UKRAINE: REVOLUTION, LOVE AND MAYHEM
Some dynamic work is currently being generated in the Ukraine,
coming out of the seismic cultural, political and economic upheaval
already in the country. Four films illustrate varying sectors of Ukranian
life—from the politically charged protests of the 2014 revolution, the
depths of the mines in the northwest, and the comedic tale of a crosscultural
romance—culminating with an isolating and captivating look at
corrupted youth, told entirely in sign language. Although unique in
their storytelling, each filmmaker seamlessly and pointedly explores
how imprisonment, immigration, love, and revolution affect the people
of Ukraine and its surrounding countries. The camera does not break
away from its subjects, (regardless of the danger conveyed) resulting in
this riveting work from Ukraine’s filmmakers.
All films are $9 ($7 Walker members, students, and seniors) and screen
in the Walker Cinema unless otherwise noted.
Directed by Sergei Loznitsa
Friday, March 20, 7 pm
Saturday, March 28, 2 pm
“A vital and urgent film.” —The Guardian
An extraordinary documentary, Maidan captures the events in Kiev’s
public square from the demonstration against President Yanukovich’s
reign to the inevitable outburst between citizens and police in January
2014. The crew bravely remains fixed as it films the events in each
location, the camera only moved during threats of police attack. The film scrutinizes the phenomenon of the social and political events of
the Ukrainian revolution, without the sentimentalizing elements of
news accounts and subjective narration. This non-traditional style
plunges one into a nation being reawakened. 2014, DCP, in Ukrainian
with English subtitles, 133 minutes.
Directed by Gaël Mocaër
Saturday, March 21, 2 pm
Friday, March 27, 7:30 pm
Midwest premiere
“Works beautifully; an interrogation of how documentary filmmakers
interact with their subjects, as well as an opportunity to glimpse
working conditions in a remote and rarely-visited corner of Europe.”
—The Hollywood Reporter
Director Gaël Mocaër descends the hazardous mines near Bouzhanska
Novovolynsk in north-western Ukraine, capturing the determination,
companionship, and dissatisfaction found in a well-paying but ignored
profession. Aside from a traditional Soviet era holiday “Coal Miner’s
Day,” when these workers are honored, they are ignored and belittled
by their bosses—with little concern for their safety. Using outdated
tools also from the Soviet era, these men candidly swear and complain,
urging Mocaër to “Shoot, shoot!” amidst collapsing ceilings and
coughing fits. Death is a constant possibility in a world rarely brought
to the surface. 2014, video, in Ukranian and Russian with English
subtitles, 80 minutes.
Directed by Maryna Er Gorbach and Mehmet Bahadir Er
Saturday, March 21, 7 pm
Two lives collide when Cemal, a working class Turkish man meets a rich
Ukranian woman (Sasha) at a club in Kiev. Dragged to this spot for a
bachelor party for an arranged marriage, Cemal’s instant fascination
with the beautiful Sasha prompts them to take off together. Comedy
and drama ensue when Sasha’s wandering grandmother disappears
and the two must find her. Cemal soon learns Sasha’s seemingly
perfect world is anything but, as he encounters her family members
and her affair with a married Russian man. Straying from typical
romantic conventions, the pair deals with language and cultural
barriers forcing them to confront the idea of love. 2013, DCP, in
Russian, Ukranian, and Turkish with English subtitles, 90 minutes.
THE TRIBE (PLEMYA)
Directed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
Saturday, March 28, 7 pm
“Rough, disturbing and totally captivating” —Ariane Allard, Cannes Film
Festival
Truly original and winner of three prizes during Critics Week at the
2014 Cannes Film Festival, Slaboshpytskiy’s feature debut is a shocking
yet stimulating narrative told solely in Ukranian sign language—with no
subtitles. Sergey (Grigoriy Fesenko) arrives at his new high school for
the deaf, where he is quickly inducted into a gang that runs a ring of
prostitution, crime, and fear. Sergey rises to power when he agrees to
pimp out the female members, inadvertently beginning a romance with
one of the girls—a decision breaching the tribe’s code and resulting in
dire consequences. 2014, DCP, in Ukranian sign language with no
subtitles, 132 minutes.
This presentation is made possible by generous support from the
Bentson Foundation and Elizabeth Redleaf.
ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO: AFRICA’S VISUAL POET
ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO: AFRICA’S VISUAL POET
Thursday, April 2 – Saturday, April 4
“I think for me, cinema, or to make movies, or any act of creation is the
research of yourself.” —Abderrahmane Sissako
Although officially labelled a Mauritanian director, Abderrahmane
Sissako made films in Russia, Tunisia, Angola, and Mali before returning
to his mother’s homeland to shoot the masterful Waiting for Happiness(Mauritania 2002). Since then, his work in films like Bamako and
Timbuktu has been centered on the Sahel region of Africa, but he
remains a cosmopolitan practitioner of cinema as a world form. If he
has commitments to a certain region and its people, he expresses them
very differently than the engaged anti-colonial nationalist filmmakers
of the previous generation. His films are distinguished by their great
formal beauty and their poetic imagery, but also by their humor, their
profound sympathy with human suffering, and their almost
philosophical inquiry into relations between West Africa and the rest of
the world. All his films show great respect for the difficulty of genuine
communication across different cultural spaces and for the complexity
of translation. Music is important to cinema in general, but Sissako has
been especially brilliant in mobilizing the best of African great music to
reinforce his visual imagery; nearly all his films also make spectacular
use of Africa’s extraordinary creativity with textiles.
Unless otherwise noted, all films are directed by Abderrahmane
Sissako, shown in the Walker Cinema, and are $12 ($10 Walker
members; students; and seniors). Through this annual academic
partnership, all screenings are introduced by the director and followed
by a conversation led by faculty members from the University of Minnesota, Macalester College, St. Olaf College, and Carleton College.
LIFE ON EARTH (LA VIE SUR TERRE) with OCTOBER (OKTYABR)
Thursday, April 2, 7 pm FREE
“This film, beautiful, disquieting and sad, is unique and profound.”
—CineFilms, 2009
In the late 1990’s Arte television invited Sissako to make the only
African film for a series on the millennium of 2000. Starting from the
packaged excess of European consumption in a basement department
store in Paris, Sissako ascends into the light of Sokolo, his father’s ricegrowing
village in Mali, in Life on Earth, a gorgeous film essay on the
connectedness and disconnectedness between Africa and Europe,
undergirded with perfectly chosen quotations from Caribbean poet
Aimé Césaire. While Radio France International trumpets its triumphal
countdown from the Eiffel tower, Sokolo is literally on a different
calendar, so the day has no special numerical magic for them. Without
sentimentalizing poverty and suffering, the film shows Sokolo’s genuine
beauty and contemporaneity; perfect acoustic music from Brahem’s
“Barzakh,” and from Salif Keïta’s “Folon” hold everything together, as
Sissako makes the boundary between fiction and documentary
disappear. 1998, 35mm, in French and Bambara with English subtitles,
61 minutes
After a decade of film school in Russia, Sissako brought October
(Oktyabr), his first, directly to the Cannes Film Festival, where it was
screened to great acclaim. Idrissa, an African student who must leave
the Soviet Union, says goodbye to Ira, his Russian girlfriend. In lush
black and white, the film explores the anomie and loneliness of Soviet
citizens, and the racist suspicions endured by Idrissa. Idrissa leaves, but
the film stays with Ira as she tries to resolve the serious questions
Idrissa has left behind. 1993, video, in Russian with English subtitles, 37
minutes.
Post screening discussion with Sissako and Linda Mokdad, St. Olaf
College
WAITING FOR HAPPINESS (HEREMAKONO)
Friday, April 3, 7 pm
“A director’s poetic gaze at people he knows and a place with which he
is emotionally connected” —Antonio Pasolini, Kamera
A teenage boy, likely a future filmmaker, visits his mother in
Mauritania, on his way to Europe. As in his previous films,
Abderrahmane Sissako moves us with exquisite imagery rather than
with narrative drive. Although the film never leaves Africa, its
treatment of migration and diaspora is more profound than that of
many “immigration” films. Sissako focuses on slow but crucial human
processes like learning a language or practicing a musical instrument, and the film meditates beautifully on issues of light, framing, and
filmmaking. Great music by Oumou Sangare and Anouar Brahem and
winner of grand prize, FESPACO 2003. 2002, France/Mauritania, 35mm,
in French, Hassanya, and Mandarin, with English subtitles, 90 minutes.
