Features

irregular flow from 4khz on Vimeo.


Wonderful experimental music video by 4khz from Istanbul.

But, the young illustrator from San Francisco, Matt Furie, is worth living for. His world of thrift store toys-turned-drawings is a cheap, great aesthetic. World where nostalgia and feelings of childhood are made into creepy but happy pictures where frogs where glasses are always welcomed. Yes!

A couple of his works are below, but check him out here for more.






This reminds me of The Never Ending Story.







I want to be at this party:

I liked Modeselektor, the German DJ/producer duo, when they were picking their noses in Berlin elementary schools. Not really. But, this beautiful collaboration with Radiohead's Thom Yorke is worth re-listening to as 2007 comes to an end.

PS Sorry for the lack of updates on Blank Screen--there is always tomorrow.

After the shortest year in history (weren't we just in Park City??) the Sundance Film Festival is upon us again. The line-up has been announced and we here at Blank Screen are very excited about the selection. Although there are the few repeaters, this years line-up is full of names with no faces.

The 2008 films seem to be diverse not only in the countries they come from or the filmmakers themselves, but the actual stories and issues they portray.

"This year we are seeing a convergence of storytelling and art that truly illustrates the spectrum of what is possible in film. " said Geoffrey Gilmore, Director, Sundance Film Festival.

Numbers From the Sundance Festival Press Office are impressive: 121 feature-length films were selected including 87 world premieres, 14 North American premieres, and 12 U.S. premieres representing 25 countries with 55 first-time filmmakers, including 32 in competition.

The Line-up:

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER (Director and Screenwriter: Edet Belzberg)—Uncle Sam really wants you! A compelling exploration of army recruitment in the United States told through the story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army. World Premiere

AN AMERICAN TEEN (Director and Screenwriter: Nanette Burstein)— This irreverent cinema vérité chronicles four seniors at an Indiana high school and yields a surprising snapshot of Midwestern life. World Premiere

BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER (Director: Christopher Bell; Screenwriters: Christopher Bell, Alexander Buono, Tamsin Rawady)—A filmmaker explores America’s win-at-all-cost culture by examining his two brothers' steroids use...and his own. World Premiere

FIELDS OF FUEL (Director and Screenwriter: Josh Tickell)— America is addicted to oil and it is time for an intervention. Enter Josh Tickell, a man with a plan and a Veggie Van, who is taking on big oil, big government, and big soy to find solutions in places few people have looked. World Premiere

FLOW: FOR THE LOVE OF WATER (Director: Irena Salina)— Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. FLOW confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause. World Premiere

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON (Director: Alex Gibney)—Fueled by a raging libido, Wild Turkey, and superhuman doses of drugs, Thompson was a true "free lance," goring sacred cows with impunity, hilarity, and a steel-eyed conviction for writing wrongs. Focusing on the good doctor's heyday, 1965 to 1975, the film includes clips of never-before-seen (nor heard) home movies, audiotapes, and passages from unpublished manuscripts. World Premiere

THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO (Director and Screenwriter: Lisa F. Jackson)— Jackson travels to remote villages in the war zones of the Congo to meet rape survivors, providing a piercing, intimate look into the struggle of their lives. World Premiere

I.O.U.S.A. (Director: Patrick Creadon)—Few are aware that America may be on the brink of a financial meltdown. I.O.U.S.A. explores the country’s shocking current fiscal condition and ways to avoid a national economic disaster. World Premiere

NERAKHOON (THE BETRAYAL) (Director: Ellen Kuras; Co-Director: Thavisouk Phrasavath; Screenwriters: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath)— The epic story of a family forced to emigrate from Laos after the chaos of the secret air war waged by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Kuras has spent the last 23 years chronicling the family's extraordinary journey in this deeply personal, poetic, and emotional film. World Premiere

THE ORDER OF MYTHS (Director: Margaret Brown) — In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated...and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether. World Premiere

PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE (Director and Screenwriter: Steven Sebring)— An intimate portrait of music icon Patti Smith that mirrors the essence of the artist herself. World Premiere

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED (Director: Marina Zenovich; Screenwriters: Marina Zenovich, Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan)— Marina Zenovich's new documentary examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States. World Premiere

SECRECY (Directors: Peter Galison, Robb Moss)— Amidst the American hunger for instantaneous news and up-to-date “facts,” this unflinching film uncovers the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. World Premiere

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP (Director: Jackie Reem Salloum)—The voice of a new generation rocks and rhymes as Palestinian rappers form alternative voices of resistance within the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. World Premiere

