Loft Film Fest - The Loft Cinema

OCTOBER 21-25, 2015 PRESENTED BY

COX COMMUNICATIONS AND DESERT DIAMOND CASINOS & ENTERTAINMENT

LOFT FILM FEST 2015 FESTIVAL STAFF

Welcome to the Loft Film Fest! I am so proud of the extraordinary lineup of films and I’m thrilled that we get to bring them to Tucson for five exciting days in October. Film festivals should always be about discovery! I urge you to take some chances - see a film that sounds unlike anything you’ve ever seen! Who knows - maybe you’ll discover a new director, a fresh face or your new favorite movie! The 2015 Loft Film Fest will always be remembered as the one where you met Rita Moreno, Alfonso Arau, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana! In addition to her many awards, Rita Moreno will be honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in December! We’re proud to welcome Larry and Diana back for a 10th anniversary screening of Brokeback Mountain, just after Larry received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama! Alfonso Arau is a Tucson favorite, because, after all, he is El Guapo in Three Amigos!

festival executive director PEGGY JOHNSON festival directors JJ GIDDINGS JEFF YANC managing director ZACH BRENEMAN festival programming consultant MIKE PLANTE

We’re excited to add free outdoor movies this year in our newly improved parking lot! We’re adding valet parking from 5PM during the fest (free for pass holders!)

associate programmers SHAWNA DACOSTA JONATHAN KLEEFELD

For the first time, select films will be in competition, a result of The Loft being the only American festival member of the International Confederation of Art Houses. Look for the P so you can vote for the audience award.

art director MATT MCCOY

All of us at the Loft are motivated by two things: a passion for film and an equal passion for our culturally-rich community! We hope you find the 2015 Loft Film Fest a vibrant addition to the Tucson arts scene and from all of us - ENJOY!

development associates NICK KELSO AMBER KLEEFELD

PEGGY JOHNSON festival executive director

administrative assistant DANIELA ONTIVEROS director of theatre operations JASON DENHOLM

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL Celebrating its sixth year in 2015, The Loft Film Fest is dedicated to showcasing the best independent, foreign and classic films, as well as celebrating the work of established and emerging directors, writers, producers and actors. The Loft Film Fest, through its eclectic and diverse programming, aims not only to expand the audience for cinema that challenges, inspires and entertains, but also to honor those artists whose talent and passion bring that cinema to life.

assistant managers RAY BORBOA KYLE CANFIELD PEDRO ROBLES BRENDA RODRIGUEZ volunteer coordinator BRENDA RODRIGUEZ inventory specialist DAVID CORREA projectionists ANA HUMPHREY DALE MEYERS KEISHA RICHARDSON IZABELLA VANEK MIKE WILKINS theatre floor staff CLARICE BALES ADAM BUCHOLZ TRENTON CASTILLO BROOKE HARTNETT HALEY MCFEELY LISA SCHAEFER A.J. SIMON MJ WATZ MARYELLEN WHITMOYER LENOX WIESE

The Loft Film Fest is made possible in part by the support of its generous members and our incredible team of volunteers!

ADOPT A FILM FOR $500! Help us make this the best film festival yet! When you adopt a film you help us cover the screening and travel costs of bringing in award-winning filmmakers from across the globe along with the top films from the world’s greatest film festivals! As our way of saying thanks we’ll put your name on the screen before the film, you will be personally thanked in the introduction at the screening and you’ll have our eternal gratitude. Your name will also be featured on our website and in select social media posts! IN ADDITION you will receive 2 passes to the Loft Film Fest ($250 value) and admission for two to a private cocktail party with Rita Moreno on October 22 (value: priceless as this is an invitation-only event - no tickets will be sold).

FESTIVAL PASSES (INCLUDES FREE VALET PARKING!) General admission: $125 • loft members: $100

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS

General admission: $10 • loft members: $8

tickets available at our box office or online at: LOFTFILMFEST.ORG THE LOFT CINEMA

3233 e speedway blvd tucson, aZ 85716

520-795-7777 (showtimes) 520-795-0844 (box office) 520-322-5638 (loft office)

The Loft Cinema Board of Directors

WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21 & 22

01

BACK TO THE FUTURE DOUBLE FEATURE AND ENCHANTMENT UNDER THE SEA PARTY!

wednesday, oct 21 at 6:00pm (screen 1) party starts at 6:00pm • films start at 7:00pm

General admission to double feature (includes party): $10 • loft members: $8 • admission to party only: free no tickets will be available for one film only. all tickets will include the double feature.

PRESENTED BY BUFFALO EXCHANGE Celebrate opening night of the 2015 Loft Film Fest AND Back to the Future Day with a Back to the Future-themed party (Enchantment Under the Sea!) in the Loft parking lot, featuring live ‘50s music, moviethemed snacks, a photo-op with an actual DeLorean and fashions from 1955, 1985 and 2015 courtesy of Buffalo Exchange, to be followed by an indoor double feature screening of Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II. October 21, 2015 is international Back to the Future Day, celebrating the exact date Marty McFly travels to “in the future” in Back to the Future Part II. Get your Flux Capacitors charged and let’s all get back in time!

02

COURT

wednesday, oct 21 at 7:30pm (screen 3)

TUCSON PREMIERE! Winner of top prizes at the Venice and Mumbai film festivals, Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court is a quietly devastating, absurdist portrait of injustice, caste prejudice, and venal politics in contemporary India. An elderly folk singer and grassroots organizer, dubbed the “people’s poet,” is arrested on a trumped-up charge of inciting a sewage worker to commit suicide. His trial is a ridiculous and harrowing display of institutional incompetence, with endless procedural delays, coached witnesses for the prosecution, and obsessive privileging of arcane colonial law over reason and mercy. What truly distinguishes Court, however, is Tamhane’s brilliant ensemble cast of professional and nonprofessional actors; his affecting mixture of comedy and tragedy; and his naturalist approach to his characters and to Indian society as a whole, rich with complexity and contradiction. (Dir. by Chaitanya Tamhane, 2014, India, in Marathi, Gujarati, English, and Hindi with subtitles, 116 mins., Not Rated)

BACK TO THE FUTURE The ingenious time travel comedy Back to the Future is a pitch-perfect combination of sharp satire, warm sentiment and sci-fi excitement. Michael J. Fox plays 1985 teen Marty McFly, whose mentor, Doc Brown (a brilliantly manic Christopher Lloyd), invents a time-tripping DeLorean that takes the kid back to 1955. When he inadvertently gets in the way of his teenage parents’ relationship (and causes his future mother, played by Lea Thompson, to develop a crush on him!), Marty has to figure out how to give his nerdy father (a gloriously odd Crispin Glover) confidence and get them back together to insure his own eventual existence. Funny, touching and suspenseful, this love letter to American pop culture is one of the most purely entertaining films of the 1980s. (Dir. by Robert Zemeckis, 1985, USA, 116 mins., Rated PG)

ARIZONA PREMIERE!

