Category BlogThe newly revitalized KPFK Film Club is back!
What is the KPFK Film Club?
The KPFK Film Club is available to listener-subscribers who, for an annual pledge of $150 to the station, are invited to attend (with a guest) quality, topically diverse films, both contemporary and classic, which we believe will be of interest to the broad range of our listenership.
How do listeners join the Film Club?
Just call our Subscriptions Department at (818) 985-2711, extension 508, during weekday working hours to join the Film Club or make an online pledge of $150 to the station.
How do members find out about screenings?
Screenings are announced regularly on the air, listed online, and by calling the front desk at (818) 985-2711, Dial "0" for Operator, full descriptions and sign-ups are available at the reception desk.
Where are films shown?
Films are shown at various venues throughout the Los Angeles area, including Hollywood, West L.A., Pasadena, Encino, Ventura, and Agoura Hills. We hope to expand our range of offerings to accomodate more and more of our Southern California listenership.
How are seats reserved?
By calling the KPFK switchboard -- (818) 985-2711, extension 0 -- during weekday working hours, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, giving your name and Film Club card number to the receptionist at the front desk. If the receptionist is busy, please call back.
CURRENT OFFERINGS NOW PLAYING:
THE GREY, writer-director Joe Carnahan's powerful, multi-layered relentless action drama, stars Liam Neeson, as a man confronting the will to survive and what is worth fighting for. When their plane crashes in the remote Alaskan wilderness, an unruly group of oil rig roughnecks battle mortal injury and merciless weather, with only a few days to escape the icy elements and a vicious pack of predatory wolves on the hunt, before their time runs out. In a special American Cinemateque double-feature with Carnahan's much-celebrated film, NARC, starring Ray Liota and Jason Patric, the screening was followed by a Q&A with the director.
PINA is an exhilarating new film from German master filmmaker Wim Wenders, which captures the brilliantly inventive dance world of legendary choreographer, Pina Bausch. Originally conceived with Bausch, Wenders continued the project after her untimely death in 2009. A dance film like none other, it utilizes 3D technology to bring the viewer deep inside Bausch's playful, thrillingly unpredictable, sensual dance pieces. PINA is currenlty playing at The Landmark, 10850 West Pico Blvd. in the Westiside Pavilion.
FLOWERS OF WAR is an epic story of love and sacrifice set during Japan's 1937 invasion of China. Told from the perspective of a young girl, it is an intimate, elemental and paradoxically universal celebration of the human spirit. From the director of "Raise the Red Lantern," FLOWERS OF WAR stars Christian Bale as a dissolute Westerner who seeks refuge in a Catholic church, he meets a beautiful Chinese courtesan who helps him rescue a group of schoolgirls from a terrible fate at the hands of the Japanese. FLOWERS OF WAR opens on Friday, Jan. 20th at The Landmark, 10850 W. Pico Blvd. in the Westside Pavilion.
MISS BALA, Mexico's official entry for Oscar's Best Foreign Language film, tells the story of Laura, a young woman whose aspirations of becoming a beauty queen turn against her, delivering her into the hands of a gang that's terrorizing northern Mexico. Learning that the price of a crown might not be worth becoming an unwilling participant in a violent drug war, she is shaken and transformed. On Variety's 2011 list of Directors to Watch, writer-director Gerardo Naranjo has been heralded as a major talent after an impressive debut at Cannes. MISS BALA opens on Friday, Jan. 20th at Landmark's Regent, 1045 Broxton Ave. in Westwood.
MAN ON A MISSION: RICHARD GARRIOTT'S ROAD TO THE STARS is a riveting account of video game inventor Richard Garriott's lifelong quest to become the first son of an astronaut to also blast into space. Known in the gaming world as "Lord British," he turns to private space travel to make his dream come true. MAN ON A MISSION captures everything from his training in Russian to launch aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, as well as life aboard the International Space Station, resplendent with a view of the earth and never-before-seen views from the inside of the capsule during fiery re-entry. MAN ON A MISSION opens on Friday, Jan. 20th at Laemmle's Music Hall 3.
