7 DUDLEY CINEMA at THE TALKING STICK, 1411 Lincoln Blvd, Venice CA 90291, 310-450-6052, free admission, 6-10pm Info 310-306-7330 Gerry Fialka pfsuzy@aol.com http://www.laughtears.com/ 

MON, July 19. THE REINACTORS ('09, 96m) at 8pm - Dave Markey's (in-person) hilarious documentary interweaves the disparate lives of street performers and celebrity look-a-likes on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. "A bittersweet look at a tribe of desperate dreamers. David Markey dives deep into the subterranean nooks and crannies of this bizarre subculture and surfaces with cinematic gold." - Ann Magnuson, The Paper. 1991 - THE YEAR PUNK BROKE ('92, 99m) at 6pm - With Sonic Youth and Nirvana as they stumble thought their 1991 European club festival tour! Let filmmaker Dave Markey put you on stage, off stage and backstage! Witness the boredom! The cynicism! And rock harder than you may have ever rocked before! Featuring Dinosaur Jr., Babes In Toyland, Gumball, The Ramones and a surging wave of punk rock fanatics! See You In The Pit! "Markey strives for a kind of cinema verite-meets-homemade-fanzine appeal and succeeds almost too well."-Entertainment Weekly 

MON, Aug 16. JOHN CAGE's ONE ('07, 90m) at 6:30 - Maverick composer John Cage's black-and-white meditation on the waxing and waning of light: Candle-like apertures appear, expand, then recede from view while Cage's orchestral work 103 simmers with sustained strings and occasional punctuations from oboe, trumpet, tympani, and other instruments. One11 is a visual counterpart to Cage's 'silent' composition 4:33, questioning our concepts of emptiness. 'No space is empty,' he said. 'Light will show what is in it. The result, aided by the distinguished cameraman Van Theodore Carlson, is a film entirely without plot or actors, which Cage hopes will enable viewers to find themselves. The Making of One11 ('06, 43m) at 8pm - Henning Lohner's documentary on the creative process and realization of the film, with Joan LaBarbara and more. Interview with Van Carlson & Henning Lohner ('06, 33m) at 9:30- The filmmakers discuss their work with Cage and the film, the technical challenges, and more.

MON, Sept 20. RICHARD LEACOCK - DOCUMENTARY PIONEER. 6-10pm  Ishan Shapiro & Marija Coneva (in person) screen rare films by Ricky Leacock, who spawned Direct Cinema & Cinema Verite, and worked with Robert Flaherty, DA Pennebaker, Shirley Clarke, Jean-Luc Godard, Bob Dylan, Igor Starvinsky and many more. He was the head of MIT's Film School for 20 years. His JFK doc Primary was praised as a revolutionary step and breaking point in the recording of reality in cinema having caught the scenes of real life with unprecedented authenticity, immediacy and truth. Henri Langlois called it "the most important documentary since the brothers Lumiere." Ishan & Marija of http://cargo.notthisbody.com mentored under Leacock for several months in Paris recently and will share some of their understandings on the importance of his work. They will discus Leacock's essays on our relationship as creators of media and his point of view on the democratization of the tools to create media - a lifelong struggle for him. They are helping him publish his autobiography currently. http://richardleacock.com

MON, Oct 18. THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT ('01, 91m) at 8:30pm - Space travel has become a dirty way of life dominated by derelicts, grease monkeys, and hard-boiled interplanetary traders such as Samuel Curtis. Written, directed, and starring Cory McAbee of the legendary cult band The Billy Nayer Show, this sci-fi, musical-western uses flinty black and white photography, rugged Lo-Fi sets and the spirit of the final frontier. We follow Curtis on his Homeric journey to provide the all-female planet of Venus with a suitable male, while pursued by an enigmatic killer, Professor Hess. Featuring music by The Billy Nayer Show and some of the most original rock n’ roll scenes ever committed to film. STINGRAY SAM ('09, 62m) at 7:15pm - A dangerous mission reunites STINGRAY SAM with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space-convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet.
"Few films have me chuckling from beginning till end, but this one managed to do it. Well, except when I was laughing. McAbee's 'Stingray Sam' is a cleverly made loving tribute to the serials of old and a darn funny one too." - Ard Vijn, Twitch. 6pm preshow.

