5:30 p.m. – THE HOLY LAND OF TYROL presented by visiting filmmaker Philipp J. Palmer (an Austrian historical drama)
8:30 p.m. – A SECRET PROMISE presented by visiting actor/producer Lou Matini, Jr.
FILM FESTIVAL FLIX PRESENTS – Zeitgeist is proud to be the official New Orleans venue for this monthly nationally syndicated touring film festival which features acclaimed festival titles with visiting filmmakers plus actors and actresses in one star studded night presented at Zeitgeist the first Monday of each month. To kick the series off, Benjamin C. Oberman, the President and CEO of Mousetrap Films will be here to introduce the program along with special guests (see below). $10 general or $8 members for one film or $15 general or $13 members for both.
Monday, June 4 @ 5:30 p.m.
THE HOLY LAND OF TYROL by visiting filmmaker Philipp J. Palmer. It is spring 1809. Katharina’s Tyrolean husband, Franz (Wolfgang Menardi), is arguing with a French soldier in Augsburg’s marketplace. It ends with the soldier dead by accident and the young couple fleeing the city for Franz’s homeland. Even on the way it’s obvious that the mood in the Alpine land is at breaking point. Bavaria and France, which have occupied the Tyrol for years, are despised, which doesn’t guarantee the Bavarian Katharina (Inga Birkenfeld) the warmest of welcomes. She soon misses the warmth and comfort of her family in Augsburg. After so many years away from home, Franz is quickly caught up in the enthusiasm of the independence movement around Andreas Hofer. He calls the Tyrolean farmers to rise up. Before long, Franz marches with his younger brother off to war, leaving Katharina at home. Reliant for the first time only on herself, Katharina undergoes hard times until, finally, she masters the tasks at hands and wins the villagers’ respect. Against all the odds, the Tyroleans return victorious from their battles. The villagers celebrate. Only Katharina and the village priest recognize that although the night belongs to them, a lasting victory is impossible. Forced to make a decision, Katharina decides to render Franz unfit for battle. A Q & A and reception with the filmmaker will follow the film.
Monday, June 4 @ 8:30 p.m.
A SECRET PROMISE by Fred Manocherian. Presented by Wealthy and successful businessman, Ferro Olivetti (Victor Alfieri), enjoys the privileges and perks of his social stature. But on his father dead bed he promises to obey to “his father’s will” that he’ll spend one month away of his identity and money. Co starring Ione Skye, Ron Silver, Talia Shire, Michael Boatman, etc. Presented by visiting actor / producer Lou Martini, Jr.
Friday through Thursday, June 1 through 7 @ 7:30 p.m. (except Monday)
PAYBACK by Jennifer Baichwal. Margaret Atwood’s visionary work Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealthis the basis for this riveting and poetic documentary on “debt” in its various forms—societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and of course, economic. Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes) strikingly interweaves these (sometimes surprising) debtor/creditor relationships: two families in a years-long Albanian blood feud; the BP oil spill vs. the Earth; mistreated Florida tomato farm workers and their bosses; imprisoned media mogul Conrad Black and the U.S. justice system. With stunning cinematography and insightful commentary from renowned thinkers Raj Patel, Louise Arbour and Atwood herself,Paybackis a brilliant, game-changing rumination on the subject. Screens as part of our monthly series CANADA IS BIGGER THAN THE U.S.
Held Over!
