Wednesday Night -- 10.07.09 -- Revolutionary Detourism: Godard in USA -- Red Channels

CONTENTS:

1. About this Wednesday
2. About Red Channels
3. About the October 15th Debate
4. About the Discussion Participants
5. About the Co-presenters
6. Useful links

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1. About this Wednesday

What: Film Screening / Discussion
When: Wednesday 10.07.09
Where: 16Beaver Street, 4th Floor
When: 7:30 pm
Who: Free and open to all

Perhaps we can blame Che Guevara for providing the model for a 1960's Marxist world-traveler where, on the strength of past successes, you take trips to seemingly sympathetic countries to both assist and instruct (with mixed results). In the cinema this idea was taken up by, among others, Chris Marker and Pier Paolo Pasolini; but its most notorious practitioner was Jean-Luc Godard.

Before going to England, Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Palestine, Godard came to America, to make his film on the coming revolution with noted cinema verité cameramen Ricky Leacock and D.A. Pennebaker. Godard would eventually give up on the project, feeling lost and confused, leaving Pennebaker to take the footage he shot, thread it together, and release it as One PM.

This screening is part of a series organized by Red Channels with the Left Forum, in advance of their October 15th free public debate with Tom Hayden at the Community Church.

Screening will include:
Rethink Afghanistan: Tom Hayden vs. Michael O'Hanlon - Robert Greenwald, 2009, 7 minutes
One PM - DA Pennebaker [with Jean-Luc Godard & Richard Leacock], 1970, 78 minutes
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 85 minutes | Digital Projection

Discussion will include:
Kazembe Balagun, Cullen Gallagher, Jacob Perlin, and others

(The Greenwald film is available online at the Rethink Afghanistan website. The Pennebaker film is available on DVD from Pennebaker Hegedus Films.)

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2. About Red Channels

Red Channels is a new series of free DIY film and video screenings happening in community and cultural spaces in New York City. The emphasis is on rare and radical works. It is curated by Matt Peterson, an archivist, critic, and filmmaker. Matt has written for the Evergreen Review, NY Press, The L, Death+Taxes, and Brooklyn Rail.

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3. About the October 15th Debate

The Left Forum has organized a public debate featuring Tom Hayden, Stanley Aronowitz, and Cindy Milstein; with questions by David Harvey, Maria Svart, and Josh MacPhee; and moderated by Esther Armah. The title is "Debating Capitalists' Power in the Age of Obama: Strategies for a US Left," and it will be held at the Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street. 7:30, Free.

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4. About the Discussion Participants

Kazembe Balagun is the outreach coordinator at the Brecht Forum, and was the co-organizer, with Red Channels, of the Visual Liberation Film Festival.

Cullen Gallagher is a film critic and festival programmer, and is the co-curator of the "Docs on Auteurs" series at UnionDocs.

Jacob Perlin is one of the film programmers at BAMcinematek, and is the founder of the Film Desk, a new distribution company releasing the work of Charlie Chaplin, Philippe Garrel, Susan Sontag, and Francois Truffaut. He was the curator of the "JLG in USA" DVD-insert included in the March/April 2009 issue of The Believer.

[Please note, this will not be a panel discussion. The above are just some guests that have been invited to join our discussion.]

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5. About the Co-presenters

Left Forum brings together organizers and intellectuals from across the globe to share ideas for understanding and transforming the world. We organize events throughout the year, and our annual flagship conference takes place each spring. Left Forum provides a context for the critical dialogue that is essential for a stronger Left and a more just society.

UnionDocs is a non-profit organization based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which presents innovative and thought-provoking non-fiction to the general public, while also cultivating opportunities for emerging media-makers, theorists, and curators.

Special thanks to Laura Beatty & Frazer Pennebaker

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6. Useful links

brechtforum.org
thefilmdesk.com
leftforum.org
phfilms.com
redchannels.org
rethinkafghanistan.com
uniondocs.org