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The brilliant documentary A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY opens June 12 with in-person Q&A’s.

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Thirty years after her mother’s death, photographer Rachel Elizabeth Seed discovers her mother’s work — more than 50 hours of interviews with the greatest photographers of the 20th century, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, Cecil Beaton, William Albert Allard, Brian Lanker, Cornell Capa, Bruce Davidson and Eliot Porter. When Rachel threads in the audio reels and presses play, she hears her mother’s voice for the first time since she was a baby. Sheila Turner-Seed, a daring, world-traveling journalist ahead of her time, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm when Rachel was just 18 months old. Moved to uncover more of what she left behind, Rachel sets out to revisit her mom’s subjects, family and friends, revisiting the photographers she interviewed decades before. As new truths emerge, Rachel builds an unlikely relationship with her mother through the audio recordings, photographs, and films her mother made during her brief life, crafting an imagined conversation through the cinematic medium. As she discovers the shocking secrets which may have led to her mother’s untimely death, Rachel’s ability to forge her own path hinges on how these revelations affect her own life. The film draws from footage of Rachel’s visits to the photographers her mother interviewed, Sheila’s award-winning audio-visual work, Super 8 family films, still photography, audio letters and journals, weaving together personal and photo-historical media to tell a universal story — about facing mortality and loss, the construction of memory and the restoration of a legacy. Along this path, Rachel explores the question of whether it is possible to get to know someone through the things they leave behind.

We are planning several special screenings with the A Photographic Memory filmmaker and its champions:

June 12, 7:30 P.M. at the Laemmle NoHo:
This screening of A Photographic Memory is co-presented by Video Consortium with a Q&A to follow featuring filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed, co-writer/editor Christopher Stoudt, and special guest, moderated by Video Consortium organizer Lauren Mahoney.
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June 14, 10:00 A.M. at the Laemmle Monica Film Center:
 
This screening of A Photographic Memory is co-presented by From the Heart Productions and Authentic Global Film Awards, with a Q&A to follow moderated by Variety film critic Carlos Aguilar, featuring director Rachel Elizabeth Seed in conversation with producer Ana Lydia Monaco and additional special guests. In this discussion, they will pull back the curtain on the visionary production of A Photographic Memory‘s recreation sequences, produced by Monaco in Los Angeles.
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June 16, 7:00 P.M. at the Laemmle Monica Film Center:
Q&A with director Rachel Elizabeth Seed + Gallerist Peter Fetterman to follow this screening. Co-presented by Peter Fetterman Gallery.

Ms. Seed wrote the following statement about her film:

“In my photography and creative work, I am driven by the desire for connection. Perhaps this is because my mother died when I was a baby; I’m always seeking to reconcile this loss in my life. It’s this drive that inspired me to make my debut feature documentary, A Photographic Memory.

“My work as an artist, photographer, photo editor, curator, writer, arts community founder, and cinematographer have greatly informed my knowledge and aesthetic sensibility in the media arts, paving the way for this film project and for my transition from photography to filmmaking. From 2004-2011 I created an audio-visual series about motherless women, interviewing and photographing 40 women and girls around the world, but it wasn’t until I turned the camera on my life in A Photographic Memory that I began to make sense of my loss. As I just turned the age my mother was when she died, it is also a personally timely project. I hope for the result to be cathartic for myself and for an audience who relates to losing someone close or being estranged from a parent. At the same time, I aim to memorialize my mother’s legacy as a woman ahead of her time who contributed to the canon of photography history. She died in her prime but left an undeniable mark through her work and great compassion for humanity. This legacy would be forgotten without this film.

“What excites me aesthetically about A Photographic Memory is the challenge of weaving the archival footage, photographs and audio along with contemporary footage together in a cohesive, artistic whole. Using my mother’s raw interviews with photographers as a thematic backbone, I draw from 100 years of our family’s Super 8 films, still photographs, contact sheets, letters, my mother’s journals, her journalistic tear sheets, and the footage I have shot of my own life and journey. My aim is for the disparate elements to transcend their individual meaning in order to tell the greater story of my search to know my mother, and through that, to make sense of life’s ephemerality. I have always been interested in the space where “real” elements are woven together to create a fabricated reality, which is both indisputable yet non-factual, representing my objective vision.

“The film plays on the tensions between remembering and forgetting, recovery and loss, and the probing of relationship and portraiture through lost archives, juxtaposition and cinematic form.”

