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"Living
proof that New York City still rocks."
- Grady Hendrix, New York Sun |
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East 3rd
Street, between Avenues A and B (closer to A) * New York City * USA |
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BORDER
POST (dir. Rajko Grlic, 94 mins, 2006) 35mm
print Weds
March 7 9pm - buy
tix Border Post homepage |
"It
begins as a sort of Yugoslav M*A*S*H . . . Tender, surehanded
. . .this film, with its attractive romantic leads and Croatian
director, is a find." "Notable
for representing all of Yugoslavia’s former member republics among its
producers and for a tone that juggles humor and harshness without
sacrificing either. . . through it all, our awareness of the gathering
clouds of violence lends the film an undercurrent of tension that
sharpens even the most casual moments." "The
personal ironies of BORDER POST are what really distinguish the film
from any number of other military black comedies. . . finely honed
satire." At a small border-post on the Yugoslav-Albanian border, yet another generation of soldiers suffering the usual amount of boredom awaits the end of their service. It is the spring of 1987 and these are the last days of the country called Yugoslavia. Yet no one knew at the time. Daily routine of the army is disrupted by unusual circumstances. Frustrated and always drunk, lieutenant Safet Pasic feels a strange pain in his groins. He seeks help from the only doctor among the soldiers, Sinisa Sircevic, who finds out, very discretely, that it's a sexually transmitted disease. Not wishing his wife to know about it and trying to find excuses not to go home, Pasic declares a state of emergency, claiming that the Albanian army is preparing an attack against Yugoslavia. A joke transforms into war hysteria: soldiers dig trenches, Pasic grows wilder as days go by, Sinisa embarks on a dangerous liaison, and his best friend Ljuba Paunovic makes an unconditional decision to leave the army. The situation slowly runs out of control... Speaking about not so distant past with no nostalgia and no hatred, BORDER POST is a comedy about people on the verge of tragedy.
BORDER POST is the first co-production of all the individual republics that had formed Yugoslavia. The film is a production of companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, and Serbia and Montenegro, with the participation of companies in Austria, Kosovo, France, and the United Kingdom. |
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3rd I NY and Alwan for the Arts Ontarjatra (dir. Catherine & Tareque Masud / Bangladesh /2005/ 95 min / English, Bengali, Sylheti with English subtitles, 35mm) Thurs Mar 1 9pm - buy tix |
Ontarjatra
/ Homeland Preceded
by short film Big Noise Films is a radical media collective based in New York City. Its feature documentaries include Zapatista (1998), Black and Gold (1999) This Is What Democracy Looks Like (2000), and Fourth World War (2003). It was one of the founding collective members of Indymedia in Seattle in 1999 and has participated in radical media collectives in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Italy, Canada and the US. www.bignoisefilms.org |
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Marv Newland and International Rocketship Fri Mar 2 7pm - buy tix filmmakers & special guests will attend! This is a Sunday Shorts program. Early evenings on many Sundays, the Pioneer presents programs of short films. |
Though best known for BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA, animator Marv Newland has been making movies for almost thirty years, often as director or producer . We are very glad to welcome Mr. Newland to New York, and to showcase a number of films on 35mm. SING
BEAST SING (1981) dir. Marv Newland.............................09:00 TOTAL RUNNING TIME..............................................roughly 70 minutes. From Mr. Newland: "These are all animated films. Most of them humorous in content. Pink Komkommer is erotic. Lupo The Butcher has so called foul language." |
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(dir. Zhang Yimou,114 mins, 2006) Fri
Mar 2 9pm - buy
tix
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Directed by Zhang Yimou * Starring Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li "Achieves
a kind of operatic delirium . . . paved with visual gold . .
.breathtaking . . . [Chow Yun-Fat] delivers a performance of amazing
intensity, focusing his considerable energy inward to suggest a volcano
primed to erupt." In
2004, Zhang Yimou caused a sensation with his astonishing HOUSE OF
FLYING DAGGERS, and his CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER is yet another
dazzling, visually stunning film. Calling again upon the talents of the
striking Gong Li, Yimou tells an epic tale of lust and power set in the
opulent world of the Later Tang dynasty. The plot follows the story of
the Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) and his Empress (Li) and the tragic
disintegration of their royal family--whose problems go far beyond the
merely dysfunctional. For starters, the ailing Empress has long been
having an affair with her stepson, the Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye).
