Fall 2009, Tuesday • Downtown 81

James Nares, 1978 • Painter, performance artist, and former Contortions bandmember James Nares directed this classic of No Wave cinema. An irreverent and playful period drama, the film is as much a documentary of late-70s Lower East Side as it is a fiction film about the late Roman Empire. David McDermott III stars as Caligula, Anya Phillips plays the Queen of Sheba, and Lydia Lunch, lead singer of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and star of many films produced in the movement, also appears. Critic J. Hoberman, an early champion of No Wave, described the film as "like a toga party in Little Lulu's clubhouse." 16mm, not available on DVD

Steina and Woody Vasulka, 1974 • The Vasulkas were pioneers of the video art form, and founders of The Kitchen. They were among the first to have their video works included in the Whitney Biennial, and have remained innovators of the genre, both technically and formally. These selected works serve as a sampling of the Vasulkas's work during the early years of the Kitchen, a time in which they were primarily concerned with the production of synthetic video images. Through their emphasis on the materiality of video with the use of static and wave patterns, the Vasulkas forge images of a natural beauty akin to landscapes. DVD, not commercially available on DVD

Jim Jarmusch, 1984 • Eva, freshly arrived from Hungary, walks the derelict streets of New York in search of her cousin Willie. She pauses to turn on her portable tape player, and continues to the sound of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, hysterically repeating "I Put a Spell On You." With this scene, Jarmusch established himself as an innovator of American cool and informed the idiom of independent American cinema with a blend of style and incongruent humor. As Willie's sidekick (Richard Edson, one-time drummer for Sonic Youth) tags along on a trip across the U.S., Jarmusch weaves nuanced relationships between off-beat characters. 35mm

Laurie Anderson, 1986 • Five years after landing a surprise pop hit with "O Superman," performance artist (and Glen Ellyn, Illinois native) Laurie Anderson directed her own concert film while touring in support of her album "Mister Heartbreak." Playing violin and synthesizer along with a full band, she layers poetry on top of electronic music in this innovative multimedia performance, and her deadpan observations are at once hilarious and spooky. William S. Burroughs, the inspiration for her song "Language is a Virus," also appears on stage at one point to dance a tango with Anderson. Laserdisc, not available on DVD

Tom Bowes, 1985 • Founded in the early '70s by Steina and Woody Vasulka, The Kitchen became one of the most important art spaces of the downtown scene. Located in the kitchen of the Mercer Arts center, it started as a space for video art, but eventually expanded to include artists across several disciplines, as illustrated in this film. Originally filmed as a television project, Two Moon July is a unique document of this community, bringing together many of its talented artists, including David Byrne, Bill T. Jones, Laurie Anderson, Cindy Sherman, John and Evan Lurie, Philip Glass, Brian Eno, Robert Longo, and Bill Viola. DVD, not available on DVD

Edo Bertoglio, 1981 • Also known as New York Beat Movie, Downtown 81 is a fascinating portrait of the New York scene in the early '80s. The then-unknown Jean-Michel Basquiat stars as a character much like himself, who spends the day wandering the Lower East Side, encountering many notable figures from the scene, including Debbie Harry, the Plastics, and John Lurie. Glenn O'Brien, host of the infamous public access show TV Party, wrote the screenplay. Financing issues caused the film to be abandoned until 2001. As much of the original soundtrack was lost, Basquiat's dialog was re-recorded by actor and poet Saul Williams. 35mm, not available on DVD

David Byrne, 1986 • Featuring a score by Talking Heads, True Stories is a beautiful, bizarre take on small town life. Byrne, sporting a ten-gallon cowboy hat, guides us through the fictional town of Virgil, Texas, as its citizens prepare for the "Celebration of Special-ness." Inspired by headlines from tabloids, the film wanders from character to character, such as the woman who never leaves her bed, the man with a radio in his head (the inspiration for the British band's name), and the engineer with the consistent panda bear shape looking for love. The result is an intruiging variation on the traditional American musical. 35mm

Jonathan Demme, 1987 • In the first of his filmed monologues, Spalding Gray recounts his experiences in Southeast Asia filming his supporting role in The Killing Fields. Armed only with a glass of water, a writing pad, and a map, he provides a compelling example of storytelling at its finest. Gray, a co-founder of the experimental theatre company the Wooster Group, pioneered in this film a form of autobiographical one-man-show whose influence is still seen today. Demme's minimalistic direction gives room to focus on Gray's hilarious and touching anecdotes, while Laurie Anderson provides an appropriately haunting score. 35mm, not available on DVD

Jonathan Demme, 1984 • Beginning with David Byrne performing "Psycho Killer" alone with a drum machine and growing to an enormous band with backup dancers, this classic concert film catches Talking Heads at the height of their global success. By this point, Byrne had developed into one of music's great showmen, and moments from his performance—dancing with a lampshade, jogging in a circle around the stage, and donning his famous big suit—have since become iconic. Demme's fluid direction helps make this, along with >i/i<, one of the greatest rock n' roll films ever made. Thanks! Does anybody have any questions? 35mm

Meredith Monk, 1981 & 1988 • Monk, a filmmaker, choreographer, and composer, filmed Ellis Island at the famous port of entry before its 1990 restoration. Described by Monk as a "ghost story told through the musicality of images," it blends fiction, documentary, and dance to explore the story of the millions of immigrants who passed through. In the dreamlike Book of Days, Monk juxtaposes black and white depictions of the tumult of the Middle Ages with color scenes of a contemporary AIDS-plagued world. Music, dance, and stunning cinematography mix into a haunting and often humorous meditation on the transparency of time. 35mm, not available on DVD