THE LAST TWINS Q&A’s June 19-21 at the Royal and Town Center.

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The Last Twins Q&A schedule:

Screening Date Theater Screen Time Q&A Participant Names Organization
6/19 Royal 7:30 Perri Peltz Director
6/19 Royal 7:30 Matthew O’Neill Director
6/19 Royal 7:30 Dr. Judith Richter Erno’s Spiegel’s daughter, Participant in film
6/19 Royal 7:30 TBD Moderator
6/20 Town Center-Encino 5:20 Dr. Judith Richter Erno’s Spiegel’s daughter, Participant in film
6/20 Town Center-Encino 5:20 Perri Peltz Director
6/20 Town Center-Encino 5:20 Matthew O’Neill Director
6/21 Town Center-Encino 7:30 Dr. Judith Richter Erno’s Spiegel’s daughter, Participant in film
6/21 Town Center-Encino 7:30 Dr. Nancy L. Segal, PhD Moderator-Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, Twin Studies Center
California State University

CROUPIER 25th Anniversary Screening with Clive Owen in Person June 4 at the Royal.

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 25th anniversary screening of ‘Croupier,’ the sleeper hit that helped to save the specialized movie business during a dry period at the beginning of the 21st century. Mike Hodges, the director of the British crime thriller ‘Get Carter’ with Michael Caine, had his most acclaimed film since then when he directed ‘Croupier.’

Clive Owen, who had mainly appeared in British television dramas before this, rose to full-fledged movie stardom as a result of this movie. He plays an aspiring writer who takes a job at a casino where he juggles a few romantic relationships and also has to contend with a robbery threat. Alex Kingston, Gina McKee, Kate Hardie, and Nicholas Ball costar. The script was written by Paul Mayersberg, who also wrote Nicolas Roeg’s ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ and ‘Eureka,’ as well as Nagisa Oshima’s ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.’

The film opened in England in 1999 but made few waves at the box office. When it came to America in 2000, veteran marketing executive Mike Kaplan (who had worked frequently with Stanley Kubrick, Lindsay Anderson, Robert Altman, Alan Rudolph, and Malcolm McDowell) devised a whole new marketing campaign that highlighted Owen’s resemblance to tough-guy Hollywood stars like Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark. The strategy worked, and the picture lit up art house screens for several months, eventually reaching mainstream theaters as well.

The New York Times’ Stephen Holden called the film “a breezy meditation on life as a game of chance,” and he added, “Clive Owen conveys a sharp, cynical intelligence that rolls off the screen whenever he widens his glittering blue eyes.” Newsweek’s David Ansen declared, “Coolly hypnotic, the lean British sleeper ‘Croupier‘ is a reminder that movies don’t have to wave their arms and scream to hold our attention.” Roger Ebert wrote that Owen has “the same sort of physical reserve as Sean Connery in the Bond pictures.”

Newsday’s Gene Seymour wrote, “Not since 1971 has British director Mike Hodges made a movie as deep, dark and compelling as this thriller.” British film journal Sight and Sound concurred that “Hodges is unfailingly professional in matching style to story.”

The movie’s success catapulted Owen to full-fledged stardom, and he went on to work with many of the world’s top directors and stars. He earned an Oscar nomination when he costarred with Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman in Mike Nichols’ ‘Closer.’ He costarred in Spike Lee’s ‘Inside Man’ with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster. Owen was part of the large ensemble cast in Robert Altman’s Oscar-winning ‘Gosford Park.’ He had the leading role in Alfonso Cuaron’s futuristic thriller ‘Children of Men.’ He played Sir Walter Raleigh to Cate Blanchett’s Queen Elizabeth in ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age,’ then re-teamed with Roberts in ‘Duplicity.’ He also starred with Juliette Binoche in Fred Schepisi’s ‘Words and Pictures.’

Owen scored on television as well, starring in Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed medical series ‘The Knick.’ He earned an Emmy nomination playing Ernest Hemingway in Philip Kaufman’s ‘Hemingway and Gelhorn,’ co-starring with Nicole Kidman. In Ryan Murphy’s TV miniseries ‘American Crime Story,’ Owen played President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky affair. And he recently played an older version of detective Sam Spade in ‘Monsieur Spade.’

Mike Kaplan will introduce the screening by reporting on its troubled but ultimately triumphant history. Owen will participate in a Q&A after the film.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY Q&A’s June 12 at the NoHo and June 14 at the Monica Film Center.

