week-long opening

CRAZY LEGS CONTI:
Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating

(dir. Danielle Franco and Chris Kenneally, 75 mins, 2004)

Weds Mar 2 9pm
Thurs Mar 3 9pm
Fri Mar 4 9pm
Sat Mar 5 9pm
Sun Mar 6 9pm
Mon Mar 7 9pm
Tues Mar 8 9pm
Sun Mar 13 3:15pm
Sun Mar 20 3:15pm

Plans are in development for Crazy Legs to deliver a pizza-eating exhibition following at least one of the screenings.

One Man, One Dream, One Stomach

"Everyone eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
They're just not eating it on the professional level."
- Crazy Legs Conti

When Crazy Legs Conti, eccentric New York window washer, nude model and sperm donor, casually breaks the world oyster eating record in New Orleans, he decides to dedicate himself to fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a professional competitive eater.

Crazy Legs shares his hilarious and poignant insights into professional eating as he travels the United States following the circuit in an effort to get signed by the I.F.O.C.E. (International Federation Of Competitive Eating). His goal is to earn a place at the table amongst his heroes at the Coney Island 4th of July hotdog eating contest. In a sport traditionally dominated by corpulent gluttons, Crazy Legs finds his inspiration in the new wave of smaller, athletic eaters. He works on his technique by studying the tapes and consumption methods of his idols and strives to attain the Zen-like focus and capacity of the great Japanese eating masters. Throughout his journey he is challenged by the likes of the 400 lb. eating machine Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, exciting newcomers such as Ray "the Bison" Meduna and wily veterans like Mo "Ribs" Molinsky and "Crawfish Nick." Crazy Legs’ journey from aficionado to professional takes him from New York to New Orleans, Seattle to Boston, and even to his hometown Belmont, Massachusetts where his food fixations began.

Crazy Legs has the tenacity and desire, but does he have the athletic ability and eating prowess to earn a spot at the table amongst the greatest eaters in the world? Can he match up dog for dog, bun for bun, against the likes of Badlands Booker, Cookie Jarvis and the demi-god of eating Takeru Kobayashi, at “the Super Bowl of Competitive Eating” – Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest?

www.crazylegsconti.com

VIEQUES:
worth every bit
of struggle

(dir. Mary Patierno, 55 mins, 2005)

Tues Mar 1 7pm

Followed by beer and pizza reception, sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery.

a people's struggle in Puerto Rico

In the 1940s, the United States Navy expropriated much of the Caribbean island of Vieques, Puerto Rico and constructed a weapons testing and training site. Evicting dozens of families, the Navy built hundreds of bunkers to store the weapons on the western end of the island. On the eastern end they created a target area to detonate them. For almost sixty years the citizens were left wedged on only 23% of the island, sandwiched between a weapons depot and a bombing range. But the struggle against the Navy didn't achieve widespread support until April 1999, when a civilian was killed by two misfired bombs. This death ignited the simmering anger of islanders and shed a harsh new light on a host of economic and environmental problems. Over the next four years, almost 1,500 people would be arrested for using their bodies as human shields to prevent military exercises.

On May 1, 2003, the Navy ceased all testing and training on the island. The Navy’s departure, while a huge victory, was only the first step in a complicated process of demilitarization, decontamination and development of a community long assaulted by the US and perennially neglected by the Puerto Rican government. VIEQUES: WORTH EVERY BIT OF STRUGGLE documents the David and Goliath-like story of the residents of Vieques and the peaceful transformation of a community against enormous odds.

New Fest presents
BLUE
CITRUS
HEARTS

(dir. Morgan Jon Fox, 91 mins, 2004)

Weds Mar 2 7pm

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS

ILL FATED

(dir. Mark A. Lewis, 96 mins, 2004)

Thurs Mar 3 7pm

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS

ABEL RAISES CAIN

(dir. Jennie Abel and Jeff Hockett, 84 mins, 2004)

Fri Mar 4 7pm

Slamdance 2005 * Grand Jury Winner, Best Documentary

As far back as she can remember, filmmaker Jenny Abel has seen her father appear on television under a variety of aliases, fooling news reporters and talk show hosts. He was always using the media to promote one seemingly absurd cause after another, whether it was a campaign to clothe all animals for the sake of decency or an organization to ban mothers from breast-feeding. Alan Abel has made a career out of pulling off elaborate pranks. Touted by some journalists as the "world's greatest hoaxer," he has also been described as a menace to the media. Some people accuse him of being a scam artist or an impostor while others dismiss him as merely a practical joker. But to Jenny, he was always just a father with a unique profession.

