Start the New Year at DIVA with three modern classics from the Polish master director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Read more about this trilogy.

• 1:00 PM, BLUE (1993) with Juliette Binoche. The first film in Kieslowski's trilogy, tells the story of Julie who loses her husband, a composer and her young daughter in a car accident. The film's theme of liberty is manifested in Julie's attempt to start life anew free of personal commitments, belongings grief and love
• 4:00 PM, WHITE (1994) with Julie Delpy.The second film in the Kieslowski's trilogy portrays Karol who marries Domininque and moves to Paris. The marriage breaks down and they divorce, forcing Karol into the life of a metro beggar and eventually back to Poland. However he never forgets Dominique.
• 7:00 PM, RED (1994) with Irene Jacob. Kieslowski's final film in the trilogy is about Valentine a young model living in Geneva who meets a retired judge who spies on his neighbors' phone calls, not for money but to feed his cynicism.

Each screening is followed by audience discussion led by DIVA’s screenwriting instructor and retired Hollywood Director, Tom Blank. Admission is free, but seating is limited. Free parking on Sundays is available in the city lots on Charnelton, both north and south of Broadway.

The Fourth Annual OpenLens Festival will be held January 11-12-13, 2008 at the DIVA Center 110 W. Broadway in downtown Eugene.
    The festival's mission is to provide an opportunity for SW Oregon filmmakers to showcase their work in a competitive event. Prizes include Best Juried Award, Honorable Mention, and Audience Choice.
    The 2008 festival features guest filmmaker/host Aaron Douglas, workshops, screenings, and this year will include the YouthVisions high school competition winners in a special program recognizing teen filmmakers. .

January 11 (Friday) - Eugene Premier MONSTER CAMP
Host: Director/Producer Aaron Douglas
Time: 7:00 PM
Admission: $5. Student/Member: $3.
Sponsor: Second Friday Film Forum

Co-producer Aaron Douglas presents the award winning Monster Camp (2007) directed by Cullen Hoback. This is a rare and fascinating glimpse into the world of live-action role playing. Monster Camp meticulously examines the lives of die-hard live action role-playing gamers at NERO International in Seattle. For 48 consecutive hours, participants immerse themselves in a world completely unlike our own becoming warriors, sorcerers, dwarves, and lizard people. It is a world of fantasy, chivalry, and imagination if only for one weekend a month.

January 12 (Saturday) - DAY 1 Festival Events

9:00 AM - 12:30 Workshop: Documentary Pre-Production with Aaron Douglas.
Topics: Finding an appropriate topic, selecting or working with a director, budgeting and funding sources, grant writing and fiscal sponsorships, initial marketing strategies, and finding crew. General: $40. Festival Entrant or Student: $25 with ID card. Download and complete Registration Form and mail or hand deliver to DIVA 110 W. Broadway, Eugene. Or register by phone 344-3482. Seating limited. Pre-registration with payment required to guarantee spot in workshop.

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Current TV Workshop. Host Henry Goldman. Come to Eugene's first Current TV screening and check out some of the best of its viewer created short documentaries from around the world. Find out how you can get involved be paid to have your work on TV! (Admission: Free).

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM - YouthVisions Celebration. Teen student filmmakers celebrate the 2007 YouthVisions video competition with a screening of entrant work and panel discussion about filmmaking. Session concludes with an awards presentation. Admission: Donation. Sponsor: YouthVisions Project.

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM - OpenLens Festival Program Screening. A program of video and film productions selected by the Festival's Jury will showcase the work of emerging SW Oregon artists. Introduced by Festival Host Aaron Douglas. Admission: $5. Student/Member: $3.

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM - Post screening reception. Free. A special event welcoming the festival entrants and host. Refreshments provided.

January 13 (Sunday) - DAY 2 Festival Events

9:00 AM - 12:30 Workshop: Documentary Production and Post Production with Aaron Douglas.
Topics: Film website & trailer, legal, and insurance considerations; locations and permits, music, subject releases, focus groups, PR, electronic press kits, festival circuit, sales agents and distribution. General: $40.00 Festival Entrant or Student: $25.00 with ID card. Download and complete Registration Form and mail or hand deliver to DIVA 110 W. Broadway, Eugene. Or register by phone 344-3482. Seating limited. Pre-registration with payment required to guarantee spot in workshop.

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM - OpenLens Matinee. An encore screening of the 2008 OpenLens Festival Program of video and film productions selected by the Festival's Jury showcases the work of emerging SW Oregon artists. Admission: $5. Student/Member: $3.

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM - OpenLens Awards Ceremonies. The festival ends with wrap party and reception for filmmakers and guest. The winning festival selections will be screened and awards made. The party is a time for festival entrants, guests, and supporters to gather and celebrate the weekend's events. Admission: Free

FESTIVAL HOST

Aaron Kirk Douglas grew up in Springfield, Oregon. He graduated from Thurston High in 1979 and the University of Oregon in 1983 with a degree in Journalism. He first worked in radio and TV broadcast news, then moved to the City of Eugene at Municipal Court and the Hult Center. 
    After nearly a decade of living in Seattle he moved to Portland in 1997. He quit a 15-year career in the legal industry to study filmmaking in 2004. In 2006 he completed his first narrative film "Freedom State" and co-produced a documentary entitled "The Man You Had in Mind" about male couples. In 2007 he co-produced the documentary "Monster Camp" about live action role-players in the Pacific Northwest.  "Monster Camp" played in 18 festivals around the world in 2007. He is currently producing a documentary entitled "Veer" about the Portland bicycling scene, which will premiere in 2008.
    "Monster Camp" was given the Audience Award: Best Documentary, Cinequest Film Festival (2007).

Kelly Baker's film tells the story of Harv Beckman, a used car salesman in a trashy part of town who accidentally comes into possession of a rare 1948 Kaiser automobile, which leads to some disturbing revelations about the facts behind the 1948 Vanport, Oregon flood which destroyed an entire city.  Portland, Oregon is the backdrop of this film that explores racism, greed, and class in a very corrupt city. This film opened the 2000 Sao Paulo Film Festival in Brazil. Q&A with filmmaker Kelly Baker follows screening. View Clip.

FILM MARKETING WORKSHOP
WITH KELLY BAKER

Independent filmmaking is alive and well, it's independent distribution that is dead. At a time when "independent" films have to have a star and at least a couple million-dollar budget, how do you get your films seen?  Forget Sundance, Miramax, and PBS. These places get hundreds of submissions a year. How do you get your films seen? From wooden nickels to websites, to press kits and reviews Kelley Baker walks you though different ways to get an audience to turn out for your screenings. He challenges you to assess the real market for your film and provides examples of other filmmakers getting their work out, after their films were turned down by traditional distributors. Seating limited. Pre-registration with payment guarantees a spot in the workshop. Call 344-3482 to register. Mail-in registration form available online.

Experimental animation enhances the existential philosophical journey of a young man who floats through encounters with a succession of eccentrics and passionate thinkers, all the while uncertain whether he's conscious or dreaming.  The resulting ethereal conversation makes for an innovative film that is by turns droll, disturbing and provocative. The screening is followed by thought provoking audience discussion led by Steve Poizat-Newcomb.

