For Immediate Release Contact: Carol O’Sullivan

April 23, 2010 412-681-5449

Pittsburgh Filmmakers Announces

May 2010 Programming

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

Through May 6: North Face

Based on true events of 1936, this gripping adventure is about the quest to be the first to scale the near-vertical Eiger North Face – the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Two German pals decide to take the challenge with only woolen socks and gloves, hemp ropes, and pitons they’ve forged themselves. The feat gets the attention of a young female journalist, as well as the Nazis – hoping for a heroic show of athleticism prior to hosting the Olympics. With subtitles. (Philipp Stoelzl; Austria; 2008; 121 min)

May 7 - 9: Silk Screen Asian Film Festival. More info: www.silkscreenfestival.org

May 10 – 13: PDP presents: The Bread My Sweet    

One of the best-loved films ever made in Pittsburgh, it stars Scott Baio as a man who lives a double life as both a corporate raider and a baker. He also acts as a surrogate son to Bella, an Italian immigrant who lives above the bakery he owns in the Strip District. (Melissa Martin; USA/Pittsburgh; 2001; 105 min) 

Chosen by downtown residents of Pittsburgh, this film belongs to an ongoing series at the Harris Theater, and we thank the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership for their support of the series – and for supporting Downtown's neighborhood theater.

May 14 – 20: Everyone Else

"Superbly performed, emotionally graphic" – J. Hoberman, Village Voice

A rising star of the new German film scene, director Maren Ade took the Berlin Film Festival by storm with this intimate, incisive tale. On the surface, the sun-kissed couple – an architect and his girlfriend – seem to enjoy perfect, amorous bliss during their get-away vacation. But as they spend more time together, their playful teasing and silly habits begin to rub each other raw. And when they run into some friends – a more successful and clearly happier couple – the truth about the state of their relationship becomes more apparent. With subtitles. (Maren Ade; Germany; 2010; 120 min)

Opens May 21: Vincere

Part political treatise, part heart-breaking love story this Cannes nominated film from director Marco Bellocchio visits a dark secret in the life of dictator Benito Mussolini. The veteran filmmaker brilliantly personalizes Mussolini’s rise to power through the story of his seduction and catastrophic betrayal of his lover, Ida, and their son. Like much of Italy, she abandoned herself to him body and soul. But Ida – played by Giovanna Mezzogiorno, today's premier Italian actress, and best known here for her performance in Love in the Time of Cholera – is in for the fight of her life. With subtitles. (Marco Bellocchio; Italy/France; 2009; 125 min)

Regent Square Theater – 1035 South Braddock Ave.

May 6 only: Mythopoeic Times

Local artist Rebecca Einhorn will present her film in person at 8:00pm.

On the forty-fifth parallel in North America, four men are creating their own mythology –

a mythology based on a historical figure of their own invention. (90 min)

Through May 5: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Based on the best-selling novel, this movie is already the highest-grossing Swedish film in history. The story begins Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her beloved uncle is convinced it...4 four decades ago when Harriet Vanger disappears from a family gathering. Her body was never found, but her beloved uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own clan. He hires a middle-aged journalist and a young – tattooed and pierced – computer hacker to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to others, a dark family history begins to unravel. Author Stieg Larsson died suddenly in 2004, leaving behind three novels known as the "millennium trilogy,” which have become global sensations. This is the first screen adaptation. With subtitles. (Niels Arden Oplev; Sweden; 2010; 154 min)

May 7 - 16: Silk Screen Asian Film Festival. More info: www.silkscreenfestival.org

May 17 – 20: Five Easy Pieces – new print!

“…a great work of the Discover America Seventies” – Village Voice

Bobby Duprea (Jack Nicholson) is a classic misfit – disillusioned about being a musician, unhappy as an oil rigger, and unable to make a commitment to his girlfriend. When he visits his family home on Puget Sound after a long absence, things don't get better, as he remembers how much he hates the repressive atmosphere. Shown here in a brand new print, the film features the gorgeous cinematography of Laszlo Kovaks. While this American classic is best known for the hilarious diner scene between Bobby and a stubborn waitress, it is also a riveting, existentialist tale of a man whose gift becomes a burden. (Bob Rafelson; USA; 1970; 98 min)