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June 12, 7:30 P.M. at the Laemmle NoHo:
This screening of A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY is co-presented by Video Consortium with a Q&A to follow featuring filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed, co-writer/editor Christopher Stoudt, and special guest, moderated by Video Consortium organizer Lauren Mahoney.
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June 14, 10:00 A.M. at the Laemmle Monica Film Center:
 
This screening of A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY is co-presented by From the Heart Productions and Authentic Global Film Awards, with a Q&A to follow moderated by Variety film critic Carlos Aguilar, featuring director Rachel Elizabeth Seed in conversation with producer Ana Lydia Monaco and additional special guest. In this discussion, they will pull back the curtain on the visionary production of A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY‘s recreation sequences, produced by Monaco in Los Angeles.
June 16, 7:00 P.M. at the Laemmle Monica Film Center:
Q&A with director Rachel Elizabeth Seed + Gallerist Peter Fetterman to follow this screening. Co-presented by Peter Fetterman Gallery.

1970s New York City on the brink ~ DROP DEAD CITY opens tomorrow.

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Named after the famous New York Daily News headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” Drop Dead City is the first documentary to focus on the New York City fiscal crisis of 1975, an overlooked episode in urban American history that saw that city of eight million people come face to face with bankruptcy.

The film is an immersive ticking-clock drama built entirely from archival 16mm footage interspersed with present eyewitness interviews, and propelled by a great soundtrack drawn from 1970s radio as it follows a year in the life and near death of this iconic city. Laemmle Theatres opens the film May 22 at the NoHo and May 23 at the Monica Film Center and Town Center.

The film captures N.Y.C. at a moment of contrast, gritty and down on its luck, but also vibrant and alive. The basic underlying questions of governance, community and economic priorities are of immediate relevance to Los Angeles and so many other American cities.

These are unprecedented times for Americans, and for our public institutions. The systematic dismantling of the administrative state, as well as the demonizing of public servants, is something we are watching happen every day. The playbook of today’s right-wing government bashing has it’s roots in the rightward swing of the Republican Party in the 1970’s. NYC’s near-bankruptcy was a critical event in this transformation. Drop Dead City addresses these themes and ideologies, and examines the origins of NYC’s problems with an even hand. Was it the banks, the unions, the poor who were arriving, or the rich who were leaving? Was it the recession? Was it cynicism in the White House or incompetence in City Hall?

“Our goal as filmmakers was to honor the story and the people in it – the men and women who stepped up to deal with this challenge as well as the so-called ordinary New Yorkers who dealt with this uncertainty as a fact of life during this tumultuous period,” said directors Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn. “While the film often feels like a wild time machine ride to New York in its good-old bad days, we also hope it inspires conversations on how urban centers can fairly cope with the enormous challenges we face today.”

“The film raises striking parallels with the present…a visual delight for anyone who enjoys footage of vintage New York City…Set to a funk and soul soundtrack that would make Tarantino’s music supervisor bow in respect.” – WNYC / Gothamist

100% Rotten Tomatoes rating!

Drop Dead City is produced and directed by Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn. Executive produced by Karoline Durr. The archival producer is Frauke Levin. Cinematography by Jerry Risius. Edited by Don Kleszy and Anna Auster. The film’s running time is 108 minutes.

“Joel Potrykus, the undisputed maestro of ‘metal slackerism,’ again serves up a singular experience by taking a simple idea to its logical conclusion, and then a lot further.” VULCANIZADORA opens May 9.

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Filmmaker Joel Petrykus on his acclaimed, sui generis fifth feature film, Vulcanizadora, opening May 9 at the Laemmle Monica Film Center and NoHo: “One of my biggest concerns about fatherhood is that I’d soften up and start telling stories of hope and inspiration. Five years after the birth of my one and only son, and I’m mostly consumed with fears of inadequacy, abandonment, and mortality; going to prison by accident, falling off a cliff by accident, jumping off a cliff by accident. Vulcanizadora is my most heartfelt and personal, but not in a good way. It’s my most sincere and emotional, but also my bleakest and most haunting.”