TRACES OF THE TRADE: A STORY FROM THE DEEP NORTH (Director: Katrina Browne; C0-Directors: Alla Kovgan, Jude Ray; Screenwriters: Katrina Browne, Alla Kovgan)—History finally gets rewritten as descendants of the largest slave-trading family in early America face their past, and present, as they explore their violent heritage across oceans and continents. World Premiere

TROUBLE THE WATER (Directors: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal)— An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning. World Premiere


DRAMATIC COMPETITION

AMERICAN SON (Director: Neil Abramson; Screenwriter: Eric Schmid)— Before being deployed for active duty, a young Marine takes a four-day Thanksgiving leave to return home to Bakersfield, California. There he meets a young woman, tries to connect with old friends, and confronts his volatile home life. Cast: Nick Cannon, Melonie Diaz, Matt O'Leary, Jay Hernandez, Tom Sizemore, Chi McBride. World Premiere

ANYWHERE, U.S.A. (Director: Anthony (Chusy) Haney-Jardine; Screenwriters: Anthony (Chusy) Haney-Jardine, Jennifer Macdonald)— Told in three segments ranging from satirical to tragic, the film is a wildly original look at American manners, prejudices, and family dynamics. Cast: Perla Haney-Jardine. World Premiere

BALLAST (Director and Screenwriter: Lance Hammer)— A riveting, lyrical portrait of an emotionally frayed family whose lives are torn asunder by a tragic act in a small Mississippi Delta town. Cast: Michael J. Smith Sr., Jim Myron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail. World Premiere

CHOKE (Director and Screenwriter: Clark Gregg)—An adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s (Fight Club) novel, CHOKE is the sardonic story about mother and son relationship, fear of aging, sexual addiction, and the dark side of historical theme parks. Cast: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly MacDonald, Brad Henke. World Premiere

DOWNLOADING NANCY (Director: Johan Renck; Screenwriters: Pamela Cuming, Lee Ross)—The tale of an unhappy wife whose online search for someone to put her out of her misery results in a torturous love affair. Cast: Maria Bello, Jason Patric, Rufus Sewell, Amy Brenneman. World Premiere

FROZEN RIVER (Director and Screenwriter: Courtney Hunt)—Set in rural upstate New York on a Mohawk Reservation bordering Canada, a mother left to care for her teenage son finds herself lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling. Cast: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe, Mark Boone, Jr. World Premiere

GOOD DICK (Director and Screenwriter: Marianna Palka)—The tale of a lonely girl drawn from her isolated life and solitary apartment by a doting young video store clerk who strives to capture her affections. Cast: Jason Ritter, Marianna Palka, Tom Arnold, Mark Webber, Martin Starr, Eric Edelstein. World Premiere

THE LAST WORD (Director and Screenwriter: Geoff Haley)—An off-beat romantic comedy about a solitary writer who makes his living composing other people's suicide notes. After meeting the sister of a recently deceased client, he finds his reclusive life and secret career upended by an unusual romance. Cast: Winona Ryder, Wes Bentley, Ray Romano. World Premiere

THE MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH (Director and Screenwriter: Rawson Marshall Thurber)— Based on Michael Chabon's novel, the film chronicles the defining summer of a recent college graduate who crosses his gangster father and explores love, sexuality, and the enigmas surrounding his life and his city. Cast: Jon Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Sienna Miller, Mena Suvari, Nick Nolte. World Premiere

NORTH STARR (Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Stanton)—After witnessing the brutal murder of his best friend, a young African American man flees the badlands of Houston and finds himself in Trublin, a backward, racially intolerant town where he meets an unlikely kindred spirit who takes him under his wing. Cast: Jerome Hawkins, Matthew Stanton, Chris Sullivan, Isaac Lamb, Zach Johnson, Wayne Campbell. World Premiere

PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND (Director and Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz)— Confounded by her clashes with the seemingly rule-obsessed world, a little girl takes her already dysfunctional family down the rabbit hole when she seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher. Cast: Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Pullman, Campbell Scott, Peter Gerety. World Premiere

PRETTY BIRD (Director and Screenwriter: Paul Schneider)— A comic tale of three would-be entrepreneurs who set out to invent a rocket belt. The clash of their mismatched personalities soon dissolves the business into a morass of recriminations, retaliations, kidnapping, and murder in this parable of American dreams and delusions. Cast: Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Kristen Wiig, David Hornsby. World Premiere

