All Entries in the "Events" Category

James River Filmmakers Forum on Nov. 17

Come out and support local filmmakers at James River Film Society’s quarterly James River Filmmakers Forum on Thursday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m. at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. After the screening JRF Forum organizer Jeff Roll will moderate a panel discussion/Q&A with the filmmakers and audience.

The lineup for the November 2011 James River Filmmakers Forum is:

Ken Hopson – Lo-Fi Soundtracks – Music Videos- 6 minutes

Jasce Burrow – Samsara – dark sci-fi – 15 minutes

Kevin Haraldo, Randy West, & Bryce McCormick - Adventures of S-Team - Comic adventure – 9 minutes

Belinda Haikes – Finch/Crow/Cardinal – experimental animation – 6 minutes

John Hendershot - Press Play – experimental animation – 8 minutes

Dr. Shawn Utsey – Until the Wells Run Dry: Medicine and the Exploitation of Black Bodies (excerpt) documentary – 15 minutes

James River Shorts: “Direct Filmmaking” Workshop

MONO NO AWARE direct filmmaking workshop.

Due to low enrollment and the Richmond Marathon (what were we thinking?!), we’ve decided to cancel and reschedule this and the Super 8/Hand Processing workshop during our 19th James River Film Festival, April 12-18, 2012. Stay tuned!

HAND PAINTING ON FILM “DIRECT FILMMAKING” WORKSHOP @ VisArts
Saturday, Nov. 12, 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Direct Filmmaking Workshop
Instructor : Steve Cossman of MONO NO AWARE

In this workshop students will learn to manipulate the surface of the film using a variety of direct film-making techniques; painting, scratching, collage, and masking in order to create an experimental film on 16mm. This intensive workshop is designed to introduce, explore and master (on some level) the ability to articulate movement through the tactile gesturings of this beautiful cinematic language. The course will meet for 5 hours beginning with a brief history of filmmakers using these methods along with their contemporaries. After instruction students will get their hands dirty almost immediately. The goal is to have each participant create a short, well developed direct film work, that we will screen at the end of the session. Students will walk away with hands on experience of direct filmmaking, a finished film work, the knowledge to continue to work in this practice at home and a list of venues to pursue for exhibition. All materials will be provided for. Workshop limited to 12 participants; will run with 8.

Visit the VisArts Calendar page to register (scroll down page).

James River Shorts: Filmmaking/Hand Processing Workshop

hand processed, hand coloured super 8 film strip collage from the Aphids 2008 collaboration with Ensemble Offspring 'Waiting To Turn Into Puzzles'. Images created by Louise Curham as ground for musical notation by composer David Young. Project is copyright Curham and Young 2008.

Due to low enrollment and the Richmond Marathon (what were we thinking?!), we’ve decided to cancel and reschedule this and the Hand Painting/”Direct Filmmaking” Workshop during our 19th James River Film Festival, April 12-18, 2012. Stay tuned!

SUPER 8 MM FILMMAKING & HAND PROCESSING WORKSHOP @ VisArts
SATURDAY, NOV. 12 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (films processed between 4-6 p.m.).
Instructors : Sean Hanley & Joshua Lewis of MONO NO AWARE

Learn the art and craft of 18 frames per second filmmaking. This will be a hands-on class designed for the beginner that covers the basic aspects of Super-8mm filmmaking: cameras, story, timing (exposure), editing in camera and sound options.   Students will conceive, shoot and edit their own silent one-reel films in one afternoon.  After the shoot we’ll dive straight into hand-processing. Hand processing fosters a particularly intimate understanding of film as a material object and can produce a variety of effects that cannot be achieved by professional lab services. In this part of the workshop, students will be given all of the information necessary to start their own home operation. We will go over key chemical reactions, mix our own chemistry, and each student will take their 50’ roll of film through each stage of the reversal process. All chemicals and equipment will be provided. Participants should wear old clothing.  Finished projects will be presented at the conclusion of the course as part of the festival.  We will also discuss alternatives to projection and how to promote your short film work with a list of S-8 friendly film festivals. Class limited to 12 participants; will run with 8.