“There is no film you’ll ever see like it.” – Collider

“A darkly funny heavy metal comedy that deftly shifts into a poignant existential drama. Potrykus helms with edgy style, but it’s his and Burge’s transformative performances that carry this unconventional gem.” -Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting

“A fascinating film. What I admire most about the truly strange Vulcanizadora is that I haven’t seen anything like it. Joshua Burge is phenomenal.” -Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

“Unexpectedly poignant. Potrykus’ most accessible film to date. A sincere rumination on mortality and enduring relationships.” -Stephen Saito, Moveable Fest

“Joel Potrykus, the undisputed maestro of ‘metal slackerism,” again serves up a singular experience by taking a simple idea to its logical conclusion, and then a lot further.” -David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“Mind-bending. Nothing can really prepare viewers for where Vulcanizadora ends up going.” -Carla Hay, Culture Mix

WORDS OF WAR ~ In-Person Q&A’s with Sean Penn, Jason Isaacs and Rep. Eric Swalwell.

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Words of War Q&A’s at the Monica Film Center: Sean Penn and Jason Isaacs will participate in Q&A’s following the 7:00 P.M. screening on Friday, May 2; the 4:00 P.M. & 7:00 P.M. screenings on Saturday, May 3; and the 4:00 P.M. screening on Sunday, May 4. U.S. Congressional Rep. Eric Swalwell will join them for the 4:00 P.M. screening on Sunday.

GHOST 35th anniversary screening with director Jerry Zucker in person May 21 at the Royal!

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a special screening of one of the best loved movies of the 20th century, Jerry Zucker’s smash hit supernatural fantasy, ‘Ghost.’ When the movie opened in the summer of 1990, it quickly captivated audiences and eventually became the highest grossing movie of the year, earning $505 million on a budget of just $23 million. When the movie hit home video in 1991, it also became the highest grossing film in the rental market for that year. The movie was nominated for five Oscars in 1990, including Best Picture, and it won awards for Bruce Joel Rubin’s original screenplay and Whoopi Goldberg’s riotous supporting performance.

Rubin’s screenplay marked a fresh contribution to the fantasy genre, following in the tradition of such classics as ‘Here Comes Mr. Jordan,’ Warren Beatty’s remake ‘Heaven Can Wait,’ ‘The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,’ ‘Blithe Spirit,’ and the comic blockbuster, ‘Ghostbusters.’ But it was a very original piece of storytelling that mixed romance, humor, and suspense, with plenty of surprise twists, as a murder victim tries to save his girlfriend’s life from beyond the grave. Patrick Swayze plays a banker in love with an artist played by Demi Moore. Tony Goldwyn plays a colleague of Swayze’s, and Goldberg plays a fake psychic who somehow manages to have a connection with spirits from the afterlife.

The technical crew behind the movie was also outstanding. Walter Murch (an Oscar winner for ‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘The English Patient’) was the editor and earned a nomination for his work. Maurice Jarre (a multiple Oscar winner—for David Lean’s ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ ‘Doctor Zhivago,’ and ‘A Passage to India’) also earned a nomination for his score, which famously included the hit song from 1955, “Unchained Melody” (a kind of anthem for the movie). Visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund was also an Oscar winner for ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’

The romantic pottery casting scene between Swayze and Moore was later cited as one of the most iconic scenes of ’90s movies, though it attracted its share of parodies as well—a sign of the film’s enduring place in pop culture.

Reviews of this smash hit movie were actually mixed, but many of the most perceptive critics praised it. Newsweek’s David Ansen called ‘Ghost‘ “a zippy pastiche that somehow manages to seem fresh.” Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman agreed that the movie was “a dazzlingly enjoyable pop thriller.” Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian wrote that “Rubin’s script is a lethally effective fantasy.” The cast also earned high praise. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune said, “Moore has never been more fetching.” The New York Times’ Janet Maslin added, “This is one of those rare occasions on which the uncategorizable Ms. Goldberg has found a film that really suits her, and she makes the most of it.”

Time Out summarized the positive reviews by praising the filmmakers: “The real credit…rests on an excellent script by Bruce Joel Rubin, and on the surprisingly sure direction of Jerry Zucker.”

Before making this movie, Zucker had worked with his brother David Zucker and Jim Abrahams on comedy hits ‘Airplane!,’ ‘Top Secret!,’ ‘Ruthless People,’ and ‘The Naked Gun.’ ‘Ghost‘ marked his first solo effort as director and also his first dramatic film. He went on to direct ‘First Knight,’ ‘Rat Race,’ and also helped to produce such films as ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ ‘Fair Game, and ‘Friends with Benefits.’