For Immediate Release: July 26, 2010

Contact: Carol O’Sullivan

412-681-5449

Pittsburgh Filmmakers Announces

August 2010 Programming

(Pittsburgh, PA) – The following are descriptions of Pittsburgh Filmmakers Film Exhibition program for August 2010. The films are screened at Harris Theater, 809 Liberty Avenue (Downtown), the Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Avenue (in North Oakland) and the Regent Square Theater, 1035 S. Braddock Avenue (in Edgewood). For admission prices and current showtimes call 412-682-4111. All titles and dates are subject to change, due to film availability.

The Harris Theater – 809 Liberty Ave.

Thru Aug. 5: Lourdes

In this superb drama, Christine has been confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. She makes a journey to Lourdes, a popular destination for Catholic pilgrimage in France. When she is seemingly cured, she feels her devotion has been rewarded. The transcendent moment is flush with possibilities, including romance. But she questions whether the healing is permanent and why others, equally needy, were not recipients of such a divine gift.  With subtitles. (Jessica Hausner; Austria; 2010; 96 min)

Opens Aug. 6: Countdown to Zero

Conventional wisdom has it that the threat of nuclear war subsided with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, but this hair-raising film proves otherwise. Filmmaker Lucy Walker illustrates how the threat has grown in unexpected ways and moved in new directions. Leading politicians and political analysts – including Tony Blair, Valerie Plame Wilson, Mikhail Gorbachev and Jimmy Carter – discuss the question of nuclear war in the 21st century and how to finally achieve disarmament. Featuring narration by Gary Oldman and music by Pearl Jam, Countdown is the most compelling documentary you'll see this year. (Lucy Walker; USA; 2010; 90 min)

Opens Aug. 13: Stonewall Uprising

On June 28, 1969. New York City cops raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, The Stonewall Inn. For the first time, patrons refused to be led into paddy wagons, setting off a 3-day riot that launched the gay rights movement. In this new documentary, Stonewall regulars, reporters, and the officer who led the raid, tell their story. "It was the Rosa Parks moment," says one man. Recalling an era when psychoanalysts equated homosexuality with mental illness, advising aversion therapy, even lobotomies; public service announcements warned youngsters about predatory homosexuals; and police entrapment was rampant, this inspirational film serves as a timely reminder. (Kate Davis & David Heilbroner; USA; 2010; 80 min)

Aug. 20 – 29: Let It Rain

From Agnes Jaoui – who the New York Times calls a “Gallic Woody Allen” – comes this charming and sharp-witted battle of the sexes. The Oscar-nominated director (The Taste of Others) stars as Agathe, a self-centered, workaholic, feminist politician who returns home to sort out her mother’s affairs, and decides to run for local office. On her arrival she grudgingly agrees to take part in a documentary being made about “successful” women. Co-stars Jamel Debbouze (from Amelie) and Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jaoui’s real-life husband and writing partner. With subtitles. (Agnes Jaoui; France; 2010; 98 min)

Aug. 30 – Sept. 2: To Kill a Mockingbird

It’s rare when a movie captures the magic of a great book, yet holds its own as a masterpiece of cinema. Starring Gregory Peck as highly-respected lawyer Atticus Finch, this moving drama raises great questions about poverty, race, ignorance and injustice with enormous grace and emotional power. Deeply humane, the film is a classic coming-of-age tale of innocence lost in the segregated American south. (Robert Mulligan; USA; 1962; 129 min)

Co-presented with Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.

Regent Square Theater – 1035 South Braddock Ave.

Opens Aug. 13: Winnebago Man

"Bleeping brilliant!" -People Magazine

Jack Rebney is the most famous man you’ve never heard of – an RV salesman whose hilarious, foul-mouthed outbursts circulated underground on VHS tapes in the 90s before turning into a full-blown web phenom. Today, regarded as one of the first and funniest viral videos, the “Winnebago man” is known to millions and has been spoofed by countless TV shows, actors and comedians. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer decided to go in search of Rebney. This is the story of where Rebney is now – living alone on a mountaintop, unaware of his fame. Hilarious, thoughtful, provocative, even poignant, this is an amazing look at what it means to become an unintentional celebrity. (Ben Steinbauer; USA; 2010; 85 min)

Aug. 16 – 19: Ajami

The last of the five 2009 Oscar-nominated Best Foreign Language films to be released is this multi-layered crime drama, which paints a bracing and moving portrait of the Middle East conflict. Weaving characters and stories to create a tapestry of lives (much like Babel) Ajami is a neighborhood shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians. With palpable tension, the story gets kick-started with a drive-by shooting that kills an innocent boy – the result of a vendetta between two crime clans. With subtitles. (Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani; Israel; 2010; 120 min)

Opens Aug. 27: Life During Wartime

With an amazing ensemble cast, including Allison Janney, Paul Reubens, Ally Sheedy, Shirley Henderson, and Charlotte Rampling, this audacious comedy is an exploration of the boundaries of forgiveness, family, and love. It is a sequel of sorts to the 1998 film Happiness from director Todd Solondz. Ten years have passed since we last visited this family of three sisters, the various troubled men connected to them, their kids, and their parents. But, in a brilliant stroke, the director has recast every role and moved it to current-day Florida. Alternately hilarious and tragic, outrageous and poignant, Life During Wartime has unexpected resonance. (Todd Solondz; USA; 2009; 98 min)

Sunday Night Series: Summer Vacation

Movies offer a vacation from reality, measured in minutes. Some people enjoy visiting utopian worlds, while others prefer a darker, dystopian landscape – either way the big screen puts you there. And you don’t need a suitcase. The staff of PF/PCA voted for these selections.

