April 4-17, 2003
Program schedule:
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Friday, April 4: Eye of the Storm
Film Tour:
Presented
by:
Includes presentation of 4 shorts and discussion.
Eye of the Storm:
14 minutes
An upcoming independent feature about the history and practices of the
Indymedia movement, with a focus on Indymedia Argentina as a case
example, and as a result, something of the situation in
Argentina. Through this story we describe the crisis situation
there as a background to the importance of independent media as a
communication tool for social movements. We have just finished
shooting for the second time in Argentina and before our most recent
trip we produced a 14 min short/trailer. It is a sort of a mini version
of our ideas and is the heart of the presentation. It talks about
the relationship between media and power, and the history of the
Indymedia movement as a networked media activist response to that
dichotomy.
La Bisagra de
Historia (The Hinge of History): 17 minutes
La Bisagra is a short by a collective called Vente Veo Video and it
documents
the uprisings in Buenos Aires on Dec 19th and 20th of last year. It
shows the
events from the point of view of those in the streets- and is a rare
glimpse on
a historic event barely covered here in the U.S.
Compañero
Piquetero: 12 minutes
Piquete Pueyrredon is a production of several videographers under the
umbrella
of Indymedia Argentina. It analysis the violent repression of an
organization
of unemployed workers (MTD) last spring, in the suburbs of Buenos
Aires, which
left two dead and dozens badly injured. It discusses the role of
corporate
media and its complicity in vilifying the protesters. It then goes on
to show
another point of view, including archival interviews with the slain, as
it
attempts to describe the goals and positive work of this autonomous and
horizontal organization.
Piquete Pueyrredon:
23 minutes
Compañero Piquetero is a short, edited in-camera, by an
untrained youth who
lives in the poverty stricken outskirts of Buenos Aires. Although
humorous at
times, this short is also a stark portrayal of the reality of the ultra
marginalized from a point of view that could be obtained no other way.
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Saturday,
April 5: Kino Kabaret:
"Do
Well With Nothing, Do it Better with Little and Do it Right Now!"
Thursday, April 3rd at
7PM the second Wis-kino Kabaret blasts into being at WYOU Community
Television. WYOU is located at 609 East Washington Avenue.
You will have 48 hours to complete a film, somehow using the secret
ingredient we come up with. The finished (or mostly finished)
films will be screened on Saturday April 5th, at 8PM at Electric Earth
CafÈ. And hey, some of our friends from our mother Kino in
Canada will be around to collaborate on films with us!
If you’re not familiar
with The Wis-kino Kabaret here’s a little explanation. We meet on
Thursday at 7, announce the secret ingredient (a theme or object) that
everyone must use in their film (in whatever way they wish) and then we
form ragtag groups of actors, filmmakers, cameramen, etc. and make some
plans. Then, two days later we all reconvene (at Electric Earth)
to see what everyone came up with. It’s a fantastic challenge, and
a great way to expand your filmic horizons.
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Saturday, April 12: Power of
Living Film Tour:
Sponsored by:  &
(scheduled films subject to change)
Sin Ti (Louis M. Rivera, 22:00)
After the passing of his grandfather, Cuban-American Newark native
Louis M. Rivera visits the land his family fled, hoping to uncover his
ancestors’ past. Upon arriving, he realizes that they are all very much
present.
Waiting for a Heart (Ed Waisnis, 21:00)
When Ed learns that his brother Donald needs a heart transplant, the
two come together after years apart. Donald’s courage and humor sustain
him, even as he suffers and waits for a donor.
Rich Art (Vanessa Renwick / Dawn Smallman, 23:00)
Rich had been in a mental institution, but once he started making art
out of junk, they forced him to leave and won’t take him back. "Out of
your scraps, I become part of you."
Cusp (Ruth Sergel, 24:00)
Cusp is a portrait of Alice, a spirited 12 year old, hitting the wall
of early adolescence. As Alice teeters on the edge of adolescence,
her connection to her mother begins to seesaw and the tensions of sixth
grade social order begin to dramatically play themselves out. Alice is
left as an anthropologist of her own culture, bravely attempting to
understand her initiation into the world as a young woman.
Getting Stronger Every Day (Miranda July, 7:00)
What happens if you are kidnapped as a little child, tortured for
years, and returned to your natural family as a young man? What happens
if you saw that in a movie once, but tell the story like it happened to
you? Sometimes you’d rather have a teddy bear for a face; sometimes you
are haunted by extra dimensional blobs. It’s getting better.
Hillbilly Robot (Todd Rohal, 23:00)
A suspected robot and his family are tormented and ridiculed by
small-minded townsfolk while further harassed by a Bulgarian man with a
deathly fear of raccoons.
Selected Shorts (Amy Caterina)
Cricket Hunter (1:00)
Put that thing away (2:00)
Lost, stolen and stopped moments are discovered by the filmmaker’s
intrepid camera.
Between Me and My Mother (Nicole Nelson, 6:00)
Demonstrating a remarkable mixture of astute maturity and an endearing
desire to be mothered, 16-year-old Nicole examines her relationship with
her single-mom.
Saadia: A Moroccan Woman in the Resistance (Tarik
Cherkaoui, 3:00)
This lovely animation illustrates an interview with Saadia, who
recounts the bitter sacrifices she made for her national freedom.
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Thursday,
April 17: War on the Poor:
Two Tales of Class Struggle in
America
The End of the Nightstick (Eric
Scholl, Peter Kuttner & Cyndi Moran,1994)
 For 20 years in Chicago, the press and authorities turned
deaf ears to allegations of brutal interrogations and torture by Chicago
Police Commander Jon Burge. Was this simply an aberration or an extreme
example of a system wide policy of racist abuse? As victims speak out, THE END OF THE
NIGHTSTICK investigates charges of institutional racism, violence and
cover-up. It also tells the story of a resistance movement, as local
activist groups, including the Task Force to Confront Police Violence,
refuse to let testimonies of police violence remain buried. Burge
was removed from active duty in 1994, but it took until spring of 2002
for the Cook County Circuit Court to order a special prosecutor to
investigate charges of systemic racism in the Chicago Police Department.
A Day's Work, A Day's
Pay (Kathy Leichter & Jonathan Skurnik, 2002)
57 minutes
 This production from Mint Leaf Productions follows three
welfare recipients in New York City from 1997 to 2000 as they
participate in the largest welfare-to-work program in the nation (a
program largely inspired by Wisconsin's W-2 program). When forced
to work at city jobs for well below the prevailing wage and deprived of
the chance to go to school, these individuals decide to fight back,
demanding programs that will help them get off welfare and into real
jobs.
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