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II Rather than rest on their laurels, Robert Zemeckis and writing partner Bob Gale completely reinvented the Back to the Future franchise with this audacious follow-up. In a bit of experimentation worthy of the French New Wave, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd return for a sequel that spends most of its running time not before or after the original story, but at the same time. A series of timetravel complications send our hero Marty McFly and partner Doc Brown back to the 1955 of the first film, after a mishap in 2015 generates a parallel universe. Even more elaborately plotted than the original, this highly ambitious sequel allows Zemeckis more opportunities for witty satire and cutting-edge special effects. (Dir. by Robert Zemeckis, 1989, USA, 108 mins., Rated PG)

A crowd-pleasing comedy, Paulette tells the story of an older woman living alone in the projects on the outskirts of Paris. Paulette’s meager retirement pension is not enough for her to make ends meet. When she notices some curious trafficking outside her building one night, Paulette sees it as a sign of fate. As an ex-pastry chef, with a gift for commerce and cooking, she decides to start selling cannabis. But the other dealers refuse to accept Paulette’s unexpected success, and she quickly finds herself in a spectacular series of events, allowing her to prove herself in a remarkable and heroic way. (Dir. by Jerome Enrico, 2012, France, in French with subtitles, 87 mins., Rated R) Playing with the short film On Vacation, Waiting to Die: An elderly couple tries to decide how to spend their vacation in Tucson. (Dir. by Greg Castro & Matthew Ramirez, 2015, USA, 7 mins.)

03

PAULETTE

thursday, oct 22 at noon (screen 1)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

04

BOUNCE P

thursday, oct 22 at 12:45pm (screen 3)

ARIZONA PREMIERE! From Brazilian favelas to dusty Congolese villages, from Neolithic Scottish isles to modern soccer pitches, Bounce explores the little-known origins of our favorite sports. The film crosses time, languages and continents to discover how the ball has staked its claim on our lives and fueled our passion to compete. Equal parts science, history and cultural essay, Bounce removes us from the scandals and commercialism of today’s sports world to uncover the true reasons we play ball, helping us reclaim our universal connection to the games we love. (Dir. by Jerome Thelia, 2015, USA/Brazil/Congo/India/Ireland/Italy/Mexico/UK, in English with subtitles, 71 mins., Not Rated) Playing with the short film Every Day: At 86, Joy Johnson was the oldest woman to run the 2013 New York City Marathon. The story of an inspiring athlete with an uncommon passion for her sport, and for life. Part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series. (Dir. by Gabe Spitzer, 2015, USA, 12 mins.)

06

NARRATIVE SHORTS #1 P


One of two programs at this year’s fest featuring a diverse selection of incredible short films from around the world. LATINER A young woman from Argentina comes to New York to work as an actress, but quickly realizes she may have trouble finding her niche. (Dir. by Inés Gowland, 2015, USA, 12 mins.) IN THE CLOUDS The difference between how we think romance should work and how it actually does. (Dir. by Marcelo Mitnik, 2015, Argentina, 20 mins.) THE EXTRAORDINARY MR. JÚPITER Franco Júpiter, an extraordinary magician with real powers, challenges nature in order to find real love. (Dir. by Federico Torres, 2015, Puerto Rico, 17 mins.) SIREN The bond between a young woman and her older brother is tested by his manipulative new girlfriend. From the writer of The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing. (Dir. by Melissa Bank, 2015, USA, 11 mins.) NOTED. After a young lady runs out of room in her notebook, she sets out to find more paper. The simple task quickly turns into a madcap and surreal adventure as her efforts are thwarted at every turn. (Dir. by Michael McDaniel, 2015, USA, 19 mins.)

05

THE NEW GIRLFRIEND


TUCSON PREMIERE! Francois Ozon’s humorous psychological drama The New Girlfriend stars Anais Demoustier as Claire, a young woman whose closest friend since childhood, Lea, passes away leaving behind a husband, David (Romain Duris) and a newborn baby. One day she drops by David’s house unexpectedly, and finds him dressed in his dead wife’s clothes and feeding their baby with a bottle. He explains that Lea was well aware of his predilection, and eventually, so relieved that he has someone to share his secret with, David and Claire create a female persona for him named Virginia. As David begins to identify more strongly as Virginia, this leads to confusing and conflicting feelings in Claire, and causes a rift between Claire and her husband (Raphael Personnaz). (Dir. by Francois Ozon, 2015, France, in French with subtitles, 116 mins., Rated R)

HARRY – THE PROFESSIONAL A small film examining Harry, one of the most hard-working, dedicated, colorful musicians of his generation. (Dir. by Henry Dean, 2015, USA, 3 mins.) OUR BEST BEAR A lo-fi experimental short story with its own sense of humor, filled with strange rhythms and eccentric characters. (Dir. by Sasha Statman-Weil, 2015, USA, 14 mins.) EVERYTHING & EVERYTHING & EVERYTHING Shane Carruth (Primer, Upstream Color) stars in the story of a man whose life is forever transformed when a mystical blue pyramid – that inexplicably produces doorknobs – appears in his apartment. (Dir. by Alberto Roldán, 2015, USA, 15 mins.)


07

THE DAUGHTER OF DAWN


09

45 YEARS


Co-presented by Arizona State Museum’s Native Eyes Film Showcase with support from Tohono O’odham Nation Museum and Cultural Center and Indigenous Strategies. Featuring a post film Q&A with special guest.

TUCSON PREMIERE!

The Daughter of Dawn is an 80-minute, six-reel silent film shot in May, June, and July of 1920 in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma. The story, played by an all-Indian cast of 300 Kiowas and Comanches, includes a four-way love story, two buffalo hunt scenes, a battle scene, village scenes, dances, deceit, courage, hand to hand combat, love scenes, and a happy ending. The Indians, who had been on the reservation less than fifty years, brought with them their own tipis, horses, clothing, and material culture. The lead actor is White Parker, the son of the great Comanche leader Quanah Parker. Thought lost for years, the film was recently restored and given its first score by David A. Yeagley, a University of Arizona alum. (Dir. by Norbert A. Myles, 1920, USA, 80 mins., Not Rated)

“Rampling has never received an Oscar nomination, but she deserves one for this performance. Courtenay, who has two Oscar nods under his belt, rates another one for helping Rampling reach this peak” – Lou Lumenick, New York Post

08

JAFAR PANAHI’S TAXI

thursday, october 22 at 5:30pm (screen 3)

TUCSON PREMIERE! Internationally-acclaimed director Jafar Panahi (This is Not a Film) drives a yellow cab through the vibrant streets of Tehran, picking up a diverse (and yet representative) group of passengers in a single day. Each man, woman, and child candidly expresses his or her own view of the world, while being interviewed by the curious and gracious driver/director. His camera, placed on the dashboard of his mobile film studio, captures a spirited slice of Iranian society while also brilliantly redefining the borders of comedy, drama and cinema. Taxi is a gently rebellious film, a blend of documentary and narrative that riffs on the contentious life of the artist in modern Iran. Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Taxi is another modern classic from master director Jafar Panahi. (Dir. by Jafar Panahi, 2015, Iran, in Persian with subtitles, 82 mins., Not Rated)

PRESENTED BY CREST INSURANCE

The winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Charlotte Rampling) and Best Actor (Tom Courtenay) at the Berlin International Film Festival, Andrew Haigh’s (Weekend, Looking) film is a moving and profound look at marriage and the secrets we keep. There is just one week until Kate Mercer’s forty-fifth wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband. The body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate. (Dir. by Andrew Haigh, 2015, UK, 93mins, Not Rated)


10

FLORENCE, ARIZONA P


12

THE FORBIDDEN ROOM


WESTERN U.S. PREMIERE!

ARIZONA PREMIERE!

