After director Tamra Davis befriended Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 80′s she joined an elite group of people who got the chance to film the artist.

After his death, Davis put her reels of film away and left them hidden for 20 years.

Now in association with Arthouse Films, Davis’ footage has become a feature-length documentary entitled Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child.

Watch the trailer and get show dates below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Experimental film maker, photographer and writer Richard Kern is coming to Canada. Studio Gallery proudly presents Kern’s first solo exhibition in Canada and his first full-career retrospective. The show will document works by the artist spanning the last twenty years. From his early films which were central to the Cinema of Transgression movement, to photographs from the 90′s which illustrate the early stages of his voyeuristic style of photography. Full details and information below. This show looks legendary.

Duration of Exhibition: 05.01.10 – 05.30.10

Opening Reception:
Saturday, 05.01.10 – 6:00 – 11:00 pm
Kern will be in attendance. This will be a free event.
Please RSVP for the opening reception by email to avery@studio.to or call 416-832-393

Artist Talk and Book Signing:
Sunday, 05.02.10.  7:00 – 9:00 pm
This evening will include a conversation between Bruce La Bruce and Richard Kern with a Q&A to follow.
$10 admission. Books will be available for purchase.

First Film Screening: Saturday, 05.15.10. 7:00 – 10:00 pm
$5 admission. Includes full exhibition and curator introduction.

Second Film Screening: Saturday, 05.22.10. 7:00 – 10:00 pm
$5 admission. Includes full exhibition and curator introduction.

Here is more info on this show.

Tonight in Los Angeles!

THIS presents a night of short films from Six Stair including Blood Shed.
Friday, April 23rd from 8-10pm

You don’t have to B.Y.O.B but you should B.Y.O.C (bring your own chair).

More Six Stair shorts HERE.

Children Of Clay is a skateboard themed film shot on super 8 and created by artist and photographer Jon Bocksel. The results were edited from hours of footage during skate sessions in New York City, Philly, San Fransisco and Chicago. It’s a 10 minute short film, limited to 50 copies on DVD format and comes packaged with a hand silk screened cover. Summertime inspiration. Perfect. Get one before they’re gone.

Toronto’s annual documentary film festival Hot Docs is back and this year it’s bringing Blank City with it. I’ve been amped on seeing this documentary discussing New York City’s No Wave scene, ever since Jaime Sin posted “I wanna see this, who’s in?” on her Facebook page. So, who’s in?

The 1973 Canadian made comedy horror film Cannibal Girls has been remastered and restored from it’s original 35mm format into HD. Amazing. Catch it on the big screen during the SXSW Film fest, or purchase it for home viewing when it gets it’s DVD and Blue-Ray release on April 10th.

Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites weren’t Black Metal aficionados when a friend of theirs at Amoeba Records in San Francisco turned the two indie-music fans onto a sub-genre, that strangely enough, these days is also being appreciated by even the low-fi and roots music communities, for it’s purity and relevance. Yep. Black Metal is almost hip now. But when Ewell and Aites delved a little deeper, and became aware of the notorious history of true Norwegian Black Metal, which includes arson, suicide, and murder, they decided the subject would be perfect for their feature debut. So they set off for Norway, where they lived for two years, and ended up getting a very clear and unflinching look at what is often a very misunderstood subculture.

- via twitchfilm.net

The result of their research: The Norwegian Black Metal Documentary Until The Light Takes Us All

The Doc makes it’s Toronto debut at The Royal Cinema

Showtimes:

Friday February 19th – 9:30pm
Saturday February 20th – 9:30pm
Sunday February 21st – 7pm
Monday February 22nd – 7pm
Tuesday February 23rd – 7pm
Wednesday February 24th – 9:30pm
Thursday February 25th – 9:30pm

General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors: $8

Tickets go on sale 30 minutes before each screening.

It’s been awhile since we heard from Daniel Clowes … the cartoonist. I stopped asking for new issues of Eightball during trips to The Beguiling years after his popular serialized Ghost World graphic novel became a major motion picture. A few years later Sony Classics released Art School Confidential, loosely based on a short story of the same name that appeared in Eightball #7. He seemed to be on his Hollywood A-Game and so, still, all I had was my Death Ray issue to reread over and over again. (Rumour has it Jack Black’s Black and White Productions are to adapt The Death Ray into a film). Well, the wait is over. Come May of this year we can smell and hold the sweet pages of Wilson by Daniel Clowes. Wilson is the story of  ”an opinionated middle-aged loner who loves his dog and quite possibly no one else”. It is to be published by Drawn and Quarterly making him the newest member of the D and Q family. Preview the pages of Wilson here.

Spike Jonze has a new 30 minute short entitled I’m Here that will debut some time in March. The film is a love story about the relationship between two robots living in L.A.

Find out more about the film HERE.

One day I’ll get my shit together and go to Sundance. This year would have a good one because I could have seen ODDSAC, the “visual album” by Danny Perez and Animal Collective and Exit Through The Gift Shop by famed street artist Banksy.

There will be screenings of ODDSAC coming up in other cities, but as of right now there are only one each in New York and Chicago. Let’s cross our fingers that they make it Los Angeles.

More info HERE.

Here’s the trailer.

And Banksy premiered his film Exit Through The Gift Shop at Sundance 2010 as well. I don’t know much about this film but here’s some cell phone pics of Banksy’s work in Park City, UT courtesy of DM via Holly Palmer.

And here’s a trailer at banksyfilm.com.

The Story of Anvil is a documentary about the Toronto metal band that you’ve probably never heard of. They were around in the 80′s and well … they’re still around today. These guys are the epitome of persistence.

Buy an autographed copy of the DVD HERE.
Visit the official Anvil website HERE.