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The time: 1814. The place: Edo, now known as Tokyo. A much accomplished artist of his time and now in his mid-fifties, Tetsuzo can boast clients from all over Japan, and tirelessly works in the garbage-loaded chaos of his house-atelier. He spends his days creating astounding pieces of art, from a giant-size Bodhidharma portrayed on a 180 square meter-wide sheet of paper, to a pair of sparrows painted on a tiny rice grain. Third of Tetsuzo’s four daughters and born out of his second marriage, outspoken 23-year-old O-Ei has inherited her father’s talent and stubbornness, and very often she would paint instead of him, though uncredited. Her art is so powerful that sometimes leads to trouble. “We’re father and daughter; with two brushes and four chopsticks, I guess we can always manage, in a way or another.”
Artist and life-long nerd Johannes Grenzfurthner is taking us on a personal road trip from the West Coast to the East Coast of the USA, to introduce us to places and people that shaped and inspired his art and politics. Traceroute wants to chase and question the ghosts of nerddom’s past, present and future. An exhilarating tour de farce into the guts of trauma, obsession and cognitive capitalism. Features interviews with Matt Winston, Sandy Stone, Bruce Sterling, Jason Scott, Christina Agapakis, Trevor Paglen, Ryan Finnigan, Kit Stubbs, V. Vale, Sean Bonner, Allison Cameron, Josh Ellingson, Maggie Mayhem, Paolo Pedercini, Steve Tolin, Dan Wilcox, Jon Lebkowsky, Jan “Varka” Mulders, Adam Flynn, Abie Hadjitarkhani, Kelly Poots…
Two professional con artist sisters go on the run and assume the identities of The Wilding Sisters, guest stars of a poetry retreat in the depths of the Black Mountains. A romantic comedy drama about love, crime, spirituality, and soul
Wall Writers promises unprecedented access to the early years of American graffiti. Interviews with TAKI 183 and CORNBREAD, along with other legendary artists, illuminated a time when a new form of wall writing emerged from dilapidated city neighborhoods.
A former con-artist gathers a bunch of girls and puts together an all-female rock band.
Yallah! Underground follows some of today’s most influential and progressive artists in Arab underground culture from 2009 to 2013 and documents their work, dreams and fears in a time of great change for Arab societies. In a region full of tension, young Arab artists in the Middle East have struggled for years to express themselves freely and to promote more liberal attitudes within their societies. During the Arab Spring, like many others of this new generation, local artists had high hopes for the future and took part in the protests. However, after years of turmoil and instability, young Arabs now have to challenge both old and new problems, being torn between feelings of disillusion and a vague hope for a better future.
Exploring the social impact of what The Source Magazine in 1998 voted, “The Best Hip Hop Radio Show Of All-Time.” The documentary film is the story of quirky friends who became unlikely legends by engaging their listeners and breaking the biggest rap artists ever.
Until the late 1970s, the Pakistani city of Lahore was world-renowned for its music. Following the Islamization of Pakistan, many artists struggled to continue their life’s work. Song of Lahore turns the spotlight on a group of stalwart musicians that kept playing and ultimately attracted listeners from around the world.
The titular troublemakers are the New York–based Land (aka Earth) artists of the 1960s and 70s, who walked away from the reproducible and the commodifiable, migrated to the American Southwest, worked with earth and light and seemingly limitless space, and rethought the question of scale and the relationships between artist, landscape, and viewer. Director James Crump has meticulously constructed Troublemakers from interviews (with Germano Celant, Virginia Dwan, and others), photos and footage of Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Robert Smithson, Nancy Holt, and Charles Ross among others at work on their astonishing creations.
Latin History for Morons: John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway captures John’s quest to cram 3,000 years of history into 90 minutes of stage time and bring a whole new set of historical characters back to life as one man. Infused throughout the documentary is John’s special brand of humor and openness. The road to his ultimate goal – his next Broadway hit – unfolds in a fun, intriguing, and poignant adventure that not only offers an intimate look into the journey of a passionate artist, but also shines a light on the rarely-told stories of Latino heroes who made their mark on America.
Nychos is an illustrator, Urban Art- and Graffiti artist who became known with his street concept RABBIT EYE MOVEMENT (REM) 10 years ago. The icon of the movement is a white rabbit, which has been breeding since then and has been popping up in the streets all over the globe for the past decade. This is exactly what Nychos thrives for – he travels the world to spread his art and his REM concept. Within the last two years Nychos was accompanied by filmmaker Christian Fischer who recorded these journeys to create a full lenght movie. ”The Deepest Depths Of The Burrow” is a documentary about art, lifestyle and subculture.
Artist David Choe has led a life of high risk, from hedonistic excesses to being imprisoned at a maximum security facility in a foreign country, and yet has been dramatically rewarded for his exploits. Life didn’t change much when he traded a $60k fee in favor of stock in a start-up called The Facebook, but now he is estimated to be worth over $250 million, highlighting a colorful career filled with giant street art installations, porn star affairs and investigative reporting for companies like Vice and CNN. Director and childhood friend Harry Kim guides us through the fantastically surreal life of Choe featuring interviews and appearances by Kevin Smith, Eli Roth, Sasha Grey, Sean Parker, and Shepard Fairey.