Low budget genre-bending New York Troma Films director Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger) will offer a two hour workshop on 'Make Your Own Damn Movie' This informative two hour course will cover everything an up-and coming filmmaker must know to get their dream projects off the ground.

By the end of the two hour course, students will leave with dozens of creative and practical tips that are invaluable to aspiring filmmakers and get a real inside look at how it's all done. Participants will learn how to:

• Get started on their first film project
• Find financing
• Understand what's involved in pre-production
• Choose a crew and production group
• Survive both large and small crises

Also: Kaufman's film, Poultrygeist: Night Of The Chicken Dead (2006), is scheduled to play late night at the BIJOU Arts Cinema February 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Poultrygeist is cinema’s first chicken-zombie horror-comedy…with musical numbers! The film is both a satire of the zombie genre and an assault on the fast-food industry's stranglehold on America.

View CNN interview with Lloyd Kaufman.

Three outstanding films by director Jean-Pierre Melville are screened with each followed by an engaging audience discussion led by former Hollywood director and DIVA screening writing instructor Thomas Blank Times: see below Admission: Free

1:00 PM - Le Samourai (96 minutes). The film story follows a perfectionist free-agent hitman, Costello, who religiously adheres to a strict code of duty. Starring Alain Delon.

4:00 PM - Le Cercle Rouge (140 minutes). A crime film set in the Paris of the 1970's staring Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volonte, and Yves Montand. It is perhaps best known for its final heist sequence that is about half an hour in length.

7:00 PM - Army of Shadows (145 minutes). This film adaptation of Joseph Kessel's book blends Kessel's own experiences as a member of the French underground with fictionalized versions of real Resistance members who fought against the occupation of France during the Second World War. Starring Lino Ventura and Simone Signore.

This episode will be introduced by teleplay co-writer Eric A. Stillwell and followed by a Q&A. While on a routine mission, the USS Enterprise discovers a bizarre rift in space, which reveals an Enterprise from the past. Both ships are now on an alternate timeline where the Federation is in the midst of a bloody war with the Klingons. View trailer.

WORKSHOP - WRITING FOR SCIENCE FICTION TELEVISION

Eric A. Stillwell and Lolita Fatjo, script coordinators for Star Trek: The Next Generation, present an informational workshop on writing for sci fi television, taking you behind the scenes of one of Hollywood's most successful franchises.  Mary Conley, a writer who worked with them at Paramount Studios will join in a panel discussion about the various steps in the process of selling a script idea, from inception to final draft -- including the verbal pitch, writing story outlines and developing teleplays. 
   Each participant in the workshop will receive a copy of Stillwell's book "The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise," which provides a definitive behind-the-scenes look at the process for anybody who has ever entertained the idea of writing for television; or simply for the curious fan who has ever wondered what it's really like to work on a world famous science fiction television series.
    Seating limited. Pre-registration with payment guarantees a spot in the workshop. Call 344-3482 to register. Mail-in registration form available online.

New Slam and Forum

DIVA's expanded videomakers evening combines the opportunity to network and explore ideas with others and participate in a monthly competitive video slam.
    The forum is meant to inspire and assist upcoming video artists by providing the opportunity to share knowledge, experiences, and techniques with fellow video enthusiasts. Sessions include presentations, discussions, and periodic collaborative challenges.
    Videomakers are encouraged to bring their finished or works in progress to be screened in the friendly environment of an audience choice slam competition with winners going on to an annual slam festival in December. Hosted by Steve Newcomb and James Denier.

Jodorowsky's bizarre, grotesque, and mystical allegory tells the story of a Christ-like figure's quest for immortality.  The protagonist is joined on his journey by a cohort of wealthy powerful individuals, each representing a planet in the solar system, and an alchemist with an assistant as they seek to displace the gods that live on the holy mountain. The screening is followed by thought provoking audience discussion led by Steve Poizat-Newcomb. View Clip.

Class sessions are devoted to review of student work and issues related to premise development, outline, draft, and revision of a script. Along the way structure, character, and form are emphasized.
    Registration is on going with new participants encouraged to join at the beginning of the month. Class size is limited to ensure adequate feedback from the instructor and fellow writers. As additional students join, new sections may be created.

Class sessions are devoted to the review of student work and issues related to premise development, outline, draft, and revision of a script. Along the way structure, character, and form are emphasized.
    Registration is on-going with new participants encouraged to join at the beginning of the month. Class size is limited to ensure adequate feedback from the instructor and fellow writers. As additional students join, new sections may be created. Visit Videomakers Forum Web Site.

Three outstanding films by director Zhang Yimou are screened with each followed by an engaging audience discussion led by former Hollywood director and DIVA screening writing instructor Thomas Blank. Times: see below Admission: Free

• 1pm Ju Dou (94 minutes) A woman married to a brutal and infertile mill owner must raise her son fathered by her husband's nephew without revealing the boy's true father.
• 4pm Raise the Red Lantern (125 minutes) Forced to marry the lord of a powerful family, a nineteen year old girl finds herself competing with his other wives who each seek their master's attention as he hangs a red lantern in from of the house of his wife of choice for the night.
• 7pm To Live (133 minutes) Fugui and Jiazhen learn to survive and manage "to live" through the tumultuous events in China during the postwar years as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.
  

• Kelsey Wallace will provide felt, fabric, scissors, and thread to illustrate how to make/modify clothes while also exploring other sorts of fun and empowering DIY fabric art.
• David Gracon will discuss and present zines and materials (like a short film on zines and plenty of paper and markers) to help facilitate people's zine pages, which can be made on site.
• Andre Sirois will highlight "turntablism/mixology" and talk with people about cut and mix DJ culture and the idea of reappropriating music through DJ-ing.
• Nate Wallace and/or his roommate Eric Eiden will be there with some instruments from the Buy and Sell Center (where they are employed) to explore DIY music and production. Recording equipment will be provided on site too.
• Others will explore video recording equipment and guide topics and hands-on advice on documentary films and filmmaking.

New Forum and Slam

Ethnographic filmmaker Gabriela Martinez introduces her feature length documentary about the key role played by Oaxacan women in the social struggle against the Governor of the State of Oaxaca and the neo-liberal politics and anti-human rights forces he represents. Q&A with the filmmaker follows the screening. Read Article about film and director.

Don't miss this opportunity to see all the films nominated for the Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short at the 2007 Academy Awards. These programs screen again on March 22nd, 23rd and April 5th. Read film descriptions (.doc)

5:00pm Nominated Films: Best Animated Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: I Met the Walrus (Canada), an animated documentary about 14-year-old Jerry Levitan, who snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in 1969 and persuaded him to do an interview; Madame Tutli-Putli (Canada), in which a timid woman boards a mysterious night train and has a series of frightening experiences; Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) (France), about a priest who tries to sell an old man a machine that he promises will transport him to heaven; Moya Lyubov (My Love) (Russia), in which a teenage boy in search of love in 19th century Russia is drawn to two very different women; and Academy Award winner Peter & The Wolf (UK & Poland), Prokofiev's classical music drama of a young boy and his animal friends who face a hungry wolf.