Aug. 1: Oklahoma!

With its rousing, optimistic, corn-fed American songs, few musicals have had the kind of cultural impact this one has. Nineteen-year-old Shirley Jones made her film debut here, playing an innocent country gal who’s courted by a boisterous cowboy (Gordon MacRae) and a troubled farm hand (Rod Steiger). With music by Rodgers and Hammerstein and choreography by Agnes de Mille, it’s the pinnacle of movie musicals – and it’s in Technicolor! (Fred Zinnemann; USA; 1955; 145 min) Introduced by Laura Jean Kahl, Exhibitions Coordinator at PF.

Aug. 8: Harvey

Based on the Mary Chase play, this award-winning classic stars Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd, an eccentric bachelor whose best friend is a 6'3" rabbit only certain people can see. When his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family to mend its wounds and a small town to learn tolerance. A delightful film-going experience! (Henry Koster; USA; 1950; 104 min) Introduced by Laura Domencic, Director of PCA.

Aug. 15: Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

This 80s cult comedy has developed a rabid following. Somewhere between satire and a wacky sci-fi adventure, it follows a brain surgeon/rock musician who shifts his car’s “oscillation overthruster” into warp speed, sending him into the 8^th dimension. There he goes cranium to cranium with the evil Dr. Lizardo. Stars John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, and more. (W.D. Richter; USA; 1984; 103 min) Introduced by Mike Bonello, Operations Assistant & on faculty at PF.

Aug. 22: Repulsion

The first English-language film from Roman Polanski is this chilling psychological thriller. A young Catherine Deneuve is terrific as Carol, a fragile beauty who's left alone in a London flat. She is haunted by specters, real and imagined, as her insanity grows. Repulsion is a surreal, mind-bending odyssey into personal horror, and it remains one of cinema’s most shocking tales of psychosis. (Roman Polanski; UK; 1965; 105 min) Introduced by Gern Roberts, PR Coordinator at PF/PCA.

Aug. 29: Riot on Sunset Strip

Hippies gone wild – along with pot, sugar cube LSD, and psychedelic rock-n-roll. Far out! This lower-than-low budget film shows us some 60s Hollywood clubs and teen scenes (that no longer exist) in an attempt to capture the essence of the period: cops and kids clashing. Features music by the Standells, the Chocolate Watch Band, and the Enemies. The mod clothes and wild hair-swingin' trippy dancing alone are a riot! (Arthur Driefuss; USA; 1967; 87 min) Introduced by Gary Kaboly, Director of Exhibition at PF.

Melwood Screening Room – 477 Melwood Ave.

Thru Aug. 3: Metropolis

The once-and-for-all complete version of Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece was discovered in Argentina two summers ago. Long believed lost forever in its original form, Metropolis has been shown in several edited versions. Finally, we get to see Lang’s intact artistic vision – where a futuristic society is deeply divided by class, and science runs amok. Silent with musical score, and inter-titles. (Fritz Lang; Germany; 1927; 145 min)

Aug. 13 – 15: Trash Humpers

“Is it a lost underground movie or a new species of freak-folk art?” –Cinemascope

The latest film from Harmony Korine chronicles the exploits of several grotesque delinquents (played by, among others, Korine and his wife in wigs and creepy old-person masks). The director (Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy) enjoys provoking. For starters, the title is meant literally. Here he explores the dregs of society, who, in the absence of traditional forms of entertainment, make their own fun. Shot on lo-fi video, with vintage analog glitches and distortions, it was a 2009 New York Film Festival selection. Adults only. (Harmony Korine; USA/UK; 2009; 78 min)

Aug. 20 – 22: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo

Like a good detective story, and directed by botanist-filmmaker Jessica Oreck, this documentary untangles the web of influences behind Japan’s captivation with insects. It opens in modern-day Tokyo where a single beetle recently sold for $90,000, then travels back in time to stories of the fabled first emperor who named Japan the "Isle of the Dragonflies." Weaving history and adventure, Beetle Queen is a compelling immersion into another society's vision of the world. In English and Japanese with subtitles. (Jessica Oreck; USA/Japan; 2010; 90 min)

Aug. 27 – 29: Cropsey

“Modern horror films rarely capture that pit-of-the-stomach feeling the way

this movie does.” – Boston Globe

Riveting and bone-chillingly creepy, this is the true story of the most notorious of urban legends. Growing up on Staten Island, filmmakers Zeman and Brancaccio understood the story of “Cropsey” to be a cautionary tale invented to keep them out of the abandoned buildings of the Willowbrook Mental Institution. This particular boogey man was said to be an escaped patient who would come out at night and snatch children off the streets. Part psychological study, part serial-killer exposé, Cropsey raises timely questions about real mysteries. (Joshua Zeman & Barbara Brancaccio; USA; 85 min)

Aug 11: SPECIAL FREE EVENT @ PCA Lawn - The Great Muppet Caper

(Jim Henson; 1981; 95 min) Presented as part of Bikefest; starts at dusk on the lawn at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Fifth Ave, Shadyside.

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