>Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 23:39:32 >To: screen-L >From: wanda bershen <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Film Series at Brooklyn Museum Mar 6-April 17 > >Please post ASAP to the List. > >thank you. > >RED DIAPER PRODUCTIONS > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE >EAST SIDE STORIES: Coming of Age Beyond The Wall >Film & Public Program Series Debuts at BROOKLYN MUSEUM of ART >March 6- April 17, 1999 >Seven Recent Films from former East Bloc Countries and the ex-USSR >with Visiting Directors and 2 Panel Discussions > >Seven rarely seen films from a new generation of Directors emerging in Eastern Europe and the former USSR will be presented at the Brooklyn Museum of Art from March 6 - April 17. EAST SIDE STORIES: Coming of Age Beyond the Wall is a showcase of work from a new generation of directors having grown up during perestroika and after, who offer a version of their histories and their lives very different from that of their artistic predecessors. The seven films in the series portray the everyday lives of young people during and after the Communist period in personal more than political terms. Given the long years of negative Cold War imagery in the West, it seems an appropriate time to update our knowledge of people and societies long closed off by the Iron Curtain. In this spirit EAST SIDE STORIES offers an impressive group of accessible, moving and often humorous stories of young people finding their way through the massive social changes now unfolding in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. > >The Series opens March 6 with BOLSHE VITA ( shown at New Directors at MOMA in 1997), a humorous portrait of youth in post-1989 Budapest after the borders opened. Hungarian Director Ibolye Fekete will come to NYC to introduce and discuss her film. > >On Monday March 8 , there will be a Panel presentation with film clips at the NYU Center for Media, Culture and History with Visiting Directors Ibolye Fekete, David Ondricek (WHISPER) and Boris Frumin (VIVA CASTRO), moderated by Ms. Bershen. Admission is free, and the Panel takes place from 3:30-5:30 at the King Juan Carlos I Center, 53 Washington Square South, Screening Room. > >On Saturday, March 13, Director David Ondricek will introduce the screening of his internationally acclaimed first feature, WHISPER, about a group of Prague friends constructing new lives after the Velvet Revolution. A Panel Discussion will follow with directors, Ondricek, Fekete and Frumin . >On March 20, VIVA CASTRO , a lyrical autobiographical homage to life in the Soviet 1960's will be presented by director Boris Frumin, now a faculty member at New York University. > >-2- >On March 27 a beautiful and haunting first feature, 300 MILES TO HEAVEN will be screened. Based on the true story of two young boys escaping Poland to the West by hiding under truck chassis, it was directed by Macjek Dejczer, former assistant to Krystof Kieslowski. Playing April 3 will be TITO & ME, a truly hilarious portrait of a young boy and his family in Belgrade which was released in the US by Kino Films, and described by the NY Times as a "...funny, beautifully acted family memoir....the work of a sophisticated comic mind". On April 10, the film is ENLGECHEN (Little Angel) by former east German documentarist Helke Misslewitz, about cross- border romance, described by Variety as "a delight on every level". The final film of the Series is PERFECT CIRCLE, which was shown in the New Directors Film Series at Museum of Modern Art in March 1997. Made in Sarajevo during the war, it is the story of a poet and two orphans, described by director Kenovic as "more a love story than a war film". > >EAST SIDE STORIES screenings take place at Brooklyn Museum of Art at 3 PM in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium on the third floor. Admission is $6 (including Museum Admission). For additional information about the Series & Panels call 718 - 638-5000 xt 230. > >EAST SIDE STORIES was curated by Wanda Bershen, Independent Curator/Distributor and Founding Director of the New York Jewish Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater. > >EAST SIDE STORIES was made possible with a generous grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, and additional support from the New York State Council on the Arts. We also thank Film Polski, Magyar FilmUnio, Kino Releasing, Parnasse International (Paris), Negativ Film (Prague), Bavaria Film and Boris