| For Immediate Release | Contact: Carol O'Sullivan |
| Feb 21, 2005 | 412-681-5449 x205 |
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March Programming (PITTSBURGH, PA) -- The following are descriptions of Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ Film Exhibition program for March 2005. These films are screened at the 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. Regent Square Theater - 1035 South Braddock Ave. Through March 10: Bad Education "4 stars," - Barry Paris, Pgh Post-Gazette. "A rapturous masterwork" - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone. Using more film noir than melodrama, Pedro Almodovar’s autobiographical story begins in a strict boarding school and the abuse the boys endured. The complex narrative skillfully dramatizes how childhood events shape one’s adult life. Jumping to the '80s, a young gay film director Enrique (Fele Martínez) is visited by his old school friend Ignacio (Gael García Bernal). Ignacio gives Enrique a short story to read which recounts the experiences of the two men, who suffered through Catholic school together in the '60s, but were later separated. The story goes on to invent a fictional reunion in the '70s, in which one boy is imagined as a suburban family man, the other a drug-addicted transvestite. Enrique decides that this story -- part memory, part fantasy -- will form the basis of his new film. Ultimately, Bad Education is another profound lesson in desire and duplicity by one of contemporary cinema’s masters. (Pedro Almodovar; Spain; 2004; 109min) Opens March 11: Postmen in the Mountains This gorgeous and poignant drama revolves around an aging postman who is unable to maintain his grueling route. The story begins as a 24-year-old is preparing to take over the postal duties of his father in remote Hunan. When the loyal family dog can't be coaxed into guiding the young man through his first three-day trek alone, the father goes along too, to see that the torch is properly passed. But with this passing of the torch comes deep emotions. The heartwarming drama, set against a gorgeous Chinese landscape, asks us to re-evaluate our Fed-Ex, e-mail, text message lifestyles. In Mandarin with subtitles. (Directed by Huo Jianqi; China; 1998; 93min) ONE NIGHT ONLY: March 16 - Pittsburgh premiere of the restored 1925 classic: The Phantom of The Opera Filmmakers welcomes the return of the Alloy Orchestra - a three-man band from Boston who’ve made a career of writing and performing live music to classic silent films. This is their fourth visit to Pittsburgh (Nosferatu, The General). Roger Ebert calls the Alloy Orchestra "the best in the world at accompanying silent films." Alloy co-founder Ken Winokur has produced, with film restoration expert David Shephard, a new 35mm print of The Phantom that's unlike anything available theatrically since 1925. At last, the film can be seen with its original tints and two-strip technicolor "Bal Masque" sequence intact. Lon Chaney is made all the more terrifying as The Phantom with Alloy's new live score. (Directed by Rupert Julian; 1925; 80 min) Tickets are $15.00, and can be purchased in advance beginning March 1, at 477 Melwood Ave. during business hours, or at any of our theaters. One show only at 8:00pm. Opens March 25: In the Realms of the Unreal When Henry Darger died in 1973 at age 81, little was known about the recluse who left behind 300 paintings and a lavishly illustrated 15,000 page novel. In 1909, when he was 17, Darger began compiling The Story of the Vivian Girls, in what is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. It was a massive undertaking about a fierce war involving Christian soldiers, heathens, and seven young, but feisty, sisters. By day he mopped floors and by night he ruled over this imaginary universe of extraordinary stories and images. This fascinating documentary explores the mind of a gifted loner who spent much of his life obsessed with good vs.evil and children. Filmmaker JessicaYu brings his elaborate art to life by utilizing narrators to read passages from his novel, and by digitally animating Darger’s paintings and drawings. She also interviews Darger's landlord and a few churchgoers who knew him, opting not to talk to art critics or psychiatrists, instead letting the audience decide whether Darger was a madman or a genius. (Directed by Jessica Yu; USA; 2004; 81 min) Sunday Night Series: Liz Taylor classics March 6: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof The Harris Theater - 809 Liberty Ave. Weekday screenings at 5:30 are now just $5! Mon 2/28 - Thu 3/3: Kinsey "Enormously entertaining" - The New Yorker. The story of Alfred Kinsey is a portrait of a man driven to uncover the most private secrets of a nation and the very mystery of human behavior. In 1948 he irrevocably changed American culture and created a media sensation with his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. He managed to lift the weight of shame from a society in which sex was hidden, and knowledge was dangerous. Kinsey’s work sparked one of the most intense cultural debates of the past century - a debate that rages on today. Outstanding performances from Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. (Directed by Bill Condon; USA; 2004; 129min) Fri 3/4 - Sun 3/6: What the BLEEP Do We Know? Back by request! Combining quantum physics, multi-dimensional visual effects, fiction and fantasy, this is one very original film. Marlee Matlin stars as a woman caught in a fantastic Alice in Wonderland experience when her daily, uninspired life literally begins to unravel, revealing the uncertain world of the quantum field hidden behind what we consider to be our normal, waking reality. (Directed by Betsy Chasse; USA; 2004; 108min) Mon 3/7 - Thu 3/10: Breakfast at Tiffany’s The elegant '60s icon Audrey Hepburn is constantly re-discovered by fashionable women everywhere. Here she plays Holly Golightly, a deliciously eccentric New York playgirl determined to marry a millionaire, until that is, she meets her dreamy neighbor played by George Peppard. Features an Oscar-winning score (Moon