Mon, Nov 15. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPES VIA EXPERIMENTAL FILM - 7-10pm - Filmed over the course of two years near the town of Moreno Valley, Vera Brunner-Sung's (in person) COMMON GROUND ('08, 27m) documents the demolition of military family homes and the erection of a business park in their stead. A clear-eyed look at destruction for the sake of progress, this examination of land use and social history offers the audience a journey into both the past and the future.  “… a trip into Southern California, a land whose cyclical process of abandonment, decay, demolition and reconstruction is a sign of how the economy is making a mark on the land.” – Torino Film Festival. Moving from east to west and back, Alexandra Cuesta's (in person) PIENSA EN MI ('09, 15m) offers a portrait of urban landscape in motion from the intimate perspective of public transport in our city. Over the course of the day, images of riders, textures of light and fragments of bodies in space are woven together to create an unexpected, visually arresting poem. Winner of The Map of Time Award, 48th Ann Arbor Film Festival. Madison Brookshire's (in person) OPENING ('07, 25m) reveals the city in the landscape and the landscape in the city. Many of the images come from overlooked, “in-between” spaces, such as off-ramps and back alleys. Shown with its original live score. “…a quiet but grand record of the contemporary American landscape” – Andy Ditzler. “[OPENING] is attentive to small movements—cars in the distance, a herd of sheep. Austere but intensely focused compositions suggest that mindful observation can render ordinary sights meaningful.” – Fred Camper, Chicago Reader. Brookshire’s BONK PIFF BOP ('05, 25m) is both a documentary and a comedy. It stars two brothers—one is 2 years old and the other 7—and documents their phenomenological relationship to the video camera. It is sweet and funny, but also full of dark humor. It is a portrait of a family as well as a rare window into the mind of a particularly precocious and verbal 2 year old. Preshow at 6pm.

MON, Dec 20. CELESTIAL CELLULOID - 6-10pm - Film historians John Cannizzaro & Gerorge Russell screen 16mm films (some with live music accompaniment) from the early 20th century. Classic comedy, drama and avant-garde cinema on the big screen with the hypnotic projector hum expand the viewing experience.

MON, Jan 17.  EIGHTH ANNUAL VENICE FILM FEST - 6-10pm. Colorful history of films made in Venice California, and celebration of the otherwordly happenings at the legendary Venice Art Gallery, aka Sponto Gallery with live performances. Experience the essence of Spontofication Rituals in art, music, poetry and the freedom of creativity.

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Curator Gerry Fialka is available for Workshop/Screenings
310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com http://www.laughtears.com/ 

Workshops/Screenings:
List One http://www.laughtears.com/workshops.html (Pixelvision, Documentary, Experimental & more)
List Two http://www.laughtears.com/workshops2.html (James Joyce & Exp film and more)
List Three http://www.laughtears.com/workshops3.html 

Upon reading these workshop descriptions, LA Weekly Art critic Doug Harvey declared that Fialka should have his whole own department at Cal Arts. Fialka has lectured on Experimental Music at USC, James Joyce & Experimental Film at San Francisco Cinematheque, Konefsky's Experiments In Cinema & Rebecca Barten & David Sherman's Total Moblie Home/Bisbee AZ, Advertising as Art at New England Institute of Art, Pixelvision at MIT & several UK venues, The Art of Fakery in Documentary Filmmaking at SF's Academy of Art & New Zealand's Massey University, McLuhan's Percepts at UC Davis Technocultural Studies (Jesse Drew & Craig Baldwin), Culture Jamming & The Machine as Art at Flint Institute of Arts, McLuhan's Tetrad as Creative Incentive at College of Creative Studies-Detroit, Finnegans Wake at UC Berkeley, various subjects at numerous Ann Arbor Film Festivals and many more.

"Upon leaving Gerry Fialka’s Ann Arbor Film Festival Pioneers Workshop my first thought was: where do I go to sign up for another, because one is definitely not enough? This guy has a brain that interests me and a generosity of method that is rare as well as fecund. I watched him coax a room full of people in folding chairs into an intellectual group dynamic that showed just what the Socratic method can yield when led by a skillful master of ceremonies. Intellectual confluences of the widest description were entered into and all participants were not only invited along for the ride but also invited to have their say. I learned a lot.   Gerry Fialka: that rarest of species, an original, non-institutionally-based intellect –a thinker whose natural predilections lead him to a connecting of the dots wherein both the dots and the connecting of the dots are illuminations of the unexpected and unconsidered. He makes his own way and invites you along for the ride. Before you know it, he’ll even give you a turn at the wheel." - Fred Worden, award winning experimental filmmaker and Professor of Visual Arts

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2009-10 archive:
Mon, Dec 21. - MOVING IMAGE ART- Probing survey of cinema from pioneer Melies and experimentalist Vertov to maverick Welles and preservationist Henri Langlois. 6pm: rare Motown film of The Temptations. The Talking Stick Lounge is located at the corner of Lincoln and California streets, next to the Pollo Loco. 310-450-6052

Mon, Jan 18. SPONTO & VENICE HISTORY FILM FESTIVAL - 6-10pm. Along with rare film clips of VENICE HISTORY, celebrate films and videos of the otherwordly happenings at the legendary Venice Art Gallery- SPONTO GALLERY. From the Fool's Fest (with Ginger Smith and Kahlil Sabbagh) to Jazz Funk Fest to Summer Solstice shows, experience the essence of Spontofication Rituals in art, music, poetry and the freedom of creativity.