ABEL RAISES CAIN attempts to explain the true motives behind Alan's hoaxes and, in the process, allows for a different perspective on how the media operates. The film echoes Abel's ultimate message -- that you can't believe everything you see, read or hear.

www.abelraisescain.com

Pioneer Late Nights

PRIMER

(dir. Shane Carruth, 78 mins, 2004)

Fri Mar 4 10:30pm
Fri Mar 11 10:30pm
Fri Mar 18 10:30pm
Fri Mar 25 10:30pm - buy tickets

"PRIMER is the headiest, most singular science-fiction movie since Kubrick made 2001."
(ESQUIRE)

"An ingenious movie about the perils of ingenuity. . .Invigorating. . .Like PI or MEMENTO, PRIMER is the kind of movie likely to inspire both imitators and cultists. . .Carruth has invented something fascinating."
(A.O. Scott, NY TIMES)

* Grand Jury Prize - Sundance Film Festival *

PRIMER is set in the industrial park/suburban tract-home fringes of an unnamed contemporary city where two young engineers, Abe and Aaron, are members of a small group of men who work by day for a large corporation while conducting extracurricular experiments on their own time in a garage. While tweaking their current project, a device that reduces the apparent mass of any object placed inside it by blocking gravitational pull, they accidentally discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities--ones that could enable them to do and to have seemingly anything they want. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity is the first challenge they face. Dealing with the consequences is the next.

A ThinkFilm release.

Pioneer Late Nights

TARNATION

(dir. Jonathan Caouette, 88 mins, 2003)

Fri Mar 4 Midnight
Fri Mar 11 Midnight
Fri Mar 18 Midnight
Fri Mar 25 Midnight - buy tickets

"Watching it, you feel a new possibility opening up, an artistic direction at once unexpected and obvious."
- A.O. Scott, NY TIMES

"An unqualified masterpiece."
- Lou Lumenick, NY POST

"A daunting blend of head trip, cinéma verite, music video, and auto-therapy."
- Anthony Lane, NEW YORKER

"Caouette lifts his story clear out of the victimized whine that bogs down so many confessional memoirs and offers the viewer instead an intimate look inside his ravaged yet loving head, at once street-smart and haloed by the naiveté of a young saint."
- Ella Taylor, LA WEEKLY

Jonathan Caouette's spellbinding debut TARNATION reimagines the whole idea of what a documentary can be. Caouette has been documenting his life since he was eleven years old. With TARNATION, he weaves a psychedelic whirlwind of snapshots, Super-8 home movies, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, snippets of 80s pop culture and dramatic reenactments to create an epic portrait of an American family torn apart by dysfunction and reunited through the power of love. TARNATION begins in 2003 as Caouette learns of his mother’s lithium overdose in his native Texas. Faced with the haunting remnants of his past, including a family legacy of mental illness, abuse, and neglect, Caouette returns home to aid in his mother¹s recovery. Slipping back into the archives of his youth, we watch Caouette grow up on camera, seeking escape from family trauma through musical theater, grade-B horror flicks and the forging of his identity through popular culture.

A Wellspring release.

IKIRU

(dir. Akira Kurosawa,
143 mins, 1952)

Sat Mar 5 6:15pm
Sun Mar 27 6:15pm - buy tickets

"If you have never seen it, you should.
If you have seen it before, your admiration will only increase."
- Michael Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"A heartbreaking masterwork from Kurosawa."
- Jeffrey M. Anderon, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

"Considered by some to be Akira Kurosawa’s greatest achievement, Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of a man’s death. Takashi Shimura portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. Told in two parts, Ikiru offers Watanabe’s quest in the present, and then through a series of flashbacks. The result is a multifaceted look at a life through a prism of perspectives, resulting in a full portrait of a man who lacked understanding from others in life." (Janus Films / Criterion Collection)

EASY
RIDER

(dir. Dennis Hopper, 90 mins, 1969)

Sat Mar 5 10:25pm
Sat Mar 19 10:25pm

Starring Peter Fonda as Wyatt (alias Captain America) and Hopper as Billy, it traces the hippie duo's adventures as they mount their seriously chopped hogs on a journey to find the real America en route to Mardi Gras. In Arizona, they visit a commune whose members are having a tough time, and in a small Texas town they're jailed for joining a parade. But they're quickly sprung by an ACLU lawyer, the quirky, hard-drinking George Hanson (Jack Nicholson), who accepts their offer to join them on the trip to New Orleans, eager to visit the best whorehouse in the South. EASY RIDER accurately reflects the tensions and hostilities of the period, Laszlo Kovacs's photography is superb, Nicholson is exceptional in his breakthrough role--and the startling, stunning ending is a shocker.

ETERNAL
SUNSHINE
OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

(dir. Michel Gondry,
108 mins, 2004)

Saturdays in March
at midnight!