River) by Henry Mancini. (Directed by Blake Edwards; USA; 1961; 115min) Fri 3/11 - Sun 3/13: Maysles on Christo - new prints! Since the late 1950's, Bulgarian artist Christo has challenged society’s view of art. His large-scale temporary works have helped change our perception. His recent project, The Gates, in New York’s Central Park has rekindled interest in the artist and his work. Christo in Paris (1990; 58 min) documents his first urban project, wrapping the oldest bridge in Paris, the Pont Neuf. The focus is on environmental artists, Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, and the millions of Parisians who watched them create an astounding architectural poem. Rich in political intrigue and artistic debate, this film tracks Christo's early years as a struggling artist, his romance with Jeanne-Claude and the fulfillment of a ten-year obsession. Valley Curtain (1974; 28 min) is the permanent record of a project that rocked the artistic community and turned skeptical ironworkers into astonished fans. Conceived and financed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, this was no ordinary curtain. Made of nine tons of orange nylon polymide fabric, it stretched a full quarter-mile and was suspended from four steel cables 365 feet above Rifle Gap, Colorado. (Both directed by Albert and David Maysles) Mon 3/14 - Thu 3/17: Vera Drake "3-1/2 stars" - Barbara Vancheri, Pgh Post-Gazette. It earned a spot on many Top 10 lists this year. In a stunning performance, Imelda Staunton plays a selfless woman who, unbeknownst to her family, helps working class girls induce miscarriages for unwanted pregnancies - an illegal practice. The story exposes attitudes as prevalent in today's political climate as they were 50 years ago. (Directed by Mike Leigh; UK/France/New Zealand; 2004; 125 min) Fri 3/18 - Sun 3/20: Callas Forever Director Franco Zeffirelli collaborated with soprano Maria Callas in her prime and here he conveys the intimacy, admiration, and exasperation of their long-standing friendship. Fanny Ardant plays the middle-aged singer in 1976, living as a recluse in Paris. She embodies the diva's dazzling blend of glamour, hauteur, and vulnerability. Jeremy Irons plays the Zeffirelli surrogate, a gay impresario who urges her to star in a film version of Carmen with the vocal to be dubbed from an old recording. (Directed by Franco Zefferelli; US/France/Italy 2002; 110min) Mon 3/21 - Thu 3/24: Beyond the Sea "…captures Darin's desperation, his braggadocio and his magnetism." - New York Times. Kevin Spacey offers an uncanny portrait of "Mack the Knife" singer Bobby Darin, and his stormy relationship with his wife, actress Sandra Dee. Though suffering from a heart condition, Darin worked his way up from tacky clubs to performing in Vegas, finally scoring a hit with "Splish Splash." He was determined to be a legend by the age of 25. (Directed by Kevin Spacey; USA; 2004; 121min) Fri 3/25 - Sun 3/27: Fanny and Alexander — new print! This delightful autobiography focuses on life in turn-of-the-century Sweden. The title characters are children of a large, jolly extended family. After their father’s untimely death, their mother marries the bishop, a stern authoritarian. Though Bergman announced this as his farewell film, "it may, paradoxically, seem to burst with the sort of invention we associate with young first-time directors," says Roger Ebert. (Directed by Ingmar Bergman; Sweden; 1982; 188min) Melwood Screening Room - 477 Melwood Ave. March 4: Robert Breer Program One night only, this is a retrospective of short animated works from artist Robert Breer. His 3-D work is on view in Filmmakers Galleries through April 3. March 5: My Terrorism Video Festival is presented by local multimedia artists Plan Z. The program features a diverse group of national and international videographers whose work portrays the social effects of terrorism. The festival promotes a personal and artistic perspective on the subject matter as an alternative to the vertical information on terror that we have been receiving from the mass-media. Another of the festival goals is to expose the many levels of terrorism, what it is and how it affects our lives. Because of 9/11 and the Iraq war there is much emphasis on international terrorism. These videos explore other levels of terror closer to home. March 8: Film Kitchen Presented on the second Tuesday of every month, Film Kitchen showcases local film and video art. This month: the award-winning, short nonfiction films of John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson, presented by the filmmakers in person. Reception at 7:00; screening at 8:00pm. Co-sponsored by Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Pittsburgh City Paper, WYEP, Pittsburgh Brewing, Pittsburgh Deli Co. March 18 - 20: Edvard Munch - new print! A classic of world cinema, Edvard Munch is considered the summit of the artist biography film. At once epic and intimate, this absorbing portrait of Munch is part journalistic observation, part reverie. Director Peter Watkins does not focus on Munch’s final decades of increasing fame and critical success, but rather, on an unhappy childhood and his development as an artist. (Munch said his cradle was watched over by "the black angels of illness, insanity, and death.") Watkins also provides a portal into the process of artistic creation. The recent theft of Munch’s The Scream was a wrenching reminder that, though much his work was reviled in its day, it has since become a universal icon — a kind of logo for existential anxiety. This new print of the film is doubly important then, retrieving Munch’s world of agony so powerfully that the famous image of a shrieking skull regains its original power. "What Watkins has achieved… is the closest possible filmic recreation of the world of Munch’s paintings and engravings. The film - the world - actually becomes Munch’s oeuvre: every frame is perceived through Munch’s eye, Munch’s brush, Munch’s state of soul." - John Simon, New York Magazine. (Directed by Peter Watkins; UK; 1971; 170 min) |
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