The Blinding Light!! SHOWS
AUGUST
1998
 Sat & Sun August 1/2
pixel peep
show
With its low-res black and white pixel format, dreamy aesthetic, and
propensity for extreme close-ups, Pixelvision seems the perfect format with
which to examine our obsession and unending fascination for all things sexual
and erotic. PIXEL PEEP SHOW was assembled from as far off as Japan and France,
presenting some of the newest works in this format with a common bond to the
pornographic... featuring OLD PEOPLE HAVE SEX - Tim Lennox's tip of the hat to
David Greenberger's Duplex Planet, BITCH AND BUTCH - a lesbian plastic doll
fantasy by Kelly and Dawn, Danny Weisman's STUPID PENIS TRICKS, and more!!
 Tuesday & Wednesday August 4/5
schizoid effective:
anne robertson's diary films
Anne Robertson's Super-8 diary films are
among the most intimate, powerful, and revealing works in the history of
independent film, providing an unflinching look at Robertson's life. Robertson
has been diagnosed as a schizoid-affective manic-depressive, a conclusion she
denies, preferring instead to think of herself as a typical anxiety neurotic of
the obsessive-compulsive sort, with marked tendencies for fantasy, joy, and
panic. She is no longer a depressive, and film has been the cure. (AR) For this
show, we are pleased to present Five Year Diary: Reel 22: A Short Affair (and)
Going Crazy (1982, 24 mins.), Reel 76: Fall to Spring (1991/2, 28 mins.) and
Reel 80: Emily Died (1994, 27 min).
 Thursday August
6
byo8
plus: mr. x's holidays
The first round of our
ever-eclectic Bring Your Own Film Night! Anything goes: Super 8, Regular 8, 16mm
and VHS - film school wank, home movie, personal diary - you name it, we'll all
watch it! (10 mins max please!) PLUS: Immerse yourself in the real world of
cinema's exiled history - the home movie. These perfectly preserved films dating
from the early '50s & '60s are the sole record of an unnamed couple's world
travels - topless dancers in Paris, the World Fair, live stage in NY, cruise
ships & more - a perfectly preserved sociological record of fashion, style
& trends of the mid-twentieth century. Bring a film, get in for $3!
 Fri, Sat & Sun August 7/8/9
crispin glover in the
orkly kid
+ other eccentric shorts
A rare screening of TRENT (Rubin
& Ed, Plan 10) HARRIS' truly eccentric and uncategorizable short films,
featuring the cult favourite THE ORKLY KID. Crispin has called this his favorite
part of all time. In it, he plays the small town boy with big dreams of
appearing on TV as his cross-dressing alias OLIVIA NEUTRON BOMB. (First Place
USA Film Festival). Also THE BEAVER KID - Harris' personal favorite - a bizarre
documentary featuring the inspiration for Glover's role in ORKLY - all the more
strange because this time he's REAL! PLUS: In WILD GOOSE Trent Harris explores a
bombing range while trying to find the guy responsible for writing joe's a nut
licker on a sheep trough, and THE BURNING MAN, a short poetic record of the now
well known Burning Man festival in the Nevada Desert.
 Tuesday &
Wednesday August 11/12
guy debord's society of the
spectacle
Legendary Situationist Guy Debord's long-impossible to see film
is finally here! SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is an intense montage assembled out of
detourned images from feature films, pornography, commercials and news
footage. Few groups have had as profound an impact on French culture as the
Situationist Internationale with its unparalleled interrogation of political and
cultural relations. (Keith Sanborn, translator/subtitles) Debord's analysis of
a society suspended inside the free space of the commodity infiltrates every
frame. (Steve Seid, PFA) Don't miss it! (1973, 87 mins)
 Thursday August
13
the multiplex grand
The latest development. It uses three
separate reproducers acting in absolute unison with three separate and distinct
records, each one of which gives you the same loud, pure tone as that of the
gramophone grand. The combination of all three in unison gives an intensity of
volume and a sweetness and richness of tone which seem almost beyond belief!
Witness the Multiplex Grand: an evening of splendid electronic music and visuals
conducted and performed by: 5t3v3 (Steve Wood), 02 (Lester Smolenski) &
loscil (Scott Morgan).
 Fri, Sat & Sun August
14/15/16
craig baldwin's industrials amok!
