East 3rd Street, between Avenues A and B (closer to A) * New York City * USA
showtimes (212) 591 0434
advance tickets: click by showtime or call (800) 595 4849 (service charges do apply)

click here for directions - buy membership

Pioneering (blog)   * MySpace
Press Coverage  

PAPRIKA

(dir. Satoshi Kon, 90 mins, 2006)

Sat Sept 1 7pm - buy tix
Weds Sept 5 7pm - buy tix
Weds Sept 12 9pm - buy tix
Thurs Sept 13 7pm - buy tix
Mon Sept 24 7pm - buy tix

This is your brain on anime

"Whatever it is you're looking for -- comedy, horror, parades of singing frogs and dancing kitchen appliances -- you'll find it in Satoshi Kon's anime adventure, a jaw-dropping feat of imagination."
- NY DAILY NEWS

"Mind-blowing . . ." - NY POST

With PAPRIKA, Satoshi Kon (TOKYO GODFATHERS, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS) unleashes another eye-popping anime adventure. The visually striking thriller is set in the not-too-distant future, where doctors are developing a groundbreaking new psychotherapy treatment called PT. This coincides with the invention of a device called the "DC Mini," which enables researchers to enter the dreams of a subject and explore matters of the unconscious mind. But one day, a "DC Mini" prototype goes missing, and the doctors are thrown into a world of confusion. They realize how dangerous a turn of events this could be, and to ensure that things don't spiral out of control, they embark on a mad quest to track down the missing prototype. The pretty but timid Dr. Atsuko Chiba teams up with the food-loving Dr. Tokita to find his assistant, Himuro, who has disappeared. Unfortunately, it is at this time that Atsuko's boss, Torataro Shima, tries to commit suicide. Dr. Tokita calls in an old friend, Detective Konakawa, to help the team find an answer to the rapidly devolving problem. As the characters use their dreamworld alter egos to enter the dreams of troubled patients, the line between reality and unreality begins to blur, until no one knows for sure what is real and what isn't. An adaptation of a story by the acclaimed Japanese writer Yasutaka Tsutsui, PAPRIKA tells a tough-to-decipher, but spellbinding, tale. Kon's thought-provoking film features an absurdly catchy J-pop score and an unforgettable visual landscape.

KAMP KATRINA

(dir. Ashley Sabin and David Redmon, 74 mins, 2007)

Sat Sept 1 9pm - buy tix
Mon Sept 3 5pm - buy tix
Tues Sept 4 9pm - buy tix

View Trailer

screening to coincide with the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

"Riveting . . . It's hard to overstate the impact of KAMP KATRINA's honesty; fresh off their acclaimed venture MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA, the filmmakers' six-month survey arguably captured the city's wounded spirit more frankly than any of its contemporaries. The result is a disturbing yet essential record."
- S.T. VanAirsdale, THE REELER

"You settle in with these people and become immersed in the chaos, brutality and surreal humor of their situation, seen close-up and often in fragments. This isn't the heartening experience of [Jonathan] Demme's film, nor is it a comprehensive picture like [Spike] Lee's - but it seems appropriate enough to a war of attrition."
- Stuart Klawans, THE NATION

"Fascinating . . . Achieve[s] potent dramatic and emotional impact...Artful, beautiful visual flourishes."
- Joe Leydon, VARIETY

"Transfixing . . . haunting and colorful."
- AUSTIN CHRONICLE

* South by Southwest * Magnolia Film Festival * IFF Boston *

from the directors of MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA

KAMP KATRINA follows New Orleans native Ms. Pearl, who spontaneously converts her backyard into a tent-village for 14 displaced people for six months in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of her beloved city. Ms. Pearl explodes off the screen, one of those flamboyantly larger-than-life personalities who, were this a fictional film, would seem too outrageous to be real. KAMP KATRINA delivers a sometimes-shattering verité exploration of the very personal daily struggles imposed by this national tragedy on a small group of troubled survivors.

ALL MY LOVING

(dir. Tony Palmer, 52 mins, 1968)

Sat Sep 1 10:45pm - buy tix
tix $5 each

showing from video

"This is just great; absolutely what we meant." - Paul McCartney

featuring previously unseen footage of
The Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pink Floyd and many more

ALL MY LOVING is a groundbreaking documentary on music and its effect on pop culture in the late '60s, with previously unseen footage from The Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pink Floyd and many more. Produced and initially broadcast in 1968, this compelling documentary is just as pertinent and relevant as ever.

"Working so closely with Hendrix, Cream, The Who & Frank Zappa, all of whom had been denied an airing on television until I came along, was a revelation - first for me, but more importantly for the mass television public for whom 'pop music' was just bubblegum and not to be taken seriously. Suddenly, the mass public was forced to rethink its prejudices, because here was a group of musicians whose musical skill was undeniable, and whose 'message' simply could not be ignored." - Tony Palmer

BRAND UPON THE BRAIN!

