Category — Film Series

Thursday, November 2 at 8pm

This night will showcase films by two acclaimed Iranian directors; host Max Fenton says: “These films are beautiful and were made in times of great struggle. They are poignant films about small moments in small places that are as small and filled as our own places we each occupy. Only, for some reason, because they were made faraway we forget that those faraway places are made up of small and poignant moments and beautiful desolate places, too. Let us watch these films about being human, while we are humans, and laugh when they are funny and cry when they are sad.”

Abbas Kiarostami’s 1987 film Where is the Friend’s Home? follows eight-year-old Ahmed as he desperately tries to return a notebook to his classmate, who will be expelled from school if the book is not returned. This film is often compared to The Bicycle Thief for it’s ability to comment on responsibility and morality in an impoverished culture by following the simple quest of it’s protagonist; it’s also the first film in a rough trilogy, introducing characters that Kiarostami would return to in Life and Nothing More and Through the Olive Trees.

The second part of this double-bill will be Bread and Flower (a.k.a. A Moment of Innocence), Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s 1995 film in which the director encounters various difficulties while attempting to re-enact a violent incident from his adolescence; the result is a thrilling post-modern masterpiece that also functions as a poignant statement about youth in rebellion and changing attitudes in Iranian culture.

Thursday, October 19 at 8pm

A collection of experimental and abstract films; we’ll start with several films by Stan Brakhage, including Kindering, Commingled Containters, and Mothlight, a film composed of layers of insect wings and leaves sandwiched between editing tape, with projected light shining through to create a flickering, hypnotic exploration of beauty and nature.

We’ll also enjoy such early experimental classics as Man Ray’s Le Retour à la raison, Hans Richter’s Rhythmus 21, Ralph Steiner’s H20 and Oskar Fischinger’s Composition in Blue, as well as AQU and Off by contemporary video artist Ryan Connor.

The screening will conclude with Anthony McCall’s interactive film Line Describing a Cone, “a film which demanded to be looked at, not on the screen, but in the space of the auditorium. What was at issue was the establishment of a cone of light between the projector and the screen, out of what was initially one pencil-like beam of light.” (Artforum)

Thursday, October 5 at 8pm

Matt McCormick’s short film, The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal documents the everyday job of graffiti removal through stunning visuals and mesmerizing music in order to make the observation that the process of destroying one art form often unwittingly creates another. Paired with this will be Tony Silver’s classic, Style Wars. With a celebrated soundtrack provided by Grand Master Flash, The Fearless Four, and others, this legendary documentary captures the explosion of youthful creativity and hip-hop subculture that took place in 1980’s New York City.

Thursday, August 9 at 8pm

Incorporating video diary footage and colorful montage, Seeing Red is Su Friedrich’s deeply personal film about the existential crises of the individual and about what unites all humanity.

Limited to the confines of foreign hotel rooms, John Smith’s Hotel Diaries is a wry commentary relating personal events in the filmmaker’s life to contemporary world events such as the bombings in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq.

The Guzzler of Grizzly Manor is George Kuchar’s humorous response to the Virginia Film Festival, as well as a comment on the unnecessarily prolific use of tacky digital video effects in modern film projects; or is it an homage?

Thursday, July 21 at 8pm

This trilogy by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Harun Farocki utilizes a vast collection of image sequences from laboratories, archives, and production facilities to explore modern weapons technology. The Eye/Machine Compilation examines “intelligent” image processing techniques such as electronic surveillance, mapping, and object recognition, in order to take a closer look at the relationship between man, machine, and modern warfare.

Thursday, June 14 at 8pm

The Cut-Ups is a refreshing and radical film that adopts William S. Burroughs’ reality-altering, Beat writing method to film. Implementing his technique of cut-ups, the work was edited mathematically in order to erase the idea of the author, and to allow the “Third Mind” to become the force behind the narrative; the result is both maddening and hynotic.

Christopher MacLaine’s legendary film The End portrays five different people on the last day of their lives. A poetic, philosophical examination of life and its unexpected end, this film draws comparisons between the dehumanizing effects of mass culture and personal despair, as we all await “the grand suicide of the human race.”

Wednesday and Thursday, May 24th and 25th at 8pm

The Summer Film Series at New Art Across the Bridge continues with one of the most acclaimed documentaries of the decade, Adam Curtis’ The Power of Nightmares. The three-hour documentary will be shown over two nights, starting at 8pm each night. Part One will be screened on Wednesday, May 24th and Parts Two and Three will be on Thursday, May 25th.

This three-part BBC documentary is arguably the most important film about the “war on terrorism” since the events of September 11. It explores the origins in the 1940s and 50s of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East and Neoconservatism in America, parallels between these movements, and their effect on the world today. It argues that the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organized terrorist network is an illusion that politicians have used to restore their power and authority in a disillusioned age. [Read more →]

Wednesday, April 19 at 8pm

In order to provide alternative entertainment to the Charlottesville community, The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative is joining with the Virginia Film Society to present a Summer Film Series at New Art Across The Bridge. The unique films in the series provide a perfect blend of the political, the personal, and the experimental to liven up the summer arts scene.

The series begins with the darkly comedic film, Wizard People, Dear Reader on Wednesday, April 19. As a twisted narrative reimagining characters in a popular children’s fantasy movie, this work provides a unique approach to storytelling by replacing the film’s original soundtrack with alternative dialogue. Comic book artist Brad Neely’s subversive rescripting of a Hollywood film has been called a “new art form.” Neely states, “What I wanted to do was not make fun of the movie, but build something around that preexisting thing.”

Wednesday, March 15 at 8pm

An important figure in avant-garde film, Hollis Frampton created films beginning in the early 1960’s and continuing until his death in 1984. Coming to filmmaking from a career in still photography, his films often exploit cinematic language to explore the materiality of the filmic image, rather than concentrating on narrative content. Simultaneously playful and intellectual, Frampton’s films at times confound comprehension in their structuralist exploration of film art.

A screening of Hollis Frampton films will take place at The Bridge on Wednesday, March 15. The films will include Lemon, Zorns Lemma, Critical Mass, and Nostalgia. Approximate running time for the entire program is 2.5 hours. Sponsored by The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, OFFScreen, and the Virginia Film Society. [Read more →]