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The Immortal Woman

(Alain Robbe–Grillet, France, 1963, 35mm, 100 min)

Robbe–Grillet’s first solo directorial feature, scripted before Last Year at Marienbad, The Immortal Woman was only completed in 1962. Winner of the Prix Louis Delluc, this enigmatic film tells the story of N., who falls in love with the elusive stranger Leila in Istanbul. She disappears mysteriously and he is determined he will find her again. Robbe–Grillet plays out this dance of desire, illusion, and death in Byzantium, repeating sequences in altered form to emphasize the unreliability of fact, the elusiveness of the past. The eerie, evocative soundtrack includes unnerving music by Georges Delerue.

SEPTEMBER 6 – 7, SATURDAY AT 9PM, SUNDAY AT 7PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Trans–Europe–Express

(Alain Robbe–Grillet, France, 1966, 35mm, 95 min)

This film was banned in the UK on its initial release in 1967. Jean (played by Robbe–Grillet himself) writes a screenplay for a film while on board a Trans–Europe–Express. Jean–Louis Trintignant plays the protagonist of the film–within–the–film–a professional drug–smuggler with sado–masochistic tendencies who gets involved with a prostitute and double agents while commuting between Paris and Antwerp.

“Trans–Europe Express is as challenging and influential today as it was in the 1960s–a key text of the postwar European avant–garde.” – Senses of Cinema

SEPTEMBER 13 – 14, SATURDAY AT 7PM, SUNDAY AT 9:15PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

The Man Who Lies

(Alain Robbe–Grillet, France, 1968, 35mm, 116 min)

Is the man lying or not? With Robbe–Grillet, it is impossible to tell, and probably beside the point. Boris Varissa, the Kafkaesque protagonist played by Jean–Louis Trintingant, arrives in a small town that is in mourning for a local resistance hero, Jean Robin, who disappeared before the end of the war and is presumed dead. No one recognizes Boris, though he claims to have been Jean’s assistant and savior. Boris adjusts his tales of his relationship with the fallen hero to the listener, and his stories increasingly take on the quality of myth. Of course, Robbe–Grillet devotes plenty of time to the erotic—Boris enjoys the sexual pleasures of several women during their time of mourning, and watches a lesbian affair between maid and sister –and ends all narrative certainty with a time–tried device that might leave you agog. The Man Who Lies was written for Trintingant, who won the Best Actor award at the Berlin film festival, where the film also won the award for Best Screenplay.

SEPTEMBER 13 – 14, SATURDAY AT 9:15PM, SUNDAY AT 7PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Eden And After

(Alain Robbe–Grillet, France, 1971, 35mm, 121 min)

This was Robbe–Grillet’s first excursion into color, shot in Tunisia and Czechoslovakia. While part of an actor’s group, Catherine tries some ’fear powder’ offered to her by mysterious stranger Duche–min. He vanishes and she sets off for North Africa to find him, living for real the hallucinations she had witnessed earlier. Says Robbe–Grillet, “This is a film about colors. About the blue and white of the landscape, and about the red that would come to stain it cruelly.”

SEPTEMBER 11, THURSDAY AT 8PM

Soul Nite!

SPECIAL 11-DAY RUN!

Momma’s Man

(Azazel Jacobs, USA, 2008, 35mm, 94 min)

The latest work from writer/director Azazel Jacob, son of avante garde ﬁlmmaker Ken Jacobs, Momma’s Man strikes a chord with anyone who’s ever been anxious about returning to the family nest after years away from home. But what if, once you returned home, you didn’t want to leave? Momma’s Man begins when thirty–something Mikey (Matt Boren) in an existential crisis, returns to his aging parents’ place in New York after deciding not to go home to his wife and small child in Los Angeles. Unsure of what to do next, Mikey is happy to procrastinate at home with his mother, who’s just as happy to have him home. His father, though, sees right through the situation. Jacobs’ story is an intimate one; he cast his own parents and shot the ﬁlm–wryly comic, sometimes heartbreaking–in their New York apartment where he grew up.