From the private
vaults of San Francisco's wildly aggressive documentarian Craig Baldwin (Sonic
Outlaws, Tribulation 99) comes Industrials Amok!, a mixed/matched/spliced
collection of one-of-a-kind informational, educational and cottage industrial
film gems from the '50s and '60s, custom assembled by Mr. Baldwin especially for
this screening. Includes: Psychorama - a trailer on the benefits of subliminal
advertising; Angry Boy - a twisted child-psych abberation; The Delinquent, The
Hipster and The Square - a prime-time religious ed which focusses on problem
youth today (and features a smooth Max Roach Quintet jazz score!); Man's Search
for Happiness - a classic from the Mormon Propaganda machine. PLUS: Exercycle
Promo, 20th Century Breadmaking, Choosing a Classroom Film, Swim and Live and
more!
 Tuesday & Wednesday August 18/19
arthur lipsett's
fluxes freefall, & others
Arthur Lipsett's works have been hailed as
masterpieces of the cut and paste collagist model and stand as cutting
indictments of modern mass culture. We present the masterworks of this legendary
Canadian film artist: FLUXES is a disturbing reflection on the world around us,
amalgamating an incredible arsenal of found images and sound to effectively
foreshadow the coming Vietnam war as well as comment upon everything from space
travel to Buddhism. VERY NICE, VERY NICE Lipsett's first and most well known
film looks behind the monotone face we wear in life and exposes the anxieties we
would rather forget. PLUS: FREE FALL and 21-87!
Thursday August 20
cartoon party!
An evening of films and performances from
Vancouver's top cartoonists, featuring >Ted the inventor of Buy-Nothing-Day
Dave!
>Pornomation!
>Scrambled Brains!
>The Light Fantastic!
>July Fourth Toilet!
.....and more!!
Cartoon Party! coincides with the cartoon supplement in Terminal City. This show is brought to
you by Cosmopolis, (1009 Commercial Drive).
 Friday August 21
to Sunday August 30
mary jane's not a virgin anymore
"An
unpretentious, racy teen rite of passage" - Liza Bear
(Sundance)
"Offhand unaffected freshness" - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun
Times
Sarah Queen of Underground Cinema Jacobson's debut feature is the
rough-edged and brutally frank tale of a suburban girl's sexual initiation
guided through the relationships she develops with a motley mix of urban hipster
coworkers at the downtown local arthouse cinema. From an entirely anti-climactic
and awkward de-flowering in a cemetery to a frank education on the ins and outs
of orgasm and masturbation, Mary Jane weaves her way through more than a few
personal crises and self-discoveries.
"A first feature that's as awkward,
raucous and eager as its protagonist. Mary Jane is about a girl's first sexual
experiences, and nothing farther from The Lover could be imagined." - Amy
Taubin, Village Voice
"Sarah's funny and true portrayal of deflowered
girldom has all the scary, awkward grace and hectic thrill of this most freaked
out rite of passage." -Kim Gordon, Sonic Youth
Featuring cameos by
George Kuchar & Jello Biafra. Music by Babes in Toyland, New Wet Kojak,
Mudhoney, Red Aunts, Steel Pole Bathtub and others!
SEPTEMBER 1998
 Tuesday &
Wednesday September 1/2
old and naked: videos by donigan cumming
Montreal-based artist Donigan Cumming is principally known for his large
format photographic works of the old, ugly, neglected, sick, demented, and
drunk. Simultaneously criticized as exploitative and celebrated as genuinely in
touch with his subjects, Cumming's repellant and engaging video work brings
sordid existences to life. Presented are four of his most powerful and
disturbing works, recently featured at the Museum of Modern Art New
Documentaries series.
Tuesday
A Prayer for Nettie An elegy
on the passing of Cummings most frequent and striking model.
Cut the Parrot Sex for rent, unclaimed bodies, cigarettes burns and other monuments
of life long run from wall to wall. 3 grotesque comedies in one.
Wednesday
After Brenda Pierre is a fifty-something male who
loses everything in the name of love. Homeless and adrift, an unwanted guest
with nothing to offer but a tale.
Erratic Angel In his 50th year,
Colin looks back on a life of drug and alcohol abuse. In the chaos and
claustrophobia of the ice storm he waits to be reborn...
