(Lynn Hershman-Leeson, US 2007, 80 min., Digital Projection)
In May 2004, while working on a special biotech industry exhibit, artist Hope Kurtz of Buffalo died in her sleep of heart failure. When her husband, fellow artist Steve Kurtz, called paramedics to the couple’s home, they alerted the Joint Terrorism Task Force to confiscate harmless bacteria samples, equipment, computers, and Hope’s body. While the bioterrorism case against Steve Kurtz quickly fell apart, quickly fell apart, he still faces charges under the USA Patriot Act that could send him to prison for 20 years. This unusual and provocative new film is part documentary, part re-enactment, with actress Tilda Swinton as Hope Kurtz. It offers several theories why the case is still being prosecuted when there was no threat to public health. Steve Kurtz, SUNY Buffalo professor and a member of Critical Art Ensemble, will introduce the film and answer questions after the screening.
(NO QUARTO DA VANDA, Pedro Costa, Portugal/Germany/Switzerland/Italy 2000, 178 min., Portuguese with subtitles, 35mm)
Vanda Duarte (who appears in Costa’s Bones) is a drug addict living with her sister, Zita, in a Lisbon slum undergoing demolition. Their tragic situation is given dignity by Costa’s beautiful lighting. “Provides a standard by which to judge humanist cinema, so beautiful and generous is its vision”—James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario.
(Paul Verhoeven, US 1997, 129 min., 35mm)
On a futuristic Earth that has succumbed to globalization, a group of gung-ho teenagers surrender to propaganda and sign up to fight giant, marauding fire-breathing bugs on a remote planet, only to face far more dangerous and deadly conditions than they expected. Verhoeven’s gory and action-packed adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s novel is also one of contemporary cinema’s great anti-war satires, taking every opportunity to lampoon fascist ideology.
Heidi Ewing/Rachel Grady
US 2006
85 min.
35mm
A growing number of evangelical Christians believe there is a revival underway in America that requires Christian youths to assume leadership roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement. The directors of the critically acclaimed The Boys of Baraka take a close-up look at Pastor Becky Fischer’s “Kids on Fire” summer camp in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, where children as young as six years old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in “God’s army.” Jesus Camp is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America’s political future.
Jesus Camp also screens Saturday, January 20th, at 5 p.m. and Sunday, January 21st at 5 p.m.
Watch a trailer for the film below.
(Jayasri Hart, US 2007, 57 min., Beta-SP projection)
During the Civil Rights movement, several groups of Catholic nuns from around the country answered Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to join the voting rights marches in Selma, Alabama. Hosting them in Selma were Rochester’s own Sisters of Saint Joseph. These sisters had quietly served the needs of African Americans in segregated Selma until they found themselves engulfed in the drama of Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965. In this powerful and unabashedly spiritual new documentary, the sisters who came to Selma and the sisters who were there tell their own stories–backed by a supporting cast of Selma citizens. This premiere screening will be presented in person by producer/director Jayasri Hart and several of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. A question and answer session will follow the screening. Regular admission prices apply.
To read more about Sisters of Selma, go to:
http://pressroom.pbs.org/programs/sisters_of_selma
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