Friday through Thursday, June 1 through 7 @ 5:30 & 9:15 p.m. (except Monday)
SURVIVING PROGRESS by Harold Crooks & Mathieu Roy.Presented by Executive Producer Martin Scorsese this dynamic film has been called “Koyaanisqatsi meets The Corporation”.Technological advancement, economic development, population increase – are they signs of a thriving society? Or too much of a good thing? Based on the best-selling bookA Short History of Progress, this provocative documentary explores the concept of progress in our modern world, guiding us through a sweeping but detailed survey of the major “progress traps” facing our civilization in the arenas of technology, economics, consumption, and the environment. Featuring powerful arguments from such visionaries as Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood, Stephen Hawking, Craig Venter, Robert Wright, Michael Hudson, and Ronald Wright, this enlightening and visually spectacular film invites us to contemplate the progress traps that destroyed past civilizations and that lie treacherously embedded in our own. Leading critics of Wall Street, cognitive psychologists, and ecologists lay bare the consequences of progress-as-usual as the film travels around the world – from a burgeoning China to the disappearing rainforests of Brazil to a chimp research lab in New Iberia, Louisiana – to construct a shocking overview of the way our global economic system is eating away at our planet’s resources and shackling entire populations with poverty. Providing an honest look at the risks and pitfalls of running 21st Century “software” (our accumulated knowledge) on 50,000-year-old “hardware” (our primate brains), Surviving Progressoffers a challenge: to prove making apes smarter was not an evolutionary dead end. Screens as part of our monthly series CANADA IS BIGGER THAN THE U.S.
Please Note: MARGARET ATWOOD “DEBT REDUCTION” SPECIAL RATE – See both PAYBACK and SURVIVING PROGRESS on the same night for only $10.
Zeitgeist
Multi-disciplinary Arts Center
1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70113
504 352-1150
rene@zeitgeistinc.net
Admission to all events are
$8 general / $7 students + seniors / $6 Zeitgeist members + children / Free Zeitgeist Patrons
unless otherwise mentioned.
There are separate admissions. See two or more events on the same night for only $5 each.
Friday through Thursday, June 1 through 7 @ 5:30 & 9:15 p.m. (except Monday)
SURVIVING PROGRESS by Harold Crooks & Mathieu Roy.Presented by Executive Producer Martin Scorsese this dynamic film has been called “Koyaanisqatsi meets The Corporation”.Technological advancement, economic development, population increase – are they signs of a thriving society? Or too much of a good thing? Based on the best-selling bookA Short History of Progress, this provocative documentary explores the concept of progress in our modern world, guiding us through a sweeping but detailed survey of the major “progress traps” facing our civilization in the arenas of technology, economics, consumption, and the environment. Featuring powerful arguments from such visionaries as Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood, Stephen Hawking, Craig Venter, Robert Wright, Michael Hudson, and Ronald Wright, this enlightening and visually spectacular film invites us to contemplate the progress traps that destroyed past civilizations and that lie treacherously embedded in our own. Leading critics of Wall Street, cognitive psychologists, and ecologists lay bare the consequences of progress-as-usual as the film travels around the world – from a burgeoning China to the disappearing rainforests of Brazil to a chimp research lab in New Iberia, Louisiana – to construct a shocking overview of the way our global economic system is eating away at our planet’s resources and shackling entire populations with poverty. Providing an honest look at the risks and pitfalls of running 21st Century “software” (our accumulated knowledge) on 50,000-year-old “hardware” (our primate brains), Surviving Progressoffers a challenge: to prove making apes smarter was not an evolutionary dead end.
Friday through Thursday, June 1 through 7 @ 7:30 p.m. (except Monday)
PAYBACK by Jennifer Baichwal. Margaret Atwood’s visionary work Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealthis the basis for this riveting and poetic documentary on “debt” in its various forms—societal, personal, environmental, spiritual, criminal, and of course, economic. Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes) strikingly interweaves these (sometimes surprising) debtor/creditor relationships: two families in a years-long Albanian blood feud; the BP oil spill vs. the Earth; mistreated Florida tomato farm workers and their bosses; imprisoned media mogul Conrad Black and the U.S. justice system. With stunning cinematography and insightful commentary from renowned thinkers Raj Patel, Louise Arbour and Atwood herself,Paybackis a brilliant, game-changing rumination on the subject. Screens as part of our monthly series CANADA IS BIGGER THAN THE U.S.
Held Over!
