For Immediate Release Contact: Carol O’Sullivan

Nov. 24, 2009 412-681-5449

Pittsburgh Filmmakers Announces

December Programming

(Pittsburgh, PA) – The following are descriptions of Pittsburgh Filmmakers Film Exhibition program for December 2009. 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.

Nov. 27 – Dec. 10: Ong Bak 2: The Beginning

Warning: this film will kick your face off! This is the not-exactly-a-sequel to Ong Bak – the movie that launched Tony Jaa to international stardom. Jaa returns for another kick-ass, bone-crunching, stuntman-crippling, Thai boxer movie. He plays a man adopted by a multi-cultural band of pirates who freed him from slavery as a child (after he won a boy vs. crocodile fight) and then they teach him mind-blowing martial arts skills. The action is non-stop in this fun movie, while the rope work and CGI are kept to a minimum. With subtitles. (Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai; Thailand; 2008; 110 min)

Dec. 11: Tony Manero

After an acclaimed premiere at 2008’s Cannes Film Festival, critics started calling Tony Manero one of the major discoveries of the year. Finally being distributed in the US, this dark, edgy film is set during General Pinochet’s regime in Chile, 1978. It tells the story of a 52-year-old sleazebag obsessed with Saturday Night Fever. (Tony Manero is the name of John Travolta’s disco dancer in that landmark movie.) The film is a powerful allegory about life under a dictatorship. While the insidious nature of American pop culture is exposed, it is ultimately a remarkable character study. With subtitles. (Pablo Larraín; Chile; 2009; 98 min)

Opens Dec. 26: Bronson

This hit from the 3 Rivers Film Festival is back by request. It’s the story of Britain’s “most violent prisoner.” In 1974, a 20-year-old robbed a post office and got a seven-year sentence. But walls do not a prison make; in this case it became an incubator for his art, which was fighting bloody battles he could not win. He ended up spending 30 years in solitary, which leads to the metamorphosis of alter ego Charles Bronson, career convict, celebrity, and insider artist. Though based on facts, Bronson is less a biopic than an explosion of cinematic style. Features a stunning performance by Tom Hardy. (Nicolas Winding Refn; 2009; UK; 92 min)

Regent Square Theater – 1035 South Braddock Ave.

Nov. 27 – Dec. 10: The Damned United

Starring the remarkable Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) this is the take-no-prisoners world of English soccer in the 60s and early 70s. Brian Clough was the manager of a terrible team from Derby County, ranked at the bottom of England's professional soccer league. But he led Derby out of the basement to a championship, and then landed a job coaching the powerhouse Leeds United team — English soccer's equivalent of baseball's New York Yankees. This irresistible film features an ensemble of outstanding actors, including Colm Meaney, Timothy Spall and Jim Broadbent. It’s bloody good fun. (Tom Hooper; UK; 2009; 98 min)

Dec. 11 – 17: The Beaches of Agnes

Winner of Best Doc at French Cesars, as well as short-listed for an Oscar. This charming and touching reflection on art, life and the movies is a richly cinematic self-portrait of filmmaker Agnes Varda. With subtitles. (Agnes Varda; France; 2009; 110 min)

Dec. 18 – 22: It's a Wonderful Life  - FREE!

Bring your family to see this Christmas classic on the BIG screen! Everyone is familiar with the story of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), a small town guy with big dreams. A guardian angel shows George what life would've been like if he had never been born. (Frank Capra; USA; 1946; 129 min)

Dec. 26 – 30: Rashomon – new print!                        

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever made about the philosophy of justice. Set in medieval Japan, four witnesses give contradictory accounts of a heinous crime. The dappled images grow darker as we travel deeper into the forest and delve deeper into the search for truth. This hypnotic masterpiece is famous for introducing Japanese cinema to the West. Won top prize at Venice Film Fest and an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. With subtitles. (Akira Kurosawa; Japan; 1950; 80 min)

Opens Jan. 1: 35 Shots of Rum

“…reminds viewers how rarely movies capture the easy-going love embodied in a functional family.” – Variety.  Widely regarded as one of the most innovative and interesting filmmakers working today, Claire Denis (Beau Travail) explores the issue of letting go in her new film. Set in a Paris suburb, a widowed metro conductor (played by the fabulous Alex Descas) is approaching retirement. He lives with his beautiful grown daughter – the object of a neighbor’s romantic interest. The film, full of quiet emotions,  evokes Eric Rohmer as it follows an ensemble of characters in a roundelay of relationships. Winner of audience favorite awards at a variety of international film festivals. With subtitles. (Claire Denis; France; 2009; 100 min)

Sunday Night Series: Over the Top: Movie Melodramas

In post WWII America, this sub-genre often connected best with the female audience, where emotional stories (failed romances, strained family life, illness, neuroses, tragedy, etc.) tapped the tear ducts. The three films here are newly restored prints in fabulous over-the-top Technicolor.

Dec. 3: Leave Her to Heaven

John Stahl made “women's pictures” such as Imitation of Life (1934) and Magnificent Obsession (1935) some 20 years before Douglas Sirk, who is most associated with the genre. This one is a doozy: a jealous woman goes to any length to have her husband all to herself. She even stands by as his attention-grabbing, crippled brother drowns in the lake. Notable for its exquisite Technicolor cinematography – an ironic contrast to the story's noirish qualities – it earned Gene Tierney an Oscar. (John M. Stahl; 1945; 110 min)

Dec. 13: Bigger Than Life

The French New Wave directors loved Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) and called this widescreen Technicolor marvel among the greatest American films. James Mason plays a bow-tied schoolteacher with a rare disease that could kill him without large doses of drugs. His wife and young son try to keep it together, but the drugs are causing problems. “It’s hard to think of another Hollywood picture with more to say about the sheer awfulness of ‘normal’ American family life during the 50s.” – film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum (Nicholas Ray; 1956; 95 min)

Dec. 27: Magnificent Obsession

One of Douglas Sirk’s most flamboyant melodramas is this remake of John Stahl's 1935 original. Rock Hudson – in a star-making role – plays a drunken playboy who mends his ways and (in record time) becomes a neurosurgeon in order to repair the eyesight of the woman (played by Jane Wyman, the first Mrs. Ronald Reagan) he blinded in a car accident. It’s a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and the spiritual where the lives of these two are inextricably linked. (Douglas Sirk; 1954; 108 min)

Melwood Screening Room – 477 Melwood Ave.

Dec. 8: Film Kitchen

This monthly series highlights regional, independent film and video work. This month features short narratives with a Jewish theme by Leibel Cohen. Reception at 7:00; films at 8:00. Admission: $5.

Dec. 11: Thesis Films

Students from Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ School will present their final projects. Free and open to the public. Reception follows the screening.

Dec. 18: Sync'd - a program of film and live music

An evening of locally made contemporary silent shorts accompanied by live soundtracks provided by Black Yodel from points east (NYC, DC, Vermont) and the local band, Dire Wolves. There are nine filmmakers: Ben Hernstrom, Jessica Fenlon, Chris Smalley, Anna Hawkins, Matthew R. Day, Tess Allard, Justin Crimone, Keith DeVries, and Michael Maraden. An array of genres and styles will be represented: documentary, narrative, experimental, and computer animation. Admission: $5.

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