SLEEP DEALER (Director: Alex Rivera; Screenwriters: Alex Rivera, David Riker)— Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the barriers of technology. Cast: Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela, Jacob Vargas. World Premiere

SUGAR (Directors and Screenwriters: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck)—Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who last teamed up for HALF NELSON, chronicle the journey of Dominican baseball star Miguel "Sugar" Santos recruited from his native country to play in the U.S. minor leagues. Cast: Algenis Perez Soto. World Premiere

SUNSHINE CLEANING (Director: Christine Jeffs; Screenwriter: Megan Holley)— )—Struck by financial hardship, an ambitiousmother and her unmotivated sister become entrepreneurs in the field of biohazard removal and crime scene clean-up. Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn, Alan Arkin. World Premiere

THE WACKNESS (Director and Screenwriter: Jonathan Levine)— During a sweltering New York summer, a troubled teenage drug dealer trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist, and in the process falls for the doctor's daughter. Cast: Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Olivia Thirlby, Mary Kate Olsen, Method Man. World Premiere


WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

ALONE IN FOUR WALLS (ALLEIN IN VIER WÄNDEN)/ Germany (Director and Screenwriter: Alexandra Westmeier)—Adolescent boys struggle to grow up in a home for delinquents in rural Russia where life behind bars may be better than the release to freedom. North American Premiere

THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS/ New Zealand (Director and Screenwriter: Pietra Brettkelly)— Vanessa Beecroft is obsessively determined to adopt Sudanese twin orphans. Her consuming passion drives her marriage to a breaking point and fuels her controversial art, raising troubling questions about exploitation, culture clash, and the imposition of the West on Africa. World Premiere

BE LIKE OTHERS/ United Kingdom (Director: Tanaz Eshaghian)— An intimate and unflinching look at life in Iran, seen through the lens of those living at its fringes, BE LIKE OTHERS is a provocative look at a generation of young Iranian men choosing to undergo sex change surgery. World Premiere

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES/ United Kingdom (Director: Chris Waitt; Screenwriters: Chris Waitt and Henry Trotter)–Chris is a useless boyfriend. Determined to find out why, he consults his ex-girlfriends, medical practitioners, producers, and mother to find out how women really see him. Has this journey made him potential boyfriend material or is he staring a life of loneliness square in the face? World Premiere

DEREK/ United Kingdom (Director: Isaac Julien)— A film involving two courageous and innovative artists—one the subject and one the filmmaker—provides a cinematic journey that illuminates the work and enduring importance of the late Derek Jarman. World Premiere

DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT/Pakistan (Directors and Screenwriters: Sabiha Sumar and Sachithanandam Sathananthan)— From on-the-street interviews to audiences with religious leaders to dinner with the President of Pakistan, the film takes the temperature of a culture on issues from politics to women’s rights. U.S. Premiere

DURAKOVO: THE VILLAGE OF FOOLS (DURAKOVO: LE VILLAGE DES FOUS)/ France (Director and Screenwriter: Nino Kirtadze)— Russian nationalism percolates in a castle outside Moscow, where Mikhail Morozov rules autonomously over young initiates, laying the groundwork for a rapidly growing right-wing movement. North American Premiere

IN PRISON MY WHOLE LIFE/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Evans; Screenwriters: Marc Evans, William Francome)— A curious young filmmaker attempts to understand the true story behind award-winning journalist Mumia Abu Jamal’s death row sentence, and comes to startling realizations about American history and its justice system. With William Francome, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Mos Def, Smoof , Snoop Dogg, Angela Davis . North American Premiere

MAN ON WIRE/ United Kingdom (Director and Screenwriter: James Marsh)—In 1974, Philippe Petit, a young Frenchman, dances on a wire suspended between New York's Twin Towers. Consequently, Philippe is arrested and thrown into jail for what would become known as “the artistic crime of the century.” World Premiere

pUUJEE/ Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Kazuya Yamada)— Against the backdrop of a magnificent but harsh natural landscape, a Japanese photojournalist encounters puujee, a young girl who tames wild horses on the Mongolian plains. North American Premiere

RECYCLE/ Jordan (Director and Screenwriter: Al Massad)— A Jordanian family man living in the hometown of Muslim leader Al-Zarqawi struggles to support his family and define his identity in a tense political climate. World Premiere

STRANDED: I’VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED ON THE MOUNTAINS/ France (Director and Screenwriter: Gonzalo Arijon)— For the first time ever, survivors of the famous 1974 Andes plane crash tell in their own words their harrowing story of survival. North American Premiere