 Thursday
September 3
cineworks presents: living in suburbia
A program of
short films about the agony and banality of suburbia. A surreal slice of life
from a world where nothing is quite as it seems, and all kinds of weirdness
seethes just below the surface of apparent sterility. John Paizs' kitsch classic
SPRINGTIME IN GREENLAND examines the sophomoric inhabitants of a fictional
utopia; BBQ MUSLIMS is Zarqa Nawaz' backyard mistaken identites ; MY MOM WORKS
AT SEARS is Maria Drazilov's unsentimental look at her mother's struggle for
independence; & Craig Wallace's PRINCIPLES OF KARMA is a tongue-in-cheek
portrait of teen boredom and angst.
 Friday &
Saturday September 4/5
medicinal compounds
A hodgepodge of
ludicrous and oddball films never meant to be seen by the likes of you and I,
instructing both patient and doctor on the ins and outs of hospital etiquette,
PLUS a handful of graphic and disturbing shorts teaching a variety of life
saving techniques! LEARN how to properly care for your patient in MYOCARDIAL
INFARCTION: THE NURSE'S ROLE (winner: most unwieldy title), a film which
encourages nurses to take on the role of the wife - to hazardous results!
ACCOMPANY sickly sweet little Jimmy to the hospital for the first time in A
VISIT TO THE HOSPITAL! SEE a live heart beating in PRESCRIPTION FOR LIFE!
OBSERVE an actual vivisected cadavre in a CPR demonstration...AND MORE!!
Sept 6-20 - Vancouver Fringe Theater Festival Rents out our
space!
 Tuesday & Wednesday September 22/23
the
view from here: new local works!
This striking collection of local shorts
runs the gamut of hand-processed, time-lapse and scratch animation, combining
personal introspection with highly original formal and physical filmic technique
- these are the up and coming image makers in your town - check ëem out!
Includes John Price's gorgeous hand-made VIEW NEVER CHANGES, the Ellam/Lear /
Taylor mind meld end transmitter, on the way to Istigkeit, Jorge Yanez Urreta's
moody far, Jessica Joy Wise's cage-breaker INSIDE OUT, Julian Lawrence's
scratch-manic ATOM AND HEAVE, Julia Burns' restlessly deviant IMMOTISFY, Andrew
Ranford's time-lapsing Pulse Part 77, Brett Gaylor's spun-out RECORD and Corey
Adams' strange and engaging redneck wrestling fantasy TURNBUCKLE.
Thursday September 24th
cineworks presents: saskatchewan filmpool
20th anniversary tour
The 10 short films presented here personify the
spirit of independent filmmaking from a uniquely Saskatchewan perspective, and
celebrate 20 years of incredible prairie celluloid. Included are: SONS AND
DAUGHTERS Robin Shlat's sensitive exploration of childhood; REMEMBER IN BETWEEN
THE FORGET Tobi Lampard's visually rich and intricate portrait of an artist as
seen by her daughter; (STORIES FROM) THE LAND OF CAIN Mark Wihak's pan-Canadian
odyssey; T.V. STORIES Brian Stockton's unconventional narrative featuring a
lone character connected to the world through machines.
september 25 - October 11
The Vancouver International Film Fest is on - we will be
presenting panels and workshops - in conjunction with and separately from -
Cineworks at this time - stay tuned for more info!
OCTOBER 1998
 Tuesday &
Wednesday October 13/14
george & mike kuchar's reflections from a
cinematic cesspool book launch screening!
Join us for the EXCLUSIVE
Canadian Book Launch/Screening for George and Mike Kuchar's Reflections From a
Cinematic Cesspool (Zanja Press), and find ot why John Waters calls these
underground gods directors I could idolize - complete crackpots without an
ounce of pretension...who gave me the self-confidence to believe in my own
tawdry vision. Filled with original illustrations by George and Mike Kuchar, a
selection of never-before-seen photos, extensive filmographies and an
introduction by John Waters himself, Reflections will be available only at
this this show and in limited quantities. Don't miss this rare chance to see a
healthy sampling of their absurdist, campy, diaristic tapes, produced with
nothing but a consumer 8mm camcorder, dime store props, neighborhood actors and
the pageant that is life as their studio. Works to be screened include Tryst,
Statue in the Park and The Bristled Dagger, Mike Kuchar's most recent turgid
teleplay and Tales of a Twilight Typist, George Kuchar's paranormal visit with
famed horror and UFO author WHITLEY STRIEBER (Communion). PLUS a LIVE
SIMULCAST INTRO to the book from the brothers themselves in San Francisco
exclusively for this show!