“This is independent film defined.”– Manohla Dargis, NY Times

“A film of acute perceptions, great sadness and wordless, ecstatic joy, and the one unforgettable narrative film I saw at this year’s festival.”– Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

SEPTEMBER 15, MONDAY AT 7PM

Northwest Film Forum Annual Meeting

This is your chance to have a say in the future of Northwest Film Forum! Our annual meeting is a place to network with other members, have input into the structure and future of the organization, vote on incoming board members, amend the bylaws of the corporation, discuss the state of filmmaking, get to know Seattle filmmakers, and enjoy a drink among friends.

More information and agenda at: www.nwfilmforum.org/about/annualagenda

SEPTEMBER 19 – 25, FRIDAY – THURSDAY AT 7:15, 9:15PM (PLUS SATURDAY & SUNDAY AT 5:15PM)

The Universe Of Keith Haring

(Christina Clausen, USA, 2007, digiBETA, 90 min)

The creator of some of the most popular and enduring images of late 20th Century art, Keith Haring was also an iconic figure of the downtown New York scene in the ’80s. Christina Clausen’s documentary offers an affectionate, deeply personal glimpse into Haring’s life, from his early years growing up in a small, conservative Pennsylvania town to his heyday as a world–renowned artist, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Madonna, Jean–Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol. Haring’s family and childhood friends offer anecdotes about the artist’s early years, but it is the recollections of the ’70’s and ’80s New York art scene that form the heart and soul of this documentary. Combining music of the era, photo stills, and audio interviews, Clausen brings the sights and sounds of these decades vividly to life. Yoko Ono, Junior Vasquez, David LaChappelle, and gallery owner Tony Shafrazi are among those who offer insight into the significance of Haring’s work, as well as their personal memories of their friendship with him.

SEPTEMBER 18, THURSDAY AT 8PM

Doxita

Doxita is a traveling festival of documentary films that are under 40 minutes in length. The program, comprised of approximately two hours of film, represents a wide variety of documentary designed to profile the great content and artistic vision that non–fiction short films provide, but that people don’t often get a chance to see. The festival includes Martin Thomas (A film about one´s man´s painful journey to stop his stammer, UK/Wales, by Dylan Wyn Thomas, 31 minutes); The Guarantee (A tale told through animated drawings of one man´s consideration of plastic surgery to help his ballet career, USA, by Jesse Epstein, 10 minutes); Cross Your Eyes, Keep Them Wide (An invitation into a special workspace for artists with development disabilities; USA, by Ben Wu, 23 minutes); El Cerco (A breathtaking look at tuna fishing in the Mediterranean, Spain, by Ricardo Iscar/Nacho Martin, 12 minutes); and Vángelo Monzón (An inside look at a man who has been making bricks in Argentina since he was a boy, Sweden, by Andréas Lennartsson, 8 minutes), among others.

SEPTEMBER 16 – 17, TUESDAY AT 7:15PM, WEDNESDAY AT 9:15PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Miloš Forman' Formative Films

Audition aka Competition

(Miloš Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1963, 35mm, 77 min)

Forman’s rarely screened early film is composed of two short films: Audition and If There Were No Music. The former is about Czech provincial life and amateur music–making and is considered one of the films that launched the Czech New Wave. The second is a faux documentary of several talent auditions, providing a snapshot of Czech life in the Bohemian 1960s. The pair are set to a stirring soundtrack of Czech pop, folk, and classical music.

SEPTEMBER 16 – 17, TUESDAY AT 9:15PM, WEDNESDAY AT 7:15PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Black Peter

(Miloš Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1964, 35mm, 85 min)

Miloš Forman’s first fully fictional feature is a funny, astutely observed, affectionate comedy about a disenchanted 1960s Czech teenager. Peter works as a trainee supermarket detective, clashes with his conservative father, and pines for the local tomboy. Forman employed non–professional actors, improvisation, and real locations to breathe new life into Czech cinema, and this charming, anti–authoritarian movie won the Czechoslovak Film Critics’ prize.