Visit the VisArts Calendar page to register (scroll down page).

James River Shorts 2011 Music + Film

James River Shorts 2011 wraps with a treat: Live music + film performances courtesy of Jonathan Vassar & The Speckled Bird, including the premiere of the brand new music video (directed by Kevin Gallagher) for their single “Turn to Face the Wind.”  +  Stick around for the James River Shorts after party with music by Jonathan Vassar & The Speckled Bird. Admission FREE. Cash bar courtesy of VisArts.

Roger Warren Beebe’s FILMS for ONE to EIGHT PROJECTORS

From Roger Warren Beebe's 2008 "Last Light of a Dying Star."

James River Shorts continues on Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond with guest juror and filmmaker Roger Warren Beebe’s FILMS for ONE to EIGHT PROJECTORS. Admission: $7/$5 JRFS Members

Experimental filmmaker Roger Beebe, whose films have shown around the globe from Sundance to the Museum of Modern Art and from McMurdo Station in Antarctica to the CBS Jumbotron in Times Square, brings a program of his recent mutli-projector films to the Northeast for a fall 2011 tour. In these films Beebe explores the possibilities of using multiple projectors—running as many as 8 projectors simultaneously—not for a free-form VJ-type experience, but for the creation of discrete works of expanded cinema. The show builds from the relatively straightforward two-projector films “The Strip Mall Trilogy” and “TB TX DANCE” to the more elaborate three-projector studies “Money Changes Everything” and “AAAAA Motion Picture” on finally to the eight-projector meditation on the mysteries of space, “Last Light of a Dying Star.

“[Beebe’s films] implicitly and explicitly evoke the work of Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, all photographers of the atomic age whose Western photographs captured the banalities, cruelties and beauties of imperial America.”–David Fellerath, The Independent Weekly

Tickets may be purchased in advance via Eventbrite (bottom of this page) or at the door 30 minutes prior to the show.

James River Shorts Finalists @ VMFA Nov. 11

From Ann Deborah Levy's 16mm film "Watercolors."

James River Shorts 2011 continues with a screening of James River Shorts finalists on Friday, November 11, 6:30 p.m. at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. To purchase advance tickets visit the VMFA’s website.

Congratulations to the filmmakers:

The Treezilla!, 6 min., Shawn Hambright & Joey Tran (VA)
A Brief Vacation, 10 min., Ben Rinehardt (VA)
Eyeliner, 4 min., Joanna Priestley, (OR)
Mijo (My Son), 9 min. Chithra Jeyaram (MD)
Phosphena, 4 min., Maya Ederlyi (CA)
The Pervert, 4 min., Adam Rosenberg (VA)
Watercolors, 13 min., Ann Deborah Levy (NY)

Intermission

Faces, 2 min., Duy Nguyen (VA)
The Good River, 18 min., Shannon Lynch (18 mins.) (CA)
Solo Piano NYC, 5 min., Anthony Sherin (NY)
Another Dress, Another Button, 3 min., Lyn Elliot (MO)
The Leaf Woman and the Centaur, 3 min., Jordan Bruner (NY )
Monarda, 8 min., Walter Ungerer  (ME)
Dolls vs. Dictators, 11 min., Martha Colburn (NY)

Immediately after the screening guest juror and experimental filmmaker Roger Warren Beebe will assist the local jury in the James River Shorts awards presentation — giving out up to $2,000 in cash awards. The audience will have the opportunity to vote for the People’s Choice Award.

To purchase advance tickets visit the VMFA’s website.

James River Shorts 2011, Day 1

From George Kuchar's "Hold Me While I'm Naked."

James River Shorts kicks off Thursday, November 10 at 8:00 p.m. at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond with an eclectic screening that includes:

- 5 very short shorts by VCUarts Kinetic Imaging associate professor and filmmaker, Bob Kaputof. Films include: Birds of Hong Kong, Bob In Front of the Camera, I Visited Italy Once, I’ll Change Someday and A Sea Turtle is Like What.

