Northwest Film Forum Showtimes

21 Landings

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:19:59 +0000

Available for free public viewing 10am-5pm on weekdays

21 Landings is a looping video installation of multiple attempted landings by the legs of a bird-like creature onto an icy, futuristic surface. The stop motion animated actions of the creature and following movements of the camera reveal a relationship between an imaginary photographer and subject. The audio that accompanies the landings is made up of spoken whooshing sounds.

Says artist Britta Johnson, "I make animated shorts and videos that use the language of nature photography to explore science and technology themes. This particular piece addresses learning curves, the mechanics of bird legs, and (obliquely) climate change. My primary goal in making 21 Landings, though, was to unpack a gesture - in this case, the gesture of a landing - through repetition. The very nature of on-the-fly stop motion animation (made one frame at a time, each time moving the camera, legs, and scrapings a tiny amount) makes every landing a little bit different and lends a new challenge to the motions of the camera. Ultimately, the piece is about endeavor, that of the creature as well as that of the photographer."

"21 Landings" was made with support from the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.

Showdate(s) Jan 02 - Jan 22

The Feature

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:30:07 +0000

For Michel Auder the truth is certainly stranger than fiction. He was part of the heart of the Warhol Factory and the Soho art explosion, and was one of the first to compulsively exploit the diaristic potential of the Sony Portapak. This fictionalized biography of Auder draws on his vast archive of videotapes, connecting them with a distanced narration and new footage shot by co-director Andrew Neel. With subject matter such as his marriages to both Viva and Cindy Sherman, and affiliations with Larry Rivers, the Zanzibar group and the downtown art scene, this is a tale of epic proportions, chronicling an amazing journey through art and life whilst providing access to a wealth of fascinating personal footage.

featuring Hartley Neel Alexandra Auder Jelena Berhend Patrice Cauda Nico Philippe Garelle Pierre Clémenti Daniel Pommerolles Donald Cammell Laure Roldan Louis Waldon Viva Jane Fonda Taylor Mead Bridget Berlin Kris Kristofferson Shirley Clarke Harry Smith Andy Warhol Gregory Corso Jonas Mekas Henry Geldzahler Yoko Ono Astro Larry Rivers Willem de Kooning Niki de Saint Phalle Malcolm Morley David Maysles Christo Maynard Alice Neel Eric Bogosian Gary Indiana Cookie Mueller Cindy Sherman Gaby Hoffman Michael Stickrod Madonna

Members of Henry Art Gallery will also receive NWFF's member ticket price of $6

Watch the trailer:

Showdate(s) Jan 02 - Jan 08

20 Seconds Of Joy

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:30:26 +0000

“I don’t want to die, I want to live. I’m pretty good at running away, and this is my escape!” This is how Karina Hollekim describes her dedication to BASE jumping (the ackronym stands for building, antenna, span and earth—the fixed objects from which participants jump with only a parachute), the most dangerous of all extreme sports. In Jens Hoffmann's breathtaking documentary, the filmmaker follows the elusive extreme sport athlete for five years through spectacular landscapes in some of the most remote corners of the world. Is the high worth the price when one wrong move means certain death? For Karina, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" With the danger come the ultimate rush, and the eponymous twenty seconds of joy. The film offers stunning cinematography and a spectacular joyride.

"SW Pick: Brace your stomach as the camera follows her off bridges, into deep fjords, out of airplanes, off a sandstone tower in Mali...even skiing off a snowy ledge in the Dolomites." -Seattle Weekly

Watch the trailer:

Showdate(s) Jan 02 - Jan 08

Channeling

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:29:44 +0000

Channeling is an entryway into the spirit realm and the queer body politic: a loose catalogue of experimental moving image work that calls up the ghosts of the past and the specters of the future. The intent of the program is to re-imagine film and video as occult technologies that allow us to connect with the bodies, experiences and emotions that are often invisible—ghostly, even—in everyday life. The works in the program take a personal approach in dealing with the political and historical problems that haunt the queer experience: the AIDS pandemic (Renwick, DiStefano), the body in transition (Montague), the idealized nuclear family (Pena, Robinson, Rosenfeld) and the narrow cultural standards of desirability (EMR, Moulton). Channeling presents emerging and established artists critically engaging with these concerns on their own campy, poetic, sexual, humorous and even utopian terms, using a variety of aesthetic approaches such as digital video, homemade effects, saturated 8mm, home movies, animation, green screen and more.

9 is a Secret—Vanessa Renwick (2002, 6:00, video)

Well Dressed—Elyse Montague (2006, 10:00, Super 8mm on video)

Whispering Pines #7—Shana Moulton (2006, 5:00, video)

Carol Anne is Dead—Michael Robinson (2008, 7:30, video)

Something's Gonna Soon—EMR (Math Bass & Dylan Mira) (2008, 4:00, video)

Some Ghosts—Aay Preston-Myint (2007, 2:00, video)

Compromise—Jillian Pena (2005, 10:00, video)

(tell me why): The Epistemology of Disco—John Di Stefano (1990, 24:00, video)

Showdate(s) Jan 08

Easy Rider

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:30:50 +0000

This low-budget road movie directed by then-unknown weirdo Dennis Hopper and featuring rock music as its score (mostly songs from Hopper’s record collection) turned out to be a huge success that turned Hollywood on its ear. Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Hopper) use a drug deal to finance a cross-country motorcycle journey, on which they meet up with a drunken lawyer (Jack Nicholson). Co-written by Terry Southern, Easy Rider struck a nerve with youth and ushered in a new era of American filmmaking.

Showdate(s) Jan 09 - Jan 15

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:31:10 +0000

Paul Newman and Robert Redford star as loveable outlaws Butch and Sundance in George Roy Hill’s funny take on the Western genre. Based on real turn-of-the-century thieves, the train robbers are forced to escape a pursuing posse and flee the shrinking American West. They set off with the Kid’s girl Etta (Katharine Ross) for a new life robbing banks in Bolivia. The film won four Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture.

Showdate(s) Jan 09 - Jan 15