7 Dudley Cinema - Film Series

Please note the following upcoming events info for:

7 Dudley Cinema – Venice ongoing film series www.81x.com/7dudley/cinema DOCUMENTAL – Santa Monica ongoing film series www.myspace.com/sevendudleycinema Suzy Williams – live music events: July 23 & more http://www.puddingbench.com/suzy.htm Sponto Gallery – art, poetry and music events: July 8 MESS (Media Ecology Soul Sessions) – live interview series: TBA www.beyondbaroque.org PXL THIS Film Festival – toy camera screenings: Nov 17 www.indiespace.com/pxlthis Marshall McLuhan-FINNEGANS WAKE Reading Club www.venicewake.org

See and hear Gerry Fialka’s HOW TO MAKE A YOUTUBE VIDEO THAT IS NOT A YOUTUBE VIDEO on youtube.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSN4aX-YIEQ#GU5U2spHI_4
and his BLACK SHOE POLISH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4uzfzmAuVI
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn1o829Sy2w
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWfM-_SlZIA
and Gerry’s collage art http://www.flickr.com/photos/venicevandal/sets/72157594548966563/
Gerry Fialka lectured on March’07at the Ann Arbor Film Fest aafilmfest.org & on PXL at flintarts.org
He’ll be at DFC detriotfilm.org on Aug 11 with PXL THIS film festival

See and hear SUZY WILLIAMS on youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ-GrEQsEKA Suzy & Her Solid Senders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2O5cMz6ThE Suzy at Sweet Chariot Fest, Swans Island Maine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVbjN_eyrJI&mode=related&search= Stormin Norman & Suzy and get the new release of Suzy & The JTones new ten inch record/cd from Dave Jones rhumbabeatnik@yahoo.com and visit jtonerecords.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/venicevandal/688956982/

Thank You, Gerry Fialka
2427 1/2 Glyndon Av, Venice CA 90291
310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com

7 DUDLEY CINEMA – films & live events at SPONTO Gallery, 7 Dudley Ave, Venice, 310-306-7330, free admission, 8:00pm, www.81x.com/7dudley/cinema Come early – seating is limited & pre-shows

URPOMES – Sponto’s “kNOw rules” poetry-spoken word series 7pm on 4th Tuesdays, win $50 for your poem

WED, July 11. RADICAL POLITICS IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA: GLEANING GRAINS OF TRUTH FROM MOUNTAINS OF CHAFF – Seminal researcher John Hankey, whose JFK II was praised by the LA Times and Jim Marrs, calling it “an insightful & compelling analysis,” surveys important political statements that have found their way into “harmless” Hollywood films with John Steinbeck, major comedians, kids films, Marlon Brando and much more, including investigative documentaries. Volatile information reveals new dimensions to understand the motives and consequences of the US government’s activities. Plus 6pm: Special revolutionary feature film.
TUES, July 17. ABSOLUTIONS (‘04, 96 m) Writer/Director Gary Bennett’s earthy drama in the vein of Cassavettes’ FACES and Mike Nichols’ WHO’s AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Two couples get together for an evening of bitter conversation, resulting in “Absolutions”, a parlor game in which the four cross-match, revealing secrets never discussed with their spouses. Lies are exposed, resentments unearthed and, with the arrival of a handsome young stranger, morality itself is put to the test.

WED, July 18. MISS BEATNIK CONTEST Win $100 for best poetry, bongo drumming, threads, drawing and dance. With celebrity judges and much more. Can you dig it?
http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/dlib/lat/display.cfm?ms=uclalat_1429_b3…