Frumin for their invaluable assistance in making this program possible. > > > > >Media contact: Wanda Bershen at 212-598-0224 > > > > >12 East 22 Street #11 N.Y.,N.Y. 10010 TEL/FAX: 212-598-0224 EMAIL: [log in to unmask] > EAST SIDE STORIES: Coming of Age Beyond the Wall >Brooklyn Museum of Art; March 6-April 17, 1999 > >BOLSHE VITA (Hungary, 1996, 101min) Dir: Ibolye Fekete >Mar 6, 1999, 3PM >This striking and accomplished debut feature by documentarist and screenwriter Fekete captures the "happy times" atmosphere of Budapest in the early 1990's. Following a trio of Russian immigrants looking for adventure, the film opens with a montage of the border openings in 1989, accompanied by rock song lyrics proclaiming, "You don't know how good it feels without you". > Yura, Vadim (both musicians) and Sergei meet up with helpful Erzi, English party girl Maggie and her American roommate Susan. As the Russians woo these exotic Anglo girls, the group hangs out at the Bolshe Vita cafe drinking and dancing. During the day, Yura and Vadim struggle to make money as street musicians, while Sergei cruises the open market determined to make his fortune. This ensemble of enormously expressive and engaging characters is combined with a fast-moving cinema verite style. Introducing the variety of hustlers and gangsters also inhabiting this new world of opportunity and "freedom"., BOLSHE VITA creates a humane but also unflinching portrait of youthful (often unrealistic) expectations and experience. > >WHISPER (Czech Republic,1996, 84min) dir. David Ondricek >Mar 13, 1999, 3PM >One of the Czech Republics top-grossing films of 1997, Ondricek's first feature portrays a group of friends in Prague through the eyes of 16 year old Anna -- a country bumpkin who has run away from school. On the road she meets Speedy wrapped around an orange East German motorcycle. He whisks her off to Prague, where she settles into a communal apartment with his brother, 2 roommates and one very large dog. Anna eagerly explores the fascinating possibilities of Big City life and love, only slowly realizing that one roommate turns tricks at night with middle aged men, that Speedy is permanently stoned, and that brother Filip has a very complex love life. > As one of the first post-Velvet Revolutions films to portray gender confusion and gay characters, WHISPER tells an engaging and personal story. Mixing bright colors, witty stylized sequences, (and occasional dogs-eye views of human behavior) the film portrays the special difficulties of moving towards adulthood at a moment of rapid and often contradictory social transformation. > > >VIVA CASTRO (Russia, 1993, 82 min) dir Boris Frumin >Mar 20, 1999, 3PM >Veteran Latvian director Frumin's first Russian film after 15 years in the US was an immediate hit, playing throughout the international film festival circuit, upon its debut in 1994. It is a coming of age story set in a small town in the 1960's -- when Fidel Castro was as important an icon for Russians as Elvis was to Americans. Kolya, a high school student, has a crush on his singing teacher. After his father escapes the authorities and leaves town, his mother is sent to labor camp. In protest Kolya takes part in a "Viva Castro" concert, and tries to arrange a final meeting for his parents. > Embellishing the main story with many other characters, small incidents and anecdotes, the film brims with black humor and compelling personalities. An insiders view of his own and his country's past, Frumin illuminates the richness of the personal lives of everyday people in spite of the pettiness and pain caused by an authoritarian regime. A mixture of farce and tragedy in the Breshnev era, VIVA CASTRO has the rare gift of revealing the unexpected via the mundane details of everyday life. > >300 MILES TO HEAVEN (Poland, 1989, 97 min) dir. Macej Dejczer >Mar 27, 1999, 3PM >Based on the real-life story of two brothers aged 12 and 15 who escaped in 1985 to Sweden, Dejczer's debut feature won the European Felix as well as an award at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival upon its release. Jedrek and Grzes' father is a history teacher, who has twice been dismissed from his job. Trying to make ends meet with his wife and kids on a farm, the family is continually harassed by bribe-seeking officials. The two boys decide that they must help their parents by fleeing to the West so they can make money to send home. Taking off on an amazing journey, hidden under the chassis of large trucks, they reach Sweden and request political asylum. An ex-patriot journalist puts them in the news and they become celebrities for a time. Back home, however, their parents are taken to court and punished further by the authorities, and the family must make an agonizing decision. > Dejczer's documentary background serves him well in depicting the extraordinary road trip of the two brothers, who are themselves amazing performers. 