Sunday, December 10, 2017, 7:30pm
Los Angeles Filmforum presents
Ism, Ism, Ism: Views from outside (La mirada foránea)
At the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Filmmaker Dalia Huerta in person from Mexico! 
Filmmaker Edgar Jorge-Baralt in person!

INFO: www.lafilmforum.org, 323-377-7238

A traveling shot, in which the camera moves horizontally and smoothly through space, is a basic element of film language.

Sunday, December 3, 2017, 7:30pm
Los Angeles Filmforum presents
Ism, Ism, Ism: Altered Surfaces
At the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Guest: Manuela De Laborde, from Mexico

INFO: www.lafilmforum.org, 323-377-7238

Abstraction has been a recurring strategy in Latin American visual cultures since long before the European Conquest. 

Thursday November 30, 2017, 7:30 pm
Los Angeles Filmforum and the Hammer Museum present
Ism, Ism, Ism: Talleres: Experimental Women Filmmakers from Latin America
At The Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Guests: Curator Ángela López Ruiz, filmmakers Poli Maricahl and Vivian Ostrovsky

Tickets: Free, no RSVP needed.  Tickets are required and available at the Box Office one hour before the program. General admission tickets are available one per person on a first come, first served basis following member ticketing. Early arrival is recommended.

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In the 1980s, the multifaceted artist, painter and filmmaker from Venezuela, Diego Rísquez, undertook the daunting project of a trilogy about the real and mythical histories of the Latin American continent and made his first feature film: Bolívar, sinfonía tropical (Bolívar, Tropical Symphony, 1979), which became the first Super 8 film to be selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Amérika, Terra Incógnita (1988), originally shot in Super 16mm and later blown-up to 35mm, is composed like tableaux vivants offering a visual journey into the reverse perspective of European colonialism—the journey of a captive Indian into the Spanish court. 

Sunday, November 19, 2017, 4:00pm
Los Angeles Filmforum and the Autry Museum of the American West present
Ism, Ism, Ism: Diego Rísquez’ Amerika Trilogy, part 2: Orinoko, Nueva Mundo
At the Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA 90027
 

Wednesday, November 15, 2017, 8:00pm
Los Angeles Filmforum presents
Ism, Ism, Ism: Diego Rísquez’ Amerika Trilogy, part 1: Bolivar, Tropikal Symphony
At the Downtown Independent, 251 S Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

INFO: www.lafilmforum.org, 323-377-7238

In the 1980s, the multifaceted artist, painter and filmmaker from Venezuela, Diego Rísquez, undertook the daunting project of a trilogy about the real and mythical histories of the Latin American continent and made his first feature film: Bolivar, Tropikal Symphony, which became the first Super 8 film to be selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. We screen it tonight in what might be its Los Angeles premiere.

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Multiplicity is one of the hallmarks of audiovisual production in Brazil in the 1970s, a response to the authoritarian regime of the military dictatorship (1964-1986). Alongside the development of "marginal," "underground," "new," and "poetic" cinemas, and the success of state-sponsored Embrafilme, the proliferation of experimental film production in authoritarian Brazil was unprecedented. Often marginalized, censored, or ignored, these Super 8 shorts circulated by way of festivals, art shows, and a myriad of below the radar events. Using Agrippina é Roma-Manhattan (1972), the unfinished short by Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980), as a point of departure, this program presents a brief overview of experimental Brazilian Super 8, in in all its aesthetic diversity. 

In person: Curator and scholar Rubens Machado Jr.

The reuse of Hollywood footage, as well as fragments from other national cinemas, resonates with an important tradition of appropriation and recycling within the history of the Latin American avant-garde.

MAK Center for Art and Architecture

The reuse of Hollywood footage, as well as fragments from other national cinemas, resonates with an important tradition of appropriation and recycling within the history of the Latin American avant-garde. Titles included are the Cowboy and “Indian” Film (1958), by the New York-born Raphael Montañez Ortiz, or classics of the Cuban experimental tradition such as Nicolas Guillén Landrian’s Desde La Habana ¡1969! Recordar (1969), and Oración por Marilyn Monroe (1984), by Marisol Trujillo, Miriam Talavera and Pepín Rodríguez, and Mexican artist Artemio’s Apoohcalypse Now (2002).

In person: Jesse Lerner

Sunday, October 29, 2017, 7:30pm
Los Angeles Filmforum presents
Ism, Ism, Ism: Dark Matter: Collective, Singular and Parodic Resistance  
At the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

INFO: www.lafilmforum.org, 323-377-7238

Created during and between military coups, civil wars, diverse authoritarian regimes, and invasions led by the United States, experimental cinema in Latin America has not escaped the impact diverse forms of social upheavals and violence.  In many of these contexts, resistance, even social commentary, can be a precarious, even dangerous, project, and tonight’s program surveys some of these expressions. 