Sat Mar 5 midnight
Sat Mar 12 midnight
Sat Mar 19 midnight
Sat Mar 26 midnight - buy tickets

"[a] uniquely funny, unpredictably tender and unapologetically twisted romance."
- ROLLING STONE

One of the most acclaimed - and romantic - films of 2004 ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND is an unconventional romance told in the abstract, inventive, and comedic storytelling style of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Like his scripts for ADAPTATION and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, this plot works off of a relatively complex idea that is easier explained through language of film than through words. In its most basic description, Joel (Jim Carrey) is undergoing a medical procedure to erase the memory of his ex-girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet). However, while he is unconscious and the procedure is underway, he takes a journey through his mind, reliving moments with Clementine for fear of losing her forever. Using disjointed sound and action, foggy periods indicating Joel's confusion, and flashbacks to childhood where objects appear much bigger than they are to adult eyes, the cinematography communicates Joel's dilemma with visual hilarity. Only occasionally is the film laugh-out-loud funny; instead it is much more deeply and darkly amusing as the absurdity of the situation grows. ETERNAL SUNSHINE is nothing short of brilliant--a credit to director Michel Gondry (who has a topnotch reputation for his aesthetic music videos by artists such as Bjork). Carrey is wonderfully understated in the role of a simpleminded nice guy, and his signature goofiness is used only a handful of times. Winslet lights up the screen with her blue hair and orange sweatshirt, playing a lively free spirit and loose cannon. There are also strong supporting performances by Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, and Mark Ruffalo, along with an excellent score by Jon Brion and a peppy soundtrack including songs by E.L.O. and The Polyphonic Spree. The film's conclusion promises to satisfy viewers; it offers a beautiful metaphor for the end of a love affair that brings perfect closure to this excellent film.

Gian Maria Volonte
is conducting an

INVESTIGATION
OF A CITIZEN
ABOVE SUSPICION

(dir. Elio Petri, 114 mins, 1971)

Sun Mar 6 6:30pm
Sun Mar 20 6:30pm

Cannes Film Festival
Winner, Special Jury Grand Prize * International Critics' Prize

"A potent study of power as pathology."
- Elliott Stein, VILLAGE VOICE

"an elegant thriller. . .a study of the twisted infantilism
that shapes the fanatic heart"
- Ella Taylor, L.A. WEEKLY

A taut, mesmerizing film about an unscrupulous police inspector at the mental breakdown point who kills his wife and then alternately leaves a trail of clues and covers his tracks while pursing the job of rounding up and roughing up leftists. (Swank Motion Pictures)

VILLAGE VOICE review * LA WEEKLY review

Bizarro Mondays program

THE LAND OF COLLEGE PROPHETS

(dir. Thomas Edward Seymour and Mike Aransky, 81 mins, 2005)

Mon Mar 7 7pm

This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, and z-movies.

An independent comic book fantasy action adventure

The College Prophets is a century old guild of fighters. The story begins with Tommy (Thomas Edward Seymour) and Rye (Philip Guerette), two violent brawlers that accidentally awaken a powerful dark force named The Well That Ate Children. It is a gigantic three story tall, haunted wishing well that begins possesing the townspeople and poisoning the water supply. A battle rages to destroy the Well's power and set things right in the Land of College Prophets. Sometimes the best man can hope to do is simply fix his own mistakes.

IFP
BUZZCUTS

Tues Mar 8 7pm

Followed by beer and pizza reception, sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery.

A series of short films from filmmakers working with the Independent Feature Project.

"Bert Prentice, C.E.O." (2004, 4 minutes)
Writer/Director: Kevin Nibley
A day in the life of a corporate brown-noser.

"The Elevator Operator" (Documentary, 2004, 8 minutes)
Director: Jonathan Skurnik
A meditation on the simultaneous power and futility of hope. Eugene Sheiman runs a manual elevator in a New York City office building, as if trapped by a sis-by-six foot cage. Eugene, a Ukranian immigrant, was a journalist in Kiev and has published a novel in Russian. Now that he’s an American citizen, the elevator operator reveals his big dream.

"Myron" (2004, 17 minutes)
Director: Luke Stettner, Writer: Jason Feuerstein
For 30 years Myron has sleepwalked through life. In one day he will die. Myron takes us through his final day – a day in which he experiences a taste of the excitement his life previously lacked.

"Saragossa" (2005, 13 minutes)
Writer/Director: Scott Prendergast
A short meditation - on the difficulty of expressing oneself - while attempting to dump someone.

"Scrabble" (2004, 11 minutes)
Directors: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Writer: Mark Duplass
Rick and Amy play Scrabble, and then bad things happen.

"The Intervention" (2005, 15 minutes)
Director: Jay Duplass, Writer: Mark Duplass
All Steve’s friends know about his big problem and provide him with emotional support when it comes to learning the truth about Bill Parcels, the New York Giant’s coach. They hope that this will help him to come out with the truth about another pressing issue.

week-long opening

SHERIFF

(dir. Daniel Kraus, 76 mins, 2004)

Weds Mar 9 9pm
Thurs Mar 10 9pm
Fri Mar 11 9pm
Sat Mar 12 9pm
Sun Mar 13 9pm
Mon Mar 14 9pm
Tues Mar 15 9pm

Bank Robbers. Murderers. Stolen Ceramic Bunnies. All in a day's work.

