FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2009
Contact: John Koch
Cinema Revolution Society
612-483-0657 (cell)
The Cinema Revolution Society
& Intermedia Arts Present
"Revolution Reel"
at the Intermedia Arts Theater
Tuesday evenings June 9 to July 7, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS - Cinema Revolution and Intermedia Arts present "Revolution Reel," five evenings of local filmmaking talent on the screen at the Intermedia Arts Theater, Tuesday evenings June 9 to July 7 at 7:30 PM.
The new “Revolution Reel” program, curated by Cinema Revolution founder John Koch and presented by the Cinema Revolution Society and Intermedia Arts, screens local films by emerging and mid-career filmmakers in a social setting. Dramatic, sarcastic, ecstatic, hilarious, beautiful, informative, shocking or just plain bizarre, the series exhibits the breadth of filmmaking talent that this community has to offer. Beer and wine will be available at the events on a donation basis.
REVOLUTION REEL – SUMMER 2009 PROGRAM
June 9: LONG GONE (2003, 101 min.) - directed by David Eberhardt and Jack Cahill (Official Selection Slamdance, Tribeca Film Festivals 2003)
David Eberhardt and Jack Cahill spent seven years riding the rails, asking for spare change and swapping stories around campfires with train hoppers. Their labors are repaid with a mesmerizing documentary full of touching characters and beautiful landscapes.
Dog Man Tony is known for his unwavering honesty and fierce temper. New York Slim speaks in great parables. Joshua Long Gone and Horizontal John are a gray-bearded Huck and Tom. As these real-life characters and many others make their way to nowhere in particular, breathtaking cinematography by Greg Yolen (which earned top honors at the 2003 Slamdance Film Festival) captures a perspective of the United States -- spectacular sunsets over rocky peaks, vibrant green plains, desolate cityscapes -- that could only be seen from a rail car and sets it to haunting original songs by Tom Waits. The promise of freedom is as romantic as a Beat Generation travelogue, but real life for the train hoppers is far from ideal. They have run-ins with family members and police; they pick food from trash cans; and way too may are alcoholics and addicts. Yet they know they've been discarded by mainstream society, which makes their bond to one another that much stronger. Many are also former military men, and that experience is born out in the stories, rituals, and honor among them as their paths cross beside the tracks.
"Long Gone" poignantly captures a marginalized homeless group for which misconceptions have far too often prevailed and shows that the yearning for communitydoesn't change much from person to person, even if the definition of community does.
-Sean Fowler for the Tribeca Film Festival
Kodak Vision Award winning cinematographer Greg Yolen will be present following the screening for a Q and A.
June 16: SHORT FILM SHOWCASE
"Nathaniel" (2008, 10 min.) directed by Brian Murnion
"Oldmeal" (2008, 9 min.) directed by Britni West (Official Selection, Cannes Short Film Corner 2009)
"Winter Lilacs" (2008, 6 min.) directed by Stephen Gurewitz (Official Selection, South by Southwest 2009)
"Ouroboros" (2007, 5 min.) directed by David Camarena
"THE GARDEN" (2009, 40 min.) directed by Ryan Philippi (Official Selection, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Athens International Film Festival 2009)
In the vast inland wasteland surrounding Los Angeles, at a point where the accelerating expanse of suburban sprawl meets the Mojave Desert, "The Garden" observes the inner life of a young man as he labors anonymously in tract housing developments. With slow and sensuous precision, the evolution of the landscape is played out upon the face of this young worker - a face arrested by loneliness and apprehension. In the mundane and in fleeting glimpses of radiant beauty, we witness this man and the world he creates bind together, each half-formed and resting upon the Earth.
All of the filmmakers will be present for a Q and A following the program.
June 23: JE NE SAIS QUOI (2008, 82 min.) directed by John Koch with
"Self-Important Empirical Film #3, with Voice-over" (2005, 5 min.) directed by Dave Andrae
WINNER "Best Experimental Film" at 8th Annual Boston Underground Film Festival
This is a story of the mysterious force that fuels attraction and desire, success and vitality, that elusive 'je ne sais quoi'. Some have it, some don't, and Paul, an unpredictable loner, falls into the latter category. A frustrated creative living a dead end life, Paul is at odds with everything in his environment and with himself. When he reaches out to Anna, a seemingly kindred spirit who lives across the hall, could things be changing for him? With a distinctive sharp wit and visual expression, the film explores the complexities of 21st century relationships and the fine line between acceptance of others and settling for less.
The filmmakers John Koch and Dave Andrae will both be present for a Q and A following the films. Dave Andrae is also the lead actor in "Je ne sais quoi".
June 30: WHAT AMERICA NEEDS (2004, 93 min.) – directed by Mark Wojahn
In October of 2002, Mark Wojahn set out, traveling alone via Amtrak, to interview the country. Using a straightforward, person-on-the-street interview format, and employing basic consumer electronics, he asked people from all walks of life "What do you think America needs?". Over and over again, in more than 500 interviews, 10 different cities and dozens of different neighborhoods, people of different ages, genders, backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities deliver heartfelt prescriptions for the country's woes.
The filmmaker set out to ask America what America needs and was astonished to discover that all kinds of Americans instinctively understand many of the same essential truths. Truths that if held deeply by enough of us, could provide the basis for workable solutions. This is not to say that the solutions are easy, or that there aren't many disturbing, conflicting and contradictory answers delivered within the film. The film documents plenty of angry and disappointed voices, voices of confusion, disgust, cynicism and despair. But in general, these stand out in stark contrast to the more powerful voices of hope. In the end, the movie builds understanding between diverse viewpoints even as it underscores the importance of further dialogue.
