Pioneering

Sometimes we go very far out in our bookings, showing a film that fits all those favored cliches of the extreme independent arts world: the film goes all the way, the film takes no prisoners, and the film pulls no punches.

FRANKENSTEINS BLOODY NIGHTMARE, currently our featured film for the week, does all these things.

This is extreme filmmaking - filmmaker John R. Hand is a mad scientist, creating a crazy monstrosity out of the Frankenstein legend and a wide range of cinematic technique.

This is also mind-blowing filmmaking.

Shot mostly on Super8 and processed through a delirious range of effects, stitched together with a whirring, buzzing synthesized soundtrack that might have come off an arcade game from the 1980s -- the technical daring is wild and often brilliant.

Shot in the burnt grass Florida panhandle, the story has something to do with a Dr. Karlstein - played by Hand himself - creating a monster and harvesting body parts to supplant his romantic life.

Thirty years ago, the film would have screened alongside ERASERHEAD, and one could imagine the spacey and random conversations Hand and Lynch would have with each other. And one could imagine they might have gone on to develop crazy projects together.

FRANKENSTEINS BLOODY NIGHTMARE was reviewed okay. There were some nice pull quotes which I'll mention below. But, honestly, the film has had and is going to have a very tough time finding an audience.

Still, FRANKENSTEINS BLOODY NIGHTMARE is a film worth fighting for.

Take a chance, go far out. I'm not yet prepared to say Hand is a genius - but I might yet some time soon.

Please, come out to see FRANKENSTEINS BLOODY NIGHTMARE.

It shows at 9pm through next Tuesday. Buy tickets here: http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer


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Some quotes about FRANKENSTEINS BLOODY NIGHTMARE:

"Visually it's a perfect 10 . . . something beautiful . . . a handmade object that looks ravishing . . . the overall effect is like watching some kind of lost exploitation film from the 1970s cobbled together by a deranged grindhouse projectionist out of damaged film."
- Grady Hendrix, NY SUN

"A 1970’s-style horror oddity that could pass for a perverse experiment masterminded by a mad scientist."
- Laura Kern, NY TIMES

“John R. Hand might just be America’s answer to Shinya Tsukamoto. Layered with a surreal theatricality, raw experimentation, a fixation on the intersection of humanity and technology, disturbing sexual overtones, a firm genre sensibility and a driving soundtrack.”
- Twitchfilm.net

Unfortunately, this event has been postponed.

Robert Altman is recovering from the flu, and his doctors have told him not to travel.

We do intend to reschedule this event.

For those of you who bought tickets, we are in the process of refunding your money, and contacting you to address the issue.

Needless to say, I hope, we regret the inconvenience.

We wish Mr. Altman a speedy recovery, and many good times ahead.

In the Tuesday, June 13 showtime, we have added another screening of LONG KNIVES NIGHT + REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH.

NEW YORK TIMES, June 1, 2006: Jeannette Catsoulis, "LONG KNIVES NIGHT / REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH: Indelible Portraits of Power's Absolute Corruption."

NEW YORK PRESS, May 31, 2006: Jim Knipfel, "LONG KNIVES NIGHT / REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH: Propaganda That Works."

TWITCHFILM, May 31, 2006: Todd Brown, "Europe's Last Dictatorship."

THE NEW YORKER, May 29, 2006: Reed Brody, "LONG KNIVES NIGHT."

NY POST, June 2, 2006: V.A. Musetto, "Say 'Da!' to Belarus Duo (LONG KNIVES NIGHT / REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH.)"

NY SUN, June 2, 2006: Nicolas Rapold, "An S.O.S. From A Former Soviet Republic."

THE REELER, June 2, 2006: S.T. VanAirsdale, "Screening Gotham (LONG KNIVES NIGHT / REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH)."

NERVE SCREENGRAB, June 1, 2006: Bilge Ebiri, "LONG KNIVES NIGHT / REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH." (scroll to bottom of page)

NOVOYE RUSSKOYE SLOVO, June 1, 2006: Oleg Sulkin, "LONG KNIVES NIGHT / REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH."

LONG KNIVES NIGHT and REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH are almost certainly the most important films the Pioneer will show in 2006. They may be the most important films the Pioneer has ever scheduled.

Recently, you have read and seen coverage of the “election” in Belarus. You have heard that the election's aftermath pits Russia against the West: Russia has endorsed Alexander Lukashenko's return for a third term, while a rather unified West, including both the European Union and the United States, have called it fraud.

You have also heard of rebellion, hunger strikes, and protesters jailed for “hooliganism.”


But who is this Alexander Lukashenko?

Why is he called “the last dictator in Europe?”(1)

What on earth has he done?

With fury and agony, LONG KNIVES NIGHT and REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH approach these questions. Writer / director Victor Dashuk has risked imprisonment and abuse – common for dissidents, as you will see in the films – to depict and attack Lukashenko's rise to authority. The films are raw, vicious, and totally one-sided: there is not a frame of sympathy for Lukashenko in these films. Dashuk is outrageously cynical, attacking Lukashenko himself, but also comparing Belarussians' prostrations before authoritarian leaders with Satanists' prostrations before their dark master.

You could easily blow off these movies. We're showing them in the wrong format (one was made on celluloid, but we're projecting both from a rather low quality video master smuggled out of Minsk). They're not a single feature, but rather two films of odd length – though the latter is a sequel to the former, and, combined, they are loosely feature length. They're not brand new. They are political propaganda.

But don't blow off these movies. Chew on them, react to them, fight with them, take them seriously. The situation they depict is certainly serious enough.

Buy tickets on our front page. This is a very limited run. June 1-7, 9pm only.

And please, help spread the word. We've got nothing going for this, except for the films' importance.

VILLAGE VOICE review, by Mike Atkinson
NEW YORKER review, by Reed Brody (scroll down)

(1)
This is a common phrase. A few recent usages include the March 5, 2006 editorial from the INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE; and the article “The EU and America put sanctions on Belarus's leaders,” THE ECONOMIST, March 24.

These films shown by the Pioneer on versions smuggled out of Belarus.

Presented with thanks to Zoya Rozin.

Lawrence Lessig speaks.

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