WED, July 25. FOGGY MOUNTAINS BREAKDOWN MORE THAN NON-FOGGY MOUNTAINS (‘06, 59m) Jessie Stead’s eminent experimental exploration of Flatt & Scruggs bluegrass classic (with a rich variety of versions), psychedelic animation, lucid text, pseudo-travelogue and much more. Stead’s visionary otherness asks the question: where is the other end of the cultural thread Foggy Mountain Breakdown has pulled through the sonic consciousness of the USA? Is there a non-foggy mountain on the other side? Do we want to be there? Awarded the BEST FILM at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, 2007. Plus shorts: A LITTLE NIGHT FRIGHT (‘06, 3m) Mischa Livingstone’s scary bedtime story. DREAM HOUSE (‘02, 5m) Victor Fanucchi’s metaphysical awakening, in which Ken sees through the unreality of his life of tea parties with Barbie, He-Man and their friends. MARKET STREET (‘05, 5m) Tomonari Nishikawa’s stunning silent film teases out the vague boundaries & tenuous relationships of virtual identity, property & body. GAUDI (‘06, 3m) Gary Adlestein’s exploration of Gaudi’s audacious La Sagrata Familia. Plus 7pm live music preshow.

WED, Aug 15. PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA (‘06, 71m) at 9pm – Chris Meltzer and Jeff Springer cover the historical, economic, political, and environmental issues that face the sea, and offer up an offbeat portrait of the eccentric and individualistic people who populate its shores. Hair-raising and hilarious, part history lesson, part cautionary tale and part portrait of one of the strangest communities you’ve ever seen, this is the American Dream gone as stinky as a dead carp. “Coaxing equal parts affection and revulsion while illuminating a little corner of California” -SF Guardian. John Waters narrates. Filmmakers will be present. Plus: DESERT DREAMERS (‘06, 54m) at 8pm – Frank Suffert’s life affirming portrait of Mojave Desert’s eccentrics (artists, UFO seekers, Miracle makers and a burlesque dancer) following their dreams of freedom. Plus live music 6:30pm: PAUL LITTERAL, master trumpeter who’s played with the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits & Robert Plant.

SUNDAYS: Aug 26, Sept 9, Oct 21, Nov 18, Dec 9. JOKE ARTIST at 8pm – LIVE subversive performances by cutting edge comedians – produced by Paul “The Aristocrats” Provenza & Brian Baldinger
myspace.com/jokeartist 6:30 pm preshows: Aug26-The Marsh psychedelic rock/soul, Sept 9-M.S. Garvey’s Letters to the President.

WED, Aug 29. ROGER BEEBE: EXPERIMENTS, DOCUMENTS, WISECRACKS – Beebe’s films have been deemed “goofy, startling and important”...“implicitly and explicitly evoking the work of Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand & Lee Friedlander, all photographers of the atomic age whose Western photographs capture the banalities, cruelties and beauties of imperial America.” Including S A V E (‘06, 5m) a riddle posed in the form of architecture. (ROCK/HARD PLACE) (‘05, 6m) why do postcards of Morro Bay avoid the nearby gargantuan power plant with 3 towering smoke stacks? THE STRIP MALL TRILOGY (‘01, 9m) Beebe’s super-8mm symphony liberates color, sound and form from the sprawling consumerist landscape of postmodern America. Beebe’s honest visual poetry transforms ugliness into beauty, and busts apart the mind-controlling code of relentlessly commercial space and reconfirgures it into a landscape of beautiful color and form. FAMOUS IRISH AMERICANS (‘03, 8m) a hyperflat exploration of race and the limits of binary thought. Plus live music 7pm: MOSES CAMPBELL, aspiring teenage musicians with vibrant originals.

WED, Sept 5. THE PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE: THE LIFE & TIMES OF CHARLES R. GARRY (‘07, 60m) Hrag Yedalian (in person) inspired documentary on Black Panthers attorney Garry, who’s remembered as “the defender of the depised.” His valiant ways shined in some of the most important political trials of the 1960s. REPORTER ZERO (‘06, 25m) is the first documentary film about journalist Randy Shilts’ groundbreaking AIDS reporting and the struggles he faced trying to get the nation and his community to reckon with the devastating truth about the disease. “Filmmaker Carrie Lozano’s provocative film isn’t content to document a crucial historical moment, but delivers a sharp poke at those complacent about the disease’s continuing devastation.” -SF Weekly. Plus more Black Panther films. Plus 6:30 live music: GWP – Greg Cruz, Petr & West Parker’s soulful blues & country.