7:00pm Nominated Films: Best Live Action Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: At Night (Denmark), a drama about three young women who share their problems while spending the holidays in a hospital cancer ward; Il Supplente (The Substitute) (Italy), a comedy in which the students in a high school classroom are galvanized by the arrival of an unusual newcomer; Tanghi Argentini (Belgium), in which a man who must learn to dance the tango in two weeks asks an office colleague for help; The Tonto Woman (UK), a drama about a cattle rustler who meets a woman living in isolation after being held prisoner for eleven years by the Mojave Indians; and Academy Award winner Le Mozart Des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) (France), a comedy about a pair of unlucky thieves who find their fortunes have changed when they take in a deaf homeless boy.

9:45pm Best Animated Short Nominated Films - see description above.

Don't miss this opportunity to see all the films nominated for Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short at the 2007 Academy Awards. These programs screen again on March 23rd and April 5th. Read film descriptions (.doc)

5:00pm Nominated Films: Best Live Action Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: At Night (Denmark), a drama about three young women who share their problems while spending the holidays in a hospital cancer ward; Il Supplente (The Substitute) (Italy), a comedy in which the students in a high school classroom are galvanized by the arrival of an unusual newcomer; Tanghi Argentini (Belgium), in which a man who must learn to dance the tango in two weeks asks an office colleague for help; The Tonto Woman (UK), a drama about a cattle rustler who meets a woman living in isolation after being held prisoner for eleven years by the Mojave Indians; and Academy Award winner Le Mozart Des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) (France), a comedy about a pair of unlucky thieves who find their fortunes have changed when they take in a deaf homeless boy.

8:00pm Nominated Films: Best Animated Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: I Met the Walrus (Canada), an animated documentary about 14-year-old Jerry Levitan, who snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in 1969 and persuaded him to do an interview; Madame Tutli-Putli (Canada), in which a timid woman boards a mysterious night train and has a series of frightening experiences; Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) (France), about a priest who tries to sell an old man a machine that he promises will transport him to heaven; Moya Lyubov (My Love) (Russia), in which a teenage boy in search of love in 19th century Russia is drawn to two very different women; and Academy Award winner Peter & The Wolf (UK & Poland), Prokofiev's classical music drama of a young boy and his animal friends who face a hungry wolf.

9:45pm Best Live Action Short - see description above.
 

Don't miss this opportunity to see all the films nominated for Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short at the 2007 Academy Awards. These programs will be screened again on April 5th. Read film descriptions (.doc)

2:00pm Nominated Films: Best Live Action Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: At Night (Denmark), a drama about three young women who share their problems while spending the holidays in a hospital cancer ward; Il Supplente (The Substitute) (Italy), a comedy in which the students in a high school classroom are galvanized by the arrival of an unusual newcomer; Tanghi Argentini (Belgium), in which a man who must learn to dance the tango in two weeks asks an office colleague for help; The Tonto Woman (UK), a drama about a cattle rustler who meets a woman living in isolation after being held prisoner for eleven years by the Mojave Indians; and Academy Award winner Le Mozart Des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) (France), a comedy about a pair of unlucky thieves who find their fortunes have changed when they take in a deaf homeless boy.

5:00pm Nominated Films: Best Animated Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: I Met the Walrus (Canada), an animated documentary about 14-year-old Jerry Levitan, who snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in 1969 and persuaded him to do an interview; Madame Tutli-Putli (Canada), in which a timid woman boards a mysterious night train and has a series of frightening experiences; Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) (France), about a priest who tries to sell an old man a machine that he promises will transport him to heaven; Moya Lyubov (My Love) (Russia), in which a teenage boy in search of love in 19th century Russia is drawn to two very different women; and Academy Award winner Peter & The Wolf (UK & Poland), Prokofiev's classical music drama of a young boy and his animal friends who face a hungry wolf.

What's been described as "a trumpet player trapped in a two dimensional universe" is in fact the unique audio work of Justice Yeldham, a maverick musician with an unhealthy obsession with sheets of broken glass. By pressing his face and lips against the glass whist employing various vocal techniques ranging from throat singing to raspberries, he turns disguarded household windows into crude musical instruments. Resulting in a wide variety of cacophonous noises that are strangely controlled and oddly musical.

Also Performing:

• WARNING BROKEN MACHINE from Eugene
• Soup Purse - Soup Purse is the solo project of Todd Dickerson, synthesist in psyche-pop-improv band Dendrites, as well as the vocalist/electronician of absurdist space-rock assault group Space Hawk. From Portland.
• (________) from Eugene
  

This performance features the poetry, music and video/installation art of Douglas and Kelly that were developed over email correspondence between Wisconsin and Oregon
      "Rooted" pursues its creative vision in the form of unconventional performances that by their very nature incorporate a multitude of experimental and contemporary art concepts. Poetry serves most often as the foundation of this performance piece. The recitation of words, the role of the voice, the importance of breath, and the conceptual offerings within the body of a poem are integral to the creative process.
     Douglas Detrick, a trumpeter, composer and music teacher based in Eugene, and a GTF at the University of Oregon plays in a number of groups, among them The Douglas Detrick Quartet. Tonight he'll be hosting a collaborative musical effort with poet and performance artist Kelly Shaw Willman from Wisconsin.

Class sessions are devoted to review of student work and issues related to premise development, outline, draft, and revision of a script. Along the way structure, character, and form are emphasized.
    Registration is on going with new participants encouraged to join at the beginning of the month. Class size is limited to ensure adequate feedback from the instructor and fellow writers. As additional students join, new sections may be created.

DIVA is please to present this limited engagement of Academy Award nominated animated and live action shorts for 2007. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see all the films nominated for Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short at the 2007 Academy Awards. Read full film descriptions (.doc)

7:00pm Nominated Films: Best Live Action Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: At Night (Denmark), a drama about three young women who share their problems while spending the holidays in a hospital cancer ward; Il Supplente (The Substitute) (Italy), a comedy in which the students in a high school classroom are galvanized by the arrival of an unusual newcomer; Tanghi Argentini (Belgium), in which a man who must learn to dance the tango in two weeks asks an office colleague for help; The Tonto Woman (UK), a drama about a cattle rustler who meets a woman living in isolation after being held prisoner for eleven years by the Mojave Indians; and Academy Award winner Le Mozart Des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) (France), a comedy about a pair of unlucky thieves who find their fortunes have changed when they take in a deaf homeless boy.