(dir. Guy Maddin, 95 mins, 2006)

Sun Sept 2 9pm - buy tix
Sun Sept 9 7pm - buy tix

Trailer:

"Demented . . . no situation is too bizarre for this brilliant visualist."
- Lou Lumenick, NY POST

"Delirious, ingenious, often very funny and strangely touching!"
- Manohla Dargis, NY TIMES

A bizarre yet compelling spectacle, BRAND UPON THE BRAIN! is a unique cinematic experience.

Guy Maddin (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD) directs this moving silent satire about several families and the secrets they possess. Infused with surrealist touches, the film offers a somewhat horrific and original view on the experience of growing up.

Chicago City Limits First Sundays Comedy Films

First Sundays

Sun Sept 2 7pm - buy tix
Sun Oct 7 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.

Hosted by the illustrious Jay Stern and Victor Varnado.

Visit the First Sundays website

THE BLOOD SHED

(dir. Alan Rowe Kelly, 73 mins, 2007)

Mon Sep 3 7pm - buy tix

This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday, 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.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SHED. . .STAYS IN THE SHED

THE BLOOD SHED tells the tale of your average inbred, hillbilly, cannibal family living in the woods of northern New Jersey and how they deal with the day-to-day annoyances of encroaching suburbia. Murder, mayhem and deviant behavior ensue under 'house rules' with the notorious 'Bullion' clan in this homage to the early films of Jon Waters and Tobe Hooper!

Starring indie notables (many of them Pioneer regulars!) Terry M. West, Joshua Nelson, Alan Rowe Kelly, Mike Lane, Susan Adriensen, Jerry Murdock, Katherine O'Sullivan, Zoë Daelman Chlanda, Kane Manera, Sandra Schaller, Brian Juergens, Robert Norman & Michael Gingold.

IN SICKNESS
AND IN HEALTH

(dir. Pilar Prassas, 70 mins, 2007)

Tues Sept 4 7pm - SOLD OUT

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.

Trailer:

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH chronicles the lives of three same-sex couples fighting to marry the partners they love—and tragically, one couple's heart breaks as its dream dies at the cruel hands of ALS.

In 2002, seven couples in the state of New Jersey filed a lawsuit in hopes of legalizing same-sex marriage. IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH closely chronicles the journey of three of these activist couples.

The most poignant characters in the story are Marilyn and Diane, partners of 14 years, who were dedicated to fighting for the marriage right they desperately desired. Before their dream could be realized, Marilyn was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

You will be forever changed after stepping into the lives of these couples, watching them fight to marry the partners they love - and, tragically, watching one couple's heartbreak as its dream dies at the cruel hands of ALS.

MUSICIAN

(dir. Daniel Kraus, 60 mins, 2007)

Weds Sept 5 9pm - buy tix
Thurs Sept 6 9:30pm - buy tix
Fri Sept 7 9pm - buy tix
Sat Sept 8 9pm - buy tix
Sun Sept 9 9pm - buy tix
Mon Sept 10 9pm - buy tix
Tues Sept 11 9pm - buy tix

Trailer:

From Director Daniel Kraus (SHERIFF)

Jazz Hero Ken Vandermark in person
playing a rare solo set before each show

Common sense says you can't make a living in America playing atonal improvisational jazz. But Ken Vandermark does it anyway.

Among musicians, Vandermark's work ethic is almost mythic: the Chicago reed player has made over 100 records with over 40 ensembles, releases about one album per month, spends over eight months per year on the road, and lives every other waking moment composing, arranging, performing - and taking his dog Bill to canine counseling. Though Vandermark was the recipient of a 1999 MacArthur Genius grant, he still spends most of his life in smoky clubs and low-budget recording studios, hoping people will plunk down hard-earned cash to hear his wholly non-commercial music.

Following the artful cinema verité style of the internationally acclaimed SHERIFF, MUSICIAN forgoes all interviews and voice-overs. It is a fly-on-the-wall time capsule that expertly captures every subtle sound and texture of this most American of art forms.

MUSICIAN is #2 in the WORK SERIES, a series of independent documentaries that seek to create an ongoing document of the American worker. (#1 was SHERIFF, which showed at the Pioneer in 2005.) Taking inspiration from Studs Terkel and Frederick Wiseman, the WORK films are entertaining and enlightening, empowering and amusing, spectacular and mundane. Using a cinéma vérité aesthetic, independent filmmaker Daniel Kraus captures the sights, sounds, and textures of different American jobs, without the accompaniment of interviews, musical score, or even a story. Each chapter reveals the surprising, engaging, even redemptive routines of hard-working men and women across all 50 States.