- A tribute to the life and career of George Kuchar (1942-2011) with a 16mm screening of his 1966 classic, Hold Me While I’m Naked. Ken Kelman had this to say about the film: “A very direct and subtle, very sad and funny look at nothing more or less than sexual frustration and aloneness. In its economy and cogency of imaging, HOLD ME surpasses any of Kuchar’s previous work. The odd blend of Hollywood glamour and drama with all-too-real life creates and inspires counterpoint of unattainable desire against unbearable actuality.”

- A screening of five James River Shorts “films on the bubble” — films that weren’t selected as James River Shorts finalists (which will screen Friday, November 11 at the VMFA) but the jury asked that we program. Films included are:

Boots, 7 min., Joseph Caldwell (VA)
Descending Figures, 3 min., Christopher Harris (FL)
Bluegrass Skyline, 30 min., Fred Styles & Katherine Barnier (VA)
Convention, 5 min., Mark Strandquist (VA)
Time Crunch, 5 min., H. Paul Moon (VA)

Tickets may be purchased in advance via Eventbrite (bottom of this page) or at the door 30 minutes prior to the show.

VCUarts Cinematheque

Isabelle Huppert in Claire Denis' film "White Material" - which screens on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. as part of the the inaugural VCUarts Cinematheque series.

Cinema lovers rejoice! VCUarts recently launched a new film series, VCUarts Cinematheque, which runs most Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at the VCU Grace Street Theatre throughout the fall 2011 semester. All films will be screened on 35mm film and are free and open to VCU students and the Richmond community. Admission is on a first come, first served basis so get there early to get a seat. (By the way, I attended last night’s screening of Nina Paley’s amazing animated film, Sita Sings the Blues. If you missed it, I’d encourage you to check it out. – JP) Visit the VCUarts Cinematheque webpage for dates, films and details.

Halloween Horror Showcase

Join us for JamesRiverFilm@VisArts Third Thursdays’ Halloween Horror Showcase featuring the short film Pickman’s Model (dir: Giovanni Furore, 30 min., 2007, in Italian with English subtitles) based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story by the same name, written in 1926 and first published in the October 1927 issue of Weird Tales.

The main feature of the evening is the 1988 cult classic, Pumpkinhead (86 min.), starring Lance Henriksen (Millennium, Near Dark, Aliens) and directed by master visual effects artist Stan Winston, a Richmond native! Actual Pumpkinhead props will be on display, provided by horror film historian Doc Gillespie of Goblin Market in Hollywood and Diabolik.

Participate in our horror trivia contest with DVD prizes from Fangoria magazine, and enjoy free popcorn, Halloween candy and other treats. Cash bar courtesy of VisArts.

Admission is free; however treats (donations) are encouraged!

The evening was curated by Jeff Roll (James River Film Society), Phil Ford (WRIR-97.3 LPFM, Richmond Independent Radio), Bobby Morgan (Geeks of Doom) and Doc Gillespie.

Film for Lunch: A Place in the Sun

The James River Film Society revives its Film for Lunch series at the Richmond Public Library-Main Branch, Basement Auditorium, with Great Adaptations of the Silver Screen on Thursdays at noon on November 3, 10, 17 and December 1. Free (donations accepted). You are encouraged to bring your lunch. (Yes, we know it’s a library. It’s OK. Really.) All films projected in 16mm, prints courtesy of the James River Film Society archives.

DECEMBER 1 , NOON

A Place in the Sun (1951, dir: George Stevens, with Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters, 122 mins.) A Place in the Sun is based on Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, one of the great American novels of the 20^th century. Director Stevens in his version manages to capture the human element in the machinations of America’s social disparities and its myth of the “classless society.” As the social climber who falls for his socialite cousin, Montgomery Clift did perhaps his best acting and one can sense the talent beneath Elizabeth Taylor’s knockout beauty (though her violet eyes are rendered neutral in the b&w photography); Shelly Winters, brilliant as always, plays another victim as the pregnant, abandoned girlfriend. Other classic films by George Stevens include Shane and Giant.