“After two shorts in which he gave documentary material fictional form, Forman gave his fictional material documentary form.” –The Holt Foreign Film Guide.

SEPTEMBER 23 – 24, TUESDAY AT 7:15PM, WEDNESDAY AT 9:15PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Loves Of A Blonde

(Miloš Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1965, 35mm, 88 min)

Forman’s breakthrough film, a commentary on the perils of totalitarianism, follows the everyday life and sexual fumbles of a naive teenage girl in a dreary town. A cornerstone of the Czech New Wave, the film grapples with the realities of injustice and disillusionment, yet its international popularity was due in part to the optimism and tenderness of its outlook.

SEPTEMBER 23 – 24, TUESDAY AT 9:15PM, WEDNESDAY AT 7:15PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Firemen’s Ball

(Miloš Forman, Czechoslovakia, 1967, 35mm, 71 min)

Miloš Forman’s final Czech film is his funniest and most savage. A satire on petty bureaucracy, the movie chronicles a provincial firemen’s ball that goes horribly awry. When it was first released, 40,000 Czech firemen resigned in protest over its unflattering depiction of their profession.

SEPTEMBER 30 – OCTOBER 1, TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY AT 7:15, 9:15PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Taking Off

(Miloš Forman, USA, 1971, 35mm, 93 min)

In this dark, affectionate satire, a husband and wife embark on a wild–goose chase after their runaway daughter and wind up experimenting with the lifestyle of youth counterculture. In his first film after migrating to the U.S. in the wake of the Soviet crackdown, Forman offers a fresh, idiosyncratic perspective on his adopted country. Ike and Tina Turner contribute an electrifying performance.

“Forman’s career pivot point between Prague’s film–school halls and the Oscars podium is still a prime example of the way a foreign director can apply an outsider’s perspective to something like Nixon’s Amerikkka and draw blood.” – Time Out NY

SEPTEMBER 25, THURSDAY AT 8PM

You’re Lookin’ at Country

Decibel Festival 2008 Optical Multimedia Showcases

Free with an “All Access dB Pass” or $15 day of sale

Historically, visual art and electronic music have held a strong creative bond. Since its inception, Decibel has been exploring this relationship through film, VJ performances, installations, original art and multimedia workshops. To help celebrate their fifth year anniversary, Decibel will be hosting not one, but two OPTICAL Multimedia Showcases as part of the 2008 program. Both showcases explore the intersections between audio and video technology through live collaborations, featuring cutting–edge artists in both the audio and video world. Confirmed artists include William Basinski (New York), Library Tapes (Sweden), Akira Rabelais (Los Angeles), Jeff Greinke (Tucson), Carole Kim (Los Angeles), offthesky (Kentucky), Son of Rose (Seattle) and Scott Sunn (Seattle) with more to be announced. Space will be very limited. For guaranteed admission we recommend purchasing an “All Access Pass” for the 2008 Decibel Festival online through Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/38530

SEPTEMBER 28 – OCTOBER 1, SUNDAY – WEDNESDAY AT 7:30PM

NEW 35MM PRINT!

Painters Painting

(Emile de Antonio, USA, 1973, 35mm, 116 min)

We’re pleased to present a new print of Painters Painting on the 35th anniversary of this essential art documentary, and in tribute to artist Robert Rauschenberg, who passed away this spring. Regarded as one of the best films about the art and practice of painting, this rarely screened film provides a window into the ideals and processes of many of the important American painters of the 50s and 60s. Director Emile de Antonio, who was close friends with the featured artists, was in a unique position to film them informally in their studios. Candid and spontaneous conversations with Robert Rauschenberg, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Barnett Newman, Hans Hoffman, Jules Olitski, Philip Pavia, Larry Poons, Robert Motherwell and Kenneth Noland (done in monochrome) are interwoven with images of their most well–known paintings (filmed in color).

