Los Angeles FilmForum is delighted to present renowned filmmaker Jon Jost in person for three different shows in Los Angeles on March 16-18. This rare visit by the filmmaker, currently based in South Korea, will allow audiences to view two rarely-screened feature films that be made in Los Angeles in the 1970s, and also feature the U.S. premiere of a new digital video work.The series starts on Friday March 16th with “Chameleon” (1978, color, 90 minutes). A scathing portrait of the Hollywood/LA arts milieu of the late 70’s, Jon Jost’s “Chameleon” follows the amorphous day of its lead character, an…
Author: Robin Menken
Robin Menken
Robin Menken Robin Menken lives in Los Angeles. She was the Artistic Director of the Second City Workshops, taught at UC Berkeley, USC, Barcelona\'s Ateneu and the Esalin Institute. She was Roberto Rossellini\'s assistant, and worked with Yevgeny Vevteshenku, Glauber Rocha and Eugene Ionesco. She sold numerous screenplays and wrote the OBIE winning The FTA SHow (touring with Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland and Ben Vereen.) She was a programming consultant and Special Events co-ordinator for numerous film festivals, including the SF, Rio, Havana and N.Y Film Festivals. Her first news outlet was the historic East Village Other.
Evolution International Film Festival (EIFF) joined cultures from Egypt, Spain, Germany and the US. The Evolution International Film Festival opened on March 17, 2012 in Hollywood. Among the program are films from Egypt ( “Feature presentation ASMAA”), Mexico (“Gustavo”), Lebanon (“Beirut… Hide & Seek” ) Switzerland (“Good Buy Mandima”), and the 2012 Oscar nominated German short film RAJU.Stefan Gieren , the producer of RAJU described the film. Inspired by a newspaper article about child trafficking after the earthquake in Haiti, the team spent half a year of research and 2.5 months of prep in Calcutta before their 10 day shoot.…
On March 28 Five recent French films hits selected from the annual Film Society Of Lincoln Center’s festival “RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA” will play at 4 Laemmle Theatres : NoHo 7, MONICA 4-PLEX, PLAYHOUSE 7 and the CLAREMONT 5 The five recent Gallic hits are:PATERDirected by Alain CavalierStarring Vincent Lindon and Alain CavalierFrance – 2011, Running time: 105 min.Synopsis: France’s most unpredictable filmmaker, Alain Cavalier, teams up with actor Vincent Lindon for a witty, semi-improvised look at men, power and politics, starring Cavalier himself as a fictional French President and Lindon as his newly appointed Prime Minister.MOON CHILD (LA…
Over the past two decades, Belgian cinema, be it from Flanders or from the French speaking part of the country, has risen to prominence in the international filmmaking arena, boasting richly diverse films that consistently garner critical praise and worldwide anticipation. From the unsettling but still urgently relevant MAN BITES DOG which rocked the Cannes Film Festival in 1992 and the quirky and vibrant tale of identity mix-up in TOTO THE HERO, to the monumental saga of DAENS or the Oscar nominated EVERYBODY FAMOUS, the outstanding thrillers MEMORY OF A KILLER and DOSSIER K, and the string of critically-lauded dramatic…
Los Angeles Filmforum continues its film screening series Alternative Projections: Experimental Film in Los Angeles, 1945-1980 on March 4th with Material Concerns at the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90028 ( Sunday March 4, 2012 7:30 pm)One of the key concerns of experimental film, in the tradition of all modern art, is the stuff of film itself: how it is made, what is it made of, what are the basic elements of the camera, the celluloid, and the projector.In experimental film, focusing on the materials and procures of film-making has come to be known…
Though less attention is paid to the Scientific and Technical Achievements than the annual Academy Awards, film industry insiders recognize they are important to honor and learn where the next great advances in cinema technology will come from. On Feb. 11, 2012, actress Milla Jovovich emceed at gala at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills: presenting 10 awards to 30 individuals, including four Oscar statuettes, the first to be handed out in the 2012 Oscar season.Visionary filmmaker Douglas Trumbull delivered a lengthy, but inspiring acceptance speech, upon receiving an Oscar statuette for the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for his…
The UCLA Film & Television Archive presents “Nina Menkes: Cinema As Sorcery”, a survey of the filmography of lauded independent filmmaker Nina Menkes.Nina Menkes, working with her sister, muse and collaborator Tinka Menkes (featured in many of her films) created six highly personal feature films, which she directed, wrote, shot, image and sound edited. All six will show at UCLA. (February 18- March 7)The self-taught iconoclast Menkes’ films (in Super-8, 16mm, 35mm and HD) have been featured at the Rotterdam, London, Viennale, Locarno, Sundance, San Francisco, Edinburgh, Cairo and Toronto international film festivals, and shown at La Cinematheque Francaise, The…
Some experimental films draw on traditional notions of documentary and ethnographic film, but manipulate them with an increased emphasis on media specificity and concerns over how media works convey meaning and “truth” in non-fiction. On January 21, we featured a program of films by filmmakers based in Los Angeles. This show, however, will show films looking at Los Angeles by artists who weren’t here for the long haul — visitors to our balmy climes. What truths about the city are these non-Angeleños able to see, and how do they express them? This show, however, will show films looking at Los…
I’m not a fan of David Fincher’s remake. Swedish director Niels Arden Oplev’s original, “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, kept me on the edge of my seat, despite the thoughtful build of character arcs. Tension and emotional depth charge were at the fore. Noomi Rapace played Lizbeth Salander as a feral loner, armed, metaphoric claws at the ready, threatening to leap off the screen. Her volatile hyper vigilance made her seem more at risk, despite her remarkable warrior skills, and the audience worries about her.Rooney Mara replaces Rapace’s claws and bristle with sullenness. Her fragile remove keeps the audience…
For me, an imperfect film by Scorsese often tops a near perfect film by most other directors. Based on Brian Selznick’s illustrated novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret”, Scorsese has directed one of three magnificent 3-d movies. “Avatar”, “Coraline” and “Hugo” are films that MUST BE seen in 3D. Each weaves the dimensionality into the emotional thrust of the film, the story arc, instead of treating the technique as a special effect. A simple thing like a walk in the snow is a marvel in Scorsese’s hand. His views of Paris from the rooftop are unforgettable and the chase through…