Dec 09

Tuesday through Tuesday, November 24 through December 1 @ 5:30 p.m. HANK WILLIAMS FIRST NATION by Aaron James Sorenson. A native Canadian comedy road movie about the people who stayed at home. A remote Cree community takes on a certain charge when one of its own sets out on an ambitious (and somewhat loopy) adventure. Seventy-five-year-old Martin Fox (Jimmy Herman) decides abruptly one morning that before he dies he must visit the grave of his long time hero Hank Williams. With the support of his younger brother, Adelard Fox, (Gordon Tootoosis) Martin sets out for Tennessee on a Greyhound, accompanied by a 17 year-old nephew - sent along as a guide. As the two travelers gain human-interest-story-of-the-week status in the US press, the news trickling back home provides a unifying spark to the little community, and the variety of colourful characters that make it their home. Hank Williams First Nation is an endearing look at a good-hearted and good-humoured people and the unique charms and challenges that surround them. Shot on the Woodland Cree First Nation in the Peace River Country of Northern Alberta this small indie comedy became a huge box office smash in Canada and recently spawned a six part mini-series on Canada’s Aboriginal TV. Tuesday through Tuesday, November 24 through December 1 @ 7:30 p.m. AMREEKA by Cherien Dabis. Amreeka chronicles the adventures of Muna, a Palestinian single mother who leaves the West Bank in Ramallah with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up burgers (and the occasional falafel) at the local White Castle. Told with heartfelt humor by writerdirector Cherien Dabis in her feature film debut, Amreeka is a universal journey into the lives of a family of immigrants and firstgeneration teenagers caught between their heritage and the new world in which they now live and the bittersweet search for a place to call home. Amreeka recalls Dabis’s family’s memories of their lives in rural America during the first Iraq War. The film stars Haifatrained actress Nisreen Faour as Muna, and Melkar Muallen plays her 16-year-old son, Fadi. Also in the cast are Hiam Abbass (The Visitor, The Lemon Tree, The Syrian Bride), Alia Shawkat (Whip It), Yussef Abu-Warda and Joseph Ziegler. Shot in Ramallah and Winnipeg, this Palestinian/Canadian comedy won the International Critics Prize at Cannes; the Humanitas Prize and the Heartland “Truly Moving Picture” Award. (96 mins. Palestine) Tuesday through Tuesday, November 24 through December 1 @ 9:30 p.m. (except Saturday, Nov. 29th) UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell. Until the Light Takes Us is a feature length documentary chronicling the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal - a musical subculture infamous as much for a series of murders and church arsons as it is for its unique musical and visual aesthetics and extreme ideologies. This is the first film to shed light on a movement that has been shrouded in darkness and rumor and further obscured by inaccurate and shallow depictions. Featuring exclusive interviews and verité with the musicians, a wealth of rare, seldom seen footage from the Black Circle’s earliest days, Until the Light Takes Us is an intimate exploration of the controversial movement that has captured the attention of the world. The filmmakers spent a couple years in Norway getting to know the key players in the scene, and this is their story. Featuring Gylve Nagell, Varg Vikernes, Jan Axel Blomberg, Kjetil Haraldstad, Olve Eikemo, Harald Nævdal, Harmony Korine, Bjarne Melgaard, Kristoffer Rygg, And Bård Eithun. Music By Black Dice, Boards Of Canada, Burzum, Darkthrone, Enslaved, Gorgoroth, Lesser, Mayhem, Mum, Sunn O))), Thorns, And Ulver. "I was surprised by how full the theater was when I got there about ten minutes before showtime. Always nice to see that kind of support in the middle of the day, especially when you're talking about a documentary about the black metal movement in Norway, hardly the sort of marquee title that normally sells out at a festival... UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US is my favorite kind of documentary, squarely focused on someone instead of something. It's not enough to just say that your film is about something as broadly defined as Norway's black metal scene. That's not a story. That's not compelling. It's a backdrop at best. Wisely, co-directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell chose to focus on a few particular players in the scene, using their stories to paint the larger picture. It's incredibly effective, and there's real control in the way they parcel out information at just the right moment for maximum effect." Ain't It Cool News "As richly compelling and artfully shot as rock docs get, Until the Light Takes Us goes beyond charting black metal's underpinnings and the tabloid sensationalism of its fiery saga. Through smartly constructed reveals and blunt interviews that include many vulnerable moments, Ewell and Aites investigate the entanglement of art, terrorism, and the media that tried to define both." - LA Weekly "I’d never heard of Norwegian black metal, which flourished in the early 1990s, but that didn’t prevent me from becoming engrossed in — and highly disturbed by — the bizarre, violent stories of some of the participants of that musical scene as presented in Until the Light Takes Us. There are murders...[spoiler removed]...suicides, rabid nationalism, anti-Judeo-Christian diatribes, antiAmericanism, church burnings, media sensationalism, faux satanism, and, in my view, the pervasive sensation that we live in a very, very sick world — one in which violence and hatred are perceived as not only valid but also as desirable manifestations of dissent." Andre Soares, Alternative Film Guide "This documentary is an excellent piece of minimalist but effective storytelling, much like the music that inspired it. If you seek the simple truths hidden behind the headlines, this film will lead you to them." - The Left Hand Path “This riveting documentary is not a music movie but a clear-sighted investigation into the murky subculture of Norwegian black metal