300 MILES avoids sentimentality while simultaneously creating a riveting portrait of painful choices for both children and parents caught between East and West. > > > >TITO AND ME (Yugoslavia/France 1992, 104 min) Dir: Goran Markovic >Apr 3, 1999 , 3PM > >Veteran Yugoslav director Markovic began shooting TITO & ME just as war broke out in 1991. He regards the film as part autobiography and part critique of the cult surrounding Marshal Tito during his long reign, particularly the dubious veneer of ethnic peaceful coexistence purveyed by his regime. Protagonist Zoran is a 10 year old boy living in a tiny Belgrade apartment with his artist parents, as well as aunts, uncles and grandparents. Overweight and hopelessly enamored of 12 year old Jasna, Zoran keeps a large scrapbook with clippings and photos of Tito. > Desperate to join Jasna on a "March Around Tito's Homeland", he wins an essay contest and joins the group of young Pioneers. Carrying a heavy backpack Zoran finds himself trudging through the woods under the command of Raja, their fanatically nationalistic leader. Predictably Zoran lags behind and gets lost, dreaming that Tito helps him find shelter. Later he incurs Raja's wrath again during an eventful night in an old castle. At the end of the journey, the group is honored at a reception attended by the real Tito -- a fateful encounter for Zoran. The NY Times described TITO & ME as a "...funny, beautifully acted family memoir....the work of a sophisticated comic mind". > > >ENGLECHEN (Germany,1996, 98 min) Dir: Helke Misslewitz >Apr 10, 1999, 3PM > > Misslewitz was one of the leading DEFA (former East German documentary studio) directors, who began to make feature films after reunification in 1989. Her lead character, played here by the superb Suzanne Lothar (FUNNY GAMES) is a single woman leading an inconspicuous life, working in a factory, and living near the Ostkreuz RR station. In an amazing opening scene she meets handsome Andrejz from Poland , selling black market cigarettes at the station. > The chance encounter turns into a real love affair, a pregnancy, and unhappy complications for both, when the truth of Andrezj life is revealed. Beautiful performances by leading Berlin theater actors, plus a haunting and delicate camera and lighting of the Berlin cityscape complement the bittersweet portrayal of life and love after Communism. VARIETY called Little Angel "....a delight on every level". > >Note: english title is LITTLE ANGEL > > > >PERFECT CIRCLE (Yugoslavia, 1997, 1 hr 48 min) Dir: Ademir Kenovic >Apr 17, 1999, 3PM > >Chosen to open the prestigious Directors Fortnight of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, Kenovic's fourth feature film was made in Sarajevo during the war. Centered on the story of Hamza, a poet who has sent his wife and daughter away to safety, and 2 orphan boys he takes in, it is more love story than war film. > Adis and Kerim, a deaf-mute (both radiant performances by non-professionals) are found hiding in Hamza's house, and he reluctantly teaches them how to survive the sniping, procure food and water, and even care for a wounded dog. One day Hamza finally gets some news of the boys' aunt in Germany and prepares to take them to a town from which they can go to live with her. Hamza (played by superb actor Mustafa Nadarevic) has visions from time to time of talking to his wife and daughter and of his own death, while the boys concerns are taking care of their dog, learning about girls, and sticking close to their new protector. > With a screenplay co-written by Kenovic and well-known poet Abdulah Sidran, PERFECT CIRCLE tells an irresistible tale mixing documentary style, humor and occasional bits of magic realism. Presented in numerous festivals worldwide, including New Directors (NYC 1998), this film deserves the widest possible exposure for its bittersweet portrayal of real courage under real fire. > RED DIAPER PRODUCTIONS 12 East 22 St (11H) NYC, NY 10010 tel/fax: 212-598-0224 ---- 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]