Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting is an award-winning documentary that examines the movement that is ending the use of Native American names, logos, and mascots in the world of sports and beyond. The film details the current uprising against the misappropriation of Native culture in a national reckoning about racial injustice that has succeeded in the removal of Confederate imagery, toppling statues of Christopher Columbus and forcing corporate sponsors of Washington’s NFL team to demand it change its most-offensive name. Imagining the Indian co-director/producer Ben West and W. Richard West Jr., founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian, will participate in a Q&A moderated by film critic Stephen Farber following the April 10 Reel Talk screening at the Royal. Subject Amy West will participate in a Q&A at the Monica Film Center following the 7:20 PM screening at the Monica Film Center on Friday, April 14. Co-directors Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg) and Ben West will participate in Q&As following the Saturday, April 15, 7:20 PM screening and the Sunday, April 16, 1:30 PM screening. Ms. West (Cheyenne) is a Professor of Psychology at USC, specializing in Native Youth Psychology.
Upcoming Reel Talk with Stephen Farber screenings: ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET; IT AIN’T OVER; BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER; YOU HURT MY FEELINGS..
Veteran film critic Stephen Farber’s popular Reel Talk screening series is now based at our Royal Theatre, where you can see a variety of outstanding films from the U.S. and around the world, including many top awards contenders, and then meet the filmmakers for provocative and revealing discussions led by Stephen. Recent guests and titles have included Paul Weitz and Andrew Miano, writer-director and producer of Moving On; John Scheinfeld and Bobby Colomby, director and lead band member from What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?; Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, screenwriters of 80 for Brady; and Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa Piaskowska, director/co-writer and co-writer/producer of the Oscar-nominated film EO. Next up:
April 24: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; May 1: It Ain’t Over; May 3: Book Club: The Next Chapter; May 15: You Hurt My Feelings.
“Wild, boldly expressionistic” EO advance screening with the filmmaker in person Nov. 28; regular engagement begins December 2.
With his first film in seven years, legendary director Jerzy Skolimowski (Deep End, Moonlighting) directs one of his most free and visually inventive films yet, following the travels of a nomadic gray donkey named EO. After being removed from the traveling circus, which is the only life he’s ever known, EO begins a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside, experiencing cruelty and kindness in equal measure, all the while observing the follies and triumphs of humankind. During his travels, EO is both helped and hindered by a cast of characters that includes a young Italian priest (Lorenzo Zurzolo), a Countess (Isabelle Huppert), and a rowdy Polish soccer team. Loosely inspired by Robert Bresson’s Au hazard Balthazar, and featuring immersive, stunning cinematography by Michal Dymek coupled by Pawel Mykietyn’s resonant score, Skolimowski’s film puts the viewer in the perspective of its four-legged protagonist. EO’s journey speaks to the world around us, an equine hero boldly pointing out societal ills, and serving as warning to the dangers of neglect and inaction, all while on a quest for freedom.
We are screening EO on Monday, November 28 at the Monica Film Center as part of the Reel Talk with Stephen Farber series. Mr. Skolimowski will attend for a Q&A. The regular engagements begin December 2 at the Royal and December 9 at our Glendale theater.
“EO is an astonishment and so too is this wild, boldly expressionistic movie that conveys the life of its largely silent protagonist with a bare minimum of dialogue.” ~ Manohla Dargis, New York Times
“EO may be one of the greatest movies ever made about the spirit of animals, as much as we can know it.” ~ Stephanie Zacharek, Time Magazine
“EO’s personality shines thanks to Skolimowski’s daringly imaginative depictions, both visual and emotional, of the donkey’s point of view.” ~ Richard Brody, New Yorker
“A potent emotional charge, very contemporary eco-consciousness, and film-making that at its best fairly sizzles in its strangeness mark out EO as an animal film that stands defiantly on its own hooves.” ~ Jonathan Romney, Screen International
“EO is a damning polemic on our relationship to other intelligent species — as free labor, food and companions — as seen through the dewy, wide eyes of a donkey whom we come to adore.” ~ Peter Debruge, Variety
“Think of Skolimowki at this stage of his career and life as a filmmaker happily grazing, indulging in an animal need for cinema.” ~ Mark Asch, Little White Lies
“In Bresson’s version, it’s the humans around the donkey who are the true center of the story. Not so in EO. This is Donkeyvision, and we’re better off for it.” ~ Adam Solomons, indieWire