Post screening discussion with Sissako and Cherif Keita, Carleton
College.
Saturday, April 4, 4 pm
“A work of cool intelligence and profound anger, a long, dense,
argument that is also a haunting visual poem.” —A.O. Scott, The New
York Times
Bamako puts the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on
trial for the damage they have done to Africa, casting real-life judges
and lawyers , and holding the trial in a large family courtyard in Mali’s
capital city. The trial testimony by witnesses like writer and former
Minister of Culture Aminata Traoré is compelling, but what makes the
film extraordinary is the moving way that the lives of Malians living in
and around the compound have been affected by the financial policies
being debated. The film is very smart about who usually gets
permission to speak (and in what language) at such international
forums. The trial proceedings are often interrupted by Malian citizens
expressing themselves without recognition from the judge, and by life
events such as weddings, child rearing, and funerals that take place in
the compound. 2006, 35mm, in French and Bambara with English
subtitles, 115 minutes.
Post screening discussion with Sissako and Joëlle Vitiello, Macalester
College.
Saturday, April 4, 7:30 pm
Nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
“When Timbuktu, a culture like that, is under assault, it’s all of
humanity that is being attacked.” —Larry Rohter, The New York Times
Based on real-life events of the brief 2012 occupation of the legendary
city by religious fundamentalists, Timbuktu focuses closely on the
exchanges (in six different languages!) between townspeople and
jihadists, and on the courage of some, especially women, who resist
the occupation. Although Sissako is clearly horrified by the islamists’
ignorance and violence, he nonetheless presents them as
differentiated human individuals. Given the fact that the occupiers
forbade secular music on pain of serious punishment, it is important
that Sissako has cast several real-life musicians; male and female leads
are played by guitarist Ibrahim Ahmed and singer Telawt Walet Bilal,while rising vocal star Fatoumata Diawara has a spectacular part. And
there’s a soccer match like none you’ve ever seen. The subject matter
of Timbuktu is grim, but the filmmaking is magical. 2014, DCP, in French
and Arabic with English subtitles, 97 minutes.
Post screening discussion with Sissako and Charles Sugnet, University of
Minnesota.
Support for this program is provided by the Cultural Services of the
French Embassy, the Institut Françaìs; and the Cultural Service at the
Consulate General of France in Chicago.
RETURN OF GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE (ADIEU AU LANGAGE)
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Friday, March 13, 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 14, 2 and 7:30 pm
$9 ($7 Walker members, students, and seniors)
Walker Cinema
“Godard hasn’t lost his prankster side, and Goodbye alights with visual
gags and punning wordplay.” —Variety
Newly named Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics,
Goodbye to Language returns to the Cinema by popular demand. As
the director himself describes his newest 3-D triumph: “The idea is
simple: A married woman and a single man meet. They love, they
argue, fists fly.” But, of course, nothing is so simple with Godard. The
scenario is reminiscent of his 1960s New Wave-era films. 2014, 3-D
DCP, in French with English subtitles, 70 minutes.
This presentation is made possible by generous support from the
Bentson Foundation and Elizabeth Redleaf.
TWIN CITIES CELEBRATES BILL POHLAD
The Walker Art Center is pleased to collaborate with The Minneapolis
St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) to celebrate filmmaker Bill
Pohlad. Known for producing award winning films such as 12 Years a
Slave, The Tree of Life, and Brokeback Mountain, Pohlad has moved to
directing with Love & Mercy. The celebration includes two public
screenings of Love & Mercy, one at the Walker on Friday April 24th and
the other on the Festival’s Closing Night, Saturday April 25th,
2015. Director Bill Pohlad will be present for both events.
“An intimate rendering of [Brian] Wilson’s mercurial genius”
—Cameron Bailey, Toronto International Film Festival
A look into the life of acclaimed Beach Boys member Brian Wilson
(younger and older self played by Paul Dano and John Cusack,
respectively) during his days of stardom in the 1960s, then finding the
once colorful musician amidst his fight with mental illness 20 years
later. More than a standard biography, the film captures Wilson’s
immensely strong and likable spirit, filled with memorable music as it
brings a long sought after narrative vibrantly to life. 2014, DCP, 120
minutes.