9:45pm Nominated Films: Best Animated Short
Admission: $6.00
~~~~ Program includes: I Met the Walrus (Canada), an animated documentary about 14-year-old Jerry Levitan, who snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in 1969 and persuaded him to do an interview; Madame Tutli-Putli (Canada), in which a timid woman boards a mysterious night train and has a series of frightening experiences; Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) (France), about a priest who tries to sell an old man a machine that he promises will transport him to heaven; Moya Lyubov (My Love) (Russia), in which a teenage boy in search of love in 19th century Russia is drawn to two very different women; and Academy Award winner Peter & The Wolf (UK & Poland), Prokofiev's classical music drama of a young boy and his animal friends who face a hungry wolf.

The films of the directing/writing/producing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as "The Archers", will be featured in the first seminar. This British team made some of the best films of the forties and is known for their work on such screen classics as, A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947), and The Red Shoes (1948). Other directors in this series include: May 4, Federico Fellini, and June 1, François Truffaut.
    Former Hollywood Director and DIVA Screen writing instructor Thomas Blank hosts this seminar series.

The Mid-Oregon Production Arts Network monthly meeting is open to the public. MOPAN's special guest presenter is John Bertelone from HeadPeaceMedia. Bertelone who will talk about event planning, and will show a DVD about his work and where he can take an organization.
   Known as a mover and shaker, John puts together promotional events around Eugene that are very successful. His last event was at a downtown Eugene gallery and over 300 people attended and many were turned away at the door. Last fall he put a very successful Halloween Extravaganza at the Indigo District in Eugene.

DIVA salutes Eugene's pioneer audiovisualist Don Hunter who has spent a lifetime documenting the sounds and scenes disappearing from our daily lives. His three-screen and multi-projector sound-slide programs have for decades facilitated his sharing with others the world of color, textures and scenery he has discovered through his camera's lens. Mr. Hunter presents two programs this evening:

"Mt. St. Helens and the Volcanic Cascades" (34 mins.)This multi-image sound-slide presentation features Hunter's famous on-site panoramas of Mt. St. Helens before, during and after the big eruption of May 18th, 1980. The revealing modern-day volcanism is then compared to scenes of tectonic events that have occurred throughout the Cascades over the past thousands of years. .

"To Live!" (28 mins.) This mult-image and sound program examines humankind's place on Planet Earth. Why are we here? Is each of us making the most of our brief existence on this verdant world spinning through space?

Also showing is an OPB Art Beat segment on Don Hunter as a sound recordist archiving the sounds of the 20th century.

Depraved" is the story of a young woman who is run down and kidnapped. Barely alive, she makes her escape. Now, unable to walk and refusing to speak, she goes on a violent campaign of revenge, becoming more bloodthirsty than those who wronged her. With the police on her trail and her victims piling up, nothing will stop her until vengeance is complete. Special cameo appearance by Lloyd Kaufman!
     "Depraved" is Henry Weintraub's latest flick written by Ryan Nyburg (Backyard Barbecue Horror, Video Dead and SPLIT) and stars Lorien Emmerich, Joey Stutz and Absalam Bittner. (This film contains content which may be objectionable to some viewers.)

• View "Depraved" trailer
• Visit the "Depraved" web site - stills, posters, video.

New Forum and Slam

Tuff Stuff From
The Buff

Far enough off the radar to remain subversive but close enough to it to know what's hot and what's not, Buffalo has developed a tradition and an aesthetic all its own. This aesthetic can be both intellectual and extremely quirky, often at the same time. Artists here "dismantle media" in several senses. Many literally take apart computers and cameras to reconfigure them for their own purposes. Others appropriate existing footage to create new media with new meanings. Still others use media to expose contradictions in contemporary society and create interventions into daily routines. Other approaches include lo-fi diaristic and personal videos, collage/re-appropriated imagery, non-narrative abstractions, super 8 poetics, activist media, and elements of live performance. It's a space where vacant postindustrial ghostlands merge with the spiritual, or something like that.  
    Work by Tony Conrad, Jodi Lafond, Meg Knowles, Kelly Spivey, David Gracon, Terry Cuddy, Marc Moscato, Julie Perini, and many others will be screened. Visiting artists David Gracon, Marc Moscato, and Julie Perini will host.

The basic task in this workshop is to take an idea for a story and develop it into a series shoot-able scenes (not a script, but the skeleton of a script). Students will leave with a list of scenes for which they will write a script.

Class sessions are devoted to review of student work and issues related to premise development, outline, draft, and revision of a script. Along the way structure, character, and form are emphasized.
    Registration is on going with new participants encouraged to join at the beginning of the month. Class size is limited to ensure adequate feedback from the instructor and fellow writers. As additional students join, new sections may be created.

This session is for folks who already have that first idea and outline ready, and just need some help actually writing a script. We'll cover format, story arch, length, and that's only the start! Students will come with a list of scenes and leave with at least one of them written.

The films of the great Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini will be featured. Fellini is known for such screen classics as La Dolce Vita (1960) and 8 1/2 (1963), among others. Fellini's films by mid-century became associated with personal expression and artistic fantasy in the cinema. In his own words, "I make a film in the same manner in which I live a dream.." Other directors in this series include François Truffaut on June 1st.
    Former Hollywood Director and DIVA Screen writing instructor Thomas Blank hosts this seminar series.

Northwest Film Center's Thomas Phillipson festival coordinator hosts the 34th NW Film and Video Festival touring program showcasing new work by media artists living in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
   After 34 years of Northwest Film & Video Festivals, we continue to draw our enthusiasm from the inspirational dedication we see from the filmmakers of the Northwest. We see the heroic feats of strength, tenaciousness and passion you engage to make your art and to make it good. We shudder at your financial turmoil, shake our fists to the wind for your technological breakdowns, and bleed for your rejections. You are a dedicated lot and this Festival is dedicated to you.

SARI’S MOTHER
James Longley / Seattle
In SARI'S MOTHER, filmed in Iraq over a period of one year, Longley (GAZA STRIP, IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS) follows a courageous mother as she struggles to get medical help for her 10-year-old son, Sari, who is dying of AIDS. An intimate, revealing portrait, SARI uncovers an aspect of life in Iraq that few outside the country have witnessed (21 mins.)

NO BIKINI
Claudia Morgado Escanilla / Vancouver, BC
“I had a sex change once, when I was six or seven years old.” The opening line of No Bikini introduces us to a young girl who defies convention during her summer swim class. Filled with humour, this film is less about defining one’s gender than it is about discovering personal strength. (8 mins.)

MORRIS
Adam Locke-Norton, Ryan Warren Smith, Nathan Fielder / Vancouver
Well into his eighties, Morris decides it’s time to come out of the closet. (6 mins.)

PORTRAIT #2 TROJAN
Vanessa Renwick / Portland
A looming icon of the Columbia River Gorge—either a throwback to or preview of a nuclear age—gets its stoic comeuppance in this requiem for a heavyweight. (5 mins.)

POTL: THE PENGUIN ON THE LEFT
Rick Guinan / Portland
On an ice flow where a penguin's life is subject to a walrus' appetite, a gun makes a difference. (3.5 mins.)

ALL BROKE UP
Mark O’Connell / Seattle
Masterful manipulation of archival footage weaves an indictment of justifications for torture and for the complacency of those standing by. (4 mins.)

SOMETIMES
Scott Amos / Victoria, BC
This reflection on the unintended dystopia of life is short, and, in its own way, sorta sweet. (30 sec.)

OPERATION: FISH
Jeff Riley / Portland
A child’s goldfish is abducted and an agent is dispatched to rescue it. (10.5 mins)

BY MODERN MEASURE
Matthew Lessner / Nehalem, OR
Two young Americans meet outside a Taco Bell in this stylish spree right out of the French New Wave. (6 mins.)

PATTERNS 3
Jamie Travis / Vancouver
In the vibrant split-screen musical finale to THE PATTERNS TRILOGY, Pauline and Michael reveal through songs the nature of their enigmatic relationship. (18.5 mins.)

A Night of Entertainment and Fun to help raise money for a good cause. The second annual Umgami Wami benefit returns to Eugene.
     As generous Eugenians continue to make a difference in the lives of AIDS orphans in Bulawayo, Zimbawe; children who are unable to go to school because of lack of funds for tuition or uniforms.
     The event is a collaboration between Lola Broomberg, a Counselor and long time teacher and performer in Eugene who grew up in Bulawayo and her father, Dave Broomberg, a psychologist practicing in Bulawayo who is the founder of the Matabeleland Aids Council, trustee of the Bulawayo Mayor's Orphans Fund and the chairman of the Bulawayo Terminally Ill Committee, And ANCIENT WAYS, an Oregon Based Non-profit which supports educational and cultural development programs in Zimbabwe.