Unbeknownst to her, Wan has been dallying with the Imperial Doctor's
daughter (Li Man), and has plans to escape the palace with her.
Meanwhile, the Emperor himself has just returned from a long trip, and
while relations with his wife are obviously icy, it becomes clear that
his plans for her are far more ominous than she could ever imagine.
Everyone involved has a secret plan for either escape or domination,
resulting in an explosive ending wherein the darkest family secrets are
revealed and horrifically bloody battles are waged both inside and
outside the walls of the sparkling, gold-encrusted palace. |
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DEATH OF A PRESIDENT (2006) (dir. Gabriel Range, 90 mins, 2006) Sat Mar 3 11pm - buy
tix not to be confused with DEATH OF A PRESIDENT (1978), written by Boleslaw Michalek and Jerzy Kawalerowicz, and directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. |
"Easily
the most dangerous and breathtakingly original film I have encountered
this year." "Every
thinking person should see DEATH OF A PRESIDENT." "[Comes
at] these issues in a
provocative way, but they're still worth discussing, aren't they?" "I've
only seen the trailer, but from what I've seen I can tell you DEATH OF
A PRESIDENT is as tasteless as it is obscene." "I
think it's despicable." Winner of the International Critics' Prize at the Toronto Film Festival, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT is conceived as a fictional TV documentary broadcast in 2008, reflecting on a monstrously despicable and cataclysmic event: the assassination of President George W. Bush on October 19th, 2007. The "documentary" combines archival footage and carefully composed interviews, presented in a respectful and dignified manner. It is exciting and questioning, and it offers viewers a riveting story, creating a provocative political thriller that reveals larger truths. But the film doesn't advocate violence; rather, it shows the pernicious effects of violence. The film opens with ferocious energy as frenetically edited archival footage thrusts us into a raging crowd of protesters, waiting for President Bush's procession. The President is portrayed as a sympathetic and likable man-beloved by those close to him and charming to his followers. As the President gives a patriotic speech inside a hotel, the demonstrators' fury increases to the breaking point. The tension mounts until the horrible instant where the President is assassinated. After the assassination, the film shifts into the style of a mystery, and follows the FBI's hunt for the assassin. All the suspects are interviewed except one-the Syrian man who is convicted and put on death row. There is much circumstantial evidence against him. But is he guilty of the crime? Or does his Middle Eastern origin provide a convenient excuse to label the death of the President as an Act of Terror? Director Gabriel Range previously used the device of a "retrospective documentary" in his celebrated 2003 film "The Day Britain Stopped," about a chain of events that led to a breakdown of the country's transport system and nearly a hundred fatalities. Both of these films have been acclaimed for the technical virtuosity with which they combine archival footage and filmed scenes to create disturbingly real visions of catastrophes. (text from Newmarket Films) |
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Chicago City Limits First Sundays Comedy Films First Sundays Sun
Mar 4 7pm - buy
tix filmmakers & special guests will attend! This is a Sunday Shorts program. Early evenings on many Sundays, the Pioneer presents programs of short films. |
Part stand-up comedy act, part film festival, part party, First Sundays is a monthly festival featuring the best in short comedy films from around the world. Each screening features new films, audience and judges awards, and an after party sponsored by Stella Artois. Hosted by the illustrious Jay Stern and Victor Varnado. |
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Monster Monday! THE HOST BUY FOR BOTH THE HOST AND GOING TO PIECES, AND GET FREE SOFT DRINK AND POPCORN FOR BOTH SHOWS (dir. Bong Joon-ho, 118 mins, 2006) showing in 35mm Mon Mar 5 6:30pm - buy tix This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, freakshow, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, z-movies, and just plain weird stuff |
"ONE
OF THE GREATEST MONSTER MOVIES EVER MADE." "A
TERRIFIC HYBRID-GENRE FANTASY
AND A SERIOUSLY SCARY FREAKOUT. Tensely wound scenes as effective as
any in WAR OF THE WORLDS. The best film I've seen at this year's Cannes