Walker Art Center:
Friday, April 24, 2015, 7:30 pm
$12 ($10 Walker members, students, and seniors).
Reception to follow
Walker tickets on-sale:
Walker Film Club members: March 3
Walker members: March 10
General public: March 24
Closing Night at Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival
Saturday, April 25, 2015, 7:30pm St. Anthony Main Theatre
For details and to purchase tickets to the Festival screening
visit www.mspfilm.org. Tickets go on sale to members of the Film
Society of Minneapolis St. Paul on March 10th and to the general public
on March 24.
FREE SCREENING
JASON MORAN: LOOKS OF A LOT
Directed by Radiclani Clytus, Gregg Conde, and Tony Gannon
Thursday, April 30
6:30 and 8:00 pm FREE
Walker Cinema
“A gathering and a series of pieces shot through the prism of my
Chicago collaborators, shedding light on our flaws and our virtues.”
—Jason Moran
New York based jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran prepares his
new multimedia project with Chicago sculptor Theaster Gates, joined
by Bandwagon (drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Tarus Mateen),
reedist Ken Vandermark, vocalist Katie Ernst, and the Kenwood
Academy High School Jazz Band. Performed at the Symphony Center in
Chicago on May 30 2014, Looks of a Lot documents the collaboration
between Moran’s improvised blues compositions with Gates’ inventive
stage sets (built from salvaged materials). Moran opens himself to
incorporating fascinating circumstances—such as bringing children
onstage, placing performers on different levels, and playing with simple
instruments—simply to see how the work unfolds. 2014, DCP, 61
minutes.
FREE FILMS ON VIEW
Directed by Ericka Beckman
Lecture Room
Through March 29
Screens daily from 11 am
Ericka Beckman’s dual-screen projection reimagines the construction of
the Walker’s Herzog & de Meuron–designed building as a video/pinball
game. The short film is edited from hours of footage shot during her
2003–2005 Walker artist residency.
Major support to preserve, digitize, and present the Ruben/Bentson
Film and Video Study Collection is generously provided by the Bentson
Foundation.
WALKER DIALOGUES: A HISTORY
March 31 – May 31
Lecture Room
Screens daily from 11 am
This Walker-produced documentary is perfect preparation for the
upcoming 25th anniversary of the Walker Dialogues, in a conversation
between current curator Sheryl Mousley and former curator Bruce
Jenkins. Starting in 1990 with veteran actor/director Clint Eastwood and
up to the most recent, director Steve McQueen (in November 2013),
this piece represents the wide range of talent that has come to the
Walker. From worldwide visitors Wim Wenders and Abbas Kiarostami,
to animators Timothy and Stephen Quay (The Brothers Quay), to Agnes
Varda of the French New Wave, and storytellers Joel and Ethan Coen—
the Dialogues offer a unique chance to hear how the 60 guests each
contribute to filmmaking. 2014, video, 66 minutes
Major support to preserve, digitize, and present the Ruben/Bentson
Film and Video Study Collection is generously provided by the Bentson
Foundation.
Various directors
Best Buy Film/Video Bay
February 10 – June 30
Showcasing the talent of Minnesota filmmakers, MNTV is produced in
collaboration with the Walker, IFP/MN, and Twin Cities Public
Television. Program length: 60 minutes each.
Program 1: FILMETTO—Porta 241, Ann Prim; Ayananta, Neha Belvalkar;
Funeral for Fun, Annie Enneking and Kevin Obsatz; Into the Roil, Kevin
Russell; home. not home., Andrea Shaker; Home Near Water,
Christopher Lange.
Program 2: Artist Series: Shelly Mosman, Jami Olson; Sermon of the
Serpent, Mark Brown; The Hammer and the Axe, Preston Johnson; The
Job of the Architect, Horacio Devoto; Albert Einstein, John Akre;
INCONTEXT, Mike Hazard.
Program 3: Former Best Friends Forever, Peter Nelson; Rosie, Alexander
Kohnstamm; A Mind of Winter, Katie Rensch and Jes Reyes; The Last of
Fall, Peter Franco; City of Fear, Cody Brown.
This presentation is made possible by generous support from the
Jerome Foundation. Major support to preserve, digitize, and present
the Ruben/Bentson Film and Video Study Collection is generously
provided by the Bentson Foundation.