The Cinedelphia Film Festival, up and running April 4-27 in venues all over town, promises a remarkable celebration of the city’s film traditions, its stars and cult gods, its B-movie roots, its movers and shakers – and its music makers, too. Take a look at a rare 35mm print of the French adaptation of Philly noir author David Goodis’ The Burglar (called The Burglars, and starring ultimate cool dude Jean-Paul Belmondo). Check out John Waters 1974 classic, Female Trouble, featuring Divine, and listen to local luminary Ray Murray recount the history of the film and video company he co-founded, TLA Entertainment. Hear indigenous indie band Farquar Muckenfuss tear through the songbook of that seminal ‘60s media phenom, The Monkees, and then watch the totally trippy, Bab Rafelson-directed (and Jack Nicholson-scripted) Monkees movie, Head.
An engagingly eclectic and eccentric lineup of vintage horror, of new fare from Asia, of docs and retrospectives, the month-long Cinedelphia Film Fest, programmed by movie maven Eric Bresler, scans back to key work by local African-American filmmakers courtesy of the folks at Reelblack. The nascent days of the Neighborhood Film Project are celebrated with a program of shorts at International House. Girls School Screamers and Blades, two last-millennium Philly horror B’s, will be screened, with filmmakers in attendance, and there will be a rare presentation of Frederick Wiseman’s 1968 documentary, High School, shot at Philly’s Northeast High. Kathryn Bigelow’s rockin’ Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze undercover cop surfing classic, Point Break, gets some live (surf) music accompaniment from Bethlehem’s The Great White Caps. Vanishing Waves, a new sci-fi pic from Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte, picked up for U.S. distribution by Philly’s Artsploitation Films, has its area premiere. And Filmadelphia author Irv Slifkin hosts a program celebrating the city’s movie history, from the Silent Era’s Philly-based pioneer, Siegmund Lubin, to that John Garfield in Pride of the Marines to that movie set at the Philadelphia Museum of Art — no, not the one with the South Philly pugilist in his baggy sweats, but Frank Perry’s ’60s indie, David and Lisa.
Also: rare Nikkatsu action film! Also: indie rock drama from Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival! Also: home grown Three Stooges star Larry Fine gets recognized for his genius! Also: a Wes Anderson-inspired burlesque act! Also: M. Night Shyamalan gets some comedy comeuppance for making Lady in the Water! The list goes on and on. It’s ridiculous. For complete schedule and ticket information, go to: http://cinedelphia.com/cinedelphiafilmfestival
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