SAT, Sept 15. JAZZ FUNK FEST 7pm – live music BSP, Freddy Ginns & Eric Ahlberg

TUES, Sept 18. VENICE BEACH FREE WORLD FILM FESTIVAL happytrailershd.com

WED, Sept 19. BENNY ZENGA FILMS: THE WINKING CIRCLE (‘06, 50m) Zenga’s films nurture the unending power of human creation and live up to his mini-manifesto: “The Wisdom of the 3 Beans – Create Everywhere, Be A Fool, Redeem Everything.” Arising from a small town in rural Ontario, which is slowly being absorbed by subdivisions of commuters & chain stores, friends rally together to celebrate their individuality and eccentrify the world. With trick bikes, art cars, skateboarding, and daredevil stunts. SKI BOYS (‘06, 9m) Zenga mashes experimental with extreme sports revealing bizarre footage of “folk stunt” artists in inventive boldness and hilarity. And more new Benny Zenga shorts. Plus: MarkXFarina’s HOW TO NAVIGATE 2 (‘06, 22m) mashes up the Who, Punks, the Monkees, the Doors & Pipi Longstocking to illustrate how life imitates Pop art imitating Pop music. MXF’s RODNEY BURNS (‘07, 6m) includes the making of QUICKSAND by Preston Webb, a short Venice film about the troubles of romance. Plus 7pm live music: JOY RIPPEL, Venice Blues Mama

WED, Oct 3. JAMES LORAN GILLESPIE: Photo-Media and FILMS – Gillespie (in person) asks us to question our everyday responses to issues of race, region and class in representation. His collage approach to photo-media work recalls Dada artist John Heartfield, both formally and in its reflective socio-political commentary. His films also recall Walter Benjamin’s notion of “blasting open” historical moments, inviting speculation on both past and future, to generate a critique of the present. Gillespie’s hand-processed, tinted & toned 16mm films, including ABOUT FLIGHT (‘03, 10m), LOON LIGHTS (‘03, 10m), TOWARDS EVERYDAY LIGHTNING (‘03, 10m), his cross-formatted[double 8 as 16mm], REGARD (‘05, 8m) & his recent, SHADOW TRACING (‘07, 6m, 35mm), beckon the viewer to cross the threshold of immersion. Plus 7pm live music: sweet jazz singer STARLA.

WED, Oct 17. ILLYMANYA (‘06, 74m) at 9pm – Nick Incorvaia & Josh Batchelder’s enlightening documentary on Guinea music is the story of a group of Americans whose lives have been influenced by West African drum and dance. It shows their efforts to bring that music, and it’s message of survival, to rural America. It is a rare look at Africa; a place of rhythm, passion, & beauty. Plus rare UK documentaries on Sun Ra-7pm & George Clinton-8pm.

WED, Nov 7. SUNSET STRIP – Cultural historian/author Domenic Priore will screen rare films and discuss his new book Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood (foreword by Arthur Lee of Love) visit: dumbangelmagazine.com Celebrate 5th year anniversary of 7 Dudley Cinema from 6-8pm with live music.