WITH DIRECTOR ANDREA B. SCOTT IN PERSON! Florence, Arizona is a cowboy town with a prison problem. Founded in 1866, this bastion of the Wild West is home to 8,500 civilians and 17,000 inmates spread over nine prisons. Through an unconventional lens, the documentary film Florence, Arizona weaves together the stories of four key residents of Florence, whose lives have all been shadowed in some way by the surrounding prison industrial complex. The result is an intricately crafted cinematic tapestry, threaded through with deep strands of Americana, humor, intimacy, and pathos, revealing as much about ourselves as it does about our modern carceral state. (Dir. by Andrea B. Scott, 2014, USA, 78 mins., Not Rated)

A submarine in distress, a lumberjack who mysteriously appears to the crew – wasn’t he just in the dark forests of Holstein-Schleswig rescuing the beautiful Margot from the claws of the Red Wolves? A neurosurgeon who digs deeply into the brain of a manic patient; a murderer who pretends to be the victim of his own killings; a traumatized young woman “on the Deutsch-Kolumbianisch Express somewhere between Berlin and Bogota”; seductive skeletons, zeppelins colliding, and a hot bath that seems to have triggered the whole thing. Guy Maddin’s rampant, anarchic film, co-directed by Evan Johnson, resembles an apparently chaotic, yet always significant eroto-claustrophobic nightmare that never seems to want to end, in which the plot, characters and locations constantly flow into one another in truly enigmatic style. (Dir. by Guy Maddin, 2015, Canada, 130 mins., Not Rated)

11

JULES AND JIM

thursday, oct 22 at 8:00pm (outdoor)

13

IN THE BASEMENT


FREE ADMISSION | $5 SUGGESTED DONATION

ARIZONA PREMIERE!

PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN SEATING

NO ONE UNDER 18 WILL BE ADMITTED The film is about people and their obsessions. The film is about basements and what people do in them in their free time. The film is about brass-band music and opera arias, expensive furniture and cheap men’s jokes, sexuality and sadism, fitness and fascism, whips and dolls, snakes and guns, love and the longing for love. In the Basement is a film essay and Ulrich Seidl’s return to the documentary form after his wide-ranging Paradise trilogy. Using his familiar tableaux style, Ulrich Seidl’s stunning, hilarious, and outrageous new documentary explores the underground of the Austrian soul. (Dir. by Ulrich Seidl, 2014, Austria, in German with subtitles, 81 mins., Not Rated) Playing with the short film Take Me: A nurse working at a center for the disabled confronts his principles when he’s asked to accomplish a particular task. (Dir. by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette & André Turpin, 2015, Canada, 10 mins.)

Fall in love all over again with Francois Truffaut’s French New Wave classic at this special under the stars screening on our state-of-the-art outdoor screen! And don’t miss the acclaimed new documentary, Hitchcock/ Truffaut, screening at The Loft Film Fest on Sunday, October 25 at 11:30am! Propelled by jazzy editing, boundless energy and spot-on performances from Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner and Henri Serre, Jules and Jim is an exhilarating romance as only Truffaut could tell it. (Francois Truffaut, 1962, France, in French with subtitles, 105 mins., Not Rated)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

14

PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT

friday, oct 23 at 11:45am (screen 1)

CO-PRESENTED BY THE TUCSON INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL Bouncing between Europe and the United States as often as she would between lovers, Peggy Guggenheim’s life was as swirling as the design of her uncle’s museum, and reads more like fiction than any reality imaginable. Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict offers a rare look into Guggenheim’s world: blending the abstract, the colorful, the surreal and the salacious, to portray a life that was as complex and unpredictable as the artwork Peggy revered and the artists she pushed forward. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, whose acclaimed debut feature documentary followed the life of Harper’s Bazaar fashion editor Diana Vreeland, turns her lens towards Peggy Guggenheim: a fascinating woman who defined and assembled the premier collection of 20th century modern art. (Dir. by Lisa Immordino Vreeland, 2015, USA/Italy/UK, 96 mins., Not Rated)

15

DOUBLE DIGITS: THE STORY OF A NEIGHBORHOOD MOVIE STAR P

friday, oct 23 at noon (screen 3)

WITH DIRECTOR JUSTIN JOHNSON IN PERSON! Deep in the recesses of YouTube there is an ingenious artist who cannot be stopped. He consistently churns out 3-4 original feature-length films a year. He’s made action movies, horror movies, westerns and more. He’s not rich, he has no crew, no formal training and aside from his action figures, plays virtually every part. Welcome to the inspiring, imaginative, and often handmade world of UltraDIY filmmaker Richard ‘R.G.’ Miller, a 50 year-old man who creates impossible blockbusters from his tiny studio apartment in Wichita, Kansas. His dream audience? More than 9 people. (Dir. by Justin Johnson, 2015, USA, 76 mins., Not Rated)

16

CHUCK NORRIS VS COMMUNISM P

friday, oct 23 at 2:00pm (screen 1)

ARIZONA PREMIERE! “Stylish, breezily entertaining documentary explores the little-known role played by Hollywood movies – and one heroic film dubber – in toppling Romanian communism.” – Scott Foundas, Variety In the 1980s, under the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime, Romanians suffered from little access to foreign goods as well as an information blackout the Communist bureaucrats used to ensure ideological purity. But in clandestine screenings at neighbors’ homes of smuggled VHS tapes dubbed by a one-man distribution network, people got a glimpse of the Western world and a culture of muscular individuality with heroes like Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, and, of course, Chuck Norris. In Chuck Norris vs Communism, one sees the power of film to change individuals and whole societies. Through the stories of the hardworking female dubber (the most famous voice of Romania), the memories of everyday citizens, evocative re-creations of the time, and an enormous selection of clips from ’80s movies, firsttime director Ilinca Calugareanu presents a film about the unexpected consequences of mass entertainment, leading to the conclusion that the greatest threat to Ceaușescu’s dictatorship might just have been the VCR. (Dir. by Ilinca Calugareanu, 2014, UK/Romania/Germany, in Romanian with subtitles, 83 mins., Not Rated) Playing with the short film The 414s: The Original Teenage Hackers: In 1983, a group of Milwaukee teenagers gained notoriety when they broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems. The ensuing media frenzy terrified a nation previously ignorant of the capabilities of computer interconnectivity. (Dir. by Michael T. Vollmann, 2015, USA, 12 mins.)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

17

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS


18

IN TRANSIT


The Loft Film Fest’s documentary shorts program includes a wide range of experiences and techniques, all of them engaging and unique.

ARIZONA PREMIERE!

DONNIE An intimate portrait of Donnie Cianciotto (Artisitc Director, Musical Mayhem Cabaret, Tucson, AZ), a trans man whose sense of self is not recognized by the world around him. (Dir. by Anna Augustowska, 2015, USA, 10 mins.) Director Anna Augustowska and subject / star Donnie Cianciotto in person!

