Noteworthy Docs Dominate IFC Center's Spring Lineup
Spring has sprung in the city (well, almost) and although we all want to embrace the open air options the city has to offer this time of year, IFC Center has given you a reason to skip that trip to the park. Luckily for local cinephiles, a fresh crop of films will soon be hitting the screens of the IFC Center. Their official spring calendar has been released, and once again, they do not disappoint (but then again, it's IFC and they never seem to let me down). What am I already adding to my Google Calendar see this season? Check out the five films from IFC Center's spring lineup that I'm counting down the days to see.
5. Louder Than a Bomb (May 18): This films takes us into the lives of four Chicago teens as they prepare to compete in the world's largest poetry slam, aptly named 'Louder Than a Bomb.' The film's website proclaims, "It’s about the joy of being young, and the pain of growing up. It’s about speaking out, making noise, and finding your voice." Sure to be ripe with plenty of social issues, the backdrop of the poetry slam will bring an interesting layer to the film. Also, I spent my late teens-early twenties in Chicago, so the nostalgia factor is admittedly playing a part in this pick.
4. Film Socialisme (June 3): Where to begin? Well, first of all it's the only film on the list that is not a documentary. I first saw the iconic Godard's latest rhapsody of a film at the 2010 New York Film Festival last October. The film combines a disjointed narrative with Godard's signature appropriation of video footage. Once the screening began, it took all of ten minutes to recognize that this film (like most of Godard's work) would require multiple viewings. I remember switching between frantically writing notes for a graduate school course to being completely entranced with the images, and then from anxiously checking the time to feeling emotionally drained by the subject matter. I left the screening and hung out with some classmates at Hypar Pavilion (aka that wondrous grassy hill that suddenly emerges out of the concrete at Lincoln Center). Although we discussed the film, I felt as though I didn't truly get a chance to process it at that moment. The thing about Film Socialisme is this: I feel like I have to see it, that I absolutely must subject myself to the filmic inner-workings of Godard's mind once again on a big screen. At the same time, I'm already dreading it. Film Socialisme is not for the passive, casual film-goer. It's frustrating, confusing, strange, unsettling, somewhat disturbing, and yet brilliantly mesmerizing.
3. !Women Art Revolution (June 2): I think the title pretty much sums up the basis of its appeal. Women, art and revolution - what's not to like here? Lynn Hershman Lesson tackles the cultural and artistic impact of the Feminist Art Movement. The film relies on a combination of interviews and archival footage to bring this important moment in time to the screen. According the the film's website, it "reveals how the Feminist Art Movement fused free speech and politics into an art that radically transformed the art and culture of our times." And I repeat, what's not to like here?
2. Lost Bohemia (May 20): Lost Bohemia gives us an inside look at one of the city's most intriguing Bohemian outposts. Atop Carnegie Hall sits towers packed with studios. The infamous Carnegie Hall Studios once rented out work-live spaces to a group of eccentric and talented artists. These studios once housed the likes of Marlon Brando, Paddy Chayefsky, and Isadora Duncan. When the Carnegie Hall Corporation decided to evict their tenants, the lives of those residing in this artists enclave came crashing around them. Director Josef Birdman Astor turned the camera onto is neighbors in the studios and documented their fight with the Carnegie Hall Corporation.
1. Beautiful Darling (April 22): Warhol Superstar, Candy Darling, is showcased in this documentary by James Rasin. Well, I was honestly sold at hearing 'there's a doc on Candy Darling.' I would have willingly gone to any theater in the city to see it, but luckily IFC Center has made accessing it very convenient. Candy Darling is one of the most fascinating members of Warhol's legendary coterie. Some prominent survivors of Warhol's inner-circle were assembled to discuss the life and times of Candy Dariling for the creation of this film. Among those interviewed are Penny Arcade, Fran Lebowitz, Gerard Malanga, Taylor Mead, Paul Morrisey, Geraldine Smith, and Holly Woodlawn. Sure to be a spellbinding trip back to one of the city's most fascinating times, Beautiful Darling will alternate between hilarity and tragedy to provide audiences with a (long overdue) look into Candy's life.