WED, Nov 14. DON McGLYNN JAZZ FILMS: With Director McGlynn in person. HORACE PARLAN BY HORACE PARLAN (‘00, 57m) at 6pm. Known for his collaborations with Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon and Archie Shepp, Parlan’s compositions are deeply textured and his playing is full of warmth. This is quite remarkable because Parlan contracted polio at age five, and it constricted the right side of his body. Interviews with him reveal his deep passion for music, and his extraordinary persistence. JazzTimes said “that his playing is still as crisp and inventive as ever and is revealed in this intimate and touching portrait.” THE LEGEND OF TEDDY EDWARDS (‘01, 85m) at 7pm. The pioneering tenor saxophonist is a master balladeer, superb improvisor, accomplished composer/arranger, and has worked with Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman, Dexter Gordon, Clifford Brown and Tom Waits. Edwards plays a lot of impassioned music here, and also recalls his wildly emotional 6 decades plus career, full of innovative discoveries, high times and devastating setbacks. “A loving and shrewd evergreen”-Variety. DEXTER GORDON: MORE THAN YOU KNOW (‘96, 52m) at 8:30pm. Best known for his Oscar Nomination as Best Actor for ROUND MIDNIGHT, Gordon was a charismatic and innovative tenor saxophonist. His entire musical career, along with many romantic locations he inhabited, is presented in this sensitive and evocative documentary. ART PEPPER: NOTES FROM A JAZZ SURVIVOR (‘82, 48m) at 9:30pm. McGlynn’s first documentary is an intensely personal, painfully revealing portrait of one of jazz’ greatest alto saxophonists – a remarkably expressive soloist and composer, who was also a drug addict, thief, prison inmate and all around wildman. “As intimate a look at the life of another human being as we are ever likely to get” – St Paul Dispatch.

SAT, Nov 17. PXL THIS 17 celebrate the 20th year of toy video camera filmmaking at 7&9 indiespace.com/pxlthis

SAT, Dec 1. OH 7 ART SHOW – opening from 6-10pm. Local artists featured till Dec 14

WED, Dec 5 & 12. SPONTO FILM FEST all footage shot at this legendary Venice gallery, with music, poets & art.

SAT, Dec 22. CIRCLE OF COLOR winter solstice celebration of art and music 5-10pm

7 DUDLEY CINEMA plays a crucial role promoting counter-current moving image artists in a cozy community-oriented setting. Since November 2002, we have shown films free to the public with the filmmakers often present for discussion. We are an all volunteer group. Visit – www.81x.com/7dudley/cinema. Past screenings have included Craig Baldwin’s Tribulation 99, SOS & Sonic Outlaws, Watts Tower Film Festival, Critical Mass-Pedal Revolution, Lenny Bruce night, Uncensored Cartoons & much more. Our speakers have included Orson Welles’ cameraman Gary Graver, culture jammer Craig Baldwin, director William Richert, political satirist Paul Krassner, archivist Stephen Parr, director Ted Bonnitt, experimental pioneer Chick Strand, producer Susan West (IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL), author Janine Marchessault, screenwriter/critic F.X. Feeney, experimental documentarian Philip Hoffman, Firesign Theater’s Peter Bergman & Phil Proctor, poet Michael C. Ford, Ruben Guevara (Ruben & the Jets), Little Willie G. & Jimmy Espinoza of Thee Midniters, author Domenic Priore, jazz archivist Mark Cantor, Country Joe McDonald, Larry Taylor & Fito de la Parra of CANNED HEAT, producer Ken Kubernick, experimental filmmaker Alfonzo Alvarez, Lord Buckley’s daughter Laurie, director Richard Elfman, comedian/ARISTOCRATS director Paul Provenza, Corman vet & author Beverly Gray, film historian Michael Henry Wilson, experimental film pioneer Curtis Harrington and I AM CUBA cameraman Alexander Calzatti.