“Immediately joining the ranks of bittersweet swansongs, this gentle moving doc takes us along for a ride Builder, Amtrak’s busiest long-distance Ehrlich, Time Out

CO-PRESENTED BY DOCSCAPES cinema’s most but (literally) on the Empire route.” – David

NEW MO’ CUT: DAVID PEOPLES’ LOST FILM OF MOE’S BOOKS A short documentary chronicling the surprising discovery at the Berkeley dump of a 16mm film of the 1965 opening night party for a legendary Telegraph Avenue bookstore. (Dir. by Siciliana Trevino, 2015, USA, 14 mins.) Director Siciliana Trevino in person! THE BICKNELL Genevieve Bicknell comes from a family that has a crest emblazoned on t-shirts, writes genealogical books about themselves, and every year competes in a fancy-dress golf tournament. (Dir. by Genevieve Bicknell, 2015, UK, 17 mins.) ANIMATION HOTLINE, 2015 (DOCUMENTARY VERSION) An animated series of real life stories, crowd-sourced from telephone answering machine messages. (Dir. by Dustin Grella, 2015, USA, 7 mins.) PAPA MACHETE Two hundred years ago, Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the same tool used to work the land: the machete. Papa Machete explores a martial art evolved from this victory through the practice of one of its few remaining masters. (Dir. by Jonathan David Kane, 2015, USA/Haiti, 11 mins.) CHAU BEYOND THE LINES Chau, a teenager living in a Vietnamese care center for kids disabled by Agent Orange, struggles with the reality of his dream to one day become a professional artist. (Dir. by Courtney Marsh, 2015, USA/Vietnam, 34 mins.) Director Courtney Marsh and producer Jerry Franck in person! GORAN Joy and frustration as constructed by Goran Gostojić of Novi Sad. (Dir. by Roberto Santaguida, 2015, Serbia, 11 mins.)

Legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles pioneered feature documentary filmmaking and Direct Cinema, his work revealing a patient intimacy and unassuming quest for understanding. This technique is never more apparent than with In Transit, Maysles’ final project before his death. He and his collaborators capture a journey through the hearts and minds of passengers aboard The Empire Builder, America’s busiest longdistance train route. Aboard the train, we meet pensive runaways and eager adventurers, reunited family members, and perpetual loners, as the landscape shifts from urban centers to oil fields to seemingly infinite plains. Seamlessly interweaving overheard conversations, new friendships, and touching moments, this documentary becomes more than a web of intimate vignettes as it uncovers a new side of the American people. Connecting a myriad of travelers in a transitory state, In Transit breathes new life into the cross-country commute and asks us to contemplate the unknowns that lie at our final destination. (Dir. by Albert Maysles, Lynn True, David Usui, Nelson Walker III and Benjamin Wu, 2015, USA, 76 mins., Not Rated)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

Photo credit: Mark Hill

19

RITA MORENO RECEPTION

friday, oct 23 from 4:00pm-5:30pm General admission: $60 • loft members: $50

Tickets include reception and screening of West Side Story at the Loft Film Fest at 6PM Meet the legendary Rita Moreno at an intimate reception just before our gala screening of West Side Story. Hors d’oeuvre will be served, no host bar. Admission is extremely limited!

20

APPLESAUCE


ARIZONA PREMIERE! Every Tuesday night, radio talk show host Stevie Bricks invites his listeners to call in and share their stories. When one night he asks people to share the worst thing they’ve ever done, high school teacher Ron Welz can’t resist. Big mistake — what he reveals sets off a chain of hilariously uncontrollable events adversely affecting his marriage and another couple. And when someone starts sending him body parts, his life really begins to fall apart. Who is tormenting him? An insolent high school student? His best friend? His wife? There are over eight million people in the Naked City, and everyone’s a suspect. (Dir. by Onur Tukel, 2015, USA, in English, 91 mins., Not Rated) Playing with the short film One Year Lease: In a story told almost entirely through voice mail messages, Brian, Thomas, and Casper endure a year with Rita, their cat-loving landlady. (Dir. by Brian Bolster, 2015, USA, 11 mins.)

21

WEST SIDE STORY


LOFTY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD SCREENING! PRESENTED BY PATRICIA WHITEHILL The legendary Rita Moreno appears at The Loft Film Fest for a special screening of the classic 1961 musical West Side Story, featuring her incredible, Oscar-winning performance as Anita. The Loft Film Fest’s tribute to Ms. Moreno will start at 6pm with a pre-show conversation, a career highlight reel, the presentation of a 2015 Lofty Lifetime Achievement Award and the screening of West Side Story will start at 7pm. Tonight, tonight, won’t be just any night, as we celebrate one of cinema’s most beloved musicals, West Side Story, and its Oscar-winning star, Rita Moreno! Created by the musical dream team of Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins and Stephen Sondheim, and starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, and the electrifying Ms. Moreno, this legendary 1961 film won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress (Rita Moreno), inspired countless generations of musical fanatics and brought Shakespeare’s classic tale of teenage romance to vibrant life… only here, instead of Verona, the setting is 1950s New York City, and as always, the course of true love never, ever runs smoothly. A jazzy, snazzy, high energy classic that almost leaps off the screen (when it’s not breaking your heart), West Side Story endures as one of the greatest musicals in Hollywood history. (Dir. by Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins, 1961, USA, 152 mins., Not Rated) Rita Moreno is a legendary star of stage, screen and television, and is one of only 12 performers in history to be classified as an EGOT winner (winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). She is one of only four women to have achieved this landmark status, as well as the first Hispanic performer to be thusly honored. Over the course of her groundbreaking career, Ms. Moreno has starred in such iconic classics as Singin’ in the Rain, The King and I and West Side Story (for which she won the 1962 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award), performed on Broadway in hits like The Last of the Red Hot Lovers and The Ritz (for which she won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress), appeared on such successful television shows as Oz, The Electric Company and The Muppet Show (for which she was awarded a 1977 Emmy), recorded albums (including her latest, the 2015 Spanish-language recording Una Vez Mas) and written a New York Times best-selling memoir, 2014’s Rita Moreno: A Memoir. She has also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, and in December, 2015, she will receive a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

22

NASTY BABY


24

LOVE 3D


ARIZONA PREMIERE!

ARIZONA PREMIERE!

Brooklyn artist Freddy (Sebastián Silva) is baby obsessed. His new project centers around newborns, and he and his boyfriend, Mo (TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe), have recruited their best friend, Polly (Kristen Wiig), to help them have a baby. On top of dealing with the stress of opening an art installation and the complications of conceiving a child via artificial insemination, the three begin to be harassed by The Bishop, a mentally ill neighborhood man. An escalating series of incidents threaten to derail the comfortable lives these people have built for themselves. (Dir. by Sebastián Silva, 2015, USA/Chile, 100 mins., Not Rated)

NO ONE UNDER 18 WILL BE ADMITTED French provocateur Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, Enter the Void) continues to push the envelope with this 3D melodrama featuring explicit sex. Noé has always worn his heart on his celluloid; in his latest sensation, he reveals more of himself than ever before. Employing his trademark fractured narrative, Noé opens with an intimate scene of lovemaking between American film student Murphy (Karl Glusman) and the enchanting artist Electra (Aomi Muyock) — and suddenly cuts to two years later as Murphy wakes next to a different woman, Omi (Klara Kristin). Omi is the mother of Murphy’s child, and Electra seems a distant memory. But when he receives a call from Electra’s mother, searching for her missing daughter, Murphy is led to fantasize about what could have been. (Dir. by Gaspar Noé, 2015, France, in English, 134 mins., Not Rated, but appropriate for mature audiences only)

Playing with the short film Pink Grapefruit: A young married couple bring two of their single friends to Palm Springs for a long weekend. It does not go as planned. Winner of the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the SXSW Film Festival. (Dir. by Michael Mohan, 2015, USA, 11 mins.)

