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SOUND UNSEEN FILM + MUSIC FESTIVAL BLASTS OUT OF THE PAST AND INTO THE FUTURE:
8TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL AUGUST 22-26 FEATURES ROCK DOCS, CUTTING EDGE FEATURES, ANIMATED SHORTS, SPECIAL EVENTS, AND THE 2ND ANNUAL ARTIST OF DISTINCTION AWARD
Minneapolis, MN, July 30, 2007-Out of the past and into the future, SOUND UNSEEN returns for another exhilarating run August 22-26th The festival's search for the marriage of music and film remains unrivaled as it continues with the mission of showcasing music’s rebels, innovators and unsung heroes. We begin with another installment from the vast collection of footage shot by local legend Rick Fuller, this time exploring 7 nights at MPLS' own 7th street entry in the early eighties. A film that is certain to reconstruct, in sounds and images, a not so distant past in our own back yard. But SOUND UNSEEN has never limited its scope to these Twin Cities. We search and rescue, to borrow a metaphor from a recently departed Twin Cities film program, the history of unsung hero of British cinema Peter Whitehead, whose LET'S ALL MAKE LOVE IN LONDON, which documents mods, mini skirts, topless models, and a host of important Birtish music figures of the 60's dates surprisingly little four decades on. Also in the treasure trove, you'll find the recently completed documentary on Harry Smith, a cultural alchemist, and mystic DJ whose paintings, films, and collections fused seemingly disparate elements into dazzling new experiences. Other historic miracles dug up for the program include documentaries on Jazz legend Anita O'Day, the Holy Modal Rounders, and 13th Floor singer Roky Erickson.
And what of the current cultural landscape do we elevate? Well we can take DAFT PUNK'S ELECTRORAMA, hardly a dance-a-riffic music video; in fact, none of the music in the film is by Daft Punk. Instead it’s a drawn out story about two robots’ (Hero Robot 1 & Hero Robot 2 according to the credits) journeys to becoming human. Along the way there are Ferraris, explosions and extremely long desert treks! And if that's not your taste, take a bite out of Michael Tully's SILVER JEW an intimate portrait of reclusive poet/musician David Berman as he tours the Mid-East with his Southern-inflected mess of indie rock, country-rock and lo-fi, the Silver Jews. Following up on last year's Scandinavian entry, COLD HEARTS, we bring you PD03: DAY DREAM NATION, featuring vibrant work from the cosmopolitan streets of Stockholm, the up-and-coming communities of arty G?teborg, the maritime landscape of southernmost Malm?, with music from macabre electronica of The Knife to the saccharine pop of The Concretes,Peter, Bj?rn, and John, the Envelopes, and El Perro Del Mar.
Our annual tour of the "scenes" takes us into the world where the instruments may be invisible, but the rock is for real; AIR GUITAR NATION, a past time who has legions of followers in the Twin Cities. For the ladies, or in this case the girls, Arne Johnson, Shane King's GIRLS ROCK! is a cranked-to-eleven all access pass following the dedicated counselors (including Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein and Beth Ditto from The Gossip), as they guide the girls through selecting their bands, learning instruments, writing songs, and finally performing in Portland clubs, for which we've included a panel on women in our community trying to empower women in music. Also from Portland, and the most daring film in the program, we have Nick Peterson's YELLOW, a musical for our time! Combining the sensibilities of Ernst Lubitschs Hollywood musicals of the 1930s and the restrained photographic sense of Yasujiro Ozu Peterson creates a unique modern musical exploring the complexities of love, sex and relationships.
As always, SOUND UNSEEN promises to deliver the sounds of the past present and future. Our twelve selections continue to uncover the unique experiences and unlikely cultural connections behind great music.
SOUND UNSEEN 2007 Film & Special Event Schedule
Wednesday, August 22nd
730pm – 7 Nights In The Entry, September 2-8, 1981 (Riverview Theater)
930pm – Artist of Distinction Awards @ 7th Street Entry
Thursday, August 23rd (all films from 8/23-8/26 @ The Ritz Theater)
7pm – Let’s Make Love in London
915pm – PD03: Day Dream Nation
10pm – Switzerland and Boys and Girls @ 331 Club
Friday, August 24th
7pm - You're Gonna Miss Me
915pm - Daft Punk's Electrorama
10pm – Back Alley BBQ Bonanza @ Clubhouse Jager
Saturday, August 25th
3pm – Girls Rock!