     With every $35 raised being enough to put a child through school for a year, we’ve discovered that its fairly easy for local folks to make a difference in the lives of children far away.

The Umgami Wami! benefit will offer a host of different entertainments:

• Wine and cake tasting
• 12 x 5 minutes on a box
• The silent auction of fabulous local services and goodies.
• Ancient ways will open shop and sell hand-made items from Zimbabwe.
• Audience participation and Open-mic – for wanna–be box performers…
  (they only get a minute each)
• Loveness Wesa, dancer, choreographer, actress and singer from Bulawayo!

Forum and Slam

You've written a script. You bring it, we workshop it. You go home with a ton of feedback for revision to make your script production-ready. The rest is up to you.

Johnnie Mazzocco graduate student in the UO Digital Arts program presents her terminal project, a 30-minute narrative film that she wrote, directed, and acted in. Discussion with Mazzocco follows film.
    FOUND OBJECTS is about Claire Randall's attempts to alleviate her angst from feeling trapped in the domestic sphere. Claire's husband, Jack, owns his own business and is frequently gone from home. Jack's absence leaves Claire in sole charge of the house and their children and interferes with her compulsion to create shadowboxes made from found objects that she finds in antique stores and on walks in the country near her home.

Potter-Belmar Labs (PBL) explores live cinema, a contemporary term for live, audio-visual performance, in which artists edit sound and moving-image as a live performance. The workshop offers an overview of PBL research on historical and contemporary live cinema, with an emphasis on those artists who have influenced and inspired them. A show-and-tell about the processes and equipment PBL uses to perform their own live cinema will be a part of this presentation.
    Potter-Belmar Labs is Leslie Raymond and Jason Jay Stevens, collaborating artists since 1999, with internationally exhibited work spanning a variety of media including interactive sculpture, installation, single-channel video, and performance.  They have won top prize in three performance competitions, including the Unreal Tournament at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and most recently won first prize for installation video at Orilla#06 at the Museu de Arte Contemporáneo in Santa Fe, Argentina.

"Fortune"

Potter-Belmar Labs (PBL) is taking their live cinema performance "Fortune" to the U.S. West Coast in May 2008! This pair of itinerant 21st Century-style magic lantern story-tellers invites the audience to participate in a collective fortune-telling experiment, presented as a multimedia performance of sound and moving image.
     Each performance of Fortune by Potter-Belmar Labs is made up of a series of reconfigurable scenes in sound and image. The audience determines the selection and arrangement of the vignettes. PBL mixes on laptops and other electronic devices original and sampled music, sound and moving images producing a unique, live multimedia experience. Original sound and image compositions are interwoven with samples and soundscapes, generating a tapestry of allusion, abstract narration, and dreamlike hallucination.

Workshop: 6pm - 8pm
Admission: Workshop + Concert- $20 regular. $15 DIVA members/Students

Concert: 8pm
Admission: $5 regular. $3 Members/Students

Performance Portraits. In this two session workshop students will have the opportunity participate in a round-table critique on the theme of performance photography (music, drama, dance). Participants are asked to bring about five of their own prints each, representing one of the following: a representative sample of their most current work, and/or a sample showing the progression of their work over time.
    Instructor John Spragens will lead off the discussion with his own jazz performance portraits, showing their progression over time. Considering both visual and technical challenges, Spragens will help students explore how they might push their work to get closer to the goals they set for themselves.
    After the critique students will have the opportunity to photograph local jazz favorites the Douglas Detrick Quintet performing at DIVA.  A follow-up critique session two weeks later will give students the opportunity to return for further discussion and feedback.
   John Spragens, who began serious photography as an undergraduate humanities major at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, has documented life from Texas wheat fields to Southeast Asian rice paddies, from the crowded subways of Tokyo to the throngs gathered for bike week in Daytona beach.  For more than five years he focused on the San Francisco Bay area jazz scene – celebrating the performers who bring us this inventive music.  Samples of his jazz photos and other work are featured at his online gallery.
    The Douglas Detrick Quintet plays original compositions and arrangements by its founder, Douglas Detrick.
     The group's repertoire ranges from classic, straight-ahead jazz to re-imagined versions of songs by Johnny Cash, Nick Drake and Radiohead tunes, to groove-oriented compositions that explore pop music styles. The quintet consists of Detrick on trumpet, Hashem Assadullahi on alto sax, Justin Morell on guitar, Josh Tower on bass and Ryan Biesack on drums.
     Detrick's arrangement of Duke Ellington's "Single Petal of a Rose" won Downbeat magazine's 2007 Best Jazz Arrangement Award, a contest entered by student composers all over the U.S. and Canada. Also, his composition for Brass Quintet, "As the Crow Flies," won the Meridian Arts Ensemble's Composition Contest in 2007 and will be performed as part of the group's repertoire in concerts and recitals all over the world.
     Detrick is a graduate teaching fellow at the University of Oregon.

The fifth annual installment of The Archaeology Channel The International Film and Video Festival will take place May 20-24, 2008. This event, which includes a keynote address by the former Director of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Dr. Donny George, is highlighted in TAC Festival 2008 Preview, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel.   
   After all the films have been screened and you have cast your ballots, join us for some finger food and beverages as we compile the results of the competition. When the jury and audience voting tallies are complete, sit back and watch the announcement of the winners. We will show clips of the top films and open sealed envelopes to reveal the final outcome. The room holds only about 50 people, so don’t be late!

Class sessions are devoted to review of student work and issues related to premise development, outline, draft, and revision of a script. Along the way structure, character, and form are emphasized.
    Registration is on going with new participants encouraged to join at the beginning of the month. Class size is limited to ensure adequate feedback from the instructor and fellow writers. As additional students join, new sections may be created.

"The Invisible Forest" is a new feature film by Antero Alli that tells the story of a theatre troupe camping out in a forest to perform their director's vision of French Surrealist Antonin Artaud's magic theatre of ghosts, gods and spirits. During their forest experiment Alex, the director, is haunted by disturbing dreams where Artaud appears and mocks his theatrical ambitions. When these strange nightmares persist, Alex stops sleeping in an attempt to regain control over his mind. Sleep-deprived and with his sanity pushed to its limits, he seeks help from a Psychotherapist who suggests hypnosis as a means to discover the source of his problems. What follows is a hypnagogic journey through the internal landscape of Alex's subconscious memories and dreams to a place beyond belief, beyond words, and beyond the mind itself.

Antero Alli is a Finnish born, Berkeley-based underground filmmaker whose deep background in experimental theatre infuses his films with a quirky dramatic sensibility all their own.

San Francisco's Artists' Television Access (ATA) center, known for its promotion of experimental film and video, will present an evening of work by 16 filmmakers. This collection of work represents the best of the Open Screening sessions conducted at ATA.
   The Artists' Television Access organization is a nonprofit, all-volunteer, artist-run, experimental media arts gallery that has been in operation since 1984. ATA hosts a series of film and video Open Screenings, exhibitions and performances by emerging and established artists and a weekly cable access television program.

The Very Best of Open Screening

1. "Portrait of Greg" By Ralph Dickinson. A short experimental documentary about a man who dumpster dives and recycles cans between auditing philosophy classes at UC Berkeley and extemporaneously creating songs and glass sculptures.

2. "Death of Astro" By Douglas Katelus. The second part of a trilogy about transition. This is a road trip movie, documenting the life and death of a great steel beast.
     Douglas Katelus is an observational film/video maker and improvisational musician based in San Francisco. His works focus on the ordinary, the underlying subtleties in everyday life. He also curates a regular experimental motion picture series at the New Nothing Cinema in SF.

3. "Window" By Lukas Lukasik. The film "Window" is a memory of his trip through a glass darkly forces and being captured into heaven. A refreshing flight over the most painful pleasures.. to a creative solitude.

4. "Water Moon" By Sofia Cooper Czech Republic 2005. How does one mark the important life passages? What elements, what ceremony, what defiances? What elucidations occur in the space of liminality as the child becomes a woman, as spirit departs from flesh, as the mind gives way to dreams? It is here, in the space between that the story begins and ends, in a valley deeply shrouded in green, where water meets rock.

5. "Junkyard Blues" By Caio Simbula. An absurd look into the existentialist world of a junkyard worker.