23

PSYCHO

friday, oct 23 at 8:00pm (outdoor)

FREE ADMISSION | $5 SUGGESTED DONATION PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN SEATING Experience the terror of Hitchcock’s classic shocker under the stars on our state-of-the-art outdoor screen! And don’t miss the acclaimed new documentary, Hitchcock/Truffaut, playing at The Loft Film Fest on Sunday, October 25 at 11:30am! Coming off the comparatively big budget North by Northwest, director Alfred Hitchcock decided he wanted to make a nice, little, low-budget black-and-white film for a change of pace. This was the result, and the shock waves are still reverberating. (Dir. by Alfred Hitchcock, 1960, USA, 109 mins., Rated R)

25

THE HALLOW


ARIZONA PREMIERE! When London conservationist Adam (Game of Thrones’ Joseph Mawle) and his wife Clare (Bojana Novakovic, Devil, Drag Me To Hell) move with their infant son to a remote house near the Irish forest, they quickly find their new neighbors unwelcoming. The discovery of a gruesome “zombie fungus” growing in the house is just the beginning, as the surrounding woods spew forth a terrifying array of folkloric banshees, baby snatchers, and demons. Awash in the otherworldly atmosphere of a dark fairy tale, The Hallow cleverly toys with genre conventions while unleashing some of the most nightmarishly terrifying creatures in years. (Dir. by Corin Hardy, 2015, UK, in English, 97 mins., Not Rated) Playing with the short film Anxiety #5: A man’s fate is sealed within a Brooklyn tenement housing bathroom in 1983. (Dir. by Jesse Foster, 2015, Canada, 6 mins.)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

26

HAND GESTURES P

saturday, oct 23 at 11:30am (screen 3)

27

FIDDLESTICKS

saturday, oct 24 at noon (screen 1)

U.S. PREMIERE!

ARIZONA PREMIERE!

WITH DIRECTOR FRANCESCO CLERICI IN PERSON!

PRESENTED BY GEICO CO-PRESENTED BY MILDRED & DILDRED

Hand Gestures follows the process of creating one of Velasco Vitali’s famous dog sculptures, from wax to glazed bronze, at the Battaglia Artistic Foundry in Milan. The film observes the work of a group of skilled artisans in this 100-year old foundry and reveals the ancient traditions of bronze sculpture making, unchanged since the sixth century B.C. This method is not taught in school, but is passed on in the ancient oral tradition and through apprenticeships from artisans. This documentary observes and feels the work of the Battaglia Artistic Foundry: a place where the past and present share the same gestures and where each gesture is a sculpture itself. An artist who sculpts, who works the waxes, is treated in the same way as a craftsman who turns that wax into bronze, building and destroying other ephemeral sculptures: they have been making the same gestures for centuries, and by showing this to the camera they reveal historical “jumps” in time. Director Francesco Clerici has made a fine-tuned, carefully-observed study of a glorious thing to watch: artisans practicing their craft on film. Winner of the FIPRESCI award at Berlinale Forum 2015. (Dir. by Francesco Clerici, 2015, Italy, in Italian with subtitles, 77 mins., Not Rated) Francesco Clerici earned a Master’s Degree in Art History and Criticism from the University of Milan with a thesis on Buster Keaton’s influence on contemporary art. Since 2003 he has presented a film club and led filmmaking workshops for children. Since 2009 Francesco has collaborated with the artist Velasco Vitali and with CICAE (International Federation of Arthouse Cinemas). His 2011 short film Storie nel Cemento (Cement Stories) won the of the FAI – Italian Artistic Foundationprize at the Milano Film Festival and was selected for various documentary film festivals. In 2012 he published his first book, 24 Fotogrammi: storia aneddotica del cinema. Il Gesto delle Mani (Hand Gestures), his first feature documentary, won the FIPRESCI award at Berlinale Forum 2015 and has been selected in many festival around the world.

The colorful village of Bollersdorf lies directly between northern and southern Germany, earning it the nickname “the belly button of the world,” and by all accounts is considered 100% average. Due to the town’s overwhelming normalness, a consumer studies company named GFK has set up its headquarters in the village square, from which it tests out its increasingly bizarre new products such as Green Corn Flakes and Blutella on the easily influenced public. But to the group of resourceful, rambunctious young children known as the Coati Gang, average is a dirty word, and they bemoan the fact that their grandparents have all been unceremoniously dumped into nursing homes as a result of their youthful, overactive imaginations and past careers as stunt pilots, bold mountaineers, and rocket car inventors. When the Coati Gang happens upon a book of world records, they get inspired and decide to break the village of its monotony through whatever means necessary. Director Veit Helmer has elated audiences worldwide with such charmers as Tuvalu (1999) and Absurdistan (2007), and the fantastical, wild, candycoated Fiddlesticks is no different, a film as endlessly inventive as the Coati Gang themselves. (Dir. by Viet Helmer, 2014, Germany, in German with subtitles, 82 mins., Not Rated, but appropriate for all ages)


28

CALL ME LUCKY

saturday, oct 24 at 1:45pm (screen 3)

29

RACING EXTINCTION


TUCSON PREMIERE!

TUCSON PREMIERE!

LEE MARVIN MAVERICK AWARD SCREENING!

PRESENTED BY VEGAN LOGIC

Acclaimed filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait is the recipient of the Loft Film Fest’s 2015 Lee Marvin Maverick Award, presented to those film artists whose work embodies a bold spirit of originality and independence. Mr. Goldthwait will be presented with the Maverick Award following the screening of his latest film, Call Me Lucky. This award presentation will also include a career highlight reel and an onstage conversation with Mr. Goldthwait.

“If you’ve ever wondered what a breaking heart sounds like, it’s right here in the futile warble of the last male of a species of songbird, singing for a mate that will never come.” – Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

“Angry, quixotic, tragic, heroic – Crimmins’ life is stunning. Catch this portrait and you can definitely call yourself lucky.” – Katharine Pushkar, New York Daily News Bobcat Goldthwait’s award-winning documentary Call Me Lucky has had the film festival circuit buzzing, with audiences and critics up on their feet in applause for the film and the unlikely comedy hero at its center, Barry Crimmins. Call Me Lucky is the inspiring, triumphant and wickedly funny portrait of one of comedy’s most enigmatic and important figures: Barry Crimmins, the beer-swilling, politically outspoken and whip-smart comic whose efforts in the 70s and 80s fostered the talents of the next generation of standup comedians. Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, Call Me Lucky bravely tells Crimmins’ incredible story of transformation from a ragefueled funnyman into an acclaimed proponent of justice who personified the healing power of comedy. Interviews in the documentary include Barry Crimmins, Marc Maron, David Cross, Margaret Cho, Patton Oswalt, Tom Kenny, Kevin Meaney, Lenny Clarke, Steven Wright, Billy Bragg, and Cindy Sheehan. (Dir. by Bobcat Goldthwait, 2015, USA, 106 mins., Not Rated)

In Racing Extinction, a team of artists and activists exposes the hidden world of extinction with never-before-seen images that will change the way we see the planet. Two worlds drive extinction across the globe, potentially resulting in the loss of half of all species. The international wildlife trade creates bogus markets at the expense of creatures that have survived on this planet for millions of years. And the other surrounds us, hiding in plain sight — a world that the oil and gas companies don’t want the rest of us to see. Using covert tactics and state-of-theart technology, the Racing Extinction team exposes these two worlds in an inspiring affirmation to preserve life as we know it. From the Academy Award® Winning Filmmakers of The Cove. (Dir. by Louis Psihoyos, 2015, USA/China, Hong Kong/ Indonesia/Mexico/UK, 90mins.)