“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. The detail captured by Kraus's scrupulously neutral camera adds up to a fascinating, fully realized portrait of the man and the job. It’s like an extended episode of Cops directed by Frederick Wiseman – and I mean that as a compliment on both counts.”
- CHICAGO READER

“FOUR STARS. . .The editing and cinematography are artistic and there’s an organic sense of humor that can’t possibly be scripted. Educational, intriguing and fantastic, it produces a profound effect.”
- FILM THREAT

“RECOMMENDED. Far from a high-minded, humorless meditation, Sheriff has its hilarious moments. . .like some existentialist episode of COPS.”
- AUSTIN CHRONICLE

Sheriff Ronald E. Hewett oversees the rural Southern community of Brunswick County, North Carolina. Heading up what used to be a backwards, back-woods department, Hewett strives to maintain order and civility in a region fraught with murder, robbery and the occasional theft of ceramic lawn ornaments. To accomplish this impossible task, Hewett uses the only tools at his disposal -- God, guns, and the literally hundreds of blood relatives that populate his jurisdiction. At once brutal, bizarre and funny, SHERIFF employs the techniques of pure cinema verité: no interviews, no music, no voice-overs. The result is an unexpected, intimate portrait of a complex man trying to do good in a bad, bad world.

the movie's website

New Fest presents

IN GOOD CONSCIENCE:
Sister Jeannine Gramick's Journey of Faith

(dir. Barbara Rick,
82 mins, 2004)

Wed Mar 9 7pm

IN GOOD CONSCIENCE brings together award-winning journalist/filmmaker Barbara Rick and the legendary cinematographer Albert Maysles (GREY GARDENS) to recount the courageous story of Sister Jeannine Gramick, an American nun who has defied a Vatican edict to shut down her compassionate ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics. Refusing to remain silent at tremendous risk to her calling, Sister Jeannine protests the Church’s discrimination and hypocrisy, taking her case all the way to Rome to seek an audience with Vatican officials.

a weekend with
RITA HAYWORTH

GILDA

(dir. Charles Vidor,
110 mins, 1946)

Thurs Mar 10 6:45pm
Sat Mar 12 6:45pm

a weekend with
RITA HAYWORTH

LADY
FROM
SHANGHAI

(dir. Orson Welles, 87 mins, 1947)

Fri Mar 11 7pm
Sun Mar 13 7pm

starring Rita Hayworth

also starring Orson Welles

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, an atmospheric film noir based on Sherwood King's novel IF I DIE BEFORE I WAKE, features Orson Welles as producer, director, co-screenwriter, and star. Welles plays rogue seaman Michael O'Hara, complete with Irish brogue. After saving beautiful Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) from thieves in Central Park, O'Hara is requested to serve on the yacht owned by Elsa's husband, Arthur (Welles veteran Everett Sloane), an older man who needs special crutches in order to walk. A fiery passion lurks underneath the relationship between Michael and Elsa; in actuality, the marriage between Welles and Hayworth was ending at the time the film was shot. Enter George Grisby (the eerie-sounding Glenn Anders), one of Bannister's associates and a man with a very special offer for O'Hara, luring him into a web of lies and murder.

Although Welles claimed he made THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI just to finance other projects and the film does not show off his typical Wellesian flair, it still plays like a classic noir that draws the viewer in and never lets go. The characters are complex and fascinating, and the tension runs high and hot as the truth behind all the lies starts to come out. The film is most famous for its thrilling climax, which takes place in a hall of mirrors. Welles might have considered THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI workmanlike, but this noir thriller is only as workmanlike as any Welles film can be.

Pioneer Late Nights

COWARDS BEND THE KNEE

(dir. Guy Maddin, 60 mins, 2003)

Sat Mar 12 10:30pm

"Maddin’s masterpiece!" (J. Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE)

“Might be Maddin’s masterwork!” (NY PRESS)

"There is something rather splendid about this extended-play peep show, as if Mr. Maddin had stumbled across a hitherto lost archive of cinema's less-than-innocent past.” (NEW YORK TIMES)

“One of the ten best films of the year! A feverish, hilarious exercise in self-flagellating mythomania.”
(Dennis Lim, THE VILLAGE VOICE)

A masterstroke from goofy Canadian cineaste Guy Maddin, director of THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD and DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN’S DIARY.

Adapted from a ten-part peephole installation, COWARDS BEND THE KNEE is, in the words of Mark Peranson, “jam-packed with enough kinetically photographed action to seem like a never-ending cliffhanger. . .In this twisted and poisoned wish-fulfillment, the mythomaniacal Maddin casts ‘himself’ (actually, Darcy Fehr) as a hockey sniper made lily-livered by mother and daughter femme fatales, and resurrects his father as the team’s radio broadcaster and his own romantic antagonist. Set in a shadow-suffused hockey arena and a Mabuse-like beauty salon-slash-abortion clinic, the plot drips with Grecian formula, as sordid family secrets spawn unintentional murder most foul.”