The Chosen Ones is part of "Jewbilation! 2007 Downtown Entertainment of the Hebrew Persuasion" event series presented by the 14th Street Y, www.14StreetY.org, and part of the "HOWL! Festival of East Village Arts."

THE CHOSEN ONES

(dir. Wendla Nölle, 88 mins, 2007)

Thurs Sept 6 7pm - buy tix

NYC Premiere!

Special screening followed by q&a with several musicians, and also a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders.

Music is a calling, divine or otherwise. For some, the calling is entirely secular; for others, it is profoundly spiritual, but for all the young musicians featured in Wendla Nölle's documentary THE CHOSEN ONES their Jewish background plays an important role.

Musician and filmmaker Wendla Nölle travels to Manhattan in search of the face of young Jewish music and introduces us to New York's new generation of Jewish musicians. Among the artists profiled is an Orthodox convert who can rap in four different languages, weaving them into a musical study of Talmudic teachings; Israelis, combining the music of their ancestors with modern sounds, proclaiming peace for the Middle East; a young blues musician who sings almost forgotten cantorial chants against African beats; a pop music group that combines a funk sound with Jewish spirituality and Hebrew lyrics; and an Orthodox rabbi who has found a home in the Lower East Side's indie music scene with funny, quirky songs that often deal with weighty subjects such as the Israel-Palestine conflict.

But the film features not only the musicians but also the city of New York itself, its frenetic multiplicity adding a vibrant backdrop to the distinct performances.

THE CHOSEN ONES is a study in microcosm of a generation coming of age, as diverse artists grapple with how to combine their beliefs, cultural backgrounds and individual voices into an expression of who they are.

Film Blitz presents

Experimental Film Showcase

Fri Sept 7 7pm - buy tix

"Me Meat We War - 11 minutes - Director: Theresa Byrnes
"The main body of the piece is a short film I made for a performance piece. This now complete version incorporates film shot for the performance and parts of the performance itself. This short film illustrates that like animals, we are in cages, prepared for slaughter. The film resolves in exposing the cage as a shopping trolley concluding that we are prisoners of consumerism."

Astorbotnia – Experimental music video – 5 mintues - Director: Erik Weickart

THE RELICTS PROJECT – 6 minutes - Director: Amy Cohen Banker
A multi- media tribute to her daughter, Allison Jane Banker, and inspired by some of the most profound experiences in her recent past...

The Art of Falling - 6.5 minutes - Director: Pam Kray
This movie is a visual and sound mash-up. The images are taken from Motomanhattan (super-8 short by Pam Kray (1998)) and untitled green screen video footage (video by Pam Kray) of Catherine Hourihan dancing pieces of her choreographed work entitled, The Art of Falling. The audio blends and crunches pop songs by the Beatles and Velvet Underground and a spoken-word fragment by Australian artist Gary Bradbury. The piece has later been performed with elements of Motomanhattan and other footage as a live, 23-minute, multimedia work in New York City in 2007.

Rest In Peace - 13 minutes - Director: Rachel Amodeo
Rest in Peace tells the story of two sisters, Mabel (Rachel Amodeo) and Batavia Diddle (Dame Darcy). Mabel has just died and Batavia viotates her coffin.

Pierre Paolo - 4.5 minutes - Director: Rachel Amodeo
Conceived and shot by Rachael Amodo in her hometown of Terravecchia Italy, Pierre Paolo is an introspective biographical portrait reminiscent of an Italian silent.

A kind of dream - 30 mins - Director: Danny Velez
A kind of dream is a silent black and white film inspired by the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud. We follow two drifting characters whose paths seemingly cross, birthing a fleeting somnolent moment of intimacy. The film, written and directed by Danny Velez, with Nikolai Fraiture and Ilona Jankovich as the drifters, was shot in the spring of 2003 and includes original music by Nikolai Fraiture.

Bangin in My Head - music video The Homosexuals - 4 minutes - Director: M. Henry Jones

Fangoria presents
in association with MGM

FROM BEYOND

(dir. Stuart Gordon, 1986 - DIRECTOR'S CUT!)

Fri Sept 7 11pm

Free screening! To obtain tickets, send an e-mail to fangoscreening @ starloggroup .com. You must list "FROM BEYOND" as your subject line. Offer is good for one ticket per e-mail; plus, tell us your full name and whether you want to be added to the FANGORIA newsletter list so we can tell you about future Fango screenings and events. Names will be checked at the door. Offer is first come, first served, and we will confirm your RSVP.

FIRST EVER MOVIE THEATER SCREENING OF THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

When the mad Doctor Pretorious is found headless in his laboratory after conducting an experiment, a beautiful psychiatrist is sent to interrogate the scientist's assistant to find out what happened. They discover the Resonator, a device that allows one to see 'beyond'.