30

JANIS: LITTLE GIRL BLUE


ADVANCE SCREENING! FEATURING A POST-FILM Q&A WITH TUCSONAN MICHAEL JOPLIN, JANIS’ YOUNGER BROTHER. “An absorbing documentary portrait of late blues-rock goddess Janis Joplin… it’s the satisfying feature-length overview that Joplin’s brief, fiercely brilliant career has long merited.” – Guy Lodge, Variety Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil) delves into the life of blazingly talented rock legend Janis Joplin in this engrossing new documentary. Since her death from a heroin overdose in 1970 at the age of twenty-seven, Janis Joplin has been a ubiquitous presence on posters, T-shirts, and classic-rock radio. In this documentary, she reverts from an icon back into a human being. Acclaimed filmmaker Amy Berg excavates unseen material, interviews Joplin’s confidantes and uncovers personal letters. The resulting portrait gives us fresh insight into the mighty talent behind famous versions of “Piece of My Heart,” “Cry Baby,” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Through interviews with her family members and fellow musicians, the film helps us better understand the different worlds Janis inhabited and the people who had the most influence on her. On stage and on camera, Janis frequently projected an image of being high and happy-go-lucky. Berg’s film reveals a more vulnerable character who cycled in and out of addictions and channeled her emotions into her art. Singer Cat Power does an uncanny job of recreating Joplin’s voice in readings from her letters. But the dominant voice is Joplin’s own, in extraordinary performances drawn from both classic and rare footage. (Dir. by Amy Berg, 2015, USA, 106 mins., Not Rated)

31

NARRATIVE SHORTS #2 P


One of two programs featuring a diverse selection of incredible short films from around the world. ANNIE & BRIAN Two young people disappointed in their own lives find solace in each others’. (Dir. by Symeon Platts & Michael Dean, 2015, USA, 8 mins.) Directors Symeon Platts & Michael Dean in person! MISSED CALL FROM DICKHOLE Corey is 26 and trying hard to not be alone. (Dir. by Brooke Hartnett, 2015, USA, 12 mins.) Director Brooke Hartnett in person! A KING’S BETRAYAL The tragic, final 24 hours in the life of a Pinata, as told from the Pinata’s perspective. (Dir. by David Bornstein, 2015, USA, 9 mins.) Director David Bornstein in person! FOLLOWERS Lynn, an elderly woman stricken with grief after her husband’s death, finds solace in an apparition of Jesus on the swimming trunks of a young gay man at her adult swimming class. (Dir. by Tim Marshall, 2015, UK/Australia, 12 mins.) THE TULIP CHAIR A simple apartment chair talks of his past, present, and passions. (Dir. by Courtney Marsh, 2015, USA, 4 mins.) Director Courtney Marsh & Producer Jerry Franck in person! DOG DAYS The story of a coming of age moment for two teenagers. (Dir. by Nathan Deming, 2015, USA, 23 mins.) Director Nathan Deming in person! SALAD DAYS Francine overcomes her own biases in an attempt to understand her recent breakup. (Dir. by Ana Humphrey, 2015, USA, 8 mins.) Director Ana Humphrey in person! A MILLION MILES AWAY Melancholy as survival strategy: A woman on the edge of failing and a pack of teenage girls simultaneously experience a supernatural coming-of-age. The transformation unravels to the infectious beat of a heavy metal anthem rearranged as a lamentation. (Dir. by Jennifer Reeder, 2015, USA, 28 mins.) This program is appropriate for mature audiences only.


32

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN


10TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING / 35MM PRINT! Don’t miss this very special 10th Anniversary screening of the groundbreaking classic Brokeback Mountain on glorious 35mm, featuring an introduction by the film’s Oscar-winning screenwriters/producers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana! Director Ang Lee’s epic American love story, beautifully adapted from an Annie Proulx short story by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (who, like Lee, earned Oscars for their work here), made cinematic history in 2005 as the first gay romance to cross over into the mainstream, eventually grossing $178 million worldwide. A decade later, it’s still the most successful same-sex love story that Hollywood has ever produced. Set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, the film tells the story of two young men – ranch hand Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllehaal) – who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a passionate lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a stunning testament to the endurance and power of love. More than just a box-office smash, Brokeback Mountain became not only an instant gay cinema classic, but a universal romance for the ages, as well – a one-of-a-kind film whose cultural impact and relevance remain as strong today as when it was first released a decade ago. (Dir. by Ang Lee, 2005, USA, 134 mins., Rated R) Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana are the Academy Award-winning co-screenwriters and co-producers of the groundbreaking hit film, Brokeback Mountain. Mr. Murtry is a prolific, Pulitzer Prize-winning author (for the best-selling novel Lonesome Dove) and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of The Last Picture Show (based on his novel). Ms. Ossana is an acclaimed writer and Oscar-nominated producer (for Brokeback Mountain).

33

ENTERTAINMENT


TUCSON PREMIERE! “It’s what new films ought to strive for: to strike back against the familiar.” – Calum Marsh,Village Voice

A broken, aging comedian tours the California desert, lost in a cycle of third-rate venues, novelty tourist attractions, and vain attempts to reach his estranged daughter. By day, he slogs through the barren landscape, inadvertently alienating every acquaintance. At night, he seeks solace in the animation of his onstage persona. Fueled by the promise of a lucrative Hollywood engagement, he trudges through a series of increasingly surreal and volatile encounters. In director Rick Alverson’s (The Comedy) hallucinatory fugue, Gregg Turkington (aka Neil Hamburger) stars as The Comedian, caught in a struggle between being the center of attention and the object of alienation, occasionally challenged by an unexpected cast of characters played by Tye Sheridan, John C. Reilly, Michael Cera, and Amy Seimetz. (Dir. by Rick Alverson, 2015, USA, 110 mins., Rated R)


34

¡THREE AMIGOS!

saturday, oct 24 at 8:00pm (outdoor)

FREE ADMISSION | $5 SUGGESTED DONATION PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN SEATING PRESENTED BY GEICO FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY ALFONSO ARAU (EL GUAPO)! Get your laugh on at a special under the stars screening of this Tucson-shot comedy classic, starring 2015 Lofty Lifetime Achievement Award winner Alfonso Arau as El Guapo, on our state-of-the-art outdoor screen! And don’t miss Arau’s acclaimed directorial effort, Like Water for Chocolate, featuring a pre-film Q&A with the filmmaker, screening at The Loft Film Fest on Sunday, October 25 at 4:00pm!

“A goofy delight. It’s like a cross between a bigbudget Three Stooges movie and a Hope-Crosby road picture, with dozens of old cowpoke gags thrown in to spice up the brew. “– Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short travel a dusty road to adventure in this hilariously zany mixture of slapstick, one-liners and sight gags. The “Three Amigos” are a silent screen comedy act that has seen better days. So has a remote Mexican hamlet called Santo Poco, which is being terrorized by a fierce bandit gang. In desperation, a naïve villager sends the actors a telegram asking for their help. Thinking they’re being offered a fortune for a personal appearance, the hapless trio arrives in Mexico, only to discover this time they’re dodging real bullets, courtesy of the nasty El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) and his criminal cohorts. Can our bumbling heroes rise to the occasion and save the town, or will this be their final performance? Filmed at the legendary Old Tucson Studios, and directed by comedy guru John Landis (Animal House), this is a comedy about three loveable goofballs who are in way over their heads but come what may, they’ll always remain The Three Amigos! (Dir. by John Landis, 1986, USA, 104 mins., Rated PG)