Film for Lunch: The Big Sleep

The James River Film Society revives its Film for Lunch series at the Richmond Public Library-Main Branch, Basement Auditorium, with Great Adaptations of the Silver Screen on Thursdays at noon on November 3, 10, 17 and December 1. Free (donations accepted). You are encouraged to bring your lunch. (Yes, we know it’s a library. It’s OK. Really.) All films projected in 16mm, prints courtesy of the James River Film Society archives.

NOVEMBER 17, NOON

The Big Sleep (1946, dir: Howard Hawks with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, 114 mins.) Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled novel isn’t nearly as upbeat as Howard Hawks’ (Bringing Up Baby, Red River) movie—a convoluted, campy noir romance between Humphrey Bogart as private detective Philip Marlowe and his real-life squeeze Laureen Bacall as the good/bad elder Sternwood daughter. Their love interest sizzles just beneath the surface as the body count grows, and Bogart, who’s popularity was peaking, basically plays himself—memorable is the scene with Dorothy Malone in a bookstore, tame by today’s standards but full of below the belt innuendo. When screenwriters William Faulkner (yes, that Faulkner), Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett cabled Chandler (who was also in LA but refused to come to the studio) about the motive for the murder of a character, he gruffly replied “Who cares?” Chandler had little patience for the audiences of moving pictures—little did he know the movies’ staying power.

Film for Lunch: Great Expectations

The James River Film Society revives its Film for Lunch series at the Richmond Public Library-Main Branch, Basement Auditorium, withGreat Adaptations of the Silver Screen on Thursdays at noon on November 3, 10, 17 and December 1. Free (donations accepted). You are encouraged to bring your lunch. (Yes, we know it’s a library. It’s OK. Really.) All films projected in 16mm, prints courtesy of the James River Film Society archives.

NOVEMBER 10 , NOON

Great Expectations (1946, directed by David Lean with John Mills, Alec Guinness, 118 mins.) Shot at the end of WWII, Lean’s adaptation of Charles Dickens is actually the second of three screen versions, and decidedly the best. The lighting, set design, acting and directing are top-notch and would set the standard for a cycle of noteworthy adaptations to emerge from the British cinema at the end of the forties. The tale of an orphan whose rise to social prominence through the manipulations of a mysterious benefactor is one of Dickens best-loved tales, and this screen version is also a timeless classic. Latter day audiences may know Lean best as the director of Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge over the River Kwai, and A Passage to India.

Film for Lunch: The Magnificent Ambersons

The James River Film Society revives its Film for Lunch series at the Richmond Public Library-Main Branch, Basement Auditorium, with Great Adaptations of the Silver Screen on Thursdays at noon on November 3, 10, 17 and December 1. Free (donations accepted). You are encouraged to bring your lunch. (Yes, we know it’s a library. It’s OK. Really.) All films projected in 16mm, prints courtesy of the James River Film Society archives.

NOVEMBER 3, 12 NOON

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, dir: Orson Welles with Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Tim Holt, Anne Baxter, 88 mins.) Welles’ next film after the mythic Citizen Kane was his version of Booth Tarkington’s novel chronicling the demise of the prominent Amberson family at the dawn of the 20^th century. Despite the striking cinematography (by Stanley Cortez incredible depth-of-field and sweeping traveling shots) and superb performances (especially Agnes Moorehead), the film was edited far too freely to fit in as part of a double bill, with of all things, a Lupe Velez comedy. Welles would later disown it; he’d been in South America shooting It’s All True for the State Department and had no control during the editing, but it still packs a narrative and visual punch. Actor Joseph Cotten, a major lead during the forties, was born in Petersburg and is buried there.

“The Folk Singer” with M. A. Littler

We figured why not? Since M. A. Littler is in town on Sept. 17 as part of his U.S. tour with his latest film, The Kingdom of Survival, it made sense to take full advantage of his visit and show another film. That film is The Folk Singer and we will screen it right after the Q&A for Kingdom ends, sometime around 9:30 p.m. If you’re feeling antsy, grab a drink from the bar and relax while we wrap up his first show. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase in advance via Eventbrite or at the door 30 minutes prior to the show.

