title refers to modern physics - "free radicals" are particles of energy - but the visual style is still reminiscent of tribal art.

PARTICLES IN SPACE

(Len Lye, 1979, 16mm)
This "contemplative equivalent" to FREE RADICALS further explores the imagery of particles of energy. Lye also employed new innovations in scratching film, focusing on "a smaller, more compact zizz of energy than I'd ever got before on film� Vibrating dots and dashes which swirled, pulsed, squiggled and darted about.." The film begins and ends with sounds of Lye's steel kinetic sculptures.

TAL FARLOW

(Len Lye, 1980, 16mm)
In the 1950s Lye made geometrical scratch patterns to accompany the elegant jazz guitar playing of Tal Farlow. He had finished the drawings before his death in1980 but died before he could complete the film. The editing was finished by his assistant, experimental filmmaker Steve Jones.



Nov 10-16

William Eggleston in the Real World

NOV 11-23 Fri-Wed at 7, 9pm (plus Sat, Sun at 5pm)
ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL FILMS EVER MADE!

Winter Soldier

(Winterfilm Collective, USA, 1971, 16mm>BetaSP, 95 min.)
Sponsored by Water for Peace and University of Washington Southeast Asia Center

Chronicling the extraordinary Winter Soldier Investigation conducted by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) in Detroit during the winter of 1971, Winterfilm Collective shot footage of more than 125 Vietnam veterans (including a very young John Kerry) that gave eyewitness testimony to war crimes and atrocities they either participated in or witnessed. Virtually unreported by the media, WINTER SOLDIER is the only record of this historic turning point in American history. Shown at the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals and lauded throughout Europe, it only opened briefly in Manhattan, and was broadcast for a single showing on New York's WNET. Thirty-five years later, the veterans' courage in testifying and their desire to prevent further atrocities and regain their own humanity makes WINTER SOLDIER an unforgettable experience. The recent abuses of prisoners of Abu Ghraib, and in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo have sometimes been reported as unprecedented. The voices of the veterans in Winter Soldier attest that they were not.

"Like a live hand grenade brought home from a distant battlefield."-David M. Halbfinger, NEW YORK TIMES


Nov 12

Soon-Mi Yoo: Exorcising History

NOV 18-DEC 1 Fri-Thurs at 7, 9pm No show NOV 24
Seattle Premiere!

New York Doll

(Greg Whiteley, US, 2005, 35mm, 77 min.)
Sponsored by KEXP 90.3FM & Easy Street Records

Seminal glam-punk band the New York Dolls breathed life into the stagnating music scene of the 70s and inspired the punk revolution. But after just a few years, the band broke up and the members went their separate ways. Frontman David Johansen went on to some success with his alter-ego, Buster Poindexter. Guitarist Johnny Thunders died of a methadone overdose. But bassist Arthur "Killer" Kane's life took an even more unlikely turn. After disappearing from the music scene and bottoming out on alcohol, Kane became a born-again Mormon. NEW YORK DOLL is both a music film tracing the history and impact of the influential band as well as an intimate portrait of Kane in his post-Doll life working at the Mormon Family History Center in Los Angeles. Kane relates his struggles after the rock star life evaporated, his jealousy of Johansen�s success, his relationship with the church, and his long-time dream of getting the band back together. His prayers are answered when Morrisey organizes a Dolls reunion for the Meltdown Festival in London. Kane gets his bass out of hock and the surviving members get together for the first time in 30 years for one last concert. NEW YORK DOLL is a touching portrait of Kane and a tribute to the legacy of the influential band.