Mon, FEB 15- JOHN CAGE: THE REVENGE OF THE DEAD INDIANS ('93, 130m) at 7:30pm - Henning Lohner's beautiful "composed" tribute to American composer John Cage. Assembled using the same methodology of chance operation that Cage worked into his own aleatoric compositions, Revenge slices and dices the testimonials of a diverse cast of fans — including Frank Zappa, Noam Chomsky, Yoko Ono, Matt Groening, Merce Cunningham, Frank Gehry, Ellsworth Kelly, and Richard Serra — as well as interviews Lohner conducted with Cage late in his life. The gorgeous result is an unexpected and fascinating combination of intellectual buzzing fragments that couldn't be more fitting for a man who once said, "As far as consistency of thought goes, I prefer inconsistency." 6pm preshow with MAP merging live improvised music and avant-garde film.

Mon, MARCH 15- DIVE ('09, 45m) at 7:30pm - Jeremy Seibert's (in person) provocative documentary is about dumpster diving, the hunger crisis in our nation, and the world. It is about the amount of waste that we pile into our landfills at an alarming rate. It is about the realities of consumerism’s over-consumption and the impact this has in our day-to-day lives. There are a variety of statistics drawn up using food items found in the dumpster, and a great Jubilee Singers soundtrack. Jeremy’s family and friends are involved, it is a glimpse into their actual lives. It is a personal film, a personal call from someone who is responding the best way he knows how. CREATURE OF HOLLYWOOD ('08, 18m) at 9pm - George Willis' (in person) intriguing interview with beloved science fiction pioneer Forrest J. Ackerman, who details Hollyweird adventures in his familiar quirky style.  Best known as the publisher of the magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland" Uncle Forry served as literary agent for such luminaries as Ray Bradbury,  L.Ron Hubbard, Ed Wood, and appeared in over 100 films, from Michael Jacksons "Thriller" to "Amazon Women on the Moon". If you ever visited him at his old "Ackermansion" you will recognize his collection of horror movie props that serve as the backdrop for the film, and will hear many familiar tales from our late friend, the man who invented the term "Sci-Fi." 6pm preshow.

Mon, April 19 - FIERCE LIGHT: WHEN SPIRIT MEETS ACTION ('09, 95m) at 8pm - Guerrilla filmmaker Velcrowe Ripper’s journey to document what Gandhi called "soul force" and Ripper calls "fierce light", the sacred beacon of human possibility that shines brightest in the spirit during the darkest and most dangerous times. This powerful documentary captures the electrifying global grass-root movement for peace, justice, and a sustainable future. Grounded in the values of peace and non-violence, the events and activists presented in the film are passionately determined to create a world where justice, sustainability, and global harmony define our lives. Ripper's camera takes us to Alabama, Southern California, Africa, India, New Zealand, and beyond to share the interconnected stories of this growing movement for a future of peace, justice, beauty, and balance. With Archbishop Desmond Tutu, American civil rights leader John Lewis, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, Daryl Hannah, activists Alice Walker and Joanna Macy, and many less famous but equally inspiring individuals who are working to transform our world. 6pm preshow.

Mon, May 17 - HYSTERIA ('02, 83m) at 7pm - Antero Ali & Jakob Bokulich's suspense thriller made right after 9/11 WTC. After mistakenly drinking hallucinogenic datura tea, Ikar, a Croatian Catholic soldier is haunted by visions of what he believes is the Virgin Mary who gives him a life mission. Ten years later, Ikar migrates to Oakland California to fulfill this questionable religious mission in this cautionary tale lining fundamentalism and violence. CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU WHEN YOU DIE ('09, 45m) at 9pm - Nicolas Drolc's cool documentary examines the economic and spiritual struggles of the modern artist through the dual perspectives of Denver musician Reverend Deadeye and German graphic artist Christopher Mueller. During a collaboration concert in Aachen, Germany in May 2009, both artists were captured in action at their respective crafts, at what may be considered the peak of their professional creativity and energies. Both give candid and humorous interviews, and music is provided through searing live performances and intimate field recordings by Reverend Deadeye. 6pm preshow ALI interview

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