FUSION ARTS PROGRAM

Sat Sept 8 5pm
free and open to the public

Shalom Neuman of the Fusion Arts Museum presents a program of films made by himself, Richard Kostelanetz, and Jean Voguet. All three artists will be present. The program is free and open to the public.

Shaolm Neuman:

• Toxic Paradise (1987, Paris, France; 20 mins)
  
• Fusion Arts in Rivington Sculpture Garden (1985-7, New York, New York; 5 mins)
• Wall of Cultural Confusion (10 mins, Germany; 2005)

Richard Kostelanetz, acclaimed historian and participant in the downtown avant-garde:
EPIPHANIES contains dozens of heightened moments - epiphanies in James Joyce's sense - that a collectively suggest, in Kostelanetz' words, "the exhaustive experience of the experience of stories." This is one hour of a four-hour film shown coninuously at the Fusion Arts Museum, downstairs, for several weeks.

From Composer Jean Voguet:
«_freeware music_» a tribute to human intelligence.
Says Voguet: "Digital music enthusiasts, of specific users who look for a very personalized environment, of rebels who cope with the digital intelligence's gigantic market . . . give access to a wide public at theirs freewares which they develop with passion and competence.

"It's very easy to see a parallel between these processes and my fervent musical activities which are situated too at the antipode of any commercial logic."

«_Atlantis_»
Through the myth of Atlantis, I would like to emphasize - in a other scale - the perils which threaten our planet.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING ZEDD

Sat Sept 8 11pm - buy tix

NOTORIOUS LOWER EAST SIDE CINE-PROVOCATEUR

NICK ZEDD

RETURNS TO THE PIONEER THEATER

ZEDD WILL PRESENT THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A NEW VIDEO COMMISSIONED* BY THE PIONEER:

"Mistakes Hapen"

THIS COMMISSION HAD ONLY ONE RULE:
SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE LOWER EAST SIDE

AND ONE SUGGESTION:
MAYBE YOU WANT TO COMMENT ON THE "HOWL" FESTIVAL

OTHER MOVIES PRESENTED WILL INCLUDE:

L.E.S. PSA starring Rev Jen, Master Lee - 3 min
FILTHY RICH starring Neon Music - 3 min
NO PLAGUE LIKE HOME starring the voice of Vox, Rev Jen - 28 min
VILE BUDDIES starring Rev Jen, Alison Gordy, Brenda Bergman - 28 min
OF LICE & MEN starring Chuck Funk, Rev Jen, Michelle Carlo - 28 min
HELLBOUND HEIRESSES starring Rev Jen, Neal Medlyn - 28 min
OLD MAN & THE SEA MONKEY starring Rev Jen, Big Mike - 28 min

NO PLAGUE LIKE HOME, an attack on consensus reality disguised as an episode of Electra Elf, addresses the issues of implantable microchips and the "9-11 Inside Job" along with the dangers of watching television. The episode is detourned from Vox Internet Radio broadcasts utilizing unexpected footage with familar images of the superhero characters Electra Elf and Fluffer played by Rev Jen & Rev Jen Jr, as seen in their weekly show on MNN.

Nick Zedd: "It should go without saying that an investigation of a conspiracy like 9/11 will always be a two-front war against disinformation. On one side are the gatekeepers pursuing a limited hangout. On the other side are crackpots and disinfo agents pushing bogus, discrediting evidence. Weeding out bogus claims is neither gatekeeping nor censorship but an absolutely critical activity."

Nick Zedd, director, author, actor and crypto-insurrectionary mastermind of underground film is an exile from the East Village now living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was house DJ at the legendary Art Space in NYC. His books include TOTEM OF THE DEPRAVED and BLEED.

Several titles in this program are episodes from Nick Zedd and Penetration Films' latest production: Electra Elf, a superhero series co-created by and starring Saint Reverend Jen Miller ("Rev Jen").

By day Electra Elf is Jennifer Swallows, a mild-mannered reporter for Art Star Scene Magazine (A.S.S.), while her pet chihuahua Fluffer is Boobie, a chihuahua-clothes model. But when danger calls, the two put on stylish leotards and kick butt, taking down corrupt senators, sleazy frat-boys, satanic cults, landlords, zombie-tourists and others in each heart-stopping episode. A hit on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Electra Elf features many participants in the downtown "Art Stars" community, one of the most vital and significant arts communities in New York City today.

* Don't get the wrong idea. The commission was a ridiculously small amount of money. He probably spent more making it than we gave him.

Monster Monday!
Fangoria presents

TRAPPED ASHES

(dir. Joe Dante, Ken Russell, Sean Cunningham, Monte Hellman, John Gaeta; 104 mins; 2006)

Mon Sept 10 6:30pm - buy tix

Showing from 35mm.