A Zeitgeist Films Release.

Bizarro Mondays program

Dr. Seuss'
THE 5000
FINGERS
OF DR. T

(dir. Roy Rowland, 89 mins, 1953)

Mon Mar 14 7pm
Mon Mar 28 7pm - buy tickets

This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, and z-movies.

story and screenplay by
Dr. Seuss!

Ten-year-old Bart Collins just wants to play baseball and be with his dog. Instead, he is forced to take piano lessons from Dr. Terwilliker. The rebellious youngster winds up dreaming about a nightmarish world in which his teacher holds 500 little boys prisoner.

In his creepy castle, "Dr. T" makes the kids learn to play the piano against their will. When Bart's widowed mother is hypnotized and then kidnapped by the madman, the boy springs into action. With the aid of a plumber named Zabladowski, Bart sets out to rescue his mom. This entertaining fantasy is filled with imagination and delightful music.

GRASS
CEILING

(dir. Kate Dawson,
58 mins, 2004)

Tues Mar 15 7pm

Followed by beer and pizza reception, sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery.

featuring Soccer Stars Mercy Akide, Lorrie & Ronnie Fair, Gao Hong, Julie Foudy

GRASS CEILING follows four professional women soccer players as they battle stereotypes and competition in the world's first professional women's soccer league. With compelling footage shot in Africa, China, Portugal and the United States, the film interweaves the stories of four talented athletes. It's a story of perseverance, strength and struggle.

LOLA

(dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder,
113 mins, 1981)

Wed Mar 16 6:45pm

directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Germany in the autumn of 1957: Lola, a seductive cabaret singer-prostitute (Barbara Sukowa) exults in her power as a temptress of men, but she wants out—she wants money, property, and love. Pitting a corrupt building contractor (Mario Adorf) against the new straight-arrow building commissioner (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Lola launches an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale. (Janus Films / Criterion Collection)

week-long opening

AFTER THE
APOCALYPSE

(dir. Yasuaki Nakajima,
72 mins, 2004)

Weds Mar 16 9pm - buy tickets
Thurs Mar 17 9pm - buy tickets
Fri Mar 18 9pm - buy tickets
Sat Mar 19 9pm - buy tickets
Sun Mar 20 9pm - buy tickets
Mon Mar 21 9pm - buy tickets
Tues Mar 22 9pm - buy tickets
Sun Mar 27 5pm

"Gorgeous, conveying a world similar to that of Lynch’s ERASERHEAD."
- Eric Campos, FILM THREAT

"A surprisingly engaging ride. . . The virtuoso cinematography evokes a stark, perpetual dawn. . . as an experiment in regressive playfulness, it delivers nicely, with inspiration coming from Aki Kaurismäki's JUHA."
- David Ng, VILLAGE VOICE (read the full review here)

"Despite its spasms of brutality and a swerve into the macabre, AFTER THE APOCALYPSE is, by comparison with more recent films of this type (the "Mad Max" series), gentle at heart and terribly sincere."
- Manohla Dargis, NY TIMES

Official Selection of over 30 film festivals around the globe

AFTER THE APOCALYPSE is a futuristic fable about five survivors trying to make sense of a New World after a devastating urban catastrophe challenges all their human needs.

The film is set in a bleak, post-urban landscape in the aftermath of the Third World War. It is a strangely limited environment where a single woman and four men are forced to communicate without words as a result of the destructive gasses from the war. Their pasts were erased by the war, they must recreate their lives individually and collectively.

Co-sponsored by Asian CineVision (ACV). ACV is a New York-based non-profit media arts organization established in 1976. ACV is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Asian and Asian American media expressions. www.asiancinevision.org.

View the trailer - Visit the film's website

HOW TO BE
A MODEL:
A 12-Step Plan

(dir. Allison Beda, 82 mins, 2004)

Thurs Mar 17 7pm - click to buy tickets
Fri Mar 18 7pm - click to buy tickets

HOW TO BE A MODEL is a behind-the-scenes documentary about what it is really like to model for a “living.” In it, former model Allison Beda chases her friend Peggi LePage, a 26-year-old fashion model, around New York, Paris, Toronto, and London. Peggi has decided this will be her last year modelling.

We see Peggi going on auditions, interacting with her agency, at work at fashion shows and photography shoots. We also see her deal with the stress of having a film crew around at inopportune moments. Along the way we go “behind the scenes” with a lot of interesting models and fashion insiders, such as hot Canadian photographer Michael Williams, and Jill Muir-Sukenik, an ex-model turned psychotherapist, who now counsels models trying to make the transition to other careers.

HOW TO BE A MODEL provides a critical and often humorous look at the love-hate relationship that models have with their profession. Part investigative journalism, part diary and never without a sense of humour HOW TO BE A MODEL provides a refreshing and much needed look from the other side of the camera, especially in light of the media's fascination and superficial representation of models.

visit the film's website

3rd I NY presents
in association with Chingari: Desi Youth United

The New York Premiere of

CONTINUOUS JOURNEY

A feature documentary
by Ali Kazmi
Director in Attendance!