Film Festival." The talk of the 2006 Cannes International Film Festival, THE HOST, the latest film from critically acclaimed visionary director BONG Joon-ho, has already garnered a substantial amount of international buzz. Utilizing state-of-the-art special effects courtesy of a creative partnership between Weta Workshop (King Kong, The Lord of the Rings) and The Orphanage (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sin City), THE HOST is equal parts creature-feature thrill ride and poignant human drama. Gang-du (SONG Kang-ho) works at a food-stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo ( KO A-sung), who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school. As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people has gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people. Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives but suddenly the thing grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying Host... |
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Monster Monday! Going to
Pieces: (dir. Michael Bohusz, 88 mins, 2006) showing from Digital Video Mon Mar 5 9pm - buy tix This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, freakshow, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, z-movies, and just plain weird stuff |
BUY FOR BOTH THE HOST AND GOING TO PIECES, AND GET FREE SOFT DRINK AND POPCORN FOR BOTH SHOWS Every Evil. Every Nightmare. Together in One Film. The
only thing scarier than
FREDDY, JASON or MICHAEL is…. Every fear you’ve ever felt. Every evil you’ve witnessed. Every nightmare you’ve ever known… have come together for the first time in one film. Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film is the ultimate anthology that takes you on a horrifying journey through your favorite slasher films including Halloween, Psycho, Friday the 13th, Prom Night, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream and When a Stranger Calls. Interviews with horror icons John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Rob Zombie, Tom Savini and many more guide you through a series of gruesome scenes from classic films and recent hits. Watch as the history of the slasher film comes alive…if you dare! |
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"The
Best Tues Mar 6 7pm - buy tix 18 AND OVER ONLY. ID required, even if you look like you're 80 years old. This
is a Tuesdays@7 program. Every Tuesday at |
A special screening of hot shorts from CineKink, "the really alternative film festival." Cutting across orientations to celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality, the award-winning offerings in this kink-friendly showcase include: Best
Documentary Short: WANT Honorable
Best Mention: DO YOU TAKE IT? Honorable
Best Mention: HONEY AND BUNNY Best
Narrative Short (tie): GUY101 Best
Narrative Short (tie): HITCHCOCKED Best
Experimental Short: FILTHY FOOD Honorable
Best Mention: HOT AND BOTHERED: FEMINIST PORNOGRAPHY |
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(dir.
John Alan Schwartz and Susumu Saegusa, |
More macabre moments of death caught on film, including a person ripped to pieces and a wedding massacre. This is shocking, actual footage and should not be viewed by those who are easily upset. |
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1800
FRAMES| Sun Mar 11 7pm - buy tix filmmakers & special guests will attend! This is a Sunday Shorts program. Early evenings on many Sundays, the Pioneer presents programs of short films. |
1800FRAMES|Take3, curated by Mica Scalin and Lee Wells, is City Without Walls’ (cWOW) third annual installment of 60-second videos by artists from around the world. 1800FRAMES|Take3 includes fifty-five one-minute videos by the following thirty artists: Michael Amter, Hackworth Ashley, Betsey Biggs, Brian Caiazza & G. H. Hovagimyan, Beth Chucker, Santiago Cohen, Maria Dumlao, Carla Edwards, Merav Ezer & Adi Shniderman, Celeste Fichter, Jesse Houlding, Jenny Hyde, Bradley Hyppa, Jose Insua, Kensuke Koike, Beth Krebs, Stephanie Lempert, Joe Nanashe, Matthew Nicholas, Robert O'Connor, Arzu Ozkal Telhan, Jennifer Proctor, Charlene Rule, Memo Salazar, Melissa Schubeck, Claudia Sohrens, Dana Sperry, and Michael Szpakowski. City Without Walls, based in Newark, NJ since 1975, is New Jersey's oldest not-for-profit alternative art space. cWOW’s Executive Director is Ben Goldman; Gallery/Education Director William A. Ortega originated the 1800FRAMES series in 2004. |
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ALBERT FISH (dir. John Borowski, 86 mins, 2007) Mon Mar 12 7pm - buy tix This
is a "Bizarro Monday" program. |
ALBERT FISH tells the horrific true story of a sadomasochistic cannibal and serial killer, who lured children to their deaths in Depression-era New York City. Elderly but still deadly, Fish distorted biblical tales by taking the stories of pain, punishment, atonement, and suffering literally as he preyed on victims to torture and sacrifice. From John Borowski, award-winning director of H.H. HOLMES: AMERICA'S FIRST SERIAL KILLER, comes the first docudrama and definitive chronicle of the life and times of cannibal Albert Fish. Adding insight to the account are interviews with artist and Odditorium owner Joe Coleman and renowned true-crime author Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D. New York Premiere! John Borowski in person. Presented