Seven strangers are trapped inside an infamous "House of Horror" during a Hollywood movie studio tour, and forced to tell their most terrifying personal stories to get out alive.

In the twisted tradition of classic anthology horror films such as TALES FROM THE CRYPT, KWAIDAN, and DEAD OF NIGHT, TRAPPED ASHES features four stories of the surreal, erotic and terrifying, directed by five of Hollywood's most unique filmmakers: Joe Dante (GREMLINS, THE HOWLING), Ken Russell (ALTERED STATES, TOMMY, THE DEVILS), Sean Cunningham (FRIDAY the 13th), Monte Hellman (TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, COCKFIGHTER), and John Gaeta (Oscar winner for Visual F/X on THE MATRIX Trilogy).

In addition, multi-Academy Award winner Robert Skotak (TERMINATOR 2: Judgment Day, ALIENS) is serving as Visual F/X Supervisor on the film, and the soundtrack is by acclaimed Japanese composer Kenji Kawai (THE RING, DARK WATERS, GHOST IN THE SHELL I and II).

Ultra Studios is one of Hollywood's oldest and most venerable movie companies -- and like Universal and Warner Bros., it's discovered there's money to be made by opening its doors to the public. On an ordinary day, a group of strangers sign up for an hour-long tour of the legendary sound stages. While exploring the long-neglected set, the tourists are trapped inside a bizarre octagonal-shaped room with no windows and locked doors -- just like the doomed characters in the old movie were. It quickly becomes apparent that some sinister, unseen Manipulator is forcing the six visitors to relive the plot of "Hysteria" by telling their most terrifying stories to stay alive!

CineKink Presents

Cinekink: The Really Alternative Film Festival

Tues Sept 11 7pm - buy tix

Admission: 18+ only

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.

Winner – Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary/CineKink 2004
Born In a Barn

An intimate and sometimes humorous look into the extraordinary erotic lives of four seemingly ordinary people. Delving deep into the world of ponyplay, the fast-growing fetish in which enthusiasts roleplay as human ponies and handlers, this documentary explores the complex motives that drive this particular passion and reveals how identity can be found in the pursuit of unconventional desire. (Directed by Elizabeth Elson, 2004, USA, 50 minutes.)

"...a model documentary on the subject, a respectful study that pays homage to the subculture without sugarcoating or sensationalizing it."
- Gary Morris, Bright Lights Film Journal

preceded by
Winner – Best Short Documentary/CineKink 2003

Shine: Confessions of a Rubber Fetishist A funny, thought-provoking and unapologetic look at Shine, who goes to work everyday, plays chess, likes to dress in rubber and craves being whipped by his friends. (Directed by Karine Baczynski, 2003, USA, 28 minutes.)

WOOL 100%

(dir.  Mai Tominaga, 100 mins, 2006)

Weds Sept 12 7pm - buy tix
Thurs Sept 13 9pm - buy tix
Fri Sept 14 9:30pm - buy tix
Sat Sept 15 9:30pm - buy tix
Sun Sept 16 9pm - buy tix
Mon Sept 17 9pm - buy tix
Tues Sept 18 9pm - buy tix

A Cinema Epoch Release

Prize-Winner at the 2007 Fantasia Film Festival:
North America's Leading Genre Film Festival

Once upon a time, there were two dear old ladies who inhabited an enormous old house on the outskirts of a small town. Their lives tended toward tranquility and solitude, their days absorbed by a rather curious pastime –- poking around in the neighbourhood trash for items with which to decorate their abode. One day, though, their peace is punctured by the sudden arrival of a mysterious interloper into their little world. A young girl, by no means the talkative type, settles into their home, and into a habitual activity even more odd than their own. Her fingers are ceaselessly at work, knitting a red sweater which will promptly be unraveled the moment its done and knitted again –- and again. She does far more than simply upend the comfortable routine of the elderly sisters. Her mere presence allows the old girls to reconsider the way of living they've chosen, and bring out into the light memories long under lock and key. The doors to the past will be thrown open, to reveal the secrets that still live there.

Here's a fairy tale your mother never told you! In the spirit of the Brothers Grimm, director Mai Tominaga uses the device of the fable to explore themes as mature as the sexuality of young children and abuse within the family. We're led into a realm of fanciful facades that scrap by scrap fall away to expose the indescribable darkness lurking there.