OCTOBER 3 – 9

Local Sightings

Local Sightings is a film festival for the Northwest.

Northwest Film Forum’s premiere showcase of Northwest filmmaking is back, bigger than ever. The festival, which happens at NWFF’s theaters in Seattle, features great prizes, filmmaker parties, archival Northwest films and an impressive national film industry jury looking for strong Northwest work.

The annual festival includes both feature film presentations as well as short film programs and special events with live film performances, installation art, audience participation and parties. This year’s festival takes place in the cinemas of Northwest Film Forum from October 3–8. The line up of films will be announced and posted on the website on September 20. Included in this year’s festival will be the usual assortment of fiction, documentary and experimental films as well as a featured presentation of a historical Seattle film, a staged reading of this year’s Washington State Screenplay Competition winning script, and an opening party that will ignite Seattle’s film scene Friday night and keep it bleary eyed Saturday morning.

OCTOBER 10 – 16, FRIDAY – THURSDAY AT 7, 9PM (PLUS SATURDAY & SUNDAY AT 5PM)

NORTHWEST FILM FORUM AND LONGHOUSE MEDIA PRESENT

The Exiles

(Kent Mackenzie, USA, 1961, 35mm, 72 min)
New 35mm print!
Opening Night Reception
Sherman Alexie will introduce Tuesday's screening
SPONSORED BY RANDY LEWIS AND NATIVE VOICES

After years of researching in the Native American community in Los Angeles, Kent Mackenzie began working with his protagonists on The Exiles in 1957. The film, which was completed three years later, is one of the first – and still very few – films about young Indians in the big city. For his empathetic observations, Mackenzie found poetic forms far from any kind of romanticizing. His graphic sense for nocturnal Los Angeles, the use of interviews with the actors as the inner monologues of the protagonists, and the soundtrack of the rock ’n’ roll band “The Revels” from radios and jukeboxes make The Exiles a masterpiece of great beauty and integrity. Its restoration closes another gap in the history of independent cinema.

OCTOBER 10 – 16, FRIDAY – THURSDAY AT 7:15, 9:15PM (PLUS SATURDAY & SUNDAY AT 5:15PM)

DIRECTOR IN ATTENDANCE OPENING NIGHT!

Secrecy

(Peter Galison, Robb Moss, USA, 2007, digiBETA, 85 min)

In today’s wired world most of us enjoy the luxury of free flowing information 24 hours a day. So why does the United States government spend more time and money than ever before making sure we don’t have access to certain information? The seduction and power of secrecy is at the core of this provocative documentary from Robb Moss and Peter Galison. Are secrets necessary for our national security? Is an informed American public the best way to fight terrorism? Where does the line exist between public safety and civil liberties? If secrets are necessary, who gets to know? The film focuses on journalists, lawyers and government officials who have spent their careers debating these important questions. From World War II and the creation of the atom bomb through September 11 and recent abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, we see the role information management has played in some of this country’s biggest triumphs and tragedies. Moss and Galison combine credible talking head interviews and real–world footage with stylized animation, and expressive music to create a layered, thought provoking narrative.

OCTOBER 17 – 26

Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

The Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival returns for its 13th year, October 17–26, 2008. Screenings, parties, panel discussions and networking events will be happening at venues all over town, including Northwest Film Forum, Cinerama, Harvard Exit Theatre, and more.

The largest event of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, the festival continues to gain industry and audience recognition for showcasing the latest and greatest in queer film, from major motion picture premieres to emerging talent. Local filmmakers are given special attention through programs and projects such as the Super 8 Film Challenge. And returning after last year’s hit debut is the “Gay TV Dinners” series at Central Cinema.

For more information, including a schedule of events and how to purchase tickets, go to www.threedollarbillcinema.org

OCTOBER 27 – 30, MONDAY – THURSDAY AT 7, 9PM

New 35mm print!