6."Self Portrait" By Jake Cauty. "A short award winning film delving deep into the disturbing mind of Jake Cauty. Try to understand the powerful imagery that is his mind, emptied out onto your screen. 'This is my Self Portrait.' "

7. "Dante's Inferno" By Alexis Waller. A VERY abridged (and unfinished) version of Dante's Inferno, depicting the pilgrim's journey from the dark wood to the Giants in Canto XXXI, just before their descent in to Cocytus. I've sculpted the devil (he's stored in a shoebox in my closet) but haven't filmed that part yet. Theoretically, Purgatorio and Paradiso will follow. This is what happens when you graduated with a major in Italian lit in today's world.
    Unemployment ensues, followed by acquisitions of 16mm cameras and months spent bringing exiled 13th century Florentine statesmen to life in plasticine. Enjoy the fruits of last year's joblessness. - Alexis Waller Music by Dhol Drum Foundation

8. "Ups and Downs" By Alexander Troy. I shot this film to test out the 8mm camera and to see if there is a difference between living at the TOP of one of San Francisco's hills, and living at the BOTTOM. There most certainly is.

9. "Biografia Completa" By Rita Piffer. It's a short poem in super 8 about a possible/impossible "biography". A film by Rita Piffer

10. "Vivid Dreams" By Jim Granato. After years of yearning to go to Africa, Joan's three-month stint as a Peace Corps volunteer turns sour on Christmas Eve when she is 'psychevac'd' back to the states and admitted to Georgetown Hospital mental ward. The drug required by the Peace Corps to be taken as a protection against malaria is said to cause only vivid dreams, but no one mentions the other side effects of psychotic tendencies, including suicide and murder.

11. "Deus ex Machina" By Cora Foxx. A humorous reinterpretation of an ancient Greek term used to describe a contrived and sudden ending. Literally translated as "god from the machine", the phrase is characterized in this film as an old bearded man in a metallic robot suit that passively observers of the tragic state of affairs here on earth, until his dramatic and absurd exit.

12. "Death of a Dude" By Brad Clay. This is a story of stranger entering another man's surreal world filled with irony. It is unclear as to how he got there and why he died. Everybody will pass and sometimes it happens in unlikely fashion.

13. "Amateur" By Lasse Gjertsen.

14." Accidents, Leftovers" By Brian Gallagher.

15."Seventeen Evergreen - Haven't Been yourself" Encyclopedia Pictura - Isaiah Saxon & Sean Hellfritsch. A group of nude humans have an orgyastic celebration in the middle of the forest. they coalesce into a pool of flesh which self-organizes into a ascending tower human potential.

16. "The Unseen Hand" By Charles Chadwick.

Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, (415) 824-3890. Artists' Television Access is supported in part by Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the San Francisco Foundation, SF Weekly, individual donors, and volunteers.

The films of French director François Truffaut will be examined. Truffaut is known as one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film. His films 1:00 PM The 400 Blows (1959) , 4:00 PM Jules and Jim (1962), and 7:00 PM Day for Night (1973) are classics of the New Wave movement.  Former Hollywood Director and DIVA Screen writing instructor Thomas Blank hosts this seminar series.

Come hear the story behind the making of the documentary "Fire On The Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story" with director Erich Lyttle.
    Lyttle's film tells the story of Eugene's Steve Prefontaine, America's top distance runner in the 1970's whose front running style, brashness, and American track records captivated the public like no other distance runner.
    Prefontaine narrowly missed an Olympic medal in 1972 and then at age 24 his life was tragically cut short in a car accident.
    By the time Prefontaine died he had broken every American record for distance racing between 2,000 and 10,000 meters.
    Lyttle includes historical action footage, still images and commentary by fellow runners, coaches, sports writers, family and even former girlfriends. There are some 55 people involved in telling the Steve Prefontaine story.
   The 58-minute film was written by Ken Kesey, Kenny Moore, and Erich Lyttle and produced by Scott Chambers and Christ Petersen, Executive Producers with Geoff Hollister, Producer. Ken Kesey narrates. Erich Lyttle will host and introduce the film's screening and hold a follow-up Q&A session.
    DIVA's screening of this film is made possible courtesy of Chambers Communications.

Class sessions are devoted to review of student work and issues related to premise development, outline, draft, and revision of a script. Along the way structure, character, and form are emphasized.
    Registration is on going with new participants encouraged to join at the beginning of the month. Class size is limited to ensure adequate feedback from the instructor and fellow writers. As additional students join, new sections may be created.

What better way to begin your filmmaking career than to grab a camera and start shooting a prepared simple screenplay with a team of like-minded collaborators? Edit in-camera and bring your results back to the group for discussion and further collaboration: "How could we do it better?" Emphasis is given to developing good camera and sound recording techniques. Cost: $40.

This is one workshop in a series of Teen Summer Video Workshops designed for young filmmakers. Each workshop is $40. Or, select five for $150. Limited scholarship support is available. For more information or to register call: 541-344-3482. Visit the Youth Visions Project at DIVA web site for all summer class information.

Let's face it: your cast/crew is 3 people and your budget is $0. But you've got a camera, and you're eager to make a movie. Discover techniques to develop a story out of the resources you have at hand to make a movie that will be enjoyed by a cheering audience. Instructor: Jon Labrousse.

This is one workshop in a series of Teen Summer Video Workshops designed for young filmmakers. Each workshop is $40. Or, select five for $150. Limited scholarship support is available. For more information or to register call: 541-344-3482. Visit the Youth Visions Project at DIVA web site for all summer class information.

Peter J Woods, a  musician/playwright/performance has been active in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's DIY music scene since 2002 and Milwaukee's independent theatre scene since 2005. In 2006, he was named one of "the cities most innovative art proponents" by the Shepherd Express, Milwaukee's leading independent newspaper
    Woods seems to be one of the new generation youth-masters of creating hybrid old school/new death noise pollution without the putrid sense of having to show off arcane references. Fresh meat thrills.
     Watch video: Peter J. Woods at Six Flags Great America

The Rape of Europa tells the epic story of the systematic theft, deliberate destruction and miraculous survival of Europe’s art treasures during the Third Reich and the Second World War.
    In a journey through seven countries, the film takes the audience into the violent whirlwind of fanaticism, greed, and warfare that threatened to wipe out the artistic heritage of Europe. For twelve long years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art on a scale unprecedented in history. But young art professionals as well as ordinary heroes, from truck drivers to department store clerks, fought back with an extraordinary effort to safeguard, rescue and return the millions of lost, hidden and stolen treasures.
    The Rape of Europa begins and ends with the story of artist Gustav Klimt’s famed Gold Portrait, stolen from Viennese Jews in 1938 and now the most expensive painting ever sold.
    Today, more than sixty years later, the legacy of this tragic history continues to play out as families of looted collectors recover major works of art, conservators repair battle damage, and nations fight over the fate of ill-gotten spoils of war.
    Joan Allen narrates this breathtaking chronicle about the battle over the very survival of centuries of western culture.

Monday, July 14 - Video Slam
Time: 7:00 PM
Admission: Free

The Video Slam is an opportunity to screen short video works by artists in the spirit of the poetry slam. At the end of each session the audience will choose a winning video. The monthly winners will be compiled into an annual Best Of The DIVA Video Slam program to be held at the end of the year. Visit Videomaker's Forum and Video Slam Web page.

Movie making is all about creating illusions.  Learn to make your next fight scene, zombie attack, or gore film that much more intense using low cost special effects and makeup.  Instructor: Hank and Sara Weintraub, 531 Productions. Cost: $40.

These are the best films from the 2008 edition of TAC Festival. 

Program A: Friday, August 8:
 
• Hidden Worlds: Underground Rome (USA) 52 min.
Rome, the Eternal City. A destination renowned for its spectacular monuments and epic history. But beneath this bustling metropolis lie the remains of another ‘Eternal City’, entombed underground since the fall of Rome. These are dark, hidden places, filled with unknown beauty and mystery. In this documentary, a team of explorers and archaeologists embarks on a riveting journey to unlock the secrets of these ruins, as they descend deep into
 the underworld of Rome, where few have been or dare to go.  (Honorable Mention for Music by Jury)
 
• The Wild West Uncovered: The Rise and Fall of Virginia City (France) 52 min.
The American Wild West of legend was a sprawling desert fraught with promise and danger, a land of characters larger than life, whose exploits were celebrated and embroidered by the  nation’s romantic perception of the Western landscape. Today, an archaeological dig in the heart of gold rush country—Virginia City, Nevada—is turning old assumptions about the Wild West on their heads. In this film, a dynamic team of experts, unearthing artifacts from