David Attenborough tells the remarkable story of how these ” birds of paradise ” have captivated explorers , naturalists, artists, filmmakers and even royalty.
With more than 50 million Latinos now living in the United States, Latinos are taking their seat at the table as the new American power brokers in the world of entertainment, business, politics and the arts. As Latinos’ influence in American society has soared, they have entered mainstream American culture, and the proof is in the music. Executive produced by legendary music mogul Tommy Mottola, THE LATIN EXPLOSION: A NEW AMERICA features a dazzling array of artists at the center of Latino cultural power and influence, including Marc Anthony, Emilio Estefan Jr., Gloria Estefan, José Feliciano, Eva Longoria, George Lopez, Jennifer Lopez, Los Lobos, Cheech Marin, Ricky Martin, Rita Moreno, Pitbull, Romeo Santos, Shakira, Thalía and Sofía Vergara. Narrated by John Leguizamo.
Sending a burning arrow into the stunting effects that the compartmentalization of culture has on how creativity manifests, visual artist Doug Aitken embarked on an experiment exploring a less materialistic and more nomadic direction of art creation, exhibition, and participation. Station to Station involved a train that crossed North America housing a constantly changing creative community including artists, musicians, and curators, who collaborated in the creation of recordings, artworks, films, and 10 unique happenings, across the country.
A star-studded lineup of music, film and television stars will join the celebration of Mickey Mouse on Mickey’s 90th Spectacular. The two-hour television event honoring 90 years of the internationally beloved character will feature appearances by actress, activist and mom Kristen Bell (Disney’s Frozen), actress and Hollywood Records/Republic Records recording artist Sofia Carson (Disney’s Descendants, Freeform’s upcoming Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists), two-time Emmy® Award-winning actor Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development), and actress Sarah Hyland (ABC’s Modern Family), as well as special musical performances by Josh Groban, NCT 127, Leslie Odom Jr., Meghan Trainor and Zac Brown Band. Mr. Iger will make a special appearance during the evening’s festivities.
On one special night last November 12, 2014, at a live event headlined by Lynyrd Skynyrd, an extraordinary collection of artists came together at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA to perform the music of Skynyrd, one of the most influential bands of our time. The unique concert featured incredible performances by Lynyrd Skynyrd, including an unforgettable rendition of Travelin Man, performed as a duet between Johnny Van Zant and his late brother Ronnie, who appeared via archival video.
David and Brenda are perfect for each other, and everyone knows it except David and Brenda. After a break-up, they each experience their own rough patch. For David, a self-destructive artistic endeavor and a relationship with an immature beauty—for Brenda, a failing acting career, an eviction notice, and a boyfriend who just doesn’t do it for her. A chance encounter brings them together on the streets of New York at a particularly bad time. David invites Brenda to the opening of his first photography exhibit and the stage is set for a night of drinking and flirting which leads to an untraditional proposal of how they can be together without getting back together. A sharply observed, un-romantic comedy by writer/director Mel Rodriguez III, IN STEREO is a stylish and striking first feature that offers an unflinching look at the complexity of modern relationships.
Action – Orphan, con artist, crime boss and millionaire, Diamond Ruff has seen it all. In prison for a murder he did not commit, he meets the Reverend Trek Woods, who overwhelms him with kindness, character and faith in god. Falling in love with April, a young woman with terminal illness, Ruff is again challenged to grow and change. Will he be redeemed? There are no easy answers. – Felicia Pearson, Fredro Starr, Michael Barra
Unable to find personal fulfillment: Ericson, a young-adult on the horizon of his thirties, dives head-first into an existential spiral of artistic indulgence as he attempts to co-opt his friends into making a movie with him.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, Egon Schiele is one of the most provocative artists in Vienna. His life and work are driven by beautiful women and an era that is coming to an end. Two women will have a lasting impact on him – his sister and first muse Gerti, and 17-year-old Wally, arguably Schiele’s one true love, immortalized in his famous painting ‘Death and the Maiden’. Schiele’s radical paintings scandalize Viennese society while daring artists like Gustav Klimt and art agents alike are sensing the exceptional. But Egon Schiele is also prepared to go beyond his own pain and to sacrifice love and life for his art.
As four teenage graffiti artists run from the police, they hide in an old abandoned schoolhouse. They quickly discover that someone else is already using the building for their own dark purposes.
A modern-day movie adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The new version takes place in present-day Hollywood where fantasy and reality collide. It’s set in a world where glamorous stars, commanding moguls, starving artists and vaulting pretenders all vie to get ahead.
As a DJ, music journalist and broadcaster, Edith Bowman has always been fascinated by the relationship between sex and music. She meets experts and artists, producers, singers and even her own friends and family to investigate the power of music to provoke sensual responses in the human brain and body.