Friday through Thursday, June 1 through 7 @ 5:30 & 9:15 p.m. (except Monday)
SURVIVING PROGRESS by Harold Crooks & Mathieu Roy.Presented by Executive Producer Martin Scorsese this dynamic film has been called “Koyaanisqatsi meets The Corporation”.Technological advancement, economic development, population increase – are they signs of a thriving society? Or too much of a good thing? Based on the best-selling bookA Short History of Progress, this provocative documentary explores the concept of progress in our modern world, guiding us through a sweeping but detailed survey of the major “progress traps” facing our civilization in the arenas of technology, economics, consumption, and the environment. Featuring powerful arguments from such visionaries as Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood, Stephen Hawking, Craig Venter, Robert Wright, Michael Hudson, and Ronald Wright, this enlightening and visually spectacular film invites us to contemplate the progress traps that destroyed past civilizations and that lie treacherously embedded in our own. Leading critics of Wall Street, cognitive psychologists, and ecologists lay bare the consequences of progress-as-usual as the film travels around the world – from a burgeoning China to the disappearing rainforests of Brazil to a chimp research lab in New Iberia, Louisiana – to construct a shocking overview of the way our global economic system is eating away at our planet’s resources and shackling entire populations with poverty. Providing an honest look at the risks and pitfalls of running 21st Century “software” (our accumulated knowledge) on 50,000-year-old “hardware” (our primate brains), Surviving Progressoffers a challenge: to prove making apes smarter was not an evolutionary dead end. Screens as part of our monthly series CANADA IS BIGGER THAN THE U.S.
Please Note: MARGARET ATWOOD “DEBT REDUCTION” SPECIAL RATE – See both PAYBACK and SURVIVING PROGRESS on the same night for only $10.
FILM FESTIVAL FLIX PRESENTS – Zeitgeist is proud to be the official New Orleans venue for this monthly nationally syndicated touring film festival which features acclaimed festival titles with visiting filmmakers plus actors and actresses in one star studded night presented at Zeitgeist the first Monday of each month. To kick the series off, Benjamin C. Oberman, the President and CEO of Mousetrap Films will be here to introduce the program along with special guests (see below). $10 general or $8 members for one film or $15 general or $13 members for both.
Monday, June 4 @ 5:30 p.m.
THE HOLY LAND OF TYROL by visiting filmmaker Philipp J. Palmer. It is spring 1809. Katharina’s Tyrolean husband, Franz (Wolfgang Menardi), is arguing with a French soldier in Augsburg’s marketplace. It ends with the soldier dead by accident and the young couple fleeing the city for Franz’s homeland. Even on the way it’s obvious that the mood in the Alpine land is at breaking point. Bavaria and France, which have occupied the Tyrol for years, are despised, which doesn’t guarantee the Bavarian Katharina (Inga Birkenfeld) the warmest of welcomes. She soon misses the warmth and comfort of her family in Augsburg. After so many years away from home, Franz is quickly caught up in the enthusiasm of the independence movement around Andreas Hofer. He calls the Tyrolean farmers to rise up. Before long, Franz marches with his younger brother off to war, leaving Katharina at home. Reliant for the first time only on herself, Katharina undergoes hard times until, finally, she masters the tasks at hands and wins the villagers’ respect. Against all the odds, the Tyroleans return victorious from their battles. The villagers celebrate. Only Katharina and the village priest recognize that although the night belongs to them, a lasting victory is impossible. Forced to make a decision, Katharina decides to render Franz unfit for battle. A Q & A and reception with the filmmaker will follow the film.
Monday, June 4 @ 8:30 p.m.
A SECRET PROMISE by Fred Manocherian. Presented by Wealthy and successful businessman, Ferro Olivetti (Victor Alfieri), enjoys the privileges and perks of his social stature. But on his father dead bed he promises to obey to “his father’s will” that he’ll spend one month away of his identity and money. Co starring Ione Skye, Ron Silver, Talia Shire, Michael Boatman, etc. Presented by one of the film’s co-stars. To be announced this week.