 iconic Western institutions, including saloons, are finding evidence that the real nineteenth century West was even more intriguing than its legend.  (Honorable Mention for Narration and Cinematography by Jury)
 
 
Program B: Saturday, August 9:
 
• Unlocking Pharaoh’s Cellar (France/Germany) 52 min.
Beneath a dust-laden wooden cover, the shining countenance of a Pharaonic beauty is revealed, awakened by torchlight from her millennia of slumber. This is one of many magical moments investigators experience in their unique scientific expedition, as they venture into the legendary catacombs of the Egyptian museum in Cairo. Here are stored thousands of artifacts not seen since their discovery. Now, a film team gains access to these treasures for
 the first time, as they search for items thought to have been lost to history.  (Honorable Mention in Best Film Competition and in Animation and Cinematography by Jury; Honorable Mention in Audience Favorite Competition)
 
• Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods (USA) 52 min.
This film explores the 3,000 year-old history of a divine substance through ritual an obsession. From Mayan kings  who were buried with it, to urban professionals who bathe in it, the film begins in ancient Mesoamerica and journeys throughout time to explore the history of chocolate in Europe’s finest chocolate houses where this substance is still revered as one of mankind’s highest expressions of decadence and pleasure. This film also features discoveries by several prominent Mayan archaeologists that substantiate the sacred role of chocolate in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica,
 and it captures for the first time an ancient, secret method of processing cacao beans that is still used today by women in rural Oaxaca.  (Honorable Mention in Best Film Competition; Most Inspirational Competition and for Script and Music by Jury; Best Animation by Jury; Special Mention by Jury; Honorable Mention in Audience Favorite Competition)
 
 
Program C: Friday, August 15:
 
•  From Hutong to Highrise: The Transformation of Beijing (China) 21 min.
Beijing, China is fervently embracing the modern world. The city has been reinventing itself by replacing its historic urban fabric of narrow lanes (hutong) and courtyard houses (siheyuan) with high-rise buildings and highways. The quest for modernization has, in large, destroyed much of Beijing’s heritage and has disrupted the way of life familiar to residents.  From Hutong to Highrise documents the urgent debate between residents, preservationists,
 urban planners and developers over the future of the city.   
 
• The Giant Buddhas (Switzerland) 86 min.
In March 2001, two huge Buddha statues were blown up in the remote area of Bamiyantal in Afghanistan.  This dramatic event surrounding the ancient stone colossi - unique proof of a high culture that bloomed until the 13th century along the Silk Road - is the starting point for a cinematic essay on fanaticism and faith, terror and tolerance, ignorance and identity.  Oscar nominated director Christian Frei's thought-provoking film journeys along a perimeter that both divides and unites people and cultures.  (Audience Favorite film; Special Mention by Jury; Honorable Mention for Animation, Script, Music, and Inspiration by Jury) 
 

Program D: Saturday, August 16:
 
• Yamana: Nomads of the Fire (Italy) 52 min.
The Yamana were the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and were at one time the guardians of an extraordinary civilization. Now extinct, they used their ingenious instinct to survive for thousands of years in an extreme land. They were dismissed by history, their race’s extinction caused by Europeans. But we still have much to learn from the Yamana. Ernesto Piana has spent the last thirty years of his life studying traces of the Yamana, and his research is helping overturn the prejudice and stereotyping the Yamana have suffered from their first encounters with “civilization.”  (Honorable Mention in Best Film Competition, Best Animation Competition, Most Inspirational Competition, and in Script and Cinematography by Jury; Best Narration by Jury; Honorable Mention in Audience Favorite Competition)
 
• Komi: A Journey Across the Arctic (France/Germany) 52 min.
Alexei and Vassili are both Komi, one of the most ancient indigenous people of Siberia. They live with their families on the border of the Arctic Circle, and are the last reindeer herders of this region, as all other Komi have abandoned this highly archaic and exhausting lifestyle.  Each autumn, in order to feed their animals, these two families cross the Urals into Asia to escape the intense Siberian winters, returning again in spring when the weather is temperate.  This film documents their long and perilous four-month journey with their 5,000 reindeer.  (Best Film by Jury; Best Cinematography by Jury; Best Music by Jury; Most Inspirational by Jury; Honorable Mention for Narration and Script by Jury; Honorable Mention in Audience Favorite Competition)

The History of Film: The Great Directors course is a Lane Community College class held the first Sunday of the Month at DIVA as an on-going exploration of the trends and innovations of the most creative film makers. Each screening is followed by discussion led by DIVA’s screenwriting instructor and retired Hollywood Director, Tom Blank.

October 5:  Godard and the New Wave
       1:00 pm   Breathless
       4:00 pm   Contempt
       7:00 pm   Weekend

November 2:   Bunuel
       1:00 pm   Viridiana
       4:00 pm   The Milky Way
       7:00 pm   The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise

December 7: Lubitsch in Hollywood
       1:00    Ninotchka
       4:00    The Shop Around the Corner
       7:00    To Be or Not To Be

Free parking on Sundays is available in the city lots on Charnelton, both north and south of Broadway.

EARLY AFRICAN-AMERICA FILM FESTIVAL
October 14-15-16

DIVA brings to Eugene the Early African American Film Festival featuring selected films from the archives of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (MCLM) in Culver City, California. MCLM's President and Chief Executive Officer, Avery Clayton hosts the series.
    The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum was founded in 1981 by Mayme Agnew Clayton, Ph.D. (1923-2006). Dr. Clayton was a career university librarian who spent over 40 years of her life saving the history and culture of Americans of African descent.  Today the Mayme Agnew Clayton Collection represents the world's largest independently held assemblage of rare and out-of-print books, documents, films, music, photographs and memorabilia on African American culture and history. It is one of three major collections in the United States. The others are the premiere Schomburg Collection in the New York City Public Library and the Vivian Harsh Collection in the Chicago Public Library.

Tuesday, October 14th - Cabin In The Sky. (1943) 78 minutes.
7:00 PM
Cost: $3-$6 sliding scale

This was the first film directed by Vincente Minnelli and was a groundbreaking production because of the decision to use an all-African-American cast. It was a financial risk for MGM as many theaters in the 1940s refused to show films with prominent black performers.
    Although at times jarring to contemporary sensibilities, the film is recognized for its intelligent and witty script, which treats the film's characters with humanity and dignity.
    In the story Ethel Waters, Lena Horn, and Eddie Rochester' Anderson are caught in a musical version of the Faust legend in which Little Joe, a man killed over gambling debts, is given six months to redeem his soul and become worthy of entering Heaven. Without redemption his soul will be condemned to Hell. Other stars include: Louis Armstrong, Kenneth Spencer, John William Sublett, Oscar Polk, Mantan Moreland, Willie Best, Fletcher Rivers, Leon James Poke, Ford Washington Lee, Bill Bailey, and Butterfly McQueen. Directed by Vincent Minnelli. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe".

Wednesday, October 15th - Song of Freedom. (1936) 70 minutes.
7:00 PM
Cost: $3-$6 sliding scale

Song of Freedom. (1936) This was Paul Robeson’s first film shot in England. He plays John Zinga, a black dockworker with a great baritone singing voice. He is discovered by an opera impresario, and is catapulted to fame as an international opera star. Yet he feels alienated from his African past, and out of place in England.
    By chance, he is learns of his connection with an ancestral African tribe. He moves leaving fame and fortune behind to take his rightful place of royalty. Reunited with his people and heritage, he plans to improve their lives by combining the best of western technology with the best of traditional African ways.
    Prior to making this film Robeson said that, "In the United States the color question is too acute, and prejudice is rampant. A serious Negro actor stands very little chance there."  He hoped that in moving to England he would be able to portray a more accurate image of African people in the West. Until this production, people of African descent were often presented as comedic characters.  
   Robeson sought and obtained approval in his contract to have final cut approval on the film. This was an unprecedented option at the time for an actor of any race. Robeson's goal was to be sure that the film's final message was as he intended and not changed during the editing process. His hope was that this film would dispel myths about African people.
    Modern critics have questioned the film for its simplistic view of native African religion and its strong endorsement of the British colonial doctrine. 
   The film also stars Elizabeth Welch, Esme Percy, Robert Adams, James Solomon and George Mozart.  The Song Of Freedom was directed by J. Elder Wills.

Wednesday, October 15th - Gallery Talk with Avery Clayton, Festival Host
Time: 8:30 PM
Admission: Free
~~~ Festival host Avery Clayton, President and Chief Executive Officer, of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (MCLM) in Culver City, will give a gallery talk about: "The Evolution of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum: From a Backyard Collection to a Major American Cultural Institution".