430 – Girls Rock panel
530pm – Anita O’Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer
745pm – Silver Jew
915pm – Air Guitar Nation
10pm – Festival Party – Info online only
Sunday, August 26th
3pm - Holy Modal Rounders
515pm - Anita O'Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer
715pm – The Old, Weird America: Harry Smith?S Anthology of American Folk Music
915pm – Yellow
930pm – Pizza Luce Party
2007 SOUND UNSEEN Film Descriptions
AIR GUITAR NATION (Alexandra Lipsitz, USA, 2006, 35mm. 81 min.) The instruments may be invisible, but the rock is for real. No longer a mere bedroom pastime, air guitar has become a global phenomenon.
Oulu, Finland, has hosted the Air Guitar World Championship for years, but remarkably, the United States was never represented until now. Growing for decades, our nation?s hunger for rocking gnarly air solos finally exploded onto the stage at the inaugural U.S. tournament held above a New York strip club. This new, high-energy documentary chronicles the year that air guitar swept America, following rock-god hopefuls from that electric initial event to the West Coast tournament in LA, and finally to the world competition, where things get a little f*cking serious! AIR GUITAR NATION delves into the passions and obsessions that drive average people to adopt outlandish personae, summon the demons of shred and take to the stage with nothing but air.
ANITA O'DAY: THE LIFE OF A JAZZ SINGER (Ian McCrudden, Robbie Cavolina, USA, 2007, 90 min) ANITA O'DAY: THE LIFE OF A JAZZ SINGER, a zippy portrait of the high- spirited diva, finished mere weeks before her death in 2006, is a masterpiece of the medium. The documentary relates her extroadinary life story as a musician with no softened edges and plenty of extended musical passages. Anita O'Day survived alcoholism, rape, numerous abortions, a 20 year heroin addiction and jail time to become a true jazz icon. A swing era vocalist who wanted nothing more than to spend her life singing, O'Days career spanned seven decades and 82 albums. With rare and never before seen vintage performances and includes interviews from vocalists Annie Ross and Margaret Whiting, Jazz Impresario George Wein, award winning arrangers Bill Holman, Johnny Mandel, Russel Garcia & Buddy Bregman, writer/actor producer John Cameron Mitchell, Joe Franklin and friends from different times in Anita's life. This fast paced trip with Anita integrates jazz album design and the graphic qualities of the 40's 50's and 60's, including origanal ads, reviews, and numerous never before seen images, to present a definitive portrait of this extraordinary jazz legend.
DAFT PUNK'S ELECTRORAMA Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, DVD, USA, 2006, 74 min.)
Strange: a music film by two musicians made without their own music.
In its outspoken nakedness and minimal science-fiction style, the film is also visually strange and intriguing. The small yet skilfully spun out story is set in a desert-like American highway landscape of nuclear tests and persistent rumours about UFOs. Two robots would like to become people. That is the whole drama that unfolded in the desert landscape. The two robots in tight leather Daft-Punk suits and futuristic blindfold helmets are not played by the band members/ directors themselves.The directors previously made two films and also their own music videos, so they are not entirely detached, yet they approached the film medium with an unparalleled degree of freedom, be it consciously or not. Occasionally it is more choreography than drama, so they do stay fairly close to their own m?tier.So no Daft- Punk Electronics, but a hypnotic mix of Todd Rundgren, Brian Eno, S?bastien Tellier, Curtis Mayfield, Linda Perhacs, Jackson C. Frank and Mathieu Tonetti. The film has already been compared with Gerry by Gus Van Sant and The Brown Bunny by Vincent Gallo, but that comparison restricts itself to the painterly lethargy and the bareness of the landscape. The tone - both in mood as in music - is literally from another world. If you look at it and hear it that way, they are light years apart.
GIRLS ROCK!
(Arne Johnson, Shane King, USA, 2007, 91 min.) At Rock 'n' Roll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it's OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that "it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are." The girls have a week to select a band, an instrument they may have never played before, and write a song. In between, they are taught by indie rock chicks such as Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney various lessons of empowerment from self-defense to anger management. At the end of the week, all the bands perform a concert for over 700 people. The film follows several
campers: Laura, a Korean adoptee obsessed by death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness and gang activity; and Amelia, an eight-year-old who writes experimental rock songs about her dog Pipi. What happens to the girls as they are given a temporary reprieve from being sexualized, analyzed and pressured to conform is truly moving and revolutionary.
HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS: BOUND TO LOSE (Sam Wainwright Douglas and Paul Lovelace, USA, 2007, 87min) When fiddler Peter Stampfel collided with guitarist Steve Weber during the ?Great Folk Scare? of the early sixties in New York, the two musicians formed a powerful bond based on their shared fascination with American roots music and early psychedelia. Dubbing themselves The Holy Modal Rounders, these eccentric outsiders have been playing their unique brand of psychedelic folk for over four decades, barely surviving on the fringes of the music industry while drawing a dedicated following of luminaries and lunatics. Features endearing and hilarious appearances by playwright (and former Rounders drummer) Sam Shepard, Dennis Hopper, John Sebastian of The Lovin? Spoonful, Peter Tork of the Monkees, Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg of the Fugs, Loudon Wainwright III, Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, music editor Robert Christgau of the Village Voice, Wavy Gravy and many more.
THE OLD, WEIRD AMERICA: HARRY SMITH?S ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC (Rani Singh, USA, 2007, 90 min) Filmmaker, musician, painter, mystic and string collector‹Harry Smith wore many hats during his long, eventful life as a key figure of underground culture through the latter half of the 20th century. In this jubilant documentary, director Rani Singh hones in on Smith?s incalculably influential Anthology of American Folk Music, a remarkable and enduring collection of blues and country classics recorded by the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Roscoe Holcolmb, the Carter Family and the Memphis Jug Band between 1927 and 1934. Smith, an insatiable amateur musicologist, picked up these rare recordings while still in high school, eventually amassing a collection of more than 8,000 "round black ghosts" (in the words of Smith aficionado Greil Marcus) and releasing the best of the bunch on his Anthology in 1959. Singer/songwriter Bob Neuwirth notes that these songs are about "life, death, blood, betrayal, murder, intoxication" and every one of the seven deadly sins. Upon the collection?s rerelease in 1997, music tribute impresario Hal Wilner organized a series of concerts featuring some of today?s most gifted artists taking a crack at their favorite Anthology tracks. Singh has assembled concert footage, interviews and archival images into a fittingly celebratory, rockin? doc. Transcendent performances by Beth Orton, DJ Spooky, Sonic Youth, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Lou Reed, Philip Glass, Richard Thompson, Emmylou Harris, Beck and Nick Cave highlight the proceedings, and just wait until you hear Elvis Costello tear into "The Butcher Boy."
The Old, Weird America is a testament to Smith?s impeccable taste in music and that music?s enduring appeal and relevance. As Marcus says, " The weirdness means the story will always be new."
PD03: DAY DREAM NATION (Various, Sweden, 2007, DVD) A far cry from the beloved Saturday cartoons of mornings past, Daydream Nation's roster of 17 animated films and videos offers a vision of Sweden all grown-up, bringing unorthodox and often unsettling imagery to life. Couples on the brink, lonely mopers, professional disillusionment, and more than a few decapitation and dismemberment scenes find themselves juxtaposed against the nicer things in life: colorful origami, toy cars, dancing ladies with parasols, horses, and pretty blonde party girls. So is Sweden, then, a nation of dreamers? Well, this program, featuring vibrant work from the cosmopolitan streets of Stockholm, the up-and-coming communities of arty G?teborg, the maritime landscape of southernmost Malm?, and various expatriate outposts, dares to suggest so. Daydream Nation's diverse program includes work by festival favorites Klara Swantesson and Peter Larsson, whose films represented two-thirds of the 2006 nominations for "Best Short Film" at Sweden's national version of the Oscars, the Guldbagge awards. Likewise, Sweden's world-class contemporary music scene is ably represented, running the gamut from the macabre electronica of The Knife to the saccharine pop of The Concretes,Peter, Bj?rn, and John, the Envelopes, and El Perro Del Mar. Also on offer are films by well-known music video directors Andreas Nilsson, Andreas Kors?r, Bj?rn Renner, and Henrik ?kerberg.
SEVEN NIGHTS IN 7TH STREET ENTRY September 2-8, 1981
Executive Producer Paul Stark, Producer Rick Fuller
Performances by: Husker Du, The Replacements, Fine Art, The Dads,
Things That Fall Down, Hypstrz, The Neglectors, Rusty Jones & The
Generals, The Situation, Wilma & The Wilburs, Stagger Lee, Peer Group.