TRIAGE: DR. JAMES ORBINSKI’S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA/ Canada (Director: Patrick Reed)— Acclaimed doctor James Orbinski, former head of Doctors Without Borders, returns to Africa to confront the harsh reality of conditions there and explores what it means to be a humanitarian. North American Premiere

UP THE YANGTZE/ Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Yung Chang)—At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China. U.S. Premiere

THE WOMEN OF BRUKMAN (LES FEMMES DE LA BRUKMAN)/ Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Isaac Isitan)—Amidst Argentina’s financial collapse, workers take over a Buenos Aires men’s clothing factory and continue producing clothing on a self-management model. As the formerly poor become business managers, their lives are changed forever. U.S. Premiere

YASUKUNI/ Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Li Ying)—Controversy abounds as Japanese officials honor the deceased at the legendary Yasukuni shrine, where swords used to kill Chinese soldiers were famously forged. Few know about the shrine’s eerie past and the mysterious sword inside. Cast: Kariya Naoji, Sugawara Ryuken,Gaojin Sumei. North American Premiere


WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

ABSURDISTAN/ Germany (Director: Veit Helmer; Screenwriters: Veit Helmer, Zaza Buadze, Gordan Mihic, Ahmet Golbol)— This inventive and allegorical comedy centers on two childhood sweethearts who seem destined for one another until the women of their isolated village, angered by male indifference toward the water shortage, go on a sex strike that threatens the young couple's first night of love. Cast: Maximilian Mauff, Kristyna Mlérova. World Premiere

BLUE EYELIDS (PÁRPADOS AZULES)/ Mexico (Director: Ernesto Contreras; Screenwriter: Carlos Contreras)– When Marina wins a beach getaway trip for two, her desperate search for someone to take with her leads to a complicated relationship and the revelation that she might be better off on her own. Cast: Cecilia Suàrez, Enrique Arreola, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Tiaré Scanda, Luisa Huertas. U.S. Premiere

CAPTAIN ABU RAED/ Jordan (Director and Screenwriter: Amin Matalqa)— An aging airport janitor who is mistaken for an airline pilot by a group of poor neighborhood children weaves fantastical stories to offer hope for a sad, and sometimes unchangeable, reality. Cast: Nadim Sawalha, Hussein Al-Sous, Rana Sultan, Uday Al-Qiddissi, Ghandi Saber. North American Premiere

THE DRUMMER (JIN. GWU)/ Hong Kong/ Taiwan/ Germany (Director and Screenwriter: Kenneth Bi) — A young man transforms from a reckless youth and gangster into a mature adult through the inspiration of Zen drumming. Cast: Jaycee Chan, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Josie Ho, Roy Cheung, Lee Sinje, Kenneth Tsang.

I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A GANGSTER (J'AI TOUJOURS RÊVÉ D'ÊTRE UN GANGSTER)/ France (Director and Screenwriter: Samuel Benchetrit)— Told in four vignettes, this existential comedy relates the exploits of four aspiring criminals who hope to improve their lot, but find that they might not have what it takes for a life of crime. Cast: Sergi López, Jean Rochefort, Alain Bashung, Anna Mouglalis. North American Premiere

JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY (KÆRLIGHED PÅ FILM)/ Denmark (Director and Screenwriter: Ole Borendal) —Jonas's quiet life as a suburban family man takes an unexpected twist when he causes a car crash that leaves a young woman with amnesia. When he is mistaken for her boyfriend, Jonas's decision to play the role gradually unravels his life. Cast: Anders W. Berthelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Charlotte Fich, Dejan Cukic, Ewa Fröling. North American Premiere

KING OF PING PONG (PING PONGKINGEN)/ Sweden (Director: Jens Jonsson; Screenwriters: Jens Jonsson, Hans Gunnarson) An ostracized and bullied teenage boy who excels only in ping pong descends into an acrimonious struggle with his younger, more popular brother when the truth about their family history and their father surfaces over the course of their spring break. Cast: Georgi Staykov, Ann-Sofie Normi, Frederik Nilsson, Jerry Johansson. International Premiere

MÁNCORA/ Spain/Peru (Director: Ricardo de Montreuil; Screenwriter: Oscar Torres)– A young man mourning the death of his father sets out with his estranged stepsister and her arrogant husband for adventures in the lush, picturesque beach town of Máncora, Peru. World Premiere. World Premiere

