For Immediate Release                                                                   Contact: Carol OÕSullivan

April 20, 2009                                                                                               412-681-5449         

 

Pittsburgh Filmmakers Announces

May Programming

 

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

 

 

May 1: Absurdistan

Welcome to Absurdistan, a small village in the high desert mountains, just on the outskirts of reality, where magical visions and bizarre events fuse together, but the sexes are divided. When a water shortage threatens their village, the women – resentful and angry by the menÕs lazy indifference – decide to go on a sex strike until the drought is resolved. This delightful fable comes from the wild imagination of the award-winning director of Tuvalu.  It is romantic, funny, surreal and boundlessly poetic. With subtitles. (Veit Helmer; Germany; 2009; 88 min)

 

May 8 - 10: Silk Screen Film Festival

For a complete schedule of films go to: www.silkscreenfestival.org

 

May 11 – 14: Wild Child – new print!

Francois Truffaut – who was always a champion of misunderstood youth – tackles the true story of an 18th century boy found living alone in the woods in this touching and philosophical film, shown here in a new black & white print. Truffaut unfolds his story with a directness and simplicity: at first the boy behaves like a penned-up puppy. He gets a scrubbed face, restrictive clothing, table manners, and language. Based on the real diaries of a compassionate country doctor (played by the director) who fought authorities for the right to be in charge of the near-mute boyÕs social and intellectual education, he ends up taking him home. ItÕs a lovely, austere film, shot by legendary cinematographer NŽstor Almendros.  With subtitles. (Francois Truffaut; France; 1970; 84 min)

 

May 15:  12

From the director of Burnt by the Sun, comes this remarkable modern interpretation of the 1957 American classic, 12 Angry Men. Set in contemporary Moscow, the clashing dozen must decide the fate of a young Chechen accused of murdering a Russian army officer. Consigned to a makeshift jury room in a school gymnasium, they explore their surroundings, fiddling with everything from the band instruments to the lingerie in the girlsÕ locker room. Eventually, one by one, each man takes center stage revealing a rush to judgment based on biases. Forming a sly portrait of post-Soviet Russia, 12 explores human prejudice, understanding, and the essence of disagreement. With subtitles. (Nikita Mikhalkov; Russia; 2009; 159 min)

 

May 22 - 31:  Hunger

ÒÉharrowing yet lyricalÓ – Andrew Sarris

Set in Belfast's Maze Prison, this bold drama interprets the events surrounding the 1981 hunger strike, led by Bobby Sands -- the first of ten IRA prisoners to die of starvation. Hunger plunges us into world of the infamous H-blocks, a hellish place for prisoners and guards alike. Visceral and deeply moving, this is a compelling study of people who, over centuries, have nothing left to say to each other. The film is made more powerful by the first-time directorÕs spare approach. With an almost abstract quality he depicts life inside the prison as eerily silent, except for an extended debate between Sands and his priest. With outstanding performances and an epic eye for detail, the film provides a timely exploration of what happens when body and mind are pushed to the uttermost limit. Winner of 2008 Cannes Camera d'Or. (Steve McQueen; UK; 2008; 90 min)

 

 

Regent Square Theater – 1035 South Braddock Ave.

 

May 1 – 3:  Examined Life

The unexamined life is not worth living.Ó - Socrates

In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor accompanies some of todayÕs most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas. Offering privileged moments, this fascinating film reveals philosophyÕs power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it. Cornel West – perhaps AmericaÕs best-known public intellectual – reminds us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be. In addition to West, we hear from Peter Singer, Kwarne Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Slavoj Zizek and more. (Astra Taylor; Canada; 2008; 88 min)

 

May 4 - 8: Che (Part 1&2)

Benicio Del Toro plays revolutionary Che Guevera. With subtitles. (Steven Soderbergh; USA/Spain; 2008; each part: 131 min)

 

May 9 – 17: Silk Screen Film Festival

For a complete schedule of films go to: www.silkscreenfestival.org

 

May 18 - 21:

The Best of Ottawa International Animation Festival 2008

Founded in 1975 by the Canadian Film Institute, the now annual Ottawa International Animation Festival is the largest festival of its kind in North America and one of the most respected animation festivals in the world. The program features award-winning work from well-known and emerging filmmakers. Highly entertaining, the ÒBest of OttawaÓ program has festival award winners, audience favorites, and innovative entries in a wide variety of genres and forms, including short films, music videos, and more -- funny, thought-provoking, suspenseful, and sometimes mind-blowing examples of animationÕs possibilities. For mature audiences.