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A major force of Argentine and Latin American experimental cinema for 45 years, Claudio Caldini was pivotal to Argentina's legendary 1970s "El Grupo Goethe." Caldini is a dedicated 8mm filmmaker, performance artist, composer and curator, and he has mentored several young 8mm artists who have gained international prominence over the past decade. His small-gauge work is remarkable for its sensuality, intimacy and precision, and he has collaborated with artists in many mediums. Tonight will be Caldini's first U.S. presentation, and it features multiple projection performances and selected films. 

In person: Claudio Caldini

Sunday October 22, 2017, 7:30pm
Los Angeles Filmforum presents
Claudio Caldini - 8mm film master - in person! 
At the Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado St., Los Angeles CA 90026 

www.lafilmforum.org 

In Person: Claudio Caldini 

A major force of Argentine and Latin American experimental cinema for 45 years, Claudio Caldini was an active member of the "Cine Ex" group...

Saturday October 21, 2017, 4:00pm
Los Angeles Filmforum and First Forum present
Claudio Caldini in person at Con+tagion
At The Fanny Brice Theatre, SCA 110, George Lucas Building Lobby  
USC School of Cinematic Arts Complex, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007 www.lafilmforum.org 
https://uscfirstforum17.wordpress.com/ 

In Person: Claudio Caldini 

Part of First Forum, USC Cinema and Media Studies Graduate Conference, "Con+tagion", Oct 20-21. 

Q&A Moderated by Professor David E. James.  LA premieres! 

A major force of Argentine and Latin American experimental cinema for 45 years, Claudio Caldini was an active member of the "Cine Ex" group...

In Person: David Lamelas 

David Lamelas began working in film in the late 1960s while living in London. Subsequently he created films in continental Europe, the United States, and Argentina. Place plays an integral role in his film work, as do the phenomenological experiences of time, space, and narrative. The University Art Museum presents three films by David Lamelas, including a rare 16 mm screening of Film 18 Paris IV 70 (People and Time-Paris), made with artist Daniel Buren, journalist Raúl Escari, and filmmaker Pierre Grinberg for the conceptual exhibition 18 Paris IV.70, curated by Michel Claura and Seth Siegelaub. 

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the artist. 

The Viaduct @ Los Angeles State Historic Park.                                                                    *Enter at the north end of the Park. Screening takes place under the Broadway bridge.

FREE EVENT

At the end of the silent era of cinema, there was an international cycle of films that depicted the nature of the modern city. In Latin America, some of the earliest experimental films participated in this cycle of city symphonies. Ever since those early efforts many filmmakers have maintained a fascination with the city, as Latin American cities were transformed by unfettered growth, industrialization, and massive rural to urban migrations.

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In person: Curator and scholar Tarek Elhaik

From the 1920s on one can locate a fascinating, global convergence of avant-garde anthropology and experimental cinemas. In Latin America, this has often resulted in the manufacturing of social utopias and calls for radical figurations of the New Man, often by blurring nationalist and cosmopolitan fantasies dreamt up between Old and New Worlds.  Chilean exile film artist and theorist Raúl Ruiz belongs uneasily and dissonantly to this tradition. The program examines this discordance by screening some of Ruiz' little known short and small gauge films alongside the anthropological meditations of two of his contemporaries, Anna Maria Maiolino and Arthur Omar. The viewer is thus invited to experience and experiment with what Ruiz calls "trembling images." 

In-Out (Antropofagia), Anna Maria Maiolino, 1974, 8 min., color, sound, Super 8 screening digitally, Brazil

O livro do Raoul | The Raoul Book, Arthur Omar, 1999, 41 min., color, sound, Betacam screening digitally, Brazil

The Film to Come, Raúl Ruiz, 2007, 17 min., color, sound, screening digitally, France-Chile

Le Don | The Gift, Raúl Ruiz, 2007, 3 min., color, sound, screening digitally, France

El regreso de un ratón de bibliotecas | Lettre d'un cinéaste ou Le retour d ́un amateur de bibliothèques | The Return of a Library Lover, Raúl Ruiz, 1983, 12 min., color, sound, screening digitally, France

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Images of Ernesto "Che" Guevara are the most contested and reproduced in Latin America, and this program explores ways this iconic figure has been represented. Dialogues with Che (Diálogos con el Che, 1968, newly restored), is a legendary film by queer Nuyorican artist José Rodríguez Soltero that parodies Hollywood portrayals of the revolutionary hero. Una foto recorre el mundo (A Photograph Travels the World, 1981) by Pedro Chaskel analyzes the famous photograph of El Che taken by Alberto Korda, and the unending international appropriations of this image. Leandro Katz’ El día que me quieras (The Day You'll Love Me, 1997) retraces the story behind the last photographs taken of Che Guevara as he lay dead, surrounded by his captors.  