MEGANE (GLASSES)/ Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Naoko Ogigami)–Taeko's southern vacation becomes a life-changing experience when she discovers a unique beach community unified by surprising and perhaps odd traditions in this comedic film. Cast: Satomi Kobayashi, Mikako Ichikawa, Ryo Kase, Ken Mitsuishi, Masako Motai. North American Premiere

MERMAID (RUSALKA)/ Russia (Director and Screenwriter: Anna Melikyan) – The fanciful tale of an introverted little girl who grows up believing she has the power to make wishes come true. She must reconcile this belief with reality when, as a young woman, she journeys to Moscow and grapples with love, modernity and materialism. Cast: Masha Shalaeva, Evgeniy Ciganov, Maria Sokolova, Nastya Doncova. International Premiere

PERRO COME PERRO (DOG EAT DOG)/ Colombia (Director: Carlos Moreno; Screenwriters: Alonso Torres, Carlos Moreno) – In the crime world of Colombia, there is an unwritten code. When Víctor and Eusebio, two hoods who bungle a shake-down job, break that code, they unwittingly sign their own death sentence. Cast: Marlon Moreno, Oscar Borda, Alvaro Rodríguez, Blas Jaramillo, Paulina Rivas. World Premiere

RIPRENDIMI (GOOD MORNING HEARTACHE)/ Italy (Director: Anna Negri; Screenwriters: Anna Negri, Giovanna Mori) – A modern young couple with a new baby are forced to deal with the almost comedic pain of breaking up while being the subject of a documentary that quickly crosses professional lines into their private lives. Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Marco Foschi, Valentina Lodovini, Stefano Fresi, Alessandro Averone. World Premiere

STRANGERS/ Israel (Directors and Screenwriters: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv)— An Israeli man and a Palestinian woman meet serendipitously during the carefree atmosphere of the World Cup finals in Germany, drawing them out of the stark reality of their lives and into a passionate affair. Cast: Liron Levo, Lubna Azabal, Dominique Lollia, Patrick Albenque, Abdallah el Akal, Roger Dumas. International Premiere

UNDER THE BOMBS (SOUS LES BOMBES)/ Lebanon (Director: Philippe Aractingi; Screenwriters: Philippe Aractingi,Michel Léviant)— In the wake of Israel's 2006 bombardment of Lebanon, a determined woman finds her way into the country convincing a taxi cab driver to take a risky journey through the scarred region in search of her sister and her son. Cast: Nada Abou Farhat, Georges Khabbaz, Bshara Atallah, and Rawia Elchab. North American Premiere

THE WAVE (DIE WELLE)/ Germany (Director: Dennis Gansel; Screenwriters: Dennis Gansel and Peter Thorwarth)—A high school teacher's unusual experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own. Cast: Juergen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich, Christiane Paul. World Premiere

THE WIND AND THE WATER (BURWA DII EBO)/ Panama (Directors and Screenwriters: A collective collaboration)– A young indigenous teen seeking his fortune in Panama City struggles to acclimate to chaotic urban life, where he becomes enamored with a girl from a wealthy, assimilated family. Later, he encounters his crush once again--but this time the landscape and tradition define their interaction. World Premiere

The Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal and LA's finest psychedelic guru Devendra Banhart collaborated on a song from the latter's Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon album that was released last month. He sung backing vocals on the pretty song "Cristobal" which you can hear below and that will also be featured in Bernal's directorial debut, Défecit. Psych-folk meets the avant-acting world? We most certainly live in the 21s century for what else defines these times as the impossible becoming real? I'll put the pipe down, now. Dig.

Cartune Xprez is a gang. They are a smart, talented, visually dangerous gang. Described, by themselves, as "a curatorial project for animated videos and multimedia performances" that have "birthed a couple epic tours, many scattered screenings, and one DVD publication" with tons of animators and artists. That list includes:

Film/Video Artists:
Michael Bell-Smith
Bruce Bickford
Philippe Blanchard
Peter Burr
Martha Colburn
Dearrraindrop
Christopher Doulgeris
James Duesing
E*Rock
Eric Dyer
Adrian Freeman
Gretchen Hogue
Hooliganship
Cassandra C Jones
Timo Katz
Jeff Krischen
Amy Lockhart
Corey Lunn
Josh Mannis
Luke Meeken
Shana Moulton
Mumbleboy
Takeshi Murata
Andrew Negrey
Paper Rad
Drew Pavelchak
Ara Peterson
Nicolas Pittman
Joanna Priestley
Russian Tsarcasm
Francine Spiegel
James Sumner
Ola Vasiljeva
Chel White
Stephen Wichuk

Performers:
The Blow
Dites Donc
Friend of the Family
Heartland Hardland
Hooliganship
Lucky Dragons
The New Jedi Order
Slow Dance Recyttal
Universe
YACHT

Unfortunately we couldn't get them all on the phone, so I got hold of the very nice artist Peter Burr via e-mail, who was kind enough to answer some questions about this beautiful gang.