 

Opens May 22: Sugar

ÒOptimism arises from [SugarÕs] rarest and most thrilling quality, which is its

deep and humane honesty.Ó – NY Times

Ballplayers like Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, and Orlando Cepeda are legendary but we rarely hear about the Latino hopefuls who donÕt make it. Sugar (from the writer-director team behind Half Nelson) chronicles the story of Miguel "Sugar" Santos a talented Dominican contender who comes to the US to join a minor league club, hoping to pull his family out of poverty. Beautifully filmed, Sugar captures the small details, rhythms and rituals of the game, but also shows us the way America looks through the eyes of a stranger. An audience favorite at both Sundance and Toronto film festivals, itÕs poignant, yet life-affirming. (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck; USA; 2009; 114 min)

 

May Sunday Night Series: Lovers on the Run

American Noir has given us so many memorable movie couples running from the

law – they had to form a sub-genre.  Five titles to be announced soon.

 

 

Melwood Screening Room – 477 Melwood Ave.

 

May 6 - 9: 11th Annual Russian Film Symposium: The New Positive Hero

For a complete schedule of films and events, go to: www.rusfilm.pitt.edu. These four films at Melwood are presented in cooperation with the Film Studies Department at the University of Pittsburgh. All with subtitles.

Wild Field

An idealistic young physician operates a medical clinic far from any settlement; his patients are farmers spread out across the territory. (Mikhail Kalatozishvili; Russia, 2008; 100 min) Introduced by Jeremy Hicks; Queen Mary, University of London

12

Twelve jurors deliberate the fate of a young Chechen boy accused of murder. Initially all but one of the jurors are ready to convict the boy. (Nikita Mikhalkov; Russia, 2007; 153 min) Introduced by Dmitry Komm; Smolny College of Liberal Arts & Sciences St. Petersburg State University

Shultes

A pickpocket with severe memory problems, borderline autism, and no human contact, keeps a journal in order to try to make sense of his daily life. (Bakur Bakuradze; Russia, 2008; 100 min) Introduced by Igor Mantsov; Moscow

Morfiy

A young physician arrives in a provincial hospital in 1917 and quickly establishes himself as an excellent healer and colleague. But an allergic reaction requiring morphine turns the doctor into a drug addict. (Aleksei Balabanov; Russia, 2008; 107 min) Introduced by Petre Petrov; Princeton University

 

May 10 – 17: Silk Screen Film Festival

For a complete schedule of films go to: www.silkscreenfestival.org

 

May 12: Film Kitchen

This monthly series highlights regional independent film and video work. Presented on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, itÕs co-sponsored by City Paper, WYEP-FM, DH Creative, Rock Light.

This month features work by John Kirch and Nicole Pianella.

 

May 22 & 23: Astro-rama – Squonk Opera Live Under the Stars

Celebrate the mysteries of alien life with the world premiere of the filmed version of Squonk OperaÕs live show, shot in Pittsburgh's Schenley Park. This home-grown avant-garde performance troupe investigates reports of interplanetary visitors in their most recent musical outdoor extravaganza, called "ingenious, hypnotic, hallucinatoryÓ by New York Daily News and ÒtranscendentÓ by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Friday night is a fundraiser for the company and includes a party with the artists after the screening.

 

May 29 & 30: New Muslim Cool

This is the amazing story of Hamza Perez, a former drug dealer turned politically outspoken anti-drug counselor, hip-hop artist, community activist, family man and devout convert to Islam. By following Perez over three years – during which he and a group of 60 American Muslims moved to PittsburghÕs crime-ridden North Side – the film shows us a new generation of Latino and African American Muslims, youth who are drawn by the example of Malcolm X, as well as the culture of hip-hop, to weave a communal identity. Perez found that both his Pittsburgh masjid and his job as a religious speaker in the county jail were subject to surveillance. Broaching urgent contemporary themes, New Muslim Cool is a story as inherently complex as it is strikingly American. (Jennifer Maytorena Taylor; USA; 2009; 83 min) Post-screening panel discussions with the filmmaker and Hamza Perez both nights.

 

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