Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 7:30 PM
SOUTHLANDER (89 min., 2001, USA) Sharing the hipper-than-thou yet tongue-in-cheek vibe of BOOGIE NIGHTS and PULP FICTION (sans the violence), music video director Steven Hanft delivers a surreal first feature with shades of an eccentric David Lynch, odyssey. Chance (Rory Cochrane) only gets a break on the LA music scene when he buys a rare, cool, white ‘69 Mullowtron synthesizer that delivers the ultimate in space sounds. When it is stolen on the eve of the band’s tour departure, he and his skeevey pal (Ross Harris) adventure through LA’s music underground trying to reclaim the instrument that sets Chance apart from the struggling musician masses. Some of the characters they meet along the way include faded 70’s funk superstar, the temperamental Motherchild ("Welcome Back Kotter"’s Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), his tennis buddy (Richard Edson); and a millionaire (Gregg Henry) bent on ridding the world of electronics. With cameos by recording artists Beck, Beth Orton and Hank Williams III.
With Jon M. Chu’s "Silent Beats" (5 min., 2001, USA) A provocative look at racial stereotyping. Filmmakers & Cast will appear following the screening.
Thursday, May 30, 2002 | 7:30 PM
Sneak Preview!MANNA FROM HEAVEN (119 min., USA, 2001) ‘Babies are so wonderful, because they contain everything that they can be," murmurs saintly child Theresa in the opening of this sweet, fairytale set in Buffalo. She skips home to find her bickering Irish/Italian, Catholic family hovered over a pile of money that literally fell from the sky and onto their front lawn. Now Rita and Tony can seek fame on the ballroom dancing circuit, Dottie can go to beauty school, Bunny can send her son to college and Inez can simply get out of town. Flash forward a good many years later – almost a lifetime for the elder members of the Annunciato-Burns-Madden clan -- when the lives lived are a far cry from their youthful dreams. The youngest, Theresa (Ursula Burton) is now a nun with a heart so big, even the church has to reign her in. When she calls the extended family together to right a wrong from the past, each person’s life transforms in surprising and heartwarming ways. A charming comedy about family and hope in the spirit of THE ROYAL TANNENBAUMS. With Seymour Cassel, Shelley Duvall, Jill Eikenberry, Louise Fletcher, Frank Gorshin, Faye Grant, Harry Groener, Shirley Jones, Cloris Leachman, Wendie Malick ("Just Shoot Me"), Austin Pendleton. A Five Sisters Production directed by Gabrielle C. Burton & Maria Burton. Produced by Charity and Jennifer Burton. Cast & Crew will appear for discussion following.
Sneak Preview!
MAI’S AMERICA (2002, 72 min., USA) Mai, a spunky, mini-skirted, 16-year-old daughter of Ho Chi Minh’s revolution leaves cosmopolitan, communist Hanoi, Vietnam on a high school exchange program in the United States. Anticipating the glamour of Hollywood, Mai crash lands in rural Mississippi, assigned to a white trash, manic depressive, "host" family of self-proclaimed "rednecks." Undaunted, Mai makes the most of her stay in the American South, developing relationships with Black Baptists, a drag queen prom date, a progressive teacher and South Vietnamese immigrants. Over the course of this fascinating, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction documentary, Mai’s perceptions of herself, freedom, America and even Vietnam are perpetually challenged, especially as she struggles to extend her stay in the U.S. to attend college with her own hard-earned money. SXSW Audience Award winner! Filmmaker Marlo Poras will appear for discussion following the screening.
With Chris Strother’s "Candy Money" (2002, 10 min., USA). Two enterprising young boys scour the backwoods of Arkansas looking to make a buck.