Exploring the labyrinth of the contemporary art world, The Price of Everything examines the role of art and artistic passion in today’s consumer-based society. Featuring collectors, dealers, auctioneers and a rich range of artists, from current market darlings Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, to one-time art star Larry Poons, the film exposes deep contradictions as it holds a mirror up to contemporary values and times, coaxing out the dynamics at play in pricing the priceless.
Albert and David Maysles’ classic GREY GARDENS immortalized the estate of Edith and Little Edie Beale, relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, who lived in alarmingly poor conditions. But there is more to the story: it was Lee Radziwill and Peter Beard who first brought the Maysles to the Beales, when the two set out to make a film about Radziwill’s childhood. The reels of that first contact were shelved for 45 years. This documentary recovers the lost footage. Anchored in Beard’s recollections and artistic vision, we are returned to “that summer” in 1972, a seductive dream world and collage of radically unconventional creative personalities—Warhol, Bacon, Jagger, Capote—practicing the art of living amidst oppressive forces of class expectation and prejudice.
This 2006 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness, and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.
Troubled artist Cassie suffers with reoccurring visions of murder, which she copes with by committing the violent acts to canvas. But when her visions begin to manifest in real life, her friends and family begin to turn up dead. Realizing her visions actually provide a direct link to the killer, Cassie must now confront her own past in order to stop the murders and save herself.
An elderly artist thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades him to go to an offshore island to try once more. On the island he re-discovers his muse in the form of a young girl.
Torturous chronicles an encounter between an employment counsellor and a professional torture artist, blending gore, humour and irony into a deft cinematic mix.
Recovering from a heartbreaking divorce, independent filmmaker and son-of-an-Italian-Prince Tao Ruspoli takes to the road to talk to his relatives, advice columnists, psychologists, historians, anthropologists, artists, philosophers, sex workers, sex therapists, and ordinary couples about love, sex & monogamy in our culture. What he discovers about his very unconventional family, and about the history and psychology of love and marriage leads him to question the ideal of monogamy, and the traditional family values that go with it.
Burned out from the hubbub of the Chicago gallery world, artist Kelly returns home to the picturesque Grand Valley just in time for Christmas. Leo, businessman and all-star dad to his children, struggles to balance his time this holiday season. When he is assigned to review a hotel in Grand Valley for its value, he sees this as the perfect opportunity for a Christmas family vacation. It isn’t long until Kelly and Leo’s worlds collide.
A compelling biopic about Qi Gong, China’s most prestigious calligrapher and ink painter. This biopic follows the middle and later years of the life of Qi Gong (1912-2005), China’s most prestigious calligrapher and ink painter, whose dedication to teaching his art influenced many generations of artists. A lifelong yet unconcerned victim of forgery (‘they do it better than me’), Qi Gong suffered for his calling, particularly during the Cultural Revolution. Yet throughout his life he showed a tolerance and generosity of spirit that made him a beloved teacher and an icon for traditional Chinese Culture.
The Creeping Garden is an independently-produced feature-length documentary, directed by Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp and with an original soundtrack by Jim O’Rourke, depicting the world of myxomycetes, or plasmodial slime moulds, and the diverse array of research currently being conducted around them. The film boasts stunning original macroscopic time-lapse footage of these overlooked organisms, filmed within its natural habitat and in a controlled laboratory setting, and features interviews with artists, researchers and scientists involved in the fields of the visual arts, music, mycology, computing and robotics to explore ideas of biological-inspired design, emergence theory, unconventional computing and scientific modelling.
A jet-setting model leads a freewheeling life in Mexico City until she falls in love with an artist.
An isolated elderly woman, in desperate need of stimulation, conjures an infestation of silk-spinning caterpillars, thus leading her to a mind-bending epiphany. ‘Caterpillar’ is a cerebral drama, filmed in the historical Wynkoop House, famous for housing George Washington. The crew consists of highly esteemed artists working across a wide spectrum of disciplines. This includes special effects artist, Ben Bornstein (300, The Fighter), visual effects artist Greg Silverman (Black Swan), and editor, Corey Bayes (Haywire, Contagion, The Informant, Che). From storyline through production, Caterpillar is an ode to the creative process. This film is a must-see for anyone who has ever submitted to their imagination and felt transformed by an idea.
During the 1970s a student named Gilles gets entangled in contemporary political turmoils although he would rather just be a creative artist. While torn between his solidarity to his friends and his personal ambitions he falls in love with Christine.
In the gig poster community, artists such as Daniel Danger and Jay Ryan prove that creating this artwork is a way of life, more than just a career. These artists are at the forefront of an expansion of the gig poster genre. MONDO’s reinvigoration of “the film poster as an art form,” and Gallery 1988’s theme based exhibits are only two ways in which this artwork is reaching a greater public. In a community with strong roots, dating back to the 1960s, this expansion is controversial- refreshing to some, sacrilegious to others.