music, whose history, though distorted and sensationalized by the press, is still pretty sensational even in the undistorted version, strewn with the ashes of torched churches and the blood of murder and suicide victims. As the filmmakers note, black metal blurs the line between music, art, activism and terror...there’s really no other art or music or ideological movement like it. Focusing on three figures--self-destructive pioneer Dead (of the group Mayhem), convicted murderer Varg Vikernes (of Burzum), and the relatively moderate Gylve Nagell (of Darkthrone)--UNTIL THE LIGHT draws a deeply, disturbingly ambivalent portrait of a contradictory movement that is too complex either to endorse or to dismiss.” - Blah+Blah+Blog "Even if one doesn’t like black metal, one would be riveted by the power of the film. This is one of the best things cinema has to offer, not only to fans of metal, but to anyone with any interest about documentaries and about what...happened in Norway during the late ‘80s – early 90s. Great film and then some." - Global Domination Saturday, November 29 @ 9:30 p.m. AIUA, MY PHANTOM & SCOUT in concert. AIUA (pronounced eye-you-uh) is a New Orleans progressive rock group that to me seems like a strong blend of Ennio Marricone and Frank Zappa; SCOUT are two high school kids from Mandeville, students from St. Pauls and NOCCA, Brent on drums and Corey guitar, who blew me away. These kids are immensely talented. You really need to check them out. MY EMPTY PHANTOM is Jesse Beaman, a Piano, Guitar, Synthesizers, & Drums, Eno-esque ambient, classical rock from Austin, TX. Wednesday, December 2 @ 8:00 p.m. JAMES SINGLETON & GEORG GRAEWE (from Germany) in concert. Georg Graewe, the master improviser, composer, conceptualist, and virtuoso pianist returns to Zeitgeist with New Orleans’ own James Singleton (Astral Project, 3now4, The James Singleton String Quartet). $10. Thursday, December 3 @ 8:00 p.m. TABULA RASA in concert. The legendary New Orleans Praque/Progressive rock band returns to Zeitgeist. Tabula Rasa is George Piazza (Keyboards, Guitar & Voice), Dave Stocker (Guitar, Keyboards & Voice), Mike McCormack (Tenor & Soprano Sax, Flute, Oboe & Cor Anglais), Chuck Booksh (5 & 6 String Fretless Bass), and Harold Marcho (Drums & Percussion). Friday, December 4 @ 8:00 p.m. BRIAN PRUNKA (oud & guitar), TIM GREEN (saxophone) & HELEN GILLET (cello) in concert. Arabic inspired jazz. Saturday, December 5 @ BICYCLE FILM FESTIVAL. Now in 39 cities worldwide, Bicycle Film Festival finally comes to New Orleans. In 2001, Brendt Barbur, Founder and Director, was compelled to start the Bicycle Film Festival after being hit by a bus while riding his bike in New York City. Instead of being deterred by this experience, it inspired him to create a festival that celebrates the bicycle through music, art, and film. Now in its ninth year the traveling film festival is expected to be seen by over 250,000 people this year. The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates the bicycle in all forms and styles. If you can name it - Tall Bike Jousting, Track Bikes, BMX, Alleycats, Critical Mass, Bike Polo, Road Cycling, Mountain Biking Recumbents - we've probably either ridden or screened it. What better way to celebrate these lifestyles than through art, film, music and performance? Schedule to be announced. Bicyclefilmfestival.com Sunday, December 6 - TBA Monday, December 7 @ 7:30 p.m. PHOTONOLA FILM NIGHT featuring Tuesday through Thursday, December 8 through 10 @ 7:30 p.m. Friday through Thursday, December 11 through 17 @ 5:15 p.m. DAYTIME DRINKING by Young-Seok Noh. An acclaimed new comedy from South Korea. After breaking up with his girlfriend, Hyuk-jin hits a bar in Seoul with his friends. Totally drunk, they decide to take a trip to a festival in Joengseon, a small town out in the Korean countryside, to console Hyuk-jin's broken heart. They agree to leave first thing the next day. However, when Hyuk-Jin gets off the bus the next afternoon, he finds out he's the only one that made the trip. He calls his friends, but they all had horrible hangovers and completely forgot. Worse, he quickly finds that the festival they were headed to was weeks ago, and the tiny beach town is shuttered- the shops aren't open, there are no other tourists there, and the beach is freezing cold. Hyuk-jin is truly, honestly, alone. When one of his friends suggests Hyuk-jin wait for them at a hostel run by an old pal from college, he agrees. He seeks it out, not realizing that not only is the place he's sleeping in not the right hotel in the slightest, but that this is just the beginning of a very strange adventure. Over the next few days, Hyuk-jin finds himself in a series of increasingly bizarre situations, most of them aided by the fact that, due to his respect for the etiquette of Korean drinking culture, Hyuk-jin finds it difficult to refuse a drink when someone offers him one. With his friends still saying they'll come, but not showing up, and his wallet gone, Hyuk-jin has to figure out how get out of what must surely be the world's worst hangover, get back to Seoul, and end his drunken odyssey. 117 mins. “It’s the funniest movie we’ve seen this year.” -Rob Christopher, Chicagoist