 Thursday October 15
byo8 plus:
eisteddfod super 8
Moving pictures that you can call your own! We happily
accept all styles and flavours for this, our second official open screening,
including home movies, found films, and your pet projects: 16mm, Super 8,
Regular 8, VHS! Our special added attraction tonight is Super 8 from the
Eisteddfod Film Festival a strange band of madcap creative-types who assemble
crackpot films with titles like: THE MYRMIDONS OF ACK-ACK, TRAP OF SINISTER
EVIL, SQUEAKY SPEAKS, THE DINER OF JAMES BOND, and the Suharto slamming RADIO
ROUNDUP. Mandatory viewing. Bring a film and get in for $3! (10 mins max
please).
 Friday, Saturday and Sunday October
16/17/18
euro underground
Three distinct and fully engaging
evenings of the latest work from the European underground. This collection has
been painstakingly compiled to bring you the cream of the crop in new and
radical European film and video. (Curated by Mark Siska)
Friday: London
Calling - a collection of stylish, beautiful and gripping short subjects
from the UK, featuring Benstock/Losey's fast-paced The Box, Andrew Kotting's
frightening Smart Alek, Mathew Glamorre's exploration of the club scene in A
Smashing Night Out, Tim Webb's heartbreaking 15th February, Kathy Stevens's
steamy Heatwave, and more!
Saturday: The New Bulgarians - the
Bulgarian underground is alive and well and living in Bulgaria! Ivaylo
Simidchiev's MUD, recently selected to the Cannes Film Festival, tells the
emotional tale of a gypsy boy who stabs a tourist and then tries to save him.
The Journey to Whistling Beach is Victor Bozhinov's tale of bored youth who rob
a store to take a ride in a cab to the Sea... Valentin Valtchev's REEL MIX -
reels of old Soviet negative film stock mixed with: The American dream,
Bulgarian superstition, drugs, motorbikes, Elvis Presley, Jesus Christ, NBA
stars, a Ghost and a porcupine!
Sunday: Euromix - A cross-section of
stunning work from Switzerland, Serbia, Italy and Bulgaria. Stefan Steiner's
Clothes For Moving is a hamster monster movie, D. Zivancevic's Jump 13 was
filmed at the solitaire in Novi Sad known as the suicide building, Susan
Schoenberg's ABC features a minute of memories for each letter of the alphabet,
The Salt Works puts us in the role of saltshaker over a lively discussion, and
Freedy and Victor Blind Date portrays the first meeting between a poet father
and filmmaking daughter with devastating results.
 Tuesday &
Wednesday October 20/21
buried in light:: films by jem
cohen
New York-based film/video maker Jem Cohen is known for blurring
distinctions between documentary, narrative and experimental genres, (citing
photographer Robert Frank as a major influence). Cohen often shoots for several
years in hundreds of locations before finally transforming his footage into a
film. His work has won awards at festivals around the world and he has screened
throughout Europe and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Here we present
three of his most arresting works:DRINK DEEP (1991) A pastoral about friendship
and hidden desires. THIS IS A HISTORY OF NEW YORK (1988) A chronicling of the
seven ages of civilization from Prehistory to the Space Age using the five
boroughs of New York City as inspiration...stray dogs patrol the streets while
the homeless forage for food...crazed street preachers pace frantically before
ominous gothic architecture. The thriving city of New York seen as the
accumulation of humanity's failures, as well as its greatness. BURIED IN LIGHT:
EASTERN EUROPE IN PASSING (1994) A meditation on history, memory, and change in
Central and Eastern Europe, BURIED IN LIGHT is a non-narrative journey, a
cinematic collage. Cohen's "search for images" began at a time of extraordinary
flux, as the Berlin Wall was dismantled, opening borders yet ushering in a
nascent wave of consumer capitalism. What he saw struck him as a profound
paradox: the moment Eastern Europe was revealed wasalso the moment it was hidden
by commercialism. Cohen masterfully focusses on details, ordinary objects, and
forgotten places, filming daily life as seen on the street.