Cleverly intermingling several well-worn tales, Tominiga fashions a labyrinthine narrative in which it's a pleasure to get lost. Her film likewise makes use of three types of mise-en-scène, from startlingly capable performances by live actors to remarkable if troubling animated sequences to, finally, dolls manipulated by a tiny child's hands (one of the most beautiful segments of the film). WOOL 100% joins TIDELAND and BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING in employing contemporary cinema of great imagination to demonstrate those earliest years of our lives aren't always the most wonderful.
(synopsis by Simon Laperrière, translated by Rupert Bottenberg, Fantasia Film Festival)

NIGHT OF LUST

(dir.  Jose Benazeraf, 63 mins, 1962)

Fri Sept 14 midnight - buy tix
Sat Sept 15 midnight - buy tix

They Owned her Body... She had destroyed her soul!

"NIGHT OF LUST follows one very simple philosophy of filmmaking: Whenever possible, even if the plot doesn't call for it, the camera should always be focused on a naked woman. And the only thing better than one naked woman? Three or more naked women! This French noir sleaze film from the 60s is ostensibly about rival gangs fighting over the Parisian heroin market, but that plot takes a back seat to scenes of strip shows and ladies in their altogether hanging around a prostitution den. Refreshingly, since this was the '60s, the women are realistically built and naturally gorgeous — until you realize that they now could be your grandmother." - PORTLAND MERCURY


A French crime potboiler starring Hans Verner and Jean-Pierre Kalfon as rival gang leaders who clash over control of the narcotics trade. Parisian drug gangs are battling over turf, leading to kidnappings, beatings, murders, betrayals, and other intrigues.

Featuring Chet Baker's marvelous free-jazz Score, (rivaling Miles Davis's for "Elevator to the Gallows") and the most beautiful French Babes the World has ever seen. It pricks the Conscience, probes the libido, and excites the senses!

Finally, this picture can be seen in the U.S. after 3 years in court.

UNDER PRESSURE:

Diary of a Cage Fighter's Wife

(dir. Tamera Sturgis, 104 mins, 2007)

Mon Sept 17 7pm - buy tix

This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday, 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.

UNDER PRESSURE is a humble movie with humble beginnings. Todd Sturgis, a thirty-two year old, over the road truck driver, longed to test his metal inside the octagon. Being forty pounds over weight, he had to make a choice; get in shape now and fight or not, and always wonder if he had what it took to be a cage fighter.

Todd took a chance and said he was going to throw his hat in the ring with the rest of the cage fighters. When he did, his wife Tamera, started a video diary documenting his training. It was supposed to be for family and friends. Once Tamera started experiencing the emotional anxiety that comes with the extreme intensity of the sport; she began to wonder if she was going to be able handle watching Todd fight a brutal cage match.

A NEW WAVE

(dir. Jason Carvey, 94 mins, 2007)

Sat Sept 22 11pm - buy tix

The perfect plan doesn't always lead to the perfect crime

A bank teller and his friends plan a flashy, movie-inspired bank robbery that involves underground gun deals, ski masks, bowling bags, and expensive suits. But when the inside man begins to have second thoughts about committing the crime, their friendship is put on the line and their plan spirals out of control. Now he must choose between selling out or cashing in.

Starring:
John Krasinksi * Lacey Chabert * Andrew Keegan * Dean Edwards * William Sadler * Wass Stevens

Cinewomen NY
presents

FREEHELD

Tues Sept 25 7pm - buy tix

Cinewomen NY website

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.

Winner Special Jury Prize * Sundance Film Festival

Seattle International Film Festival

directed by award-winning filmmaker
Cynthia Wade

Join us for an inspiring evening -- starting with a screening FREEHELD, followed by a Master Class and Q&A with filmmaker Cynthia Wade, and the afterparty with free Two Boots pizza, beer and/or soda.

Lieutenant Laurel Hester is dying.

All she wants to do is leave her pension benefits to her life partner - Stacie, so Stacie can afford to keep their house. Laurel is told no; they are not husband and wife.

After spending a lifetime fighting for justice for other people, Laurel - a veteran New Jersey detective - launches a final battle for justice. Knuckle-biting, dramatic Freeheld chronicles a dying policewoman's bitter fight to provide for the love of her life.

Cynthia Wade is a NYC-based documentary filmmaker. Her short documentary "Freeheld" won a Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and her award-winning HBO documentary "Shelter Dogs" was broadcast in seven countries. Wade directed the 1999 Cinemax Reel Life documentary "Grist For The Mill," which The Hollywood Reporter called "a delight . . . full of quirky moments and clever humor" and Variety called "a jewel . . . extremely comical." She was co-producer and principal verite cinematographer for the 1998 PBS documentary "Taken In: The Lives of America's Foster Children," which won a duPont-Columbia Award for Excellence in Journalism. Wade has been a Director of Photography for PBS, HBO/Cinemax, Bravo, AMC, MTV, A&E, Discovery, TNT, Oxygen, LOGO and The History Channel. She received a BA cum laude from Smith College and an MA in Documentary Film Production from Stanford University. Wade runs a video production company and teaches advanced digital cinematography at the New School.