The filmmaker will be present for a Q and A following the film.
July 7: TRICKERY MIMICRY (2008, 80 min.) – directed by Garrett D. Tiedemann
It begins with the arrival of two travelers on an isolated farm inhabited by a single man. One of the travelers explains car trouble and asks to use a phone. Though seemingly strangers, more history surrounds their relationship than is explained before the car’s arrival and the travelers settle in without much hesitation. Time passes and the travelers do not leave. One of them begins appreciating the environment gaining access to the daily routine while the other stays isolated and distant. With each step the farmer offers insight and knowledge furthering an awareness of the future they all must choose that in the end seems to have been forever present.
Part melodrama, part thriller and part slapstick comedy; Trickery Mimicry is a closed system of logic instilling each movement with questions and space. Like watching oil paint move on canvas it is a looking glass to the peripheries; thought patterns believed yet dismissed. It is a world often felt but rarely seen where mystery takes precedent and life progresses towards an indefinite end. Revealing itself in the movements of the characters, the hiss of static and the feel of the surrounding world; Trickery Mimicry travels deep into an abyss searching for relationships and the time that surrounds them.
The filmmaker will be present for a Q and A following the film.
Selected Artist Information:
JOHN KOCH is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was awarded a BFA in Photography in 1999 at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. He also studied a post-baccalaureate semester at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy in 2000. After returning home to Minneapolis he opened Cinema Revolution, a DVD rental store that focused solely on foreign, independent, documentary, classic and cult films, which has now evolved into the Cinema Revolution Society – a non-profit dedicated to the proliferation of film arts in the Twin Cities. Koch has made seven short films and finished his first feature film "Je Ne Sais Quoi" in early 2008, which screened at the Ritz Theater for a two week run in June 2008 and at the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival in August 2008. He also recently collaborated with Live Action Set as video designer for their portion of the Ballet of the Dolls production "Rite of Spring" in May/June 2008. He is currently in production on his next feature film "The Seducer", an adaptation of Dostoevsky's "White Nights".
MARK WOJAHN is a media artist living and working in Minneapolis and Saint Paul who utilizes a wide variety of media, including film, video installation, photography, and sculpture. He began his art education at the Minneapolis School of Art and Design and finished with a degree in Art History and Film Studies at the University of Minnesota. His work has been shown widely in the Twin Cities as well as toured nationally. Mark sees "art and activism as means for building and connecting with community, for raising personal collective awareness, and for exploring the realms of consciousness and humanity."
Mark has been published in periodicals such as Mother Jones, City Pages, Star Tribune, and New Art Examiner. Some awards he has received include 2004 Best Film of the Twin Cities, City Pages, 2003 Artist of the Year, City Pages, 2002 Jerome Foundation Media Arts Grant, and much more. Some of his films include "What America Needs: from Sea to Shining Sea," 2003; "What America Needs: An Interior Expedition,"1995. His next film, "Trampoline" will be sent to festivals in the fall of 2009.
GARRETT D. TIEDEMANN is a filmmaker, writer, painter, musician, photographer and poet. Spending the majority of his life in the Twin Cities community he became fascinated with the impact and creation of art at a very young age. Formally taught to write poetry and play guitar, he chose to pursue film upon entering college, however, he did not enroll in a traditional film production school choosing to earn a degree in film and media theory with intense focus on philosophy and cultural criticism at the University of Minnesota while learning the technical aspects of the trade on his own. Since 2003 he has been professionally working in the Twin Cities and Los Angeles communities creating films that range between documentaries and fiction of many genres like comedy, thriller, drama and mystery. Often focusing on the development of personal identification, experiences of time and the influence of space; his films draw heavily from the era of silent cinema and an understanding that the films did in fact have a sound - it was just different from what is typical of a film’s sound today. This understanding is applied heavily to his films' construction often turning the sound into a character all its own. Currently he is editing his section feature film entitled “KliKt,” which is due for release later in 2009 and preparing to direct a feature length documentary on the origins of the Dorie Miller Housing Co-operative in New York.
About the Cinema Revolution Society:
The mission of the Cinema Revolution Society is to preserve and invigorate film culture in the Twin Cities. By facilitating and marketing public screenings, we provide diverse film curators and promoters access to greater audiences, and help expose audiences to the best cinema the world has to offer. We educate and engage the public by offering a live forum for active participation and dialogue about film theory and history through our lectures and discussion series. We inspire the proliferation of the local film community by hosting screenings and commissioning work by local filmmakers and artists.
Cinema Revolution began in 2003 as a locally owned and independent DVD rental store in south Minneapolis that specialized in foreign, independent, classic and cult films. The store was widely acclaimed for its selection of hard to find films, having won four "Best of the Twin Cities" awards from City Pages, and had a loyal following among film connoisseurs in the Twin Cities. The store has now evolved into the Cinema Revolution Society.
Cinema Revolution has always been a strong supporter of the local film community, sponsoring and hosting many community events and film festivals in the last six years. Past event highlights include the monthly Cinema des Artistes screenings at the Varsity Theater, two Anniversary parties featuring local film and music, the originally commissioned Fortune Cookie Film Project, Wednesday Night Film School and the Film Discussion series. http://www.cinemarevolution.org
CALENDAR INFORMATION:
Revolution Reel
Tuesday, June 9, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, June 16, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, June 23, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, June 30, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, July 7, 7:30 PM
Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-871-4444
Cinema Revolution Society
612-483-0657
Tickets $5 (available at the door)
General Admission