ADDICTION, INCORPORATED is Charles Evans' taut, journalistic expose which tells the riveting story of Victor DeNoble, the first whistleblower to reveal the tobacco industry's efforts to manufacture a "maximally addictive" product. Having succeeded in inventing a safer form of nicotine, he inadvertently revealed how addictive nicotine truly is. His position was then terminated, his lab closed and his research buried in a vault. Today, as new laws go into effect, tobacco companied are once again rolling up their sleeves and arming themselves for litigation. Fifteen years in the making ADDICTION, INC. will startle you with previously undisclosed information straight from the mouths of key players. ADDICTION, INCORPORATED opens on Friday, Jan. 13th for a limited engagement at the Nuart.
1ST ANNUAL TUNISIAN FILM FESTIVAL, running Jan. 10th through 12th, celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Tunisian Democracy revolution iwth screenings and special events dedicated to Tunisian Cinema, culture and creativity. Presented by freetunisia.org and the Levantine Center's New Voices of Middle Eastern Cinema, it includes filmmakers, musicians, artists, cultural ambassadors, actors and surprise guests. Opening night ceremonies began with a concert by MC Rai followed by screenings and Q&A with filmmakers, at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre. KPFK WAS A PROUD MEDIA SPONSOR of this very special event.
DAVID, follows the son of the Imam of a Brooklyn mosque who has to juggle the high expectations of his father with feelings of isolation from his peers in the Muslim community. Through an innocent act of good faith, he befriends a group of Jewish boys who mistake him for a fellow classmate at their Orthodox school, drawing them into a dilemma inspired by youthful deceit and good intentions. Followed by a discussion with cast and crew and presented by the Levantine Center's New Voices Series, DAVID screens at the Covina Women's Club on night only on Jan. 15th and again at the Woodland Hills Community Church on Jan. 18th.
RECENT OFFERINGS:
NILOOFAR is the story of a twelve-year-old girl whose dream is to read and write, but in her village, education is only provided to boys. When her father arranges her marriage to an older man, she does everything in her power to escape her ill fate. the screening, in conjunction with the Skirball's 'Women Hold Up Half the Sky' exhibit, was following by Q & A with award-winning writer/director Sabine El Gemayel. In Persian and Arabic with English subtitles. One night only special event at the Skirball Cultural Center.
THE WAY is a modern-day odyssey - the soulful journey of a man rocked by personal crisis who sets off on an epic mountain trek on the 500-mile Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimmage made by millions for more than a thousand years to search for adventure and answers, thinking he is utterly lost, only to keep bumping into surprise moments of community, companionship and inspiration that begin to steer his way. This spirited road-movie-on-foot crosses territory that is alternately comic, adventurous and keenly moving, even as it becomes an unforeseen gift from a son to a father. Directed by Emilio Estevez and starring Martin Sheen, THE WAY is filled with comedy, joy, wonder and breathtaking landscapes. THE WAY screened at Laemmles Playhouse 7 in Pasadena.
LONDON RIVER, set against a backdrop of the July 7th 2005 terrorist attacks in London, LONDON RIVER tackles the fear and prejudice of a mother searching for her daughter as she crosses paths with a West African man from France also searching to find his missing son. Although they come from very different cultural backgrounds, they share the same hope of finding their children alive, giving each other the strength to continue their search and find faith in humanity. LONDON RIVER played at Laemmle's Royal in West L.A.
CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL is a star-studded tribute to Hollywood's prolific writer-director-rebel. A seminal influence in filmmaking over the last 60 years, Corman launched the careers of future film luminaries, capitalizing on undiscovered talent and pushing the boundaries of filmmaking. Featuring interviews with such icons at Peter Bogdanovich, Robert de Niro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, William Shatner and Jack Nicholson, CORMAN'S WORLD chronicles Corman's cult empire one low-budget success at a time. CORMAN'S WORLD screened at the Nuart in West L.A.
MOZART'S DON GIOVANNI, one of the greatest operas ever written, performed by the Teatro Alla Scala in Italy, another fine addition to Laemmle's Emerging Pictures in Opera Cinema series in a live broadcast Dec. 7th and followed by encore performances. Screened at Laemmle Theatres throughout the Los Angeles area.