Blank Screen: Can you introduce yourself? Can you describe the color blue?

Peter Burr: Peter Burr. I grew up in the east and moved to the west after 24
years. I live in Portland, OR now with fig trees and blackberry
bushes for neighbors. We have a couple pull-out couches and a couple
loaner bikes if you ever wanna come visit.

Blue..... Did IKEA trademark the blue they use?

BS: What exactly is Cartune Xprez?

PB: Cartune Xprez is a curatorial project for animated videos and
multimedia performances. So far we have birthed a couple national
tours, many scattered screenings, and one DVD publication with a slew
of inspiring artists. My longtime Pittsburgh heart-warmers Christopher Doulgeris and Cassandra C Jones planted the seeds for this project with me at the
Drake Hotel in Toronto back in 2005. At the time we were living there
and working together on a project called Slow Dance Recyttal. This
was a live music performance that involved a cluster of giant
inflatable gems, regal forest costumes, and a narrative animation that
we unraveled with our musical instruments. Before we left Toronto we
really wanted to present this piece in a coherent swirl of other
radical DIY artworks, so we decided to create a movie theater-style
event to premier Slow Dance Recyttal. We ended up turning this funny
five star hotel into a magical little movie-watching-world that really
highlighted the earnestness and beauty of these amazing videos. It got
us really pumped. At the time it was a breath of fresh air for us,
staring beyond so much irony and coolness that we had grown tired of
in popular culture.




BS: Who curated the DVD and decided to take it on tour?

PB: Cassandra and I were the main force behind organizing the line-up of
videos that we toured with. The idea to publish a DVD came out of our
desire to have something our audiences could take home with them after
the show. We didn't want to spend so much time and energy reaching
out to new communities of people, boggling their minds only to let the
magic evaporate when we left. So we tried to make something a little
more permanent than the live show we were doing each night.

BS: I saw the movies at Brooklyn's Monkeytown. Most of them were pretty
surreal. Was there a theme or concept behind it all?

PB: That show at Monkeytown was the first program that we ever organized. We put that one together pretty intuitively.... trying to make the most exciting movie night we had ever seen. All of that work was really imaginative and technically experimental. We liked how that program polarized approaches towards digital tools. There was the really fresh and flashy computer-gernerated animations of Paper Rad
and Takeshi Murata presented alongside Jim Trainor's sharpie animations and Martha Colburn's super tactile collage films. It seemed to flatten out any dogmatic conversations about material to get straight into the mythical energy and wonder that these pieces evoke.




BS: Politics played a big role in various of the shorts I saw.
Experimental video has rarely been seen as a bastion of political
criticism, hence thats another reason I enjoyed Cartune Xprez so much.
How political do you think animation is, currently?

PB: Drew Pavelchak is an example of an animator in one of our past
programs who directly addresses political situations from current
events. I think his work is so powerful because of the way it is
animated - his human touch is deeply embedded in that work. His
newspaper collages are twitching and dancing all over the page in a
playful way, really acknowledging how he is working out this game
making up his own newspaper headlines. It gets me thinking about
these global events from his personal perspective, coping with such a
boggling invasion of information to sift through just to begin knowing
what is happening around the world. That kind of intimacy can
translate really nicely through animation and allow a work like his
THE MONKEY WRITES to remain somewhat timeless despite the fact that
SARS and Saddam are not the hot topics they once were.

BS: If you could make an animation to for any song, what would it be? Why?

PB: All of the animations I have been doing lately are through
Hooliganship, my band with Christopher. We really enjoy animating to
our own music and making music to our animations. Creating both
elements simultaneously allows the piece to grow like a natural
crystal with all of the parts fitting in place invisibly.


BS: What are the advantages and disadvantages to doing a DIY animation
DVD like yours? Would you guys accept corporate sponsorship?

