Avails - Fall 2018
Featured
THEATRICAL STARTS OCTOBER 12, 2018
SHOWTIMES
2017 - USA - 98 MINUTES
A FILM BY MATT TYRNAUER
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism--a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.
There are 8,000 miles of sidewalks, paths and roads in New York City, and for the past six years Matt Green has been walking them all–every street, every block, every pedestrian overpass, park lane and hiking trail. A journey that stretches from the heart of Harlem to the marshes of Staten Island, Matt’s walk is a pursuit of anything that catches his eye, be it a national landmark or a humble manhole cover. Over time Matt has amassed an encyclopedia of surprising New York trivia and underground history, informed by his own research and conversations with the amused but supportive New Yorkers he encounters along the way.
105 MINUTES - USA
A FILM BY LAURA NIX
INVENTING TOMORROW follows six young scientists from Indonesia, Hawaii, India and Mexico as they tackle some of the most complex environmental issues facing humanity today – right in their own backyards. Each student is preparing original scientific research that he or she will defend at ISEF, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Framed against the backdrop of the severe environmental threats we now face, we immerse the audience in a global view of the planetary crisis, through the eyes of the generation that will be affected by it most.
A FILM BY JIA ZHANG-KE
CHINA/ FRANCE/ COLOUR/ IN MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH AND FRENCH SUBTITLES/
FEATURING: TAO ZHAO, LIAO FAN
Qiao is in love with Bin, a local mobster. During a fight between rival gangs, she fires a gun to protect him. Qiao gets five years in prison for this act of loyalty. Upon her release, she goes looking for Bin to pick up where they left off.
THEATRICAL STARTS MAY 11, 2018
018 - USA - 80 MINUTES - IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE
A FILM BY HEATHER LENZ
WRITER - DIRECTOR - PRODUCER - EDITOR: HEATHER LENZ
Trailblazer Yayoi Kusama’s turbulent quest to become a world famous artist is documented in “Kusama - Infinity”; as a rival of Warhol in the ‘60s, Kusama battled sexism and racism in America while her hallucinations of polka dots eventually led her to the Tokyo mental institution she has called home for over 30 years.
THEATRICAL STARTS MAY 11, 2018
2016 - 92 MINUTES - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY THOMAS RIEDELSHEIMER
Sixteen years after the release of the ground-breaking film Rivers and Tides – Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time director Thomas Riedelsheimer has returned to work with the artist. Leaning into the Wind – Andy Goldsworthy follows Andy on his exploration of the layers of his world and the impact of the years on himself and his art. As Goldsworthy introduces his own body into the work it becomes at the same time even more fragile and personal and also sterner and tougher, incorporating massive machinery and crews on his bigger projects. Riedelsheimer’s exquisite film illuminates Goldsworthy’s mind as it reveals his art.
THEATRICAL STARTS APRIL 6, 2018
2017 - USA - ISRAEL - 82 MINUTES
A FILM BY ALISON CHERNICK
FEATURING ITZHAK PERLMAN
If there’s anyone who personifies the resilience, the vision and ultimately the contribution of the Jewish people, it’s Itzhak Perlman. The violin is the chosen instrument of Perlman, the vehicle he has used to overcome his own challenges and express himself to the world. In Perlman and his music, we hear the story of obstacles and survival, we trace the path of the Jewish people from the chaos of Europe to the promise of Israel, we see the comfort of home and family and witness how humor and talent combine with discipline and drive.
2018 - 90 MINUTES - USA
A FILM BY SASHA WATERS FREYER
Decades before digital technology transformed how we make and see pictures, Garry Winogrand made hundreds of thousands of them with his 35mm Leica, creating an encyclopedic portrait of America from the late 1950s to the early 1980s in the process. When he died suddenly at age 56 in 1984, Winogrand left behind more than 10,000 rolls of film – more than a quarter of a million pictures! These images capture a bygone era: the New York of Mad Men and the early years of the Women’s Movement, the birth of American suburbs, and the glamour and alienation of Hollywood. He produced so many unseen images that it has taken until now for the full measure of his artistic legacy to emerge. Endorsed by his gallery and estate, Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable is the first cinematic survey of that legacy. The film tells the story of an artist whose rise and fall was – like America’s in the late decades of the 20th century – larger-than-life, full of contradictions and totally unresolved.
THEATRICAL STARTS NOVEMBER 9, 2018
2018 - 101 MINUTES - GERMANY/ FRANCE - IN GERMAN AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH / FRENCH SUBTITLES
A FILM BY CHRISTIAN PETZOLD
German troops are fast approaching Paris. Georg, a German refugee, escapes to Marseille in the nick of time. In his luggage, he carries the documents of an author, Weidel, who has taken his own life in fear of his persecutors. Those documents include a manuscript, letters and visa assurance from the Mexican embassy.
THEATRICAL STARTS NOVEMBER 23, 2018
USA - 2018 - 98 MINUTES
A FILM BY NATHANIEL KAHN
Basquiat paintings regularly fetch tens of millions of dollars, and the recent sale of a little-known Da Vinci topped $450 million—but what forces are driving the white-hot art market? Who assigns and who pays these astronomical sums? What currency adequately measures art’s value? The Price of Everything leads us into a rarefied labyrinth of galleries, studios, and auction houses to wrestle with these questions and explore what society loses and gains when art becomes a rich person’s commodity.
CANADA – 2016 – 122 MIN – COLOUR - DOCUMENTARY - IN ENGLISH/ JAPANESE GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
A FILM BY KEVIN MCMAHON
For 50 years scientists have been working to understand humanity’s daily influence on our planet’s life forces. SPACESHIP EARTH is a poetic feature film exploring what they have learned, and what that tells us about our responsibility for steering the only ship in the universe known to carry life.