Young Mr. Lincoln

(John Ford, USA 1939, 35mm, 100 min)

To mark the political season Northwest Film Forum presents John Ford’s masterpiece, starring Henry Fonda. The French title of the film is Toward His Destiny, an apt description of this fictional chronicle of Abraham Lincoln’s early life and steps toward his iconic place in American history. Ford and Fonda, working together for the first time, brilliantly capture the moments when Lincoln’s greatness emerged and was first tested—as he clerks in a general store, studies law, suffers through the loss of his first love, and successfully defends two brothers accused of murder. The film has inspired generations of Americans with the masterful way it captures the intense combination of compassion, integrity, intellect and ambition that formed the character of America’s most important and revered President.

“...one of John Ford’s most perfectly realized works, an effortless jelling of his bawdy sense of humor, his patriotism, his mythical sense of history and his gorgeous, cinematic poetry…this Lincoln helped bring humanity to a wild, unruly nation, and Ford has done him justice in this beautiful, funny, entertaining film.” – Jeffrey M. Anderson, CombustibleCelluoid.com

RETURN TO TOP

OCTOBER 28 – 29, TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY AT 8PM

Mingus (Charlie Mingus 1968)

(Thomas Reichman, USA, 1968, 16mm, 58 min)

40th Anniversary Screening

Jazz Animation From The Hubley Studio

(John and Faith Hubley, USA, 1957–75, 35mm, 70 min)

Beginning in the 1950s, the wonderfully imaginative and innovative films of independent animators John and Faith Hubley broke from traditional styles of animation and addressed important issues with intelligence, passion and humor. Their poetic sensibility and whimsical, impressionistic visual style (more reminiscent of painters Klee and Miro than Disney) lent itself perfectly to jazz music. "There’s something about jazz’s bending of time within a rigid format that also applies to animation," Faith Hubley once observed. "That’s why they work so well together. It’s a marriage made in heaven." This special program highlights the best of the Hubleys’ jazz films, featuring their collaborations with such musicians and composers as Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Quincy Jones, Benny Carter, and others. Appropriate for all ages.

NOVEMBER 1-3, SATURDAY & MONDAY AT 7 & 9PM

Electric Heart: Don Ellis

(John Vizzusi, USA, 2007, BetaSP, 100 min)

Innovative jazz composer, arranger, and musician Don Ellis continually ventured into new musical horizons. Often to the detriment of his career, Ellis experimented with unusual time signatures, electronics, and elements of rock, classical and world music. Even his instrument, a custom designed quarter–tone trumpet was a musical innovation. But despite his stellar Columbia recordings with legendary producer John Hammond, his “Tears Of Joy” band sharing the stage with rock groups such as The Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company, and his Grammy award winning score for the film The French Connection, Ellis remains largely forgotten today. Electric Heart re–discovers his music and story with rare performance footage unseen for 40 years and interviews with such musical giants as the late bandleader Maynard Ferguson, Pulitzer–winning composer Gunther Schuller, and pianist Milcho Leviev.

NOVEMBER 2, SUNDAY AT 7 & 9PM

Martino Unstrung

(Ian Knox, UK, 2007, digiBETA, 90min)

In 1980, the legendary jazz guitarist Pat Martino was brutally silenced by memory stripping brain surgery. Filmed over the past two years, Martino Unstrung is a fascinating tale of music and memory. The film chronicles Martino’s ascent from the depths of amnesia to the peak of artistry once more. Directed by award winning filmmaker Ian Knox, it is narrated by neuropsychologist and author Paul Broks. The film explores the nature of memory, creativity and the brain systems underlying personal identity as it tracks the struggles of this great jazz artist. Interviews with musicians Delmar Brown, Red Holloway, John Patitucci, Les Paul, Carlos Santana, Pete Townshend and others shed light on the impact of Martino’s music.

NOVEMBER 5–6, WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY AT 8PM