NOVEMBER
Friday 4
Cine Club @ The Exploratorium (Pier 15, The Embarcadero)
Andrei Tarkovsky' STALKER (1979, Russia)
The Stalker is a guide who leads people through “the Zone," a seemingly mundane rural area scattered with industrial ruins where the laws of physics no longer apply. At its center is "the Room," said to grant each pilgrim their innermost wishes. This is science fiction at is most provocative, directed by one of Russia’s cinema legends.
Why we show this film:
Stalker moves like a science fiction thriller, with a philosophical twist. Two men lead by a stalker enter the Zone, each seeking to fulfill their innermost desire, but fins that the landscape appears to to have a mind of its own. We think this combination of suspense film with enigmatic subject matter will intrigue you.
About the director:
Certain filmmakers become legends in their own time, and Tarkovsky was one. Some of it had to do with the scope and philosophical bent of his films. He is one of the most radical and unorthadox of all Russian filmmakers at the time. How could he get away with this in the ultra conservative USSR? As his films became more obtuse, difficult, strange and haunting his reputation rose and his films made a deep divide in the new, developing legions of film fans.
Tarkovsky became the symbol as the filmmaker as artist: intense vision and no compromises. He didn’t make many films, Ivan's Childhood, Solaris, The Mirror, Stalker, Nostalgia and The Sacrifice are the main ones. He was the son of a well-known Russian poet and his father’s poetry is often used as voice over in his films. He is considered among the handful of important directors of the late 20th century.
Friday 11
Cine Club @ Delancey Street Screening Room (500, The Embarcadero
David Lynch's THE ELEPHANT MAN (2009, Germany)
This is David Lynch’s first film for a major studio and it is astonishing, with a heart-wrenching performance by John Hurt as the “grotesque freak” who becomes the toast of London. A true story of courage and character.
Why we show this film:
This was David Lynch's debut with big actors, sets, budgets, etc. His infamous Eraserhead was an independant film made mostly at school (AFI) —this film was a huge production in a Hollywood studio with a great deal of money behind it. It also is one of the most unusual collaborations in film history, because a number of Hollywood types, including Mel Brooks, took Lynch under their wing. They gave him top-notch actors, and a top notch cameraman and producer, and together they taught David Lynch how to make a big budget film, which, fortunately, turned out to be a work of art.
About the director:
David Lynch is certainly one of the most unusual of all film directors—his constant work produced relatively few films. Perhaps being a devout student of trancendental meditation for nearly 40 years has something to do with his patience and persistance. He began outside of the Hollywood system (like so many film makers today), and put together his first big hit, Eraserhead, in his basement, working scene by scene over many years. He was then embraced by Hollywood, and triumphed with The Elephant Man. He followed this by a unpopular science fiction film called Dune. After his Blue Velvet was well received he became for a time a star with his TV series, Twin Peaks. His films are considered cult objects because their strangeness limits some of their appeal.
Friday 18
Cine Club @ SF Art Institute
SF Art & Film presents BEST OF FEST: DRAMA
An evening of dramatic films from our Film Workshop. The cream of the crop from 20 years of student filmmaking. We'll screen a selection of films from five of our most dedicated and ambitious students, starting with their first film and following through to their final masterpiece with the workshop. Come be inspired by the talent and insight of the next generation of filmmakers!