PB: We operate a business called The UniBros that just does work-for-hire
jobs. We keep projects like Cartune Xprez and Hooliganship separate
from those commercial hooks since that art comes from a deep
mysterious place. Money can blow a haze over it if we don't watch
out. A long time ago Camel cigarettes approached our friend who runs a
video label called Peripheral Produce about sponsoring a tour. At a
basic level, the artists he works with didn't want to do it so he
turned the offer down without much more thought. If a corporation
approached us about sponsoring an event or a publication we don't have
any dogma in place that automatically accepts or rejects that. So
ultimately it seems like our community of artists would get to decide
with us.

BS: How important is community for you? Cartune Xprez seems to champion
a sense of getting together and putting your art out there for the
most people to see. Do you prefer that over just doing something
individually?

PB: Fostering a sense of community is really important to me. Ironically,
many artists I am discovering lately I only know via email and DVD....
a strange way to sense any community. Going on tour and having videos
to share with awesome artists is a nice way for me to step outside
that pixel-place and actually interact with other living minds. Its a
whole new inspiration! If I were going around the world just focusing
on my own work I think I would get lonely and bored.




BS: What are the future plans for Cartune Xprez?

PB: Right now I am organizing a series of events for the TBA festival in
Portland, Oregon that kick off on September 9th. I' really psyched
about that. Two of them are Sunday morning movie theatre events with
cushy seats and cocktails. The other event is an all-out party that
includes performances by some of my favorite artists (Lucky Dragons,
Mean Age, Universe, and Hooliganship). In just a few days there will
be a Cartune Xprez screening that I organized called SMALL XCAPE at
Galleri F15 near Oslo, Norway. There are a few other scattered events
after that, but really I am putting my deepest energies into a spring
tour around North America and a summer tour around Europe that will
include publishing a new DVD compilation.

Cartune Xprez will be showing in Portland, Oregon on November 4th. Check their http://cartunexprez.hooliganship.com/ for more details and to learn how to purchase their terrific DVD.

Oh no. Diplo has done it again. His Mad Decent label has just put up a remix of M.I.A.'s nice single "Paper Planes" with Houston's poet laureate Bun B of UGK and Rich Boy. I didn't think this track could get any nicer, but it did.

Listen to it here.

Slow films take patience. Mexican filmmaker, Carlos Reygadas, whose movies like Japon and Battle in Heaven were critical favorites. Last night, I saw his latest at the New York Film Festival, Silent Light. Syrupy, delicate, quiet--these are all adjectives that make sense with Reygadas' film. Silent Light is about a white, Mennonite community in North Mexico which I had no idea existed. I've been traveling to el norte for over twenty years and had no idea that a conservative, cult-like group of seemingly very sweet people lived there. Opening with what is indeed one of the most beautiful shots in cinema (at least in recent years), in terms of naturalism: stars to dark sunlight. Like you would imagine, it starts real slow and is not contingent on plot. In a nutshell, Reygadas is like a young Lars Von Trier, using the camera as recording object, a pure eye to capture the intensity of things. Deleuze, sit down for a second. You feel Johan's wrinkles, the dark red face, his father's almost-forced smile. Like putting a microphone in Jay-Z's mouth.

Stories aren't for everyone. Reygadas, who uses an almost documentary-like feel. That, essentially, was the golden word of the night. I had read about Reygadas and his emotional radicalism in filmmaking. He is, like the Marias novel, a man of feeling. The film follows Johan, a father and husband who is seeing another woman, Marianne. He thinks she is the real love of his life and that his tender and loving wife Esther is a mistake. But, that is as deep as the plot goes. Mennonite life: the children swimming, Johan farming and gorgeous landscapes are the real story. Like listening to the effects pedal, not the melody. How much should a director follow feeling?

Dogme 95 also looked to be an influence. No music was played outside what was in a scene. Only animal and nature sounds seemed to have been edited. Beyond that, I bugged out at how Reygadas shot a film entirely in Mexico without Mexicans in them. As he said after the film, this community is proud of their history and culture, they just happen to live in the state of Chihuaha. But, Johan speaks Spanish. He even sings a great, traditional folk song to his friend. Shit freaked me out. How can a guy who looks like he's from Pennsylvania call himself Juan when asked by two truck drivers knee-deep into the film's climax? Layers of national identity, religion, fidelity and rural theology twist into each other until the end.

Like Gaspar Noe, who when I saw him speak at the IFC Center last year, Carlos Reygadas was shy, soft-spoken and affable. Why are the filmmakers who make some of the world's most daring and bizarre films, so quiet? Do they teach that to NYU students? Pretension is not required to make a good, genre-breaking film. Carlos called it, after asked from an audience member, a 'metaphysical rural drama'. He spoke highly about the Mennonite community in Canada, Germany and northern Mexico. He was wearing a dark blue Polo shirt and scruffy, weird blue pants. He looked like a New Jersey gym coach, not a Cannes-winning filmmakers. That is when I started to like the guy.

