Chicago Underground Film Festival presents Underground Film Scholar Jack Sargeant. US. launch of Suture, Volume One FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8 OCTOBER 1998 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT BRYAN WENDORF 773-327-FILM Just in time for the Halloween, the Chicago Underground Film Festival offers up its own bag of tricks on Saturday, September 17 with an appearance by underground chronicler Jack Sargeant and a decidedly dark mix of cinematic treats. On tour with his latest plunge into subterranean cinema, Suture: The Arts Journal Vol. One, Jack will present two programs of work featured in the book: a rare screening of John Hillcoat's feature Ghosts of the Civil Dead starring Nick Cave, and a group presentation of Roman Slocombe's Un Monde Flottant, Dame Darcy's The Golden Shoes, Jacob Panders' erotic The Operation, and local filmmaker Mark Hejnar's Bible of Skin. Jack will be available to sign his book from 5-7 PM at Quimby's Book Store, 1854 W. North Ave. The screenings will be held at the Viaduct, 3111 N. Western and will commence at 8:00 pm with Ghosts of the Civil Dead. Program 2 will follow at 10:00 PM Tickets are $6.00 per program and can be purchased the night of the event. All films will be presented through video projection. The event is part of CUFF's bi-monthly underground film series. Organized to ensure the year-round presence of uncompromising film and video in Chicago, the series is part of CUFF's commitment to increase its impact on the counter-cultural landscape. Says Festival Director Bryan Wendorf, "Our goal is to add to Chicago's already diverse alternative film scene, filling in the gaps between what's screened at Chicago Filmmakers, Facets and the Film Center. Our emphasis will be on discovering and exposing fresh new voices in film and video." Jack Sargeant has long been documenting those new voices on the filmic fringes. Author of the books Deathtripping: An Illustrated History of the Cinema of Transgression and the Naked Lens: Beat Cinema, his latest effort, Suture, is a collection of illustrated essays on and by some of the most acclaimed figures in the underground today. With it, he hopes to "challenge the homogeneity of mainstream culture with the radical possibilities suggested by the artists, filmmakers, and writers who explore the heterogeneous territories at the margins contemporary culture." Artists featured in volume one include Lydia Lunch, Trevor Brown, Roman Slocombe, Dame Darcy, Mark Hejner, Joel-Peter Witkin, James Havoc, Joe Coleman, Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, and others. Jack will present four of the films featured in his book in two programs: Program 1: Ghosts of the Civil Dead John Hillcoat 93 mins. 1988 Co-written by and starring Nick Cave, Ghosts of the Civil Dead depicts the shocking events that led to the lockdown at Central Industrial Prison. The inmates and guards of a modern, clean, and efficient maximum security wing are slowly and increasingly brutalized until they erupt in violence. Dark and macabre, and based in truth, the story is told in a traditional dramatic style combined with telephone interviews and narration. Program 2: Un Monde Flottant (A Floating World) Romain Slocombe 20 min. 1996 A haunting view of sex, photography, art, and Tokyo, Un Monde Flottant documents the work of erotic festish artist ARAKI, best known for his book Tokyo Lucky Hole. The film provoked riots at its opening at the National Photographic Exhibition in Arles, France. The Golden Shoes Dame Darcy 3 min. A tragic animation of lost love and tormented beauty. The Operation Jacob Pander 13 min. Shot in infrared video, The Operation draws the viewer into an explicit erotic experience that probes far beneath the boundary of skin. Winner of Best Experimental at the New York Underground Film Festival and Second Prize in the short film category at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. Bible of Skin Mark Hejnar 12 min. Violent day-glo imagery collides with the droning audio of Pile of Cows in a nihilistic montage of religion, sex, defecation, and home movies. Chicago Underground Film Festival 773-327-FILM http://www.cuff.org ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]