in association with |
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HEAVY: (aka 'Don't Go Back in the Relationship, Bitch!) Tues Mar 13 7pm - buy tix This is a Tuesdays@7 program. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
A night of dramatic shorts, drawing winners from the DVXUser.com's recent contest Katrina Life is Good Heritage Erica Threading the Needle Where Silence Falls After Class 18 Seconds At the Park Fade |
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A Journey of Dmitry Shostakovich (dir. Oksana Dvornichenko and Helga Landauer, 75 mins, 2006) Most screenings are in English. Select screenings, indicated below, are in Russian with no English subtitles. Weds
Mar 14 7:10pm
- buy
tix
Sun
Mar 18 3:10pm
- buy
tix Sun
Mar 18 4:40pm
- buy
tix Thurs Mar 22 7:20pm - buy tix Fri Mar 23 7:20pm - buy tix Sat Mar 24 2:10pm - buy tix Sun Mar 25 5pm - buy tix Tues Mar 27 5:10pm - buy tix Thurs Mar 29 5:10pm - buy tix This screening is in Russian with no English subtitles! Sat Mar 31 5:10pm - buy tix |
World Theatrical Premiere 
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(dir. Patrice Johnson, 78 mins, 2007) |
New York! What’s In Your Dirty Laundry? Eighteen days after 9/11, in a city reeling from loss & paralyzed by fear, two immigrant families clash in a laundromat. What will they discover when it all comes out in the wash? In the weeks after 9/11, racial paradigms are shifted and hidden prejudices are revealed in this heated and often hilarious exchange between the members of two immigrant families (one Afro-Caribbean and the other Arab-Muslim) who clash in a crowded Brooklyn Laundromat and in an airless NYC taxicab. With mistrust already heightened, quarters are exchanged for political conversation as these “new” New Yorkers debate what it now means to be an American. |
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UNAUTHORIZED Todd Loren's Rock'n'Roll Comics (dir. Ilko Davidov, 76 mins, 2006) Mon Mar 19 7pm - buy tix This
is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every
Monday at 7pm |
“What
could be more rock ‘n’ roll than comic
books?” A documentary about the life, work, and death of controversial comic book publisher and First Amendment crusader Todd Loren, who won a landmark case, and was mysteriously murdered in 1992 (possibly by Andrew Cunanan) Featuring: Alice Cooper, Mojo Nixon, Cynthia Plaster-Caster, Robert Williams A chronicle of Todd Loren, the controversial publisher of unauthorized comic book biographies of rock stars. This documentary mixes animation and eerie home video with numerous interviews, including rock stars Alice Cooper and Mojo Nixon, legendary artist and groupie Cynthia Plaster Caster, comic book publishers Denis Kitchen and Gary Groth, and graphic artists Mary Fleener, Dennis Worden, and Robert Williams. A life-long music fan, Todd Loren founded his comic book company in 1989 with the intention of creating histories of rock and roll performers that were like graphic novels. An enigmatic figure, he was a brilliant businessman and a First Amendment crusader, but he was also known for creating legions of enemies through his insufferable behavior. Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics was largely derided by others in the comic book industry and hated by the music business for its “Unauthorized and Proud of It” motto and attitude, yet it was Loren who fought the good fight and won a landmark court case that established First Amendment protections for comic books. At the height of his success Loren was fatally stabbed. His murder remains unsolved, though clues point to serial killer Andrew Cunanan. The film is much more than the story of Todd Loren’s upstart company or a mere murder mystery. It is a look at the strange interplay of those twin totems of teen rebellion, rock music and comic books. With original Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics art and music by Elvis Costello and Mojo Nixon, the film stands as a celebration of youthful exuberance and imagination. |
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SHADOW OF SILENCE (dir. Abdullah Al Muheisen, 110 mins, 2006) Tues Mar 20 7pm - buy tix This is a Tuesdays@7 program. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
Third I NY and Alwan for the Arts Collaborative Monthly Film & Video Series
Every 3rd Tuesday of the Month! In
an unnamed Arab country in the near future, a woman searches for her
husband, who has been confined to a government institution established
in order to manufacture unthinking citizens. She enlists the help of
Bedouin tribesmen, and they set out to free her husband and the rest of
those in custody in the institution. This is a sure-footed first
feature by Saudi director Abdullah Al Muheisen.