“Fresh and passionate…a remarkable achievement!” -Toronto International Film Festival “…a droll minimalist comedy with major insights that has been understandably heralded as a breakthrough in independent filmmaking in South Korea” -Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times Tuesday through Thursday, December 8 though 10 @ 7:30 p.m. AN AMERICAN JOURNEY: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ROBERT FRANK by Philippe Seclier. In contemporary photography, it is widely agreed there is a “before” and an “after” The Americans – Robert Frank’s 1958 photographic manifesto. Half a century later, French director Philippe Séclier decided to follow in Robert Frank’s footsteps to explore the spirit of the “Beat Generation” by examining the impact of Frank’s book, The Americans, not only on the art of photography, but also on American culture. From Texas to Montana, from Nebraska to Louisiana, from New York to San Francisco, An American Journey is a 15,000 mile odyssey through contemporary America, moving between past and present, photography and cinema, and two Americas, separated by time. Following in Robert Frank’s footsteps means delving back into the book - with the help of precious witnesses - but also revisiting the United States, retracing Frank’s itinerary from east to west, north to south.Robert Frank traveled the United States with a 35mm Leica. He had no flash or tripod; he wanted to take pictures discretely. It was the only way to achieve, in his own words, an “authentic contemporary document.” In the same spirit, I opted for a digital camera and used only natural light, with no tripods or other accessories.Driving while filming, filming while driving... And also occasionally stopping for a closer look, to bring the voyage between photography and cinema into juxtaposition with sequences from the book. This American Journey depicts, like Robert Frank’s trip before it, the experience of the wanderer and the lonesome road. Presented in conjunction with PHOTONOLA, a citywide photography Expo. Sponsored by the New Orleans Consulate De France.

December 11 through 19 @ 7:30 p.m. plus Sundays, December 13 & 20 @ 4:30 p.m.

Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary arts Center 1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70113-1311

zeitgeistinc.net (504) 352-1150 [email protected] $8 general / $7 students & seniors / $6 zeitgeist members LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET by Frederick Wiseman. Documentary master Frederick Wiseman’s 38th film in a career that has spanned more than that number of years, turns his attention to one of the world’s greatest ballet companies, the Paris Opera Ballet. John Davey’s camera roams the vast Palais Garnier, an opulent 19th century pile of a building: from its crystal chandelier-laden corridors to its labyrinthine underground chambers, from its light-filled rehearsal studios to its luxurious theater replete with 2,200 scarlet velvet seats and Marc Chagall ceiling. LA DANSE devotes most of its time to watching impossibly beautiful young men and women — among them Nicolas Le Riche, Marie-Agnès Gillot, and Agnès Letestu — rehearsing the choreography of Mats Ek, Wayne McGregor, Rudolf Nureyev and Pina Bausch. For balletomanes and the curious alike, LA DANSE serves up a scrumptious meal of delectable moments, one more glorious than the next, made even more precious by their ephemeral nature. “One of the finest dance films ever made. A feast for ballet lovers. Sumptuous in its length and graceful in its rhythm. Transfixes you with the inner workings of an institution.”– A.O. Scott, The New York Times “A JOYOUS EXPERIENCE! Fanatical artistic direction is the subject of Frederick Wiseman’s LA DANSE. The dancers, whom he photographs not in the manner of the commercial cinema, where bodies are broken up into threshing limbs, but in full frame, top to bottom, with space around them, so that we can see the incredible moves the dancers are capable of.”– David Denby, The New Yorker “What a thrilling week for dance onscreen. A portrait of one of the world’s great companies by one of the world’s great vérité documentarians. LA DANSE captures a living ecosystem. Beyond offering the privilege of watching gorgeously photographed scenes from seven ballets classically smooth and atonally jarring, LA DANSE is an anatomy. It’s about flesh and bone and sinew, about sublimity on Earth.” – David Edelstein, New York magazine “Frederick Wiseman remains the most prominent invisible man of American documentary film. LA DANSE… does more than offer intimate access to great dancers like Nicolas Le Riche and Agnès Letestu and choreography by Rudolph Nureyev and Pina Bausch… it also ventures beyond the stage and studios and into sewing rooms, cafeterias and administrative offices. It is above all a portrait of an institution. (Wiseman’s) movies reveal the most basic foundations of society. (His) best movies, despite the aura of vérité purity, also have the heft and intricacy of great drama.” – Dennis Lim, The New York Times “ Heavenly!” – V.A. Musetto, New York Post “An absolute treat for balletomanes.” – Leslie Felperin, Variety “With his latest documentary LA DANSE, Wiseman turns his all-seeing eye and organizing intelligence on the most evanescent of arts.”– Nicolas Rapold, Sight & Sound magazine “Glorious! The American documentary master’s typically rigorous and compelling study of all that goes on in the rehearsal rooms, offices and finally on the legendary stage of the Paris Opera Ballet. A superb portrait of the perennial pas de deux between art and commerce.” – Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly (Toronto)