35

BEAVER TRILOGY PART IV P


ARIZONA PREMIERE! In 1979, KUTV in Salt Lake City acquired a new video camera. Trent Harris, a producer for the station’s offbeat show Extra, ventured out into the parking lot to test the new equipment and happened upon a young man taking pictures of the station’s news helicopter. The kid, calling himself “Groovin’ Gary,” was the self-proclaimed Rich Little of Beaver, Utah. His infectious personality and smalltown impressions of John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, and Barry Manilow piqued Harris’s interest enough so he gave him a business card and asked that he alert him if anything newsworthy happened in his hometown. What happened next would become the foundation for Beaver Trilogy, a unique collection of films that documented Harris’s multiple attempts at re-creating the original magic of the Beaver Kid. Director Brad Besser dives deep into the mystique of this cult classic, unraveling the mystery of Harris’s original inspiration. (Dir. by Brad Besser, 2015, USA, 84 mins., Not Rated)

LOFT FILM FEST IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY OUR GENEROUS SUSTAINING MEMBERS! AUTEUR amy Zuckerman anita Katz debi chess mabie & clint mabie Gretchen collins Jan & John mueller EXECUTIVE PRODUCER allen & Kim halper betsy bolding bonnie Kay claire scheuren Gary & Joni Jones hal melfi Jennifer schneider Kathy alexander & paul lindsey leigh bernstein mary ellen heard max mccauslin muriel & marc Goldfeder rick & linda hanson sam & linda yalkowsky sharon & larry malcolmson shawn miller stephen Golden & susan tarrence timothy reckart

pam Grissom paul & mary Koss peggy Johnson & Joe tarver richard & ann bates DIRECTOR CIRCLE barbara & ed farmilant carolyn evarts dennis & sevren coon harriet silverman Joanne stuhr Joseph chambers & david daniell martin dresner & ellen ristow nancy pitt price fishback & pamela slaten richard & mary rose duffield ron & marcia spark ronna fickbohm & Jeff willis susan & david hazan

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24 & 25

36

LATE NIGHT SHORTS


SON A sheltered kid cons his way into a sick day. Left alone for the first time, he stumbles upon a sinister family secret. (Dir. by Judd Meyers, 2015, USA, 14 mins.) THE UMBRELLA FACTORY An animated short based on “The Monkey’s Paw.” (Dir. by Nick and Lexie Trivundza, 2015, USA, 4 mins.) POP-UP PORNO: M4F A painfully ill Dutch Montrealer has to use the bathroom while his date is in the shower. (Dir. by Stephen Dunn, 2015, Canada, 4 mins.) MYRNA THE MONSTER A heartbroken alien dreamer from the moon transitions into young adult life in Los Angeles just like any other twentysomething. Myrna is voiced by Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. (Dir. by Ian Samuels, 2015, USA, 14 mins.)

37

3D RARITES

sunday, oct 25 at 11:15am (screen 3)

The first documented public exhibition of a 3D motion picture took place on June 10, 1915 at New York’s Astor Theatre. To commemorate the 3D Centennial, the 3D Film Archive presents 3D RARITIES, an eye-popping collection of brilliantlyrestored 3D films that span the dawn of 3D technology in the 1920s to Hollywood’s Golden Age of 3D in the 1950s and ‘60s. They include Thru’ the Trees, Washington D.C. (1922), the earliest surviving stereoscopic film, with incredible footage of Washington and New York City; the 1940 Technicolor short New Dimensions (aka Motor Rhythm), the first domestic color 3D film, produced for the Chrysler Pavilion at the New York World’s

PALM ROT An old Florida fumigator discovers a mysterious crate in the Everglades that ruins his day. (Dir. by Ryan Gillis, 2015, USA, 8 mins.) HUMMINGBIRD’S WINGS Experimental short bridging the gap between live action and animation, documentary and poetry. (Dir. by Dustin Grella, 2015, USA, 2 mins.) MYNARSKI DEATH PLUMMET A completely handmade historical micro-epic combining wartime aviation melodrama with classical and avant-garde animation techniques, Mynarski Death Plummet is a psychedelic photo-chemical war picture on the themes of self-sacrifice, immortality, and jellyfish. (Dir. by Matthew Rankin, 2015, Canada, 8 mins.) SIMON A man prepares for his final entry onto the grand stage, only to be confronted by his inner self. (Dir. by Camille de Galbert, 2015, USA, 12 mins.) THE HORSE RAISED BY SPHERES Horse ponders his loneliness. (Dir. by David O’Reilly, 2015, USA/Ireland, 3 mins.) FERDINAND KNAPP Dominque Pinon (City of Lost Children) stars as Ferdinand Knapp, the pre-eminent actor of French theatre, revered by all. In preparing for a new play, the lines between his character’s malevolent personality and his own begin to blur. (Dir. by Andrea Baldini, 2015, France, 15 mins.) SLASHED! Nancy stands up to her murderous lover after a run-in with some of his victims in this slasher comedy musical. (Dir. by Wade Shields, 2015, USA, 12 mins.) Director Wade Shields in person! This program is appropriate for mature audiences only.

Fair; Thrills For You (1940), a fascinating promotional film for the Pennsylvania Railroad, first shown at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco; The Adventures of Sam Space (1953), a fun stop-motion animated adventure; Doom Town (1953), a controversial anti-atomic testing film which was mysteriously pulled from theatrical release after a few playdates in July 1953; I’ll Sell My Shirt (1953), a burlesque comedy featuring “Side-Splitting Comedians and Beautiful Girls in 3D!”; The Maze (1953), a coming attraction trailer with fantastic 3D production design by the legendary William Cameron Menzies, and much more. Presented in high quality digital 3D, all films in 3D RARITIES have been restored and mastered in 2K from original 35mm elements for optimum quality. Meticulously realigned shot by shot for precise registration of the original left/ right elements, these historic 3D films have never before looked this good! (Total program running time: 97 mins.)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25

38

HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT

sunday, oct 25 at 11:30am (screen 1)

ARIZONA PREMIERE! “This terrific retrospective on the week-long series of interviews between François Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock is a brilliant commentary on the discourse of cinema then, and now.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

In 1962, Alfred Hitchcock and François Truffaut locked themselves away in Hollywood for a week to excavate the secrets behind the mise-en-scène in cinema. Based on the original recordings of this meeting—used to produce the mythical book Hitchcock/Truffaut—this film illustrates the greatest cinema lesson of all time and plummets us into the world of the creator of Psycho, The Birds, and Vertigo. Hitchcock’s incredibly modern art is elucidated and explained by today’s leading filmmakers: Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Arnaud Desplechin, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Wes Anderson, James Gray, Olivier Assayas, Richard Linklater, Peter Bogdanovich and Paul Schrader. An incredible depiction of the meeting of two of cinema’s greatest minds, this is a documentary cinephiles will not want to miss! (Dir. by Kent Jones, 2015, France/USA, 80 mins., Not Rated)

39

MUSTANG

sunday, oct 25 at 1:15pm (screen 3)

ARIZONA PREMIERE! PRESENTED BY THE LAW OFFICES OF JOE F. TARVER

“This is a beautiful film. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to discover it for themselves.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

Director Deniz Gamze Ergüven poignantly examines a group of young girls becoming women in her first feature film, the haunting, atmospheric Mustang, winner of the Europa Cinemas Label award at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The film opens in a remote Turkish coastal village on the Black Sea as the school year ends for five sisters. When a neighbor observes the longhaired, long-limbed girls at the beach, engaged in what she views as scandalous behavior, she reports them to their grandmother and uncle. All “instruments of corruption” and pop-culture artifacts are removed from the house, girly outfits are replaced with formless brown dresses, and, following a brief escape to an all-female soccer match, bars are installed on the windows and gates erected at the home’s entrance. Co-written by Ergüven and Alice Winocour, Mustang is a sensitive and powerful portrait of sisterhood and burgeoning sexuality. Ergüven elicits wonderfully naturalistic performances from her mostly non-professional actors, who bring a vibrant, youthful energy to the film. The film signals the emergence of a singular and fierce new voice in Turkish cinema. (Dir. by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, 2015, Turkey, in Turkish with subtitles, 97 mins., Not Rated)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25

40

RIGHT FOOTED P


42

LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE


WITH DIRECTOR/PRODUCER NICK SPARK AND JESSICA COX IN PERSON!