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BLESSED BY FIRE (dir. Tristan Bauer, 100 mins, 2005) Weds
Mar 21 9pm - buy
tix |
An Argentinian miltary drama in the tradition of Full Metal Jacket and Coming Home, Blessed By Fire is the story of two young men sent to fight the 1982 war in the Falkland Islands (or as they are known in Argentina, the Malvinas) who return home bearing the brutal scars of war. Esteban (Gaston Pauls) and Alberto (Pablo Ribba) are young men unwillingly caught up in Argentina’s military culture, fighting for abstract principles on a remote island against the British Army. Overwhwelmed, outnumbered, and under great duress, the two manage to survive the abuse, hunger, and deprivations of war. Twenty-five years later, Alberto’s attemped suicide brings the two men back together, and inspires Esteban to return to the Malvinas to come to terms with himself and the past. A Koch Lorber release
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AIR
GUITAR Weds Mar 21 6:30pm - buy tix |
From New York to L.A. all the way to Northern Finland, this is a chronicle of the rise of the U.S. Air Guitar Championships through the eyes of former world champions, fans, and media. |
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POINT OF FEAR (dir. Brooks Benjamin, 96 mins, 2006) Mon Mar 26 6:30pm - buy tix This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, freakshow, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, z-movies, and just plain weird stuff |
"...well-acted,
chilling, and has a kick ass soundtrack..." "A
good script coupled with good acting..." "...one
of the best looking
independent movies I've ever seen..." When Mark, Parker, Melissa, and Karen decide to go camping in the small town of Pleasant Point, they find the town has much to offer... including a string of brutal murders. When Melissa is kidnapped by a psychotic doctor who thinks she is his late wife who has come back to him, the three friends must rescue her, team up with the local police to bring down the killer, and escape with their own lives before they are pushed past the point of fear. |
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HEADSPACE (dir. Jethro Senger, 85 mins, 2005) Weds
Mar 28 9pm
- buy
tix
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“A global journey of sight & sound wrapped around the electronic music party scene…” HEADSPACE,
an 85-minute documentary, was filmed in ten countries over the course
of three years and brings us to the mystical land of electronic music
parties and the people creating them. The film is a multi-sensory
journey stemming from years of dance music evolution, delivering the
stories of those encapsulated by the scene. |
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Tues Mar 27 7pm - buy tix This is a Tuesdays@7 program. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
A group
of films presented with the Cinewomen NY group
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DEVOURED (dir. Thomas J. Churchill, 93 mins, 2007) |
Time.
Money. Power. Respect. All will be . . . A new wickedness has arrived in the city, lurking in neighborhoods just like yours. A gangster named Devour, an amoral man with no conscience, has come to finish off some family business, forging a trail of drugs, extortion and body parts, as he infiltrates the justice system. When the truth is blind and justice is lost, one man pushed to the edge of insanity, is unleashed through the darkness of the system. That lone man is determined to end the deceit and anarchy even at the expenses of his loved ones and his badge. |
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