News #007: The three-act structure is akin to fascism... and Hollywood cinema is like the hydrogen bomb.
Haile Gerima in Los Angeles, rep film streetwear and Amos Vogel's masterpiece returns
Hello and welcome back to Rep Cinema International. My name is Herb Shellenberger and I’m the founder and editor of this newsletter, which returns after an unplanned hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This news report focuses on significant events, assorted links, news and ephemera related to repertory cinema around the world. Thanks for the response from the announcement of this newsletter’s return and hope you enjoy!
Repertory cinema highlights
Imperfect Journey: Haile Gerima and His Comrades at Academy Museum (Los Angeles)
The story of the moment is the work of 75-year-old Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima, a fierce independent who is finally getting his due, albeit from some unlikely places. The newly-opened Academy Museum in Los Angeles has feted Gerima with an award, alongside the wide-ranging series “Imperfect Journey”, which screens 9 features and 2 shorts from the landmark filmmaker alongside the work of his students (cinematographers Malik Sayeed, Bradford Young and DOP-turned-artist Arthur Jafa, for example) and fellow travelers. The Academy has restored his much-sought-after early feature Wilmington 10 – USA 10,000 (1979) and ARRAY Studios have restored Sankofa (1993) and Ashes and Embers (1982). Devika Girish spoke with Gerima for the NYT, finding in the course the polemical words that title this week’s newsletter.Courtisane Festival 2021 (Ghent, Belgium)
The always-surprising Courtisane Festival is finally back after a cancelled 2020 edition. Usually taking place over Easter weekend (so in March or April), the 2021 edition took place this past week, parallel to Film Festival Gent. While the center of the festival is its Selection of new work—including exceptional artist-filmmakers like Graeme Arnfield, Sky Hopinka, Lisa Spilliaert, Elke Marhöfer, and Sílvia das Fadas—I wanted to highlight two of this year’s special programs.Firstly, the Artist in Focus series on British artist-filmmaker Sandra Lahire (1950–2001), curated by Charlotte Procter (Collection and Archive Director, LUX) and María Palacios Cruz, programmer for Courtisane. The series included the ten films made on 16mm by the Jewish, lesbian, feminist, activist filmmaker—all screened digitally and some in new HD transfers—placing them in dialogue with films by Sarah Pucill, Maria Klonaris & Katerina Thomadaki as well as Jeanette Iljon and Lis Rhodes. Alongside the series, the curators have edited the 84-page publication Living on air: the films of Sandra Lahire (buy/read). Lahire’s films are available to rent through LUX.
The much-anticipated series “Out of the Shadows” focuses on pioneering Arab female filmmakers, with ambitions to “address th[e] obscurity and revitalize the work of four filmmakers whose films remain overlooked and underscreened: Atteyat Al-Abnoudy, Assia Djebar, Jocelyne Saab and Heiny Srour.” With two programs devoted to each filmmaker—and the only surviving filmmaker, Henry Srour in attendance—the series provides the rare chance to see the work of these pivotal filmmakers from Algeria (Djebar), Egypt (Al-Abnoudy) and Lebanon (Saab and Srour) in the best available prints and new restorations. Similar to the Sandra Lahire program, “Out of the Shadows” features an accompanying 164-page publication of the same name (buy/read).
Where to find your rep film drip
If you’re a repfilm-loving bagperson (gender neutral term for bagman) and you desperately need some options to spice up your wardrobe which also express your love of classic cinema, here are a couple suggestions of where to turn. All these different initiatives operate on limited quantities and usually sell out incredibly quickly, so if you want to purchase, it’s best to keep a keen eye on their social media or mailing lists. Any other tips are welcome, especially for people dropping gear outside of the United States.
Ashley Hohman runs Terminal Classic out of St. Louis, where she prints up her designs inspired by arthouse cinema, classic folk and indie music, literature and art. She usually announces drops via her IG which leads to her site when she has updated stock. I’m wearing the Maya Deren while writing this.
Rough Cut Fan Club make “movie shirts for punks”. A collaborative project between designer/printer Hauntlove and website/podcasters Cinepunx, they focus on horror/cult/genre cinema but not just. For example, this Czech New Wave double feature features designs for Daisies (Věra Chytilová, 1966) and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Jaromil Jireš, 1970).
BOOT BOYZ are so over the top self-serious but they do put together gear both goodlooking and of great quality. This sweatshirt takes on the Eames’ Powers of Ten (1977), and like all their items is accompanied by an extensive essay.
Screen Slate have been upping their merch game substantially recently, for instance these sold out Fassbinder shorts designed by Bráulio Amado which, as a bonus, come with a free Assbinder condom.
Amos Vogel and Film as a Subversive Art
This year has been full of tributes to Amos Vogel (1921–2012), the pioneering film programmer, writer and educator well-known for co-founding the Cinema 16 film society (with his wife Marcia Vogel) and the New York Film Festival. Vogel’s influence on the fields of film exhibition, film studies and filmmaking form/style have been immeasurable. Another testament to his ongoing influence is his much-loved and sought-after 1974 book Film as a Subversive Art. Out of print for many years, the book is now back in circulation thanks to New York publisher Film Desk Books, whose newly-revised edition is available for pre-order and shipping in the coming weeks.
As such, there have been recent profiles on Amos Vogel and Film as a Subversive Art by J. Hoberman for New York Times, Jessica Boyall at MUBI Notebook, David Hudson at Criterion Daily and Anny Oberlink for Screen Slate. Throughout this year, his centennial, there have been screenings in tribute to Vogel at Punto de Vista Festival, New York Film Festival, Viennale and many more.
I’m overjoyed to have worked with Film Desk Books in editing and fact checking the new edition of the book, the first revised edition in which we’ve corrected hundreds of errors throughout, making Vogel’s words and ideas clearer for contemporary readers and researchers. Two growing lists of Amos Vogel-related programming and resources can be found at Film Desk Books and the Austrian Filmmuseum. For anyone reading in the Philadelphia area, I’ve put together a double program of screenings with films from Film as a Subversive Art at Lightbox Film Center on November 6.
Endnotes
Featured images: Sankofa (Haile Gerima, 1993, USA/Ghana/Burkina Faso/UK/Germany/Ethiopia) // Beirut, My City (Beyrouth, ma ville, Jocelyne Saab, 1982, France/Lebanon)
Coming soon: an interview with Wakae Nakane and Miryam Sas, programmers of the screening 1990s Experimental Film in Japan: Women’s Anarchic Visions of the Everyday at the BAMPFA in Berkeley.
The next newsletter will feature some of the excellent Halloween-related rep film programming happening all over. Please send any related tips!
Thanks for reading! Subscribe if you’re coming to this from the website and please share if you find this useful. While the main channel is this Substack newsletter, you can also find Rep Cinema International on Twitter, Instagram and in list form on Letterboxd.
Questions, comments or other inquiries: RepCinemaInternational@gmail.com