Thursday October 22
phosphene live: escape velocity
Escape
in all its metaphorical variations is at work in this highly visual experimental
performance piece which asserts Harry Houdini and the escape artist as a
central metaphor while seeking to address the circularity and inconclusive
nature of escape. A transformative film performance piece by PHOSPHENE, a
rotating Vancouver audio-visual collective.
 Friday, Saturday
& Sunday October 23/24/25
max & dave fleischer's classic
hoppity goes to town
A rare opportunity to see one of the last great
animated features produced and directed by Max & Dave Fleischer in 1941.
Best known for their Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons, the Fleischer brothers are
considered the true masters of both animation technique and style. And now, to
the story: Hoppity the grasshopper finds that all is not well when he returns
home to Bugville, a vacant lot just 45 inches from Broadway. A skyscraper is
scheduled to be built on the site, throwing all his friends and relatives from
their homes. Not only that, his girlfriend Honey Bee is being forced to marry
the villainous C. Bagley Beetle! All will be saved if only Dick and Mary, the
songwriting humans who own the land, can find the money to build the home of
their dreams. But Beetle has other ideas and, with the help of his bumbling but
hearts-of-gold henchmen Swat and Smack, intercepts Dick's hefty royalty check...
Special prices for kids! ($3 - Sunday matinee) SUNDAY MATINEE at 2pm
only!
 Tuesday & Wednesday October 27/28
king of
super 8 john porter in person!
John Porter has made over 200 Super 8
films in the last three decades. While neither a careerist nor an aggressive
self-promoter, John's work has been created largely with fun in mind as he moves
comfortably between time-lapse public event records, wild camera dance and
structural experiments, and his unforgettable live interactive Super 8
performances. His modesty of means - working exclusively in Super 8 and with no
budget - has created an incredibly imaginative arsenal of work. We are truly
thrilled to present (in collaboration with Pleasure Dome in Toronto), two nights
of work with John Porter here in person. Tuesday night will feature John
presenting a range of his finest films, many of which incorporate everything
from a bicycle on stage to a hand-held projector panning around the room. Titles
to be featured include Animal in Motion, Scanning, Revolving Restaurant,
Shootout with Rebecca, Cinefuge, 3 Speed Gear and the fascinating show-and-tell
record of Porter's plastic toy collection Toy Catalogue. Wednesday night will
feature a whole slew of brand new works produced in the last year and
highlighted by How To Make A Movie, a performance involving the live shooting,
developing and projecting of a Super 8 film in typical Porter style (only ever
performed twice before!) with full audience participation. If you come to the
first night you'll definitely be back on Wednesday - if you come to the second
night only, you'll be sorry you missed the first! (Thanks to Tom Taylor at
Pleasure Dome, John Porter and The Canada Council.)
 Thursday October
29
cineworks presents: boys to men
A program of short films
exploring the lives of boys and men, and the ways contemporary society shapes
and constricts how boys are allowed to grow up. On the program: THE SMELL OF
BURNING ANTS, Jay Rosenblatt's haunting documentary on the pains of growing up
male; WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, a droll profile of the Winnipeg World's Hockey Team
with police intervention and Stompin' Tom Connors; EVERYBODY LOVES NOTHING:
EMPATHIC EXERCISES, Steve Reinke's irreverent stock footage look at what's
required to become a man in the modern world; and P.M.S. (POSITIONING MY
SEXUALITY), Vince Colyer's challenge to the conventions affecting all males.
 Fri, Sat & Sun October 30/31 & November 1
rene
laloux's classic
the fantastic planet
This is the astounding fully
animated French/Czech science-fiction adventure based on the drawings of Roland
Topor. The Fantastic Planet tells the tale of an alien world where diminutive
humanoids are enslaved and kept as housepets and playthings by a race of giants.
Eventually a humanoid decides to revolt... Originally brought to America in the
early '70s through Roger Corman s New World Pictures European Acquisitions,
the film was wildly successful on the B-movie circuit with the post-hippy
trippers, seen as a metaphor for class struggle but best remembered for its
eerie and beautiful animation and mesmerizing soundtrack. (1974)
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