Opens May 21: The Secret of Kells

Audiences are standing up to applaud this Oscar-nominated animation from the producers of Triplets of Belleville and Kirikou and the Sorceress. Magic, fantasy and Celtic mythology come together in a riot of color and dazzling details in a sweeping story about the power of imagination and faith to carry humanity through dark times. Young Brendan lives in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids. One day a celebrated master illuminator arrives from foreign lands carrying an ancient but unfinished book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers. To help complete the book, Brendan must embark on a dangerous quest through an enchanted forest. (Tomm Moore, Ireland/France/Belgium; 2009; 78 min)

Sunday Night Series: Restored Rarities

Fortunately, in the world of film preservation, it is not just the big, well-known films that get restored. Sometimes they are wonderful classics that haven’t been seen much, but deserve to be saved none-the-less. Here are four newly restored 35mm gems.

May 2: High and Low

Not a samurai to be found in this contemporary thriller from Akira Kurosawa, adapted from a detective novel (and remade later 35 years as Ransom). The great Toshiro Mifune is mesmerizing as a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper. Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling suspense to social commentary. With subtitles. (Akira Kurosawa; Japan; 1963; 143 min)

May 9: M. Hulot’s Holiday

The first in the brilliant Monsieur Hulot series, this wordless classic has never looked better thanks to the new restoration. Set at a seaside resort, Jacques Tati’s endearing, pipe-smoking alter ego finds his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. A wildly funny satire of vacationers determined to enjoy themselves, it features choreographed sight gags about boats, dogs, tennis, and other hazards of leisure. (Jacques Tati; France; 1953; 88 min)

May 16: Warsaw Bridge

A wonderfully mad lost masterpiece, Warsaw Bridge is unlike any movie you’ve seen. Director Portabella, one-time producer for Luis Buñuel, has assembled a series of bizarre images and surreal sequences that play out like a beautiful dream – a concert in a shopping arcade; a verbal chess match; an opera performed at a fish market; credits that appear 30 minutes into the film; and many more oddities. Ostensibly a romance, this unforgettable film is actually a love letter to the possibilities of cinema. With subtitles. (Pere Portabella, Spain 1990, 85 min)

May 23: In a Lonely Place

Although not as well known as Humphrey Bogart’s other films, he is remarkable here as “Dix” Steele, a Hollywood screenwriter prone to violent outbursts. When he is accused of murdering a hat-check girl his only alibi is a pretty new neighbor played by great femme fatale Gloria Grahame. The couple falls in love even though she has doubts about his innocence. (Nicholas Ray; USA; 1950; 90 min)

Special Event – Film & Live Performance

May 30: Dust & Illusions

Once a year, on a vast Nevada lakebed surrounded by mountains, the Burning Man Festival brings together tens of thousands of people who are attracted by the promise of seven days of non-commercial art and revelry. But increasingly, many question whether Burning Man's mainstream appeal threatens – or even upends – the festival's utopian vision. Through a series of in-depth interviews of the festival's founders, organizers, and participants, Dust & Illusions traces the festival's 30-year history, while asking whether it’s a victim of its own success. (Olivier Bonin; 2009; USA/France; 80 min) Features a live performance by singer Phat Man Dee. $10 donation; proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.

Melwood Screening Room – 477 Melwood Ave.

May 5 – 8: From Art House to Cineplex:

Russian Cinema's Search For a Mass Audience

The 2010 Russian Film Symposium is co-presented with the University of Pittsburgh; more info at rusfilm.pitt.edu.

Wolfy – Weds, May 5 at 7:30 (Vasilii Sigarev; Russia, 2009; 88 min)
Introduced by Nikolai Izvolov, Institute for Cinema Studies, Moscow.

Oxygen – Thurs, May 6 at 7:30 (Ivan Vyrypaev; Russia, 2009; 75 min)
Introduced by Nancy Condee, University of Pittsburgh.

Hipsters – Fri, May 7 at 7:30 (Valerii Todorovskii; Russia, 2009; 115 min)
Introduced by Elena Stishova, Iskusstvo kino (Art of Cinema)

Taras Bulba – Sat May 8 at 7:30 (Vladimir Bortko; Russia, 2009; 128 min)

May 9, 12 - 16: Silk Screen Asian Film Festival. More info: www.silkscreenfestival.org

May 11: Film Kitchen

The monthly series highlights regional, independent short films and videos. This month features work by Madelyn Roehrig, Federico Cesca, and tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE. Reception at 7:00; films at 8:00.

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