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
 
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