Thursday, October 16th - Early African-American Film Festival - Double Feature
7:00 PM - Special Double Feature
Cost: $3-$6 sliding scale

Hallelujah. (1929) 109 minutes. The film tells the tale of Zeke Johnson, a sharecropper, and his relationship with a dancer, Chick, who manipulates him with her seductive charm.
    The film stars Daniel L. Hayes, Nina Mae McKinney, William Fountaine, Harry Gray, Fanny Bell DeKnight, Everett McGarrity, Victoria Spivey, Milton Dickerson, Robert Crouch, Walter Tait, the Dixie Jubilee Singers and others.
    Although director King Vidor later admitted this film, at times, seemed contrived and condescending, "Hallelujah" stands out from other films of the period with its positive and relatively un-stereotyped treatment of an African-American subject.
    Given Vidor's fascination with the earthiness of African American spirituality and his desire to make the film, he agreed to direct "Hallelujah" without a salary in order to have it produced.
    Although the film was considered a breakthrough for American cinema in the 1920's there were few films that followed that expanded upon this achievement.
This was the first all black cast Hollywood produced sound film and the first sound film for King Vidor as director. As one of the first sound films, "Hallelujah" demonstrates technological sophistication of on-location sound recording and post-production recording in the studio. "Hallelujah" earned King Vidor an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Stormy Weather. (1943) 72 minutes. This is one of two major Hollywood musicals produced with primarily African American casts in 1943. The other film is Cabin In The Sky, which is also a part of this Festival series. Stormy Weather casts a number of the top African-American performers of the era, at a time when few black artists were seen in mainstream productions, especially in musicals.
    The story is a high energy World War II musical cavalcade in which Lena Horne and Bill Robinson play a husband and wife team who struggle to make it in show business; she as a singer and he as a tap dancer.
    The film provides rare "mainstream" leading roles for some of the era's greatest African-American entertainers. In addition to Lena Horne and Bill Bojangles’ Robinson are, Cab Calloway, Katherine Dunham, Fats Waller and Harold and Fayard Nicholas, Ada Brown, Dooley Wilson, Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson and Zutty Singleton. 
   Stormy Weather was Directed by Andrew L. Stone; Story by Jerry Horwin and Screenplay by Fredrick J. Jackson.

Visiting Artists: List subject to change