GET MARRIED

I have a bumper sticker on my car that says “GET MARRIED.” It’s a long story that I’d rather not explain in a blog post, but the questions I get about its origins are pretty standard: Is is meant to be funny? Ironic? Horrifying? Earnest? Just plain mean?

I think I left Allan King’s A MARRIED COUPLE asking similar questions.

So far it has been called — in the same review — both a masterpiece and so alarming it left the viewer speechless. Another reviewer referred to parts as “usefully illuminating,” but then went on to quote Norman Mailer’s describing the film as an “excrementious relationship.”

A MARRIED COUPLE screens just Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 and 9pm. I wonder what you’ll think.

Real Art Here

At the end of the day, when I hang up my pencil and carefully fold my spreadsheet, I sometimes reflect on the reason my job is important.  The value lies not in my work-product but in what it goes to support in our edit suites and at the rental window and in the Start-to-Finish office and at Local Sightings in October.  People come to Northwest Film Forum  to make films.  And every once in a while, one of those films qualifies as real art.  That is why I work here.

This is what Henry Miller has to say about the real artists who make the real art.
“Side by side with the human race there runs another race of beings, the inhuman ones, the race of artists who, goaded by unknown impulses, take the lifeless mass of humanity and by the fever and ferment with which they imbue it turn this soggy dough into bread and the bread into wine and the wine into song.  Out of the dead compost and the inert slag they breed a song that contaminates.   I see this other race of individuals ransacking the universe, turning everything upside down, their feet always moving in blood and tears, their hands always empty, always clutching and grasping for the beyond, for the god out of reach; slaying everything within reach in order to quiet the monster that gnaws at their vitals.  I see that when they tear their hair with the effort to comprehend, to seize this forever unattainable, I see that when they bellow like crazed beasts and rip and gore, I see that this is right, that there is no other path to pursue. . . . Anything that falls short of this frightening spectacle, anything less shuddering, less terrifying, less mad, less intoxicated, less contaminating, is not art.  The rest is counterfeit.  The rest is human.”

Thank you inhuman race members.  You rock.  Keep up the tearing, ransacking and contamination.

Menagerie of multimedia press for ZOO

Get your fill of Newsweek’s coverage of Robinson Devor’s (POLICEBEAT) new film ZOO, available as a podcast, video, or good old online article here.

I am certain you can use this money

The great people at Artist Trust have annoucned the new, larger $6,500 fellowships for Media. Filmmakers can only apply once every two years for these, and the more applicants in film/ media, the more fellowships are given out. So every filmmaker in Washington State with a body of work should apply for this. They are due in June, but put in your application today.

World premiere of ELLIOTT’S SUICIDE

This just in from Three Dollar Bill Cinema:

SCANDALOUS!, Three Dollar Bill Cinema’s series of taboo-breaking queer films from the 1950s, continues on Thursday, April 26 with an exclusive, must-see collection of short films from Kenneth Anger and Jean Genet.

Renowned artists Anger and Genet were cinematic pioneers in bringing explicit gay imagery to the screen. UN CHANT D’AMOUR (1950), Genet’s stunning silent film which was banned for decades, depicts graphic fantasies inside a men’s prison.

Often considered the godfather of independent avant-garde cinema, Anger’s films feature bold gay archetypes and use songs in a way that became the standard for films and music videos to follow. Screening are the classics FIREWORKS (1947), and SCORPIO RISING (1964), as well as the world premiere of his latest work, ELLIOTT’S SUICIDE, showcasing music and performances by Anger’s friend and former neighbor, the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith.

Erotic, poignant, and occasionally camp – the range of films presented in the SCANDALOUS series are emblematic of their time, yet remain entertaining and relevant today.

“These are important films for anyone wanting to appreciate queer film history, but also just fun to watch,” says Plourde. “We’re thrilled to provide a rare opportunity to see them on the big screen.”

The screening begins at 7:00 pm at Northwest Film Forum, located at 1515 12th Avenue (between Pike and Pine Streets on Capitol Hill).

Tickets are $10, $9 for Three Dollar Bill Cinema members.

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.seattlequeerfilm.org

The second film of the series, CAGED, screens this Thursday at 7pm, and boasts quite possibly the best tagline/quote of the Spring calendar:

“You don’t know women until you know them without men.”

 

Catching up with MIRIKITANI press

Unfamiliar with Jimmy Mirikitani or the film about him, THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI, which opens at NWFF on Friday?

Here are some links to get you up to speed.

• NY Times March 1, 2007 review [registration /payment might be necessary]
• Seattle Times coverage of Mirikitani opening at Wing Luke in July 2006
• IMDB entry [please note reigning 10 star review from haknight]

and of course

• Official website

“Make art, not war”

Artists and Taxes

An interesting bill is currently pending in congress regarding the tax code and aritsts donations to non profits. Its called the Artist deduction Bill. The bill, which was approved by the Senate would allow artists to take a tax deduction for the fair market value of works donated to charitable organizations. If accepted by the House, it will take effect on January 1, 2006, and would expire on December 31, 2007, unless renewed by Congress. Under current law, artists may take a tax deduction only for the cost of materials, such as paper, chemicals, and mat board. It is important to note that under the new provision, only gifts that are retained by the recipient for mission-related use would generate a full deduction. Gifts that are sold or auctioned, even in order to raise funds that are put to charitable use, would not qualify. The artist deduction bill is part of a larger piece of legislation that includes many provisions of interest to the arts and other charity groups. The original sponsors of the artist bill, Senators. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Robert Bennett (R-UT) led a successful effort to insert it in the larger bill, helped by a number of others including Senators. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Pete Domenici (R-NM), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA).

If you’re interested in contacting your representative about this issue, American’s for the Arts has streamlined the process for you here.

New films from Matt McCormick

Last year, we commissioned a new 35mm film from Matt McCormick . If like me, you cannot wait for the summer premiere of “It Was a Crushing Defeat” at NWFF, you can get your Matt McCormick fix this weekend at Chateaux Duwamps. Matt will be screening “Future so Bright” his new video and performance piece. It will be just one part of a full evening benefiting our good friends at clear cut press.

More Canadian News…

The Slog just posted a nice piece on our Canadian New Wave program, which continues tonight. If you haven’t read it you can find it here.

A fine crop of filmmakers and friends

Last week, Longhouse Media, moved their offices into Northwest Film Forum. Lead by the indefatigable Tracy Rector, Longhouse Media is doing fantastic work with Native American filmmakers in Seattle and with tribes around the state. The videos I’ve seen with Native American youth, made through their Native Lens program, are equally strong. We’re really happy to have them in the building.
With Three Dollar Bill Cinema, Arkham Northwest, and David and Peggy back in the Start-to-Finish office, there is something going on in the building 18 hours a day.