CRAZY WISDOM: THE LIFE & TIMES OF CHOGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE explores the cultural shift created by the "bad boy of Buddhism" who fled the Communist invasion of Tibet in 1959 for Britain. Trained in a rigorous monastic tradition, but seeing that a cultural gap blocked his students from any deep understanding of Buddhism, he renounced his voews, eloped with a 16-year-old and lived as a westerner, consuming alcohol and having intimate relations with his students. Using humor as an essential part of his teaching, he quipped, "Enlightenment is better than Disneyland," while warnig of the dangers of the western spiritual supermarket. Was this the "crazy wisdom" which caused Alan Ginsberg to consider him his guru, made Catholic priest Thomas Merton want to write a book about him, and Joni Mitchell to write a song about him? Twenty years after his death, his works translated into 31 languages, his name still evokes admiration and outrage. CRAZY WISDOM played at Laemmle's Monica-4-Plex.
CHARLOTTE RAMPLING: THE LOOK is a biographical study of the legendary actress as told through her conversations with some of her closest friends and collaborators. Intercut with footage from some of Rampling's most celebrated films, including "Stardust Memories," "The Night Porter," and "The Verdict," this deeply personal 'self-portrait through others' is a revealing look at one of the screen's most classical objects of desire. CHARLOTTE RAMPLING: THE LOOK played at Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills.
OUTRAGE, the new film by legendary writer/director Takeshi Kitano, depicts a corrupt Yakuza underworld where there are no heroes, but constant betrayal and vengeance. In a ruthless battle for power, several clans vie for the favor of their head family as rival bosses seek to rise through the ranks, scheming and making allegiances over saki. OUTRAGE enjoyed an exclusive engagement at th Nuart, 11272 Santa Monia Blvd., in West LA.
SHAME, is an award-winning documentary which tells the story of Mukhtaran Mai, a Pakistani woman whose life changed forever when her village's tribal council sanctioned a punishment against her for a crime allegedly committed by her younger brother. Following the custom of 'honor for honor', Mai was gang-raped and publicly paraded. Rather than succumb to humiliation and eventual suicide, Mai sought justice, shaking Pakistan's decaying judicial system to the core, eventually paying her reparations. Becoming an internationally renowned spokesperson on Pakistani women's rights, she invested in schools to give local children the education she never had - even the children of her attackers. Part of the Skirball's "Women Hold Up Half the Sky" exhibit, SHAME depicts her astonishing spirit, resilience, and self-belief which sustained her through her incredible journey. SHAME screened for one-night only at the Skirball Cultural Center.
COOK COUNTY is an unflinching, raw and real story of a rural life where crystal meth dictates the family dynamic. In a visceral tale of three generations of meth addicts living in the wood of East Texas, 17-year-old Abe struggles to beat addiction, trying to protect himself and his young niece from an abusive uncle, leading to a suspenseful ending where harrowing choices must be made. COOK COUNTY played at Laemmle's Monica4-Plex, Playhouse 7 and Fallbrook 7 in West Hills.
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, enjoyed by audiences of all denominations, brings to the screen such classics at "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," "Sunrise, Sunset," and "If I Were a Rich Man." Set in a Ukrainian village, it stars Israeli actor Topol, who repeats his legendary London stage role of Tevye, whose equilibrium is constantly being challenged by his poverty, the prejudice of non-Jews and the romantic entanglements of his five daughters. Presented one night only in a sing-along screening at Laemmle's Music Hall 3.
THE ROOM, a midnight cult sensation, is an electrifying, quirky, black comedy about love, passion, betrayal and lies, depicting relationships in the lives of its five major characters, raising the question, "Can you really trust anyone?" TIME Magazine calls it "The awful movie everyone wants to see," and Entertainment Weekly says, "It's a guilty pleasure in every sense of the word," with audience members rushing to the screen to imitate the action, tossing footballs, and engaging in dialogue with the characters. THE ROOM screens at Landmark's Regent Theatre in Westwood as part of a monthly midnight screening series.
IF YOU MISSED ANY OF THESE FABULOUS FILMS, YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS WHAT'S COMING UP!
MOVIE TRIVIA QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I AM BIG. IT'S THE PICTURES THAT HAVE GOTTEN SMALLER."
2010 Film Club Previous Offerings