Sat Mar 19 5pm
Sat Mar 19 7pm

CONTINUOUS JOURNEY is a complex tale of hope, despair, treachery and tragedy. It is a revealing Canadian story with global ramifications set in a time when the British Empire seemed omnipresent and its subjects were restless and seeking self-determination.

In 1914, the Komagata Maru, a vessel with 376 immigrants from British India, became the first ship carrying migrants to be turned away by Canada. The consequences were felt throughout the British Empire as several hundreds of Indians from Canada returned home to join an armed struggle against the British, that would later be brutally crushed by the colonial authorities. More than a history film, CONTINUOUS JOURNEY is a provocative, moving and multilayered film essay that interweaves photographs, newsreels, home movies and official documents to unravel a complex and little-known story. By examining the global context and repercussions of a Canadian event, CONTINUOUS JOURNEY challenges us to reflect on contemporary events, and raises critical questions about how the past shapes the present.

Bizarro Mondays program

THE
HONEYMOON
KILLERS

(dir. Leonard Kastle, 108 mins, 1970)

Mon Mar 21 7pm

lovers! killers! siblings?

In this stark film based on the true-life Lonely Hearts murders of the late 1940s, handsome gigolo Ray Fernandez cons lonely women out of money with the promise of marriage. When he meets lonely nurse Martha Beck, the two find themselves actually falling in love. Posing as brother and sister, the duo cross the country swindling needy women and, when necessary, killing them. As their passions become more inflamed, their crime spree grows bloodier. A stark film featuring truly unique characters and fine performances.

CINEWOMEN NY presents

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Tues Mar 22 7pm

a program of short films from filmmakers working with Cinewomen, New York.

"Soaked," directed by Stephanie Daniels - 10 minutes
For a dancer who's on the slide off the cusp of young, she needs to find her dances wherever she can. She dreams of Giselle and Swan Lake. Instead she's got twitching set to Beethoven.

"Ann's Hoard," directed by Ellen Lake - 8 minutes
Confessions of a hoarder. Ann considers herself more of a hoarder than a collector. She has vases, covered glass dishes, hats, wigs, loads and loads of jewelry, most bought from eBay. She stashes her collections in the attic, garage, under beds,
and in the closets.

"Ladies Room," directed by Kate Bernstein - 12 minutes
Young women in their most intimate environment - the bathroom. From sterile public schools to underground warehouse raves and glitzy hotel rooms, this short film tells an insightful, playful and provocative story of a group of NYC girls in a variety of situations and bathrooms.

"A Place Like This," directed by Yvonne Kenney - 59 minutes
A Place Like This takes us into the Jeanne d' Arc, an all-women's residence; and focuses on some of the lives of the diverse and eccentric residents. An in-depth portrait emerges, leaving us with a greater understanding of the values and risks of women-only communities and the challenges women face while pursuing their dreams.

Cinewomen website

SANS
SOLEIL

(conception and editing Chris. Marker, 100 mins, 1982)

Wed Mar 23 7pm - buy tickets

This poetic, visually delightful essay, from the creator of the seminal short film 'La Jetee,' contemplates the meaning of film, the role of memory, and the rich diversity of human societies through a roving cinematographer's letters, read and pondered aloud by an unseen female narrator.

week-long opening

BEYOND
THE SEA
(Mas Alla Del Mar)

(dir. Lisandro Pérez-Rey, 80 mins, 2003)

Weds Mar 23 5:15pm - buy tickets
Weds Mar 23 9pm - buy tickets
Thurs Mar 24 5:15pm - buy tickets
Thurs Mar 24 9pm - buy tickets
Fri Mar 25 5:15pm - buy tickets
Fri Mar 25 9pm - buy tickets
Sat Mar 26 9pm - buy tickets
Sun Mar 27 4:45pm - buy tickets
Sun Mar 27 9pm - buy tickets
Mon Mar 28 5:15m - buy tickets
Mon Mar 28 9pm - buy tickets
Tues Mar 29 5:15pm - buy tickets
Tues Mar 29 9pm - buy tickets

the Mariel Boat-Lift - the Cuban exodus - 25 years later

"Impressive both for effectively documenting the scope of the exodus and for capturing its participants' disparate tales, BEYOND THE SEA manages to be at once historically elucidating and personally compelling."
- Yael Loewenstein, VARIETY

It began with a bus crashing through the gates of an embassy in Havana and unraveled into one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of human migrations. As Fidel Castro briefly allowed Cubans to leave the island, nearly 130,000 of them left their homeland in an unrelenting stream of vessels bound for the United States. 25 years later, the personal stories surrounding the Mariel Boatlift continue to resonate with an energy that can only be described as surreal and powerful. Weaving together these riveting stories along with rare historical images and footage from present-day Cuba, this film recreates this "explosion of 1980," a crisis that shook the very foundations of Cuban as well as U.S. society. With unprecedented access to archival material, and numerous interviews of "marielitos," Pérez-Rey constructs the most complete work to date on the infamous Mariel Boatlift, which Cinema Tropical brings to the screen in memory of its 25th anniversary.

