OPEN SPACE DOCUMENTARY

A presentation by Patricia Zimmermann and Helen De Michiel
12:00 p.m.  Lawrence Hall 249  Free

While we love their gutsy vigor, long-form documentaries loom a bit like skyscrapers from the 1960s—overbuilt and probably not sustainable. In comparison, more agile “open space” transmedia projects are taking advantage of digital platforms to become more responsive and flexible and less predictable. Emerging models for participatory documentary are evolving new pathways for distribution and conversation. Using newly available tools and apps, filmmakers are testing how media can communicate stories, imagine social change, and function as a dynamically evolving interactive “open space.” Instead of being defined by national or international borders, the open space documentary model frames local and community-based media practices as key to bringing together people with diverse interests.

The speakers will demonstrate and discuss examples of media organizations and projects that exemplify the spirit of open space documentary and seek to influence social change. One key example will be EngageMedia (www.engagemedia.org). Based in Indonesia and Australia, EngageMedia is a new media portal dedicated to publishing and curating independently made media looking at environmental and social justice issues in the Asia Pacific region. Since a vibrant transmedia culture is also emerging in the US,  Zimmermann and De Michiel will present an array of examples from around the country that illuminate the human dimensions of urban development, transnational agriculture, and the growing food movement.

Patricia R. Zimmermann is professor of Screen Studies in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. She is also codirector of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, a major international festival housed at Ithaca College.

Helen De Michiel is a director, writer, and producer whose work includes film, television, and video installations. Her 1995 feature film Tarantella, starring Mira Sorvino, was shown at the Seattle Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 1996 Torino International Woman’s Film Festival. Her open space documentary Lunch Love Community is a pioneering transmedia work.

Cosponsored with the New Media and Culture Program and the Arts and Administration Program.

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Jeremiah Lecture

SINGLISH: AN AUTHENTIC OR BROKEN VOICE?

An illustrated lecture by Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo
3:30 p.m.  Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Lecture Room  Free

In under four decades, the tiny city-state of Singapore has progressed beyond the “third world” to become one of the world’s richest nations. Among the policies given credit for its economic success are language campaigns that, in an effort to connect Singaporeans linguistically with other populations (especially those of powerful nations), urge them to speak Mandarin Chinese instead of other Chinese dialects, and to speak “Good English” instead of Singaporean English, or “Singlish.” These policies have also led to censorship of ungrammatical English and the curbing of Chinese dialects in the mainstream media; arguably as a result of such censorship, vital local sources of creativity and authenticity have been constrained in Singapore. Drawing from their personal experiences, Singaporean filmmakers Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo discuss how Singapore’s language policies affect freedom of expression, the creative process, film distribution, and how things are changing. They will illustrate their presentation with clips from their feature film, TalkingCock: The Movie. This film grew out of a satirical website, TalkingCock.com, launched in 2000, that was designed in part to counter the proscriptions and denigrations of Singlish by Singapore’s political leaders.

Colin Goh and  Yen Yen Woo are a husband-and-wife team with a remarkably eclectic slate of productions. They have released two feature films, including Singapore Dreaming (screening in this festival) and the new graphic novel and interactive bilingual iPad app Dim Sum Warriors. Colin, a former practicing attorney, also writes and draws cartoons for numerous publications. Yen Yen, a former high school teacher in Singapore, went on to become a research rellow and lecturer at Columbia University’s prestigious Teachers College, where she earned her doctorate. She is now an associate professor at Long Island University’s College of Education and Information Sciences. Together with their daughter, they divide their time between Singapore and New York.

Cosponsored with Center for Asian and Pacific Studies Jeremiah Lecture Series, East Asian Languages and Literatures, Asian Studies Program, and the Linguistics Department.

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Best of the Northwest Filmmakers Festival

Buoy and 3 Short Films

With director Steve Doughton
6:30 p.m.  Bijou Art Cinemas
Tickets: $6 sr/stu; $8 general

 

 

Portland filmmaker Steven Doughton brings us his first feature film, Buoy (2012), a minimalist drama that traces the revival of a precious familial relationship through a single eighty-minute phone call.  Buoy took home the narrative feature award at the 39th Annual Northwest Filmmaker’s Festival in 2012. Marc Mohan from The Oregonian describes Buoy as “A bold but never showy bit of innovative filmmaking.”

