In the 70’s, I taught an infamous class: “Footage Fetishism: The Politics Of Film” at the Pacific Film Archive (then run by Tom Luddy). My house became an unofficial Artist in Residence house, where I hosted many international filmmakers for extended periods of time: Nick Ray, Krystoff Zanussi, Dusan Makevejev, Jean Eustache, etc.)Errol Morris (a recent Madison grad) arrived in Berkeley. His stories of visiting mass murderer Ed Gein in a hospital for the Criminally Insane disturbed a lot of the PFA folks. He was brilliant. I vouched for him, and because Herzog and producer Walter Saxer were staying in…
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.
Maya Entertainment’s third edition of the Maya Indie Film Series (MIFS) The series, under the banner “Seven Films, Seven Days, Seven Cities”, features bring seven critically acclaimed, Latino-themed films. MIFS will run for seven days in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago (July 29 – August 4) San Antonio and opens in San Diego on August 5, Dallas on August 12, Miami on September 9 and San Francisco on September 16. The series plays July 29-Aug 5 Check, at the Laemmle Sunset. Mark Ruffalo’s first feature “Sympathy for Delicious” is a fascinating film. Unlike anything you’re likely to see this…
The Art Directors Guild Film Society and American Cinematheque present a rare screening of Ken Russell’s blithe musical masterpiece, as the third in this year’s series highlighting the work of renowned Production Designers and their creative colleagues. This is an opportunity to watch the original widescreen color “directors cut” of Ken Russell’s ‘The Boy Friend”, starring Twiggy and Tommy Tune. Only several prints survive. MGM’s 1971 release, pared down from 136 minutes to 109, did not fare well at the US Box Office. The film’s Award winning stage, costume and production designer Tony Walton (“All That Jazz”, “A Funny Thing…
The 15th Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) returns to the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood from Sunday, July 17 through Monday, July 25. The nine-day event will highlight the best recent films from international Latino talent, from the up-and–coming to the well established in Hollywood. LALIFF’S official selection includes 29 narrative features, 13 documentary features and 34 short films from 14 different countries. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Cuban director Gerardo Chijona’s “Ticket to Paradise” (Boleto al paraíso). This frank teen drama has created a sea change in the way gays and aids are viewed onscreen and off, in Cuba.Set in the…
As a collector of Tabloid’s for their corn-pone surrealism, I was thrilled to watch Errol’s ripping tale of Joyce McKinney, whose wacky story of true-love, Mormons, kidnapping and bondage sex left British tabloid readers gasping thirty years ago, in what was known as The “Case of the Manacled Mormon.” McKinney parlayed her physical gifts and clever mind into a love-heist, motivating a series of accomplices, some of whom were carrying a torch for a blonde beauty queen with an I.Q. of 168. McKinney, whose trial sparked numerous cartoons, joined the Celebrity A-list, even upstaging Joan Collins at the premier of…
“Life, Above All” by South African filmmaker Oliver Schmitz (“Paris, je t’aime”) made the Academy short list as South Africa’s 2010 Oscar entry. The moving coming-of age Aids drama, based on Canadian Allan Stratton’s novel, “Chandra’s Secrets,” received a standing ovation at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.12 year old Chandra, as stubborn and caring a child as anyone could hope to meet, stands up to village superstition, fear and hypocrisy to bring her aids suffering mother home to die with dignity.You will never forget Chandra, plucky as any heroine from the Golden Age of Hollywood movies, as played by non-pro…
Marie Losier is in town to show her marvelous feature documentary The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye at Outfest on July 9, and we are delighted to host her with a selection of her short films. These films are whimsical fantasies and fragmented portraits, the former in a tradition of Kuchar and Jack Smith, the latter capturing essential qualities of some of the great artists of our time. Filled with color, humor, and cinematic delights, with collaborators such as Guy Maddin, Mike and George Kuchar, and Richard Foreman. Los Angeles Filmforum presents: Flying Fish and Dream Portraits: Short Films…
Bill Haney’s activist “The Last Mountain” reveals the Coal Industry’s wholesale destruction of the Appalachian Mountain range while detailing local citizen outrage. Mountaintop removal has destroyed 500 Appalachian Mountains, 1 million acres of forest, and buried 2000 miles of streams. Focusing on the small mountain top community of Coal Mountain, whose school sits below a highly toxic coal sludge empoundment, and whose valley is regularly flooded with slurry. There have been six brain tumor deaths in the tiny community over several years, all a result of silicosis. Even progressive democrats like Governor (now Senator? Congressman) Joe Manchin, is a “friend…
Hail the Getty Film Series. This June the Getty offered two free weekend film series, as companion pieces to exhibitions. On June 25 & 26, as a complement to the exhibit “Paris: Life & Luxury”, the Getty will show:”Jefferson in Paris “(1995) Saturday, June 25, 2011| 3:00 p.m. Directed by: James Ivory. Written by: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.”Danton”(1982) Saturday, June 25, 2011|6:30 p.m. Directed by: Andrzej Wajda. Written by: Andrzej Wajda, Jean-Claude Carrière, Jacek Gasiorowski, Agnieszka Holland, Stanislawa Przybyszewska. “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988) Sunday, June 26, 2011|Noon Directed by: Stephen Frears Written by : Christopher Hampton.”Ridicule” (1996) Sunday, June 26, 2011|3:00 p.m. Directed…
“From Britain With Love”, a national touring showcase of six recent independent films produced in the United Kingdom tours the US. Curated by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and in partnership with Emerging Pictures, the showcase will premiere at the Film Society of Lincoln Center on June 11 as part of the opening celebration for its state-of-the art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Each of the films will be shown once at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and once downtown at the IFC Center. Simultaneous screenings will be held throughout the country through the Emerging Pictures digital cinema…