A Cinema Tropical release.

PIGGIE

(dir. Alison Bagnall, 98 mins, 2003)

Thurs Mar 24 7pm - buy tickets

Eric Campos writes in FILM THREAT:

"If you love BUFFALO '66, and I know there are a lot of you out there that do, you’d be wise to check out Alison Bagnall’s PIGGIE. Alison co-wrote BUFFALO '66 with Vincent Gallo and with PIGGIE she presents us with another interesting love story that’s just as funny as it is uncomfortable. The film has us join the daily adventures of Fannie, a teenage girl who spends her time playing with road kill, sleeping in the pig pen with her pig, taking care of an elderly woman down the street and making up her own country western songs. Yeah, Fannie’s a bit of a strange one, and you might want to blame it on the lack of a mother in her life, as well as lackluster parenting from her father whom she live with. But when a stranger rolls into town, on the run from big city drug dealers, Fannie finds focus in her life that she never had before. She sets out in pursuing this stranger and making him her new boyfriend, whether he approves or not. Alison Bagnall wrote the script with lead actress Savannah Haske and in the end created a film that’s extremely natural and lifelike. PIGGIE is a major accomplishment."

THE MAG
a tribute to Ron Tibbett:
filmmaker, festival director, and friend

Fri Mar 25 7pm - buy tickets
Sat Mar 26 6:30pm - buy tickets

In 1997, Founder/Director Ron Tibbett was searching for festivals to enter his film, "Swept Off My Feet." When he came to the "M's," Ron noticed Mississippi had no such festival. So he created one. The Magnolia Independent Film Festival is a celebration of the spirit, the honesty, and the vision of independent filmmaking. Above all, it is a filmmaker-friendly festival! Every filmmaker who attends is housed for free in beautiful villas on The Old Waverly Golf Course in West Point, Mississippi, which hosted the 1999 U.S. Women's Open Golf Tournament. Many filmmakers have called The Magnolia their favorite film festival experience ever. The Mag was such a hit when it started, that the State of Mississippi started its own festival, The Crossroads. Ron never worried about any competition from this new festival. In fact, he embraced The Crossroads and offered guidance and any films that had been shown at The Mag. Ron loved the idea of more films coming into the state. He loved it so much that he started an annual film workshop in Oxford, MS to encourage students, young and old, to make film. He was also instrumental in starting two recent film festivals in Mississippi, The Oxford and Tupelo Film Festivals.

Ron left us too soon. He died in a car accident on June 7th, 2004. This Pioneer Theater film program is a tribute to Ron.

This two-night event will highlight short films from various Magnolia Independent Film Festival entries over the years - from animation, experimental narratives, comedies, to documentaries and dramas. The tribute program reflects the love Ron had as a programmer for all types of films that captured the spirit of indie filmmaking. A selection of the proceeds go to the Magnolia Film Festival.

Programmed by Bilge Ebiri and Erika Yeomans.

THE MAG #1

Fri Mar 25 7pm - buy tickets

THE MAG #2

March 26th 6:30 - buy tickets

J. Alec Hawkins, "Cookie Jar" (2003, 6 mins)
Sam Crow, "Foie Gras & Three Sonnets" (2002, 11 mins)
Levi Abrino, "I Ran With A Gray Ghost" (2005, 5 mins)
Craig Brewer, "Resolutions of the Complacent Man" (2003, 10 min)
Marlene Rhein, "Let Me Tell You a Story" (2000, 9 min)
E.S. Wochensky, "Just Like Golf" (2002, 26 min)
Ron Tibbett, "Citizen Shane" (2004, 59 min)

Closing Night Party at Mama's Bar Ave B @ 3rd St.
9-11 pm "THE MAG" Special Cocktail - soul food appetizers
Lizzy Yoder (FischerSpooner) deejays

THE EVIL DEAD

(dir. Sam Raimi, 85 mins, 1981)

Sat Mar 26 10:30pm - buy tickets

RISE UP!

Cinema - Art - Protest

presented in association with
the 14th Street Y

Tues Mar 29 7pm - buy tickets

followed by beer & pizza reception

Come get radical at the Pioneer Theater

a night of short films curated by Nancy Schwartzman

Driven by the duty of Tikkun Olam, or healing the injustice of the world, Jews have long been active in social justice movements. Driven by the need to shed light in the darkness, Jews have created cinema against war, against racism, against censorship, and against hate. This is a night dedicated to the good fight. The group of short films include current 1 minute Public Service Announcements created by experimental filmmaker Cynthia Madansky (on view at MoMA), and examples of protest films by youth and veterans from the Vietnam era until now. Archival films will be taken from the archives of the Third World News Reel, one of the oldest alternative media arts organizations in the United States, are yet to be selected.