CineWomen NY Screens Committee
Programming Director: Maria Pusateri * Curators/Programming:  Maria Pusateri *  Vicki Vasilopoulos * Myra Sito Velasquez
Guest Curators:  Jessica Burstein *  Kelly Shindler *  Louise Fleming * Alison McMahan

screenings@cinewomenny.org * www.cinewomenny.org

MY NAME IS ALAN AND I PAINT PICTURES

(dir. Johnny Boston, 76 mins, 2007)

Weds Sept 19 9pm - buy tix
Thurs Sept 20 7pm - buy tix
Fri Sept 21 7pm - buy tix
Sat Sept 22 9pm - buy tix
Sun Sept 23 9pm - buy tix
Mon Sept 24 9pm - buy tix
Tues Sept 25 9pm - buy tix
Weds Sept 26 7pm - buy tix
Thurs Sept 27 7pm - buy tix
Fri Sept 28 8:30pm - buy tix

MY NAME IS ALAN AND I PAINT PICTURES is a seven year chronicle about Alan Streets, a paranoid schizophrenic, as he struggles to succeed as an artist in New York City.

After nearly six years of production, the feature length documentary titled, MY NAME IS ALAN AND I PAINT PICTURES, is a film that documents the life of Alan Russell Cowan directed and produced by Johnny Boston.

Alan Streets, as he refers to himself, is a painter struggling with paranoid schizophrenia. Well known on the streets of New York, Alan sets up his easel every day and paints canvases of the New York urban landscape from the Upper East Side to the Bronx and everywhere in between. MY NAME IS ALAN AND I PAINT PICTURES follows this talented artist from the suburbs of London to the wards of Bellevue Hospital in New York City and back out on to the streets.

Alan battles the demons in his own head with vast quantities of alcohol, a wide variety of drugs (legal and otherwise), and, ultimately, just a paintbrush and canvas. Clean and sober and off of all meds, Alan now lives in New York determined to succeed as an artist on his own terms. But can an isolated, still paranoid Alan make it an art world where success sometimes depends as much on whom you know as on what you paint? This film and this unforgettable character will probably change your beliefs about Schizophrenia as something that is always debilitating.

Alan's story unfolds through the eyes of his parents, friends and lovers, psychiatrist, and Alan himself. In time, we get to know Alan very well through swatches of his daily life, his interactions with others, and, crucially, through his paintings.

Interviews with the art community complement the story. They include: Robert Storr - Art Historian and Former Curator, MOMA; Arnold Lehman – Director, Brooklyn Museum; Pamela Willoughby – Gallery Manager of Marc Borgi Gallery; John Maizels – Editor, Raw Vision Magazine; and Daniel Kunitz – Critic, Art Review.

Alan's struggles and difficulties as an artist and a recovering person are so fully delineated that one is left wondering if Alan's paranoia is generated by his illness or rather is simply a function of the reality of trying to make it as an artist in New York City. Whatever the case, the viewer comes away from this memorable film with a heightened appreciation for all artists –- and the fervent hope that Alan will somehow persevere.

Yom Kippur Film Festival:
5768 Forgive Me Filmathon

KIPPUR

(dir. Amos Gitai, 120 mins, 2000)

Fri Sept 21 9pm - buy tix


View Trailer

"a classic war film, at once elegiac and immediate, that takes you smack into the chaos of combat yet is marked by a detached perspective."
- Kevin Thomas, LA TIMES

The battlefield action in the film is bloody and relentless; Mr. Gitai is working in the close-to-the-ground, hyper-realist mode of Sam Fuller's THE BIG RED ONE and the opening battle sequences of Steven Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN."
- A.O. Scott, NY TIMES

Amos Gitai Interview

Nearly 34 years ago to the day, on October 6, 1973, during Yom Kippur, the Syrian and Egyptian armies launched a devastating assault upon Israeli borders. For a few days, the destruction of the entire state of Israel loomed as a very real possibility. However, in part because of the determination of the Israeli reserves who mustered into action, the state of Israel survived, and by many accounts even won the war. But the shadow of those early days has lingered on for years.

This year, On September 21, during Yom Kippur, in association with the Jewish Community Project and the 14th Street Y, the Pioneer Theater presents "Kippur," a film directed and co-written by Amos Gitai -- then a 23-year-old reservist, now one of the most well-known filmmakers in the world.

Composed in 117 minutes and shot on 35mm in Hebrew, KIPPUR closely follows the perspective of a widely read, somewhat abrasive young man named Weinraub. After he wanders alone on the holiday of Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), Weinraub's lovemaking with his girlfriend is disrupted by war sirens. Weinraub runs off and picks up his friend Ruso. Together they seek out the war. They can't find their infantry unit, so they join a helicopter rescue unit. For several days, they do the grim and exhausting work of bringing wounded soldiers to hospitals, in scenes often presented in agonizing long takes. They also take enemy fire . . .