In Person: Venezuelan actor Rolando Peña

Curated by Jesse Lerner, Luciano Piazza, Steve Anker, and Bérénice Reynaud

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Historical shorts emerging from a number of Latin American cultural movements, including Enrique Pineda Barnet’s extraordinary Juventud, rebeldía, revolución (1972), Narcisa Hirsch, Marie Louise Alemann and Raymundo Gleyzer’s collaboration La marabunta (1967), Rolando Peña’s La cotorra II (1976), and Manuel DeLanda’s ISMISM (1979).

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El Paso-based, Chicano media artist Willie Varela is one of independent cinema’s most passionate and unbridled social critics, yet his over 100 films and videos from 1971 to the present are still little known. Varela’s visceral, layered works are personal responses to events in his domestic life, local rituals and events, political issues and the ongoing flow of popular culture. Living and working mostly in isolation as a Chicano artist in the Texas border town, Varela has produced a rich body of moving image and other media art for nearly fifty years. Tonight’s overview of Varela’s films and videos range from early Super 8 visual pieces to later, searing critiques of political and cultural personalities and events.

In person: Willie Varela

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Surveying an extraordinary body of works produced between the 1950s and the present, this program maps Latin American “camera-Less” or “direct” filmmaking. Highly tactile, textured and abstract, these films dramatize the essential properties of the medium of film itself.

In person: Curator Antoni Pinent

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Colombian scholar Marta Lucía Vélez, Cuban curator and scholar Luisa Marisy, researcher and filmmaker Antoni Pinent, Jesse Lerner, Luciano Piazza and others will discuss the research which led to the Ism, Ism, Ism publication.

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Heroic male figures and fantasies often define Latino identity, and women artists, especially filmmakers, are challenging this through radically different subjects and by exploring their own artistic voices. In bringing together Chicana and Latin American women filmmakers, this program considers gender, race, queerness and ethnicity as strategic sites to consider images of the everyday, the intimate and the overlooked.
Program curated by Bérénice Reynaud, with Jesse Lerner and Luciano Piazza.

El dedal de rosas: The Magic of the Smoked Mirror, Mariana Botey, 1998, 13 min, color, sound, projected as a digital file, México

Síndrome de línea blanca, Lourdes Villagómez, 2005, 8 min, color, sound, 35mm, México

From Brooklyn Ave to South Broadway, Brenda Contreras, 2017, 7 min, color, sound, Super 8, 16mm and digital, U.S.A.

Dejar, Caitlin Díaz, 2015, 6 min, b&w, sound, 35mm and Super 8, U.S.A.

Blua, Carolina Charry Quintero, 2017, 22 min, color, sound, 16mm and digital, U.S.A.

Untitled, Regina Gonzalez-Arroyo, 2014, 6 min, color, sound, digital, U.S.A.

La mujer y el pescado, Ilana Coleman, 2014, 2 min, b&w, sound, digital, U.S.A.

Terrazas Triptych, Candide, Patricia Montoya, 2009, 10 min, color, sound, video, Colombia-México

Notes on Connection I, Andrea Franco, 2016, 6 min, color, sound, mixed media: 16mm and photography, U.S.A.

Piensa en mí, Alexandra Cuesta, 2009, 16 min, color, sound, 16mm, U.S.A.

Mujer, Sofía Canales, 2012, 10 min, b&w, sound, 16mm, U.S.A.

New Sun Breathing In, Chloe Reyes, 2017, 6 min, color, silent, 16mm, U.S.A.

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In person: Curator Marta Lucía Vélez

Historical Latin American short films influenced by surrealism. 

La maleta (The Suitcase)
Raúl Ruiz, 1963-2008, 20 min., b&w, sound, 16mm, Chile 

Traum (Sueño/Dream)
Horacio Coppola, 1933, 2 min., b&w, silent, 16mm, Argentina

La langosta azul (The Blue Lobster)
Álvaro Cepeda Samudio and Gabriel García Márquez, 1954, 29 min., b&w, silent, 16mm, Colombia

Esta pared no es medianera
Fernando de Szyszlo, 1952, 13 min., b&w, sound, 35mm, Perú 

Las ventanas de Salcedo
Luís Ernesto Arocha, 1966, 6 min., b&w, sound, 16mm, Colombia