Friday through Thursday, June 8 through 14 @ 7:30 p.m.
THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD by Joshua Marston. Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival, the powerful second feature from Joshua Marston (MARIA FULL OF GRACE) tells the story of an Albanian family caught up in a blood feud. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is a carefree teenager in a small town with a crush on the school beauty and ambitions to start his own small internet business. His world is suddenly up-ended when his father becomes entangled in a dispute that leaves a fellow villager murdered. According to a centuries-old code of law known as the Kanun, Nik’s family owes a life in return. Nik finds himself the prime target and becomes confined to home while his younger sister Rudina (Sindi Laçej) is forced to leave school and take over their father’s business. Marston transports us into a world rarely seen on screen, where tradition and modernity clash putting young lives in the balance.
Opening June 15:
I WISH by Hirokazu Koreeda. Twelve-year-old Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents in Kagoshima, in the southern region of Kyushu, Japan. His younger brother Ryunosuke lives with their father in Hakata, northern Kyushu. The brothers have been separated by their parents’ divorce and Koichi’s only wish is for his family to be reunited. When he learns that a new bullet train line will soon open linking the two towns, he starts to believe that a miracle will take place the moment these new trains first pass each other at top speed. With help from the adults around him, Koichi sets out on a journey with a group of friends, each hoping to witness a miracle that will improve their difficult lives. From the acclaimed Japanese director of Maborosi, After Life, Nobody Knows, Hana, Still Walking and Air Doll.
Opening June 15:
POLISSE (POLICE) by Maiwenn. This award-winning French drama depicts the daily grind for the police officers of the Child Protection Unit – taking in child molesters, busting underage pickpockets and chewing over relationship issues at lunch; interrogating abusive parents, taking statements from children, confronting the excesses of teen sexuality, enjoying solidarity with colleagues and laughing uncontrollably at the most unthinkable moments. Knowing the worst exists and living with it. How do these police officers balance their private lives and the reality they confront every working day? Fred, the group’s hypersensitive wild card, is going to have a hard time facing the scrutiny of Melissa, a photographer on a Ministry of the Interior assignment to document the unit. Winner Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival 2011.
Opening June 22:
A CAT IN PARIS by Jean-Loup Feliioli. 2012 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature. Dino is a cat that leads a double life. By day, he lives with Zoe, a little girl whose mother, Jeanne, is a police officer. By night, he works with Nico, a burglar with a big heart. Zoe has plunged herself into silence following her father’s murder at the hands of gangster Costa. One day, Dino the cat brings Zoe a very valuable bracelet. Lucas, Jeanne’s second-in-command, notices this bracelet is part of a jewelery collection that has been stolen. One night, Zoe decides to follow Dino. On the way, she overhears some gangsters and discovers that her nanny is part of the gangsters’ team.
Opening June 22:
DEATH OF A SUPERHERO by Ian FitzGibbon. After several cycles of chemotherapy, fourteen-year-old Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) feels he has little left to hope for. Worst of all, he might die a virgin. Director Ian FitzGibbon’s film, adapted by Anthony McCarten from his novel of the same name, is a poignant coming-of-age story with a dark undertone, addressing the most painful of circumstances alongside a rich and often humorous treatment of classic teen preoccupations. When Donald’s parents urge him to confront his feelings, he retreats further into his own head, channelling his thoughts into sinister and eerily beautiful comic book drawings. In the universe of his sketches, Donald is no longer a skinny teen with leukemia. Instead, he becomes a brawny superhero dedicated to fighting his archenemy: a mad scientist called the The Glove, who wields syringes for fingers. Donald’s parents send him to Dr. Adrian King (Andy Serkis in a decidedly human role), a therapist with a matter-of-fact approach to death who challenges Donald’s defensive attitude. A beautifully crafted and acted film.