Curator Gerry Fialka has been involved in: *The Ann Arbor Film Festival, the oldest experimental film festival in the world, *PXL THIS (www.indiespace.com/pxlthis), the annual Pixelvision (toy video camera) festival, established in 1991. Film Threat’s Chris Gore deemed PXL THIS one of the ten best video festivals. *His DOCUMENTAL series (now at the Unurban in Santa Monica myspace.com/sevendudleycinema) at Midnight Special, the oldest political bookstore in the world, ran for 8 years, and was praised as “L.A.‘s pre-eminent documentary and experimental film showcase…the holy grail” -LA Weekly. In RES magazine, Holly Willis declared Gerry Fialka the “Los Angeles-based independent media hero.” In the INDEPENDENT FILM AND VIDEO MONTHLY, Willis proclaimed Fialka an “exemplary devotee of cinema. Thanks to Fialka’s penchant for the weird and wild, L.A. gets to see material we wouldn’t otherwise.” The LA TIMES calls Fialka “the multi-media Renaissance man.” 7 DUDLEY CINEMA was featured on Warren Olney’s NPR radio show, “Which Way L.A.?” on Santa Monica’s KCRW. 7 DUDLEY CINEMA shows films at Sponto Art Gallery, which was the home of the infamous Venice West Cafe from 1955-66 where the Beats read their poetry. Join poets every 4th Tuesday at 7pm for open poetry and spoken word- free admission. Sponto Gallery has sponsored children’s art shows, raised money for New Orleans’ musicians and helped raise money for Venice Food Not Bombs, who feed the homeless. Jazz great Azar Lawrence played a free 2005 concert at Sponto Gallery.

7 DUDLEY CINEMA stresses dialogue on films, art, culture and politics. Gerry Fialka’s other film series DOCUMENTAL has been praised by LA Magazine as “eye-opening with postscreening chats that cook.” This tradition of examination continues at 7 DUDLEY CINEMA, DOCUMENTAL and at Fialka’s MESS (Media Ecology Soul Sessions) public interview series.

GERRY FIALKA, film curator, writer, lecturer, and paramedia ecologist has conducted interactive workshops from UCLA to MIT, from the Ann Arbor Film Festival to Culver City High School. Fialka gave two major lectures at The 2001 North America James Joyce Conference at UC Berkeley. His public interview series MESS (Media Ecology Soul Sessions), with the likes of Mike Kelley, Alexis Smith, Abraham Polonsky, Mary Woronov, Paul Krassner, Ann Magnuson, Heather Woodbury, Norman Klein, Chris Kraus, P. Adams Sitney, Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, Kristine McKenna, Ann Magnuson, John Sinclair, Grace Lee Boggs, Firesign Theatre’s Phil Proctor among many others, began in 1997 and continues at different LA venues including Beyond Baroque. Fialka’s interviews have been published in books by Mike Kelley and Sylvere Lotringer.

His MARSHALL McLUHAN-FINNEGANS WAKE Reading Club www.venicewake.org has explored media and literature at the Venice Public Library since 1995. His PXL THIS film festival www.indiespace.com/pxlthis has celebrated the PXL 2000 toy camera since 1991. Film Threat’s Chris Gore deemed PXL THIS one of the ten best video festivals. Fialka’s DOCUMENTAL series (now at the Unurban in Santa Monica myspace.com/sevendudleycinema) at Midnight Special, the oldest political bookstore in the world, ran for 8 years, and was praised as “L.A.‘s pre-eminent documentary and experimental film showcase…the holy grail”-LA WEEKLY. In RES magazine, Holly Willis declared Gerry Fialka the “Los Angeles-based independent media hero.” In the Independent Film & Video Monthly, Willis proclaimed Fialka an “exemplary devotee of cinema. Thanks to Fialka’s penchant for the weird and wild, L.A. gets to see material we wouldn’t otherwise.” The LA TIMES calls Fialka “the multi-media Renaissance man.” His 7 DUDLEY CINEMA series (com/7dudley/cinema” target=_blankwww.81x.com/7dudley/cinema) continues the tradition of DOCUMENTAL at Sponto Gallery in Venice, where the beats used to read poetry (Venice West Cafe). Fialka has worked for Frank Zappa (for nearly ten years as an archivist), George Carlin and Filmex. He has interviewed the likes of Amiri Baraka, Carla Bley, Horace Silver, Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross, George Clinton, Paul Plimley, Oscar Brown Jr, Ben Watson, Craig Baldwin, Grace Lee Boggs among others for AMASS magazine, LA Jazz Scene, Jazz News, Bird, Flipside, and PACIFICA’s KPFK radio.