Tina Holmes beautifully performs the role of T.C., a suburban mother of two who receives an unexpected phone call from her estranged brother Danny, voiced by Matthew Del Negro. After a two-year communication lapse, the two siblings embark on an emotional journey in which an examination of the past, the present, and the future re-establishes a sense of closeness that had previously disintegrated between them. As T.C. goes about her daily household chores, her telephone conversation is heavy with personal confessions, controversial advice, childhood recollections, and critical judgment.  Doughton creates a surprisingly engaging and cinematic experience with the most minimal of means—two characters and one location. The sharp dialogue and terrific acting performances of the two leads (one represented only by voice) bring out the love, depth, and complexity of T.C. and Danny’s challenging relationship.

Shown with:

Dear Peter, Woodchips and Dear Peter, Woodchips II (Orlando Nutt, Portland, 6 min.)
Orland’s open letter to Peter concerns a steaming pile of woodchips, Mt. Fuji, and context.

Later than Usual (David Hovan, Vancouver, 6 min.)
An elderly couple marks time toward a not-so-inevitable end.

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ON screenwriting and directing

A talk by Guillermo Arriaga
7:00 p.m.  Oak Hill School  FREE

Guillermo Arriaga is a Mexican screenwriter, author, director, and producer. He is also an eloquent speaker and teacher, and he will speak tonight about his evolution as a writer and director. He will also share insights into his approach to screenwriting and the techniques that he has taught in his legendary master classes.

Before becoming a screenwriter, the Mexico City native had already made a name for himself as a novelist and professor, but it was his trilogy of film collaborations with director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu that earned Arriaga a world of new audiences. Amores Perros (2000), a gritty tale of parents, children, and intertwined lives on the rough streets of Mexico City, gained international recognition and is still considered one of the most praised films of Mexican cinema. Arriaga’s fresh, invigorating style of piecing together emotionally gripping stories as intricate, interlocking human puzzles still persists. He continued to write award winning, critically acclaimed screenplays such as 21 Grams (2003), The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), the Oscar-nominated Babel (2006), and The Burning Plain (2009), his directorial debut. His literary roots, boldly complex structures, and examinations of things people fear the most helped raise the bar of what a Hollywood film with A-list actors could accomplish, as well as what producers believed an audience could handle.

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JEREMY ROURKE: LIVE MUSIC AND ANIMATION

9:15 p.m.  Bijou Art Cinemas
Tickets: $6 sr/stu; $8 general

Jeremy Rourke is a self-taught animator and musician living in San Francisco. Using paper, paint, shadows, wood, old photographs, new photographs, flowers, tape, pens, pencils, leaves, and sticks to make his animations, his works (which are set to his own music) have been shown at film festivals around the country. During live performances, Rourke tries “really extra hard to magically enter the movie screen.” In 2011, he was named “best new animator/musician” by SF Weekly, which elaborated: “Jeremy Rourke is the kind of artist we love. He follows what inspires him, which in this case is stop-motion animation and music, teaching himself what he needs to get there and along the way producing great work that inspires others. One of his movies, Out to See, places cutouts of assorted figures (a man in an overcoat, a ship, a truck, owls, old-timey bicyclists, fish) in modern-day San Francisco. The song is a mixture of up-tempo and melancholy; Rourke reflects this dichotomy in his images by placing emotive characters into ever-changing scenery that is always surprising, yet (despite its fast pace) never feels hurried. Did we mention he writes and performs the music too?”

 

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FRINGE FESTIVAL FIESTA

9:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m.  Location Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Cafe

Tickets: $5 stu; $8 general

Come to the Schnitzer Museum Cafe and prepare to have your mind and senses blown by interactive digital piñatas and video remixes of classic Mexican cinema, the return of the prize-winning Inflato-Globe, salsa music mixed by DJ Mario Mora, and delectable food from Daniel’s Mexican Restaurant. This party is going to be awesome and you don’t want to miss it. Admission includes two free drinks. Cosponsored with UO MeCHA.