Tuesday, June 26 @ 8:30 p.m.
GILLES DELEUZE: FROM A TO Z by Claire Parnet. Although philosopher Gilles Deleuze never wanted a film to be made about him, he agreed to Claire Parnet’s proposal to film a series of conversations in which each letter of the alphabet would evoke a word: From A (as in Animal) to Z (as in Zigzag). In dialogue with Parnet (a journalist and former student of Deleuze), the philosopher exhibited the modest and thrilling transparency that his seminal works (such as Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus) reveal. The sessions were taped when Deleuze was already terminally ill; he and Parnet agreed that the film would not be shown publicly until after his death. The awareness of mortality floats through the dialogues, making them not just intellectually stimulating but also emotionally engaging. Because Parnet knew Deleuze so well, she was able to draw him out–as no one else had–to what might be the 1001st plateau: a place of brilliance, rigor, and charm. In “A as in Animal,” for example, Deleuze vents his hatred of pets: “A bark,” he declares, “really seems to me the stupidest cry.” Instead, he praises the tick: “. . . in a nature teeming with life, [the tick] extracts three things”: light, smell, and touch. This, he claims, in a sense is philosophy. “And that is your life’s dream?” Parnet wryly asks. “That’s what constitutes a world,” he replies. Excerpts from this film series screens in conjunction with the 2012 Deleuze Studies Conference happening here in New Orleans this year. Special introduction and discussion led by C. J. Stivale.
Opening June 29:
HICK by Derick Martini. From the acclaimed director of Lymelife, An adaptation of Andrea Portes’ controversial novel about teen sexuality, HICK unfolds the journey, at once raw and mythical, of 13 year-old Luli McMullen (Chloë Grace Moretz), who sets out from her hard-luck, troublesome home in a fading Nebraska farm town for the glittering paradise of Las Vegas. Spurred by cinematic dreams and the hope for a “sugar daddy” who might finally save her, Luli finds herself on a perilous westward trek through a larger-than-life landscape of misfits, renegades and outsiders. She is quickly drawn to two contrasting drifters: Eddie (Eddie Redmayne), a razor-tongued, baby-faced cowboy with a mysterious limp, and an alluring grifter named Glenda (Blake Lively). Snared in their unexpected paths, Luli’s trip down the interstate becomes a defining odyssey – an encounter with heartbreak, absurdity and danger, but also with wonder, tenderness and the hard-won knowledge that just maybe she can save herself. Also starring Alec Baldwin, Rory Culkin, and Juliette Lewis.
Opening June 29:
5 BROKEN CAMERAS by Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi. Winner Sundance Film Fest 2012 – World Documentary – Directing Prize. Palestinian farm laborer Emad has five video cameras, and each of them tells a different part of the story of his village’s resistance to Israeli oppression. Emad lives in Bil’in, just west of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. Using the first camera, he recorded how the bulldozers came to rip the olive trees out of the ground in 2005. Here, a wall was built directly through his fellow villagers’ land to separate the advancing Jewish settlements from the Palestinians. In the first days of resistance to the Jewish colonists and the ever-present Israeli soldiers, Emad’s son Gibreel was born. Scenes shift from the infant growing into a precocious preschooler to the many peaceful acts of protest, and the steady progress of the construction of the dividing wall. Sympathizers from all over the world, including from Israel, provide help as resistance develops, but when the situation intensifies, people are arrested and villagers are killed. Emad keeps on filming despite pleas from his wife, who fears reprisals. It makes for an intensely powerful personal document about one village’s struggle against violence and oppression. Proceeds from the screenings of this film will benefit the 2012 New Orleans Middle East Film Festival.
Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center 1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70113-1311 (504) 352-1150 rene@zeitgeistinc.net Advanced tickets to all Zeitgeist events are available here Zeitgeist – noun German. The spirit of the times; general trend, mood or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time, especially as it is reflected ... Continue reading »