Now, I have to pop in Battle in Heaven on DVD.

Walking to the opening night of the New York Film Festival last Friday, with the GF, I was too tired for magic. Day jobs make your bones ache. Not like I work construction, but nothing prepared me for turning the corner and seeing one of my favorite actors of all time there--tall enough, ghostly white moustache and hair--interviewed away from all the other noise at the Lincoln Center. I have little practice with famous people. They make me nervous. Not because they're famous, but because I have no idea what to say to them that is original. I try, though. That is where I find joy in seeing my own favorite people (this could be, of course, minutes later, almost bumping into John Waters and his pencil moustache). Bill fucking Murray. Ghostbusters. Caddyshack. SNL. Rushmore. Lost in Translation. The Life Aquatic. Groundhog Day. I have laughed at Bill Murray's offbeat, genius humor for years and finally, there he was.

I wasn't ready for that.

Minutes later, after gawking for a couple more minutes, I walked to the front where there were even more Pop People and cameras blinking like a million minotaurs. I walked in to see Wes Anderson's terrific Darjeeling Limited and Heather Graham, all 28 pounds of her, walked up next to me. But, that wasn't important. It was three of my favorite movie people around--Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and Wes Anderson himself, hanging around and talking to people pointing microphones at them. I was behind the screen, watching all of this, camera flashing at anything that moved and stood and studied how bizarre all of it really was. Of course, the spectacle, as Debord tell us, is now a necessary part of 'society'. Hyper-realism (thanks, Baudrillard) is just a hyphenated word. Standing behind the camera's chaos, I was enthralled and confused.

But, later while taking the stairs up to the film, I saw more folks. There was Michael Moore schleppin' it to his seat. How can a man who has made millions from documenting normal people not wear a damn suit? Big & Tall, Mike, Big & Tall. Before that, I geeked out at almost running into John Waters and his fiery-red haired friend. He was as mythical in person as I imagined. The film was great. Just like you would imagine a Wes Anderson movie to be that takes place in India. Seemingly self-important and self-obsessed, but opens up to a beautiful and haunting ending. It is what all of those terrible Mumblecore movies will never be: a good story. That doesn't take production money, it takes imagination.

Brody was excellent as a pathetic middle brother. Schwartzman played the little writer brother well (and even got to make love to a naked Natalie Portman in the film's prequel short, Hotel Chevalier).

Forget that. You can read about it on Cinematical or Rotten Tomatoes. I remember Bill Murray and Anjelica Huston coming out onstage before the movie to take a bow, and Murray fake falling on stage, being the beloved and morose funnyman he is. Schwartzman was really limping: he broke a toe. The par-tay at Tavern on the Green was even better. David Byrne in a purple and bone-colored cowboy suit. Willem Defoe, the Coen brothers, Noah Baumbach, the entire cast of Darjeeling, a gazillion film critics and writers, and plenty of others crowded the restaurant along with tasty (did I mention free?) food and drinks. But, nothing again, prepared me for seeing a tiny Dr. Ruth wiggle her way through the majestic main hall and talk to each member of the movie. I told my girlfriend that I would have given anything to listen in for two seconds as to what her and Bill Murray could have said to each other. Think about that conversation for comedic quality.

That was just Friday.

On Saturday, I saw the Mets play like they were the Mets. 13 runs, two fights, almost a no-hitter. Sigh.


Sunday, I saw one of the best genre films I've seen in a long time. It's J.A. Bayona's The Orphanage. I want to talk about this film elsewhere, in more detail. But, it comes out later this year and is produced by Guillermo Del Toro if that is a hint of it's greatness. Spain is where Stephen King's horror heart is.

Weekends like these are why I have to elbow old ladies on the subway in New York: they don't exist anywhere else.

Opening night for the New York Film Festival is something a little Scorsese or Truffaut dreams about. This year's bonkers line up begins with Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited and he should be there along with the rest of the cast: Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and 2,043,879 Indians. There will be an after party in Central Park or levitating above the Empire State Building, who knows. But, very much like the beggars of culture we are, we'll be there. Hell, if it was a Webster cast party reunion, I would be there for the free drinks and munchies. Will Owen be there? Either way, I hope the film is good. If you're there, say hello. We'll be the ones with ape costumes on hooting in the back.