Yom Kippur Film Festival:
5768 Forgive Me Filmathon

CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

(dir. Woody Allen, 104 mins, 1988)

Fri Sept 21 11:15pm - buy tix

"[Woody Allen] hits the bull's-eye again. . . has the richness and breadth of a novel, told with the concision of a densely packed short story."
- Vincent Canby, NY TIMES

Starring Angelika Huston * Martin Landau * Sam Waterston * Alan Alda * Mia Farrow * Woody Allen

CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS is Woody Allen's most mature, most profound film. Martin Landau plays Judah Rosenthal, a successful ophthalmologist having an affair with Dolores (Anjelica Huston), who is threatening to reveal their relationship unless Judah commits to her and leaves his wife. He admits his sin to Ben (Sam Waterston), a friend, a patient, and a learned rabbi who is losing his eyesight but not his faith. Judah turns to his brother Jack, who is connected to the mob and can make Dolores disappear. Allen plays Cliff Stern, a documentary filmmaker who accepts an assignment to film his pompous, successful brother-in-law, Lester (Alan Alda), a comedy star; both Cliff and Lester fall for Hallie Reed (Mia Farrow), a producer involved in the documentary. Allen the director brings all the characters together in a fabulous mix of comedy and drama, deceit and delight. CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS is a marvel of complexity, with fascinating, well-written characters; deep, complicated relationships; and thought-provoking examinations of religion, infidelity, morality, murder, comedy, and tragedy. [synopsis from RottenTomatoes]

THE WORLD OF
VIJA VETRA

Sat Sept 22 7:15pm - buy tix

This is a documentary about life, told through the fascinating 84 year old world renowned dancer Vija Vetra. As a great spirit Vija Vetra is a life story, full of symbols to which every artist is able to relate. Her devotion to the art of dance is her celebration of life, but it is also a life that is often lonely and full of sacrifice.

Vija Vetra, the dancer, choreographer, teacher, native of Riga, Latvia, has performed solo dance all over the world. She introduced sacred dances that have become a part of church services. She had her own TV shows in Europe, Australia, India, Mexico, the US (Mister Rodger show) and Canada. She received a lifetime achievement award from the Latvian government.

A "spirit in human form," Vija Vetra has been called "the bridge between east and west".

CHARLIE

(dir. Salvatore Interlandi, 88 mins, 2006)

Weds Sept 26 9pm - buy tix
Thurs Sept 27 9pm - buy tix
Fri Sept 28 6:45pm - buy tix
Fri Sept 28 10pm - buy tix
Sat Sept 29 8pm - buy tix
Sat Sept 29 10pm - buy tix

Sun Sept 30 5pm - buy tix
Sun Sept 30 9pm - buy tix
Mon Oct 1 5pm - buy tix
Tues Oct 2 9pm - buy tix
Weds Oct 3 7pm - buy tix

View trailer

Starring D.J. Mendel (FAY GRIM, THE GIRL FROM MONDAY, THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING)
in a harrowing and powerful performance

After years of drifting away from his family, Charlie comes home one evening to find another man's car in the driveway. Certain of his wife's infidelity, Charlie explodes into a binge of drinking, fighting, and confusion. The desperate search to remind himself of who he is leads him to his lover, his ex-girlfriend, his best friend, and finally a stranger, as he attempts to form some sort of emotional contact.

The film features a galvanic, riveting performance by New York City actor and filmmaker D.J. Mendel, a familiar face and voice from films directed by Hal Hartley and Richard Sylvarnes, and also a terrific director in his own right (PLANET EARTH DREAMS, which opened at the Pioneer in 2004).

In association with Cinekink:

PORNOLOGY
NEW YORK

(dir.  Michele Capozzi, 2005, USA, 85 minutes)

Fri Sept 28 midnight - buy tix
Sat Sept 29 midnight - buy tix

18 AND OVER ONLY

"PORNOLOGY NEW YORK reinvents a time when anybody could. . . indulge in their dirtiest, wildest fantasies and fetishes."
- Stephanie Sellars, NEW YORK PRESS

A paean to the sexual underground of New York, circa 1970-85, this engrossing documentary brings together four of its most colorful protagonists for a look back in time, an assessment of where we are today. . . and one very wild farewell party. Our guide to the gritty action is Michele Capozzi, urban explorer and self-titled pornologist, who brings together Neville Chambers, founder of the infamous porn-producing Fuck Factory; Lenny Waller, long-time front-man of the meat-packing district's now-defunct Hellfire Club and renowned pornstar/mistress/shaman, Porsche Lynn.