LOFTY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD SCREENING!

Born without arms as the result of a severe birth defect, Jessica Cox never allowed herself to believe that she couldn’t accomplish her dreams. An expert martial artist, college graduate and motivational speaker, Jessica is also the world’s only armless airplane pilot, a mentor, and an advocate for people with disability. Directed by Emmy Award winning filmmaker Nick Spark, Right Footed chronicles Jessica’s amazing story of overcoming adversity and follows her over a period of two years as she becomes a mentor for children with disabilities and their families, and a disability rights advocate working in the U.S.A. and abroad. (Dir. by Nick Spark, 2015, USA, in English with subtitles, 82 mins., Not Rated)

See the award-winning, crowd-pleasing romantic drama Like Water for Chocolate on the big screen, featuring a post-film Q&A with director Alfonso Arau (joined by one of the film’s stars, Yareli Arizmendi, and actor/artist/filmmaker Sergio Arau, Alfonso’s son)! The event starts at 4pm with a special career highlight reel showcasing scenes from some of Mr. Arau’s most memorable films, and the presentation of The Lofty Lifetime Achievement Award to the internationally-acclaimed filmmaker/actor. Like Water For Chocolate will start at 4:45pm. A special “Chocolate Reception” will follow the film. The Loft Film Fest will also present a free outdoor screening of the 1986 made-in-Tucson comedy classic, Three Amigos, starring Alfonso Arau as El Guapo! Saturday, October 24 at 8:00pm.

41

FINDERS KEEPERS


ARIZONA PREMIERE! Shannon Whisnant has a nose for a bargain. But when he bought a used grill at a North Carolina auction, the severed human foot he found among its ashes was not part of the deal. Soon the gruesome discovery becomes the toast of the infotainment world, and the new owner spies a golden opportunity to cash in on the media frenzy, until struggling addict and amputee John Wood recognizes his missing member and demands his own foot back. Bizarre twists of fate with perfectly twisted characters take center stage in a courtroom battle with television’s Judge Mathis, exploding this classic small-town feud to epic proportions as their 15 minutes of fame turn their lives upside-down and they find themselves basking under the heat lamps of the international talk-show circuit. (Dir. by Brian Carberry and J. Clay Tweel, 2015, USA, 82 mins., Rated R)

Like Water For Chocolate, directed by Alfonso Arau, is a mouth-watering tale of food, magic and passion, based on screenwriter Laura Esquivel’s magical realist novel (with recipes!) about family life in turn-of-thetwentieth-century-Mexico. Tita is the youngest of three daughters in a traditional Mexican family. Bound by tradition to remain unmarried while caring for her stern and bitter mother, Tita nevertheless falls in love with a handsome young man named Pedro. Pedro returns her affection, but he cannot overcome her family’s disapproval, and he instead marries Tita’s elder sister, Rosaura (Yareli Arizmendi). The love struck young woman is brutally disappointed, and her sadness has such force that it infects her cooking: all who eat it her feel her heartbreak with the same intensity. This newly discovered power continues to manifest itself after the wedding, as Tita and Pedro, overcome by their denied love, embark on a secret affair. Winningly combining traditional melodrama and exotic fairy tale, Like Water For Chocolate became a wildly popular box-office hit (it was one of the highest grossing foreign language films in the U.S. at the time of its release) as well as a cinematic “foodie” classic – a luscious testimony to the timeless power of good food and true love. (Dir. by Alfonso Arau, 1992, Mexico, in Spanish with subtitles, 105 mins., Rated R) Alfonso Arau, one of the legends of Mexican cinema, is the internationallyrenowned director of such acclaimed films as Zapata: The Dream of a Hero, A Walk in the Clouds and the arthouse smash, Like Water For Chocolate (winner of the 1992 Ariel Awards for Best Picture and Best Director). Over the course of his distinguished career, he has also made numerous memorable appearances as an actor in such classics as The Wild Bunch, El Topo, Romancing the Stone and the Tucson-shot comedy Three Amigos (in the unforgettable role of El Guapo).

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25

43

HORSE MONEY


ARIZONA PREMIERE! “Horse Money is an inspired reminder that politically rooted cinema needn’t just inhabit the realm of the strictly real; it can have an unconscious too, a dream dimension haunted by ghosts.” – Jonathan Romney, Film Comment Magazine

A visionary masterwork from the renowned director of Colossal Youth, Pedro Costa’s Horse Money is a mesmerizing odyssey into the real, imagined and nightmarish memories of the elderly Ventura, a Cape Verdean immigrant living in Lisbon. The time is now, a numbing and timeless present of hospital stays, bureaucratic questioning, and wandering through remembered spaces… and suddenly it is also then, the mid ’70s and the time of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, when Ventura got into a knife fight with his friend Joaquim. Horse Money is a self-reckoning, moving memorialization of lives in danger of being forgotten, as well as a piercingly beautiful work of modern cinema. (Dir. by Pedro Costa, 2014, Portgual, in Portugese with subtitles, 103 mins., Not Rated) Playing with the short film The Cart: A young woman fulfills a mysterious task in an existential dreamscape. (Dir. by Patrik Eriksson, 2015, Poland, 6 mins.)

44

MIA MADRE


ARIZONA PREMIERE! In the touching new film from Italian master Nanni Moretti, a harried filmmaker tries to juggle the production of her new film with visits to the bedside of her dying mother. If most films dealing with aging and death are sombre and melancholic, Mia Madre adds large doses of glorious, anarchic comedy. In fact, the film oscillates between extremes, making metaphysical points along the way about how mourning and joy can be inextricably intertwined. What elevates this film into a gentle kind of feminist manifesto is not just Margherita Buy’s main character, but also that of the mother (Giulia Lazzarini), a retired teacher of classical literature. These strong women form the centre of Mia Madre. Moretti displaces himself further by giving the major male part to John Turturro, who plays the brash, outsized American star of the film-within-a-film with great comic flourish. (Dir. by Nanni Moretti, 2015, Italy/France, in Italian and English with subtitles, 106 mins., Not Rated)

45

EISENSTEIN IN GUANAJUATO


TUCSON PREMIERE! In 1931, at the height of his artistic powers, Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein travels to Mexico to shoot a new film to be titled Que Viva Mexico. Freshly rejected by Hollywood and under increasing pressure to return to Stalinist Russia, Eisenstein arrives at the city of Guanajuato. Chaperoned by his guide Palomino Cañedo, he vulnerably experiences the ties between Eros and Thanatos, sex and death, happy to create their effects in cinema, troubled to suffer them in life. Peter Greenaway’s film explores the mind of a creative genius facing the desires and fears of love, sex and death through ten passionate days that helped shape the rest of the career of one of the greatest masters of Cinema. (Dir. by Peter Greenaway, 2015, Netherlands/Mexico/Finland/Belgium/France, in English and Spanish with subtitles, 105 mins., Not Rated)