HOMELAND INSECURITY

Documentaries from the New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television

March 30 - April 12

You might see images from Israel and Palestine on television news every day, but these are just traces of the rich diversity of documentary filmmaking coming from the region. Every year, numerous powerful feature-length and television-length documentaries emerge. Certainly, some are big-topic, white-elephant, thesis-heavy films overflowing with the filmmakers' political agendas. However, there are also the films that may at first appear more modest, based around people, situations, and particular problems in filmmaking rather than political agendas. However, these latter films often ultimately emerge as the more powerful films – even politically, with politics entering through the back door rather than the front.

Since 1993, the New Israeli Foundation for Cinema Television has been a major force supporting superb documentaries. Founded by the Ministry of Arts, but operating as an independent entity, the foundation has supported a wide range of films from conception through post-production, then beyond into marketing both domestically and internationally. Films from the foundation have become major and regular features in major showcases, such as the International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam and the Berlin Film Festival, and also some of New York City’s leading events like the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors / New Films, the Jewish Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater, and, more recently, the TriBeCa Film Festival.

To celebrate the Foundation’s achievements, the Pioneer Theater is very proud to present HOMELAND INSECURITY: DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE NEW ISRAELI FOUNDATION FOR CINEMA AND TELEVISION. The title itself hopefully suggests how daring the foundation’s films often are. Too often Israel is presented as a monolithic entity, where all citizens and public entities are in lockstep solidarity with every aspect of the ruling government there. However, not every Israeli and every Israeli film adheres to a coherent, closed, "security" of the state and of the individual. There is doubt, uncertainty - and insecurity. Insecurity about emotional and intellectual boundaries as well as physical boundaries. Such insecurity is part of Israeli culture, too, and to deny it is foolish. Much to their credit, many films from the foundation explore such insecurities, and the results of that exploration are poignant, beautiful, painful, shocking, humanizing, sometimes frightening, and occasionally humorous.

We are very proud to share these films with New York City, and look forward to welcoming many filmmakers and special guests to the Pioneer to present their films.

Presented in association with the New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television, with special thanks to David Fisher and Irit Shimrat, as well as Ruth Diskin, Jim Browne, and Gabriele Caroti. Supported through the resourcefulness and generosity of the Consulate of Israel to New York City, particularly Ravit Turjeman. Thanks are also due to Hermann Barth of Dokfest in Munich, Germany.

week-long opening

ODESSA. . .
ODESSA!

(dir. Michale Boganim,
90 mins, 2005)

Weds Mar 30 7pm (invite only)
Weds Mar 30 9pm - buy tickets
Thurs Mar 31 9pm - buy tickets
Fri Apr 1 5pm - buy tickets
Fri Apr 1 9pm - buy tickets
Sat Apr 2 9pm - buy tickets
Sun Apr 3 9pm - buy tickets
Mon Apr 4 5pm - buy tickets
Mon Apr 4 9pm - buy tickets
Tues Apr 5 5pm - buy tickets
Tues Apr 5 9pm - buy tickets

world theatrical premiere
fresh from festival screenings at Sundance 2005 and Berlin 2005

a mesmerizing, probing, and deeply moving portrait of a Jewish community scattered to the ends of the earth

"a lyrical poem to the lost places in our past and our heritage"
- Jeremy Mathews, FILM THREAT

"a beautiful film poem. . .sculpts time in the style of Tarkovsky"
- Jerome Cornette, LIBERATION

ODESSA. . .ODESSA embarks upon a journey from the Ukrainian city of Odessa to the "Little Odessas" in Brooklyn, New York and Ashdod, Israel. The film brings together the story of a Jewish community, today spread around three continents, that once populated the city. It follows a few exuberant characters, and portrays their hopes, illusions, dreams and wanderings. Traveling through time and place around the community, the film speaks the story of all the Diasporas.

PURITY

(dir. Anat Zuria, 63 mins, year)

MY TERRORIST

(dir. Yulie Cohen Gerstel, 60 mins, year)

Thurs Mar 31 5pm - buy tickets

PURITY:

A rare and special look into the world of Jewish religious married life and sexuality. A subtle female rebellion within the religious world, expressed through the personal point of view of the director and her women friends. Their openness to the camera breaks a profound taboo of silence rooted in two thousand-year-old laws and contemporary social pressures.

MY TERRORIST:

This is the story of a girl who, back in the 70's, dreamt of being an officer in the IDF, and was shot and wounded in a terrorist attack, on an El Al flight crew in London. Patriotism, to her, now means trying to reconcile with the terrorist who shot her twenty-two years earlier, and who is still in a U.K. prison.

Homeland Insecurity continues with seventeen more films in April.

Click here for the April schedule.