Fred Wiseman is probably one of today’s greatest living documentary filmmakers. For close to thirty years, thanks to the Public Broadcast Service (PBS), he has created an exceptional body of work consisting of thirty full length films devoted primarily to exploring American institutions. Over time these films have become a record of the western world, since now more than ever as we approach the century’s close, nothing North American is really foreign to us. Wiseman has spent the major part of his career documenting America’s institutions – a hospital, a high school, army basic training, a welfare center, a police precinct, and the American ballet Theatre. Now he sets his sights on Europe. His landmark documentaries include Titicut Follies, High School, Public Housing, Near Death, Meat, Deaf, Juvenile Court, Hospital, Basic Training, Ballet, Blind, Central Park, etc. Sunday, December 20 @ 7:30 p.m. NOLA VOICE TALENT presents IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, adapted for the Radio On Stage by Tony Palermo. Proceeds benefit PostKatrina regeneration through Common Ground Relief. Tony Palermo is a radio dramatist/director, composer, engineer, sound artist and educator living in Los Angeles, CA. He operates Encyclo-Media, an audio media production company and the RuyaSonic.com website. Since 1976, Tony has been writing, directing and scoring radio plays for public radio, The Musuem of Television and Radio, the United Nations, on stage and in recordings. He's done everything from super-heroes to soap operas, detective shows, westerns, horror stories, historical dramas, and science-fiction. $10 (plus voluntary donations). Advanced tickets available at Zeitgeist.

Coming after the Festival: As always, Zeitgeist has an exciting line-up of films, music and performances for you to check out after the New Orleans Middle East Film Festival closes. For the November 24 – December 20, 2009 schedule click here. For our DECEMBER Calendar at a glance click here. Our 23rd year of programming kicks off with: HANK WILLIAMS FIRST NATION, a little Native Canadian comedy that became a huge box office hit in Canada, spawning a 6 part mini-series based on the film on Canada’s Aboriginal TV. The filmmaker from

Alberta Canada, Aaron James Sorenson, was scheduled to come to Zeitgeist to present the film, but was recently in a major car accident which crushed his hip and left leg. The film screens as part of our monthly series CANADA IS BIGGER THAN THE U.S. Also part of the series is AMREEKA, a Palestinian/Canadian comedy that won the International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US is a documentary about the Norwegian Black Metal cult that lead to a series of church burnings, murders and ritual suicides. LA DANSE: PARIS OPERA BALLET is the latest documentary by legendary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. And on a lighter note, there is DAYTIME DRINKING the hit comedy from South Korea, which will of course screen as a “happy hour” matinee complete with drink specials. We will be screening films in conjunction with PHOTONOLA, a citywide photography Expo including AMERICAN JOURNEY: In The Footsteps of Robert Frank. We are proud to host the first NEW ORLEANS BICYCLE FILM FESTIVAL and a live radio play of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE to benefit Common Ground Relief. Plus live music featuring: JAMES SINGLETON & German jazz pianist GEORG GREAWE; legendary New Orleans Praque Rock band TABULA RASA; Arabic inspired jazz from BRIAN PRUNKA, TIM GREEN & HELEN GILLET; plus an ambient/progressive rock show with AIUA, SCOUT and MY EMPTY PHANTOM (from Austin, TX).