“I am very impressed by Gerry Fialka’s energy in bringing together groups of people to think about ideas. That is very much in the McLuhan spirit to create and foster interdisiplinary, living, educational projects in which people can talk about ideas. He creates forums that bring together a plurality of critical perspectives into one multivalent conversation. “ – Janine Marchessault, author of MARSHAL McLUHAN: COSMIC MEDIA.

“Gerry Fialka’s MESS series is a unique opportunity to meet special artists in a unique, intimate and revealing setting. His intelligence and dedication to research leads to a stimulating and highly interactive interview that is both entertaining and amazingly enlightening.” – Phil “Firesign Theatre” Proctor

“I have participated in Gerry Fialka’s interactive workshops at the Ann Arbor Film Festivals in 2006 and 2007.
He is willing to enter in new discussions even if they go against his current views. Fialka’s multilayered delivery of ideas encourages the search for new questions and new paradigms that extend beyond. He is well-informed, off-beat and articulate – one of the most fascinating people I’ve met at the AAFF.” – Keith Jeffries, Ascalon Films

“I showed my film Hippies From Hell at one of the most special venues in the world, 7 Dudley Cinema in Venice, CA. Curator Gerry Fialka is a wonderful host, able to create a joyful relaxing and concentrated atmosphere. During the Q&A he showed himself as a very eloquent critic asking deep and serious questions- always with humor, knowledge and full of energy.” – Ine Poppe, Professor at the Willem de Kooning Art Academy, Amsterdam

“Gerry Fialka is one of your grand 1970s collage sensibilities, conceptually leaping—like so many of the flickering Film Festival experiments that have nourished him for decades—from PXL to McLuhan to James Joyce to Duchamp. As he laces it all together like a deerskin moccasin, you realize that most college students are deprived of witnessing this kind of associative thinking in action. Gerry Fialka’s fast-paced workshops are an antidote for the corporatized classroom that only meets students’ low expectations yet fails to go beyond. This guy goes, and takes them, beyond.”- Michael R. Mosher, Assoc. Professor, Art/Communication Multimedia, Saginaw Valley State University

“Gerry Fialka is a cinema treasure, a champion of the rarely-seen, forgotten or neglected films that illuminate our times; a man who has devoted much of his life to the exploration of art and philosophy and human behavior as shown in the movies. For nearly four decades Gerry has introduced the startling works of unknown or rarely-seen filmmakers to audiences who enjoy the fascinating range
of his questions and the surprising answers inspired by our urban impresario of the flicks, always a student of the art form he loves, from its depths to its heights.” – William Richert, film director “Winter Kills”

For Immediate Release
Contact: Gerry Fialka 310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com

DOCUMENTAL shows films at the Unurban Coffeehouse, 3301 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, 310-315-0056, free admission from 6-10pm on Mondays. Info: 310-306-7330 www.myspace.com/sevendudleycinema

MONDAY, July 16. CINEMATIC INTERVENTIONS at 8pm – Experimental filmmaker extraordinaire John Cannizzaro screens FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH (‘06, 13m) the last Super 8mm home movie: a cine-poem to time, childhood & the color of memory, AND an eye-opening 90 minute program of mutiple projection (16mm, video, live spoken word, bongos – the future of movie viewing?) layering of avant garde, educational, travelogue, animation films & more. This genre-mashing phantasmagorical happening satirizes our daily sensory overload to reveal the hidden effects of moving image art and media yoga massaging. Special macrocosm mash-up of Luis Bunuel, James Joyce and Marshall McLuhan. Plus experimental films from 6-8pm including shorts by Bryan Konefsky, who coined the term “Cinematic Interventions.”

MONDAY, Aug 20. I PITY THE FOOL (‘07, 85m) Director Brent Coughenour (in person) explores present day Detroit, Michigan. As a city dismantles itself, clues to its past resurface. Collections of scraps sifted by gleaners from rubble – “an archeology of unanswered questions