The Folk Singer – A Tale of Men, Music & America is a journey into the souls of men, maverick roots music and the dying old America. The film follows folk blues singer Jon Konrad, a.k.a. Possessed by Paul James, on tour from Texas to Louisiana as he attempts to make enough money to supply for his unborn child. On his journey he crosses paths with musical peers, honky tonk propietors and religious mavericks. Together they explore their struggles, doubts, hopes and demons or as Jon’s friend Scott Biram puts it: “We can rejoice in one another’s sharing of pain!” If that ain’t enough to sell you on it, check out this great review on Film Threat.

JamesRiverFilm@VisArts: Flaherty on the Road

From Tan Pin Pin's film "Singapore GaGa" (Singapore, 2005, 54 min.)

Non-preconception is the pre-condition to discovery, because it is a state of mind. When you do not preconceive, then you go about finding out. There is nothing else you can do. You begin to explore. ‘All art,’ said Robert Flaherty, ‘is a kind of exploring. To discover and reveal is the way every artist sets about his business.’ The explorers, the discoverers, are the transformers of the world. […] Above all, they are the artists, the poet, and the seer, who out of the crucible of new fact and new idea bring new life, new power, new motive, and a deep refreshment. They discover for us the new image. From The Odyssey of a Filmmaker: Robert Flaherty’s Story (1960), by Frances Flaherty.

The James River Film Society continues its JamesRiverFilm@VisArts Third Thursdays series on Sept. 15 with one of the three 2011 Flaherty on the Road programs. James River Film Society co-founder James Parrish, who attended the 57th Robert Flaherty Seminar as a fellow, will briefly introduce the program and the Flaherty Seminar format — the audience will be treated to three films totaling 72 minutes. Just like the Flaherty Seminar, the films to be screened will not be announced in advance. After the screening, notes on the films watched will be handed out, there will be a 15 min. break for refreshments, followed by a discussion facilitated by Parrish. Tickets are $8 ($5 for JRFS members) and available for purchase in advance via Eventbrite or at the door 30 minutes prior to the show.

Drawn from the program of the 57th Annual Robert Flaherty Film Seminar programmed by Dan Streibel, the 2011 Flaherty on the Road film series explores the audio dimension of documentary. These selections present sound in its various roles in nonfiction film: as an element to confirm the fidelity of visual evidence (synch sound), as the conveyor of narrative (the voice-over), as evidentiary recording (the interview) and as a creative tool to counterpoint images. In three thoughtfully curated programs combining long-form pieces with shorts, the 2011 Flaherty on the Road series reveals how sound recording and design can help capture a cultural environment, sculpt a sense of place or evoke a historical period. And it urges us to see the contradictions that arise as music is added to the mix and moments of truth are either powerfully underscored or called into question.

The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar is named after Robert Flaherty (1884-1951), who is considered by many to be the father of the American documentary. Flaherty’s groundbreaking documentary of Eskimo life, Nanook of the North is among the most noted films of the silent era. He was also the creator of such classic poetic films as Moana, Man of Aran, and Louisiana Story. The Seminar began in 1955-before the era of film schools-when Flaherty’s widow, Frances, convened a group of filmmakers, critics, curators, musicians, and other film enthusiasts at the Flaherty farm in Vermont. For more than fifty years the Flaherty Seminar has been firmly established as a one-of-a-kind institution that seeks to encourage filmmakers and other artists to explore the potential of the moving image. The films of such directors as Louis Malle, the Maysles brothers, Mira Nair, Satyajit Ray, Agnés Varda, John Cassavetes, Yasujiro Ozu, Pedro Costa and Joris Ivens were shown at the Seminar before they were known generally in the American film community. New cinematic techniques and approaches first presented at the Seminar have routinely made their way into mainstream film.