SILVER JEW
(Michael Tully, USA, 2007, 51 min)
Just over a year ago, the Red Sea parted and hell froze over as the once reclusive David Berman and his Silver Jews announced their first ever tour. The whirlwind inaugural jaunt, 15 years in the making, put Berman and band before sell-out crowds across the North America and
Europe-- including a headlining spot in front of 15,000+ Pitchfork Festival attendees last summer-- and even took these wandering Jews all the way to Israel. Director Michael Tully captures the Middle Eastern leg of the Jews' tour in the new documentary Silver Jew, following Berman, his wife Cassie, and the rest of the band-- keyboardist Tony Crow, drummer Brian Kotzur, and guitarists Peyton Pinkerton and William Tyler-- around at two Tel Aviv gigs and a trip to Jerusalem.
TONITE LET'S ALL MAKE LOVE IN LONDON (Peter Whitehead, United Kingdom, 1967, BetaSP, 70 min.) The definitive document of Swinging London! One of the few filmmakers trusted within the perfumed gardens of 1960s Britain's music and art scene, Whitehead used his unparalleled access to capture a historic pop culture moment in a kaleidoscopic film. With contributions from the likes of Mick Jagger, Michael Caine, Julie Christie, Lee Marvin and David Hockney, TONITE presents a dazzling and intimate record from the very core of the in-crowd and includes music by Pink Floyd, among many others. "Not a documentary in any ordinary sense," wrote VARIETY, "but rather an impressionistic view of the 'land of mod' as seen by a sympathetic participant."
YELLOW
(Nick Peterson, USA, 16mm, DVCam, 101min.) The collaboration of filmmaker Nick Peterson and musician Eric Schopmeyer, YELLOW combines the sensibilities of Ernst Lubitschs Hollywood musicals of the 1930s and the restrained photographic sense of Yasujiro Ozu to create a unique modern musical exploring the complexities of love, sex and relationships. The story follows cynical Natalie (Nora Ryan) and her interactions with new boyfriend Matt (Eric Schopmeyer) and best friend Christian (Nico Izambard). The clever original songs never upstage the film, but rather serve as integral parts of the story. Amazingly, they were recorded live on the set with the musicians accompanying off camera, lending a naturalness to the performances and transitions. Shot and edited completely on film, YELLOW’s daring artistic approach makes the indie musical one of the most original features to come out of Portland in recent years.
YOU’RE GONNA MISS ME
(Keven McAlester, USA, 2005, DVCAM, 92 min) Keven McAlester says of his award winning documentary, "I started out thinking I was making One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but I ended up with something more like Being There." Shot by cinematographer Lee Daniel (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunset), the film tells the story of Austinite Roky Erickson, undeniably one of the greatest singer-songwriter, guitar player and harmonica-wailers of all time, and Janis Joplin's chief influence. The singer and founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators was talented but unpredictable. After entering an insanity plea in 1969 for a marijuana arrest, Roky was sent to a mental hospital for three years where he was surrounded by the worst violent and mentally ill criminals. To the great dismay of his fans, he became a recluse. Featuring interviews with Billy Gibbons, Thurston Moore, and Patti Smith, YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME is a devastating exploration of the life of one of rock's most infamously tragic figures.
2007 SOUND UNSEEN Special Events
2nd Annual Artist of Distinction Awards
7th St. Entry, Minneapolis
Wednesday, August 22
Doors at 9pm
The Artist of Distinction Awards will be given to Minnesota musicians and technicians whose contributions to the music industry are beyond exceptional. Their skill, passion, attitude and level of commitment to their projects have set them apart in a sea of competitive and often underappreciated musicians, producers, and techs. We are proud to present the second annual awards to three artists whose contributions have been felt world wide, while they make Minneapolis their home and continue to share their craft with thousands. Sound Unseen honors vocalist/lyricist extraordinaire Dessa (Doomtree), and percussionist/DJ, Tony Pau and First Avenue’s Stage Manager, Conrad Sverkerson. In honor of this award, Sound Unseen proudly bestows custom prize packages and live music celebrating the tastes of our honorees, which will be announced live on August 22 at the 7th St Entry.
Live Music @ 331 Club Thursday, August 23 @9pm FREE 21+
Following screenings of Let’s Make Love in London join local bands SWITZERLAND and BOYS and GIRLS at the popular NE Minneapolis neighborhood bar.
Back Alley BBQ Bonanza @ Clubhouse Jager – FREE 21+
A final summer outdoor bash featuring live music from Minneapolis band, THEME, alongside DJ Bach, burger and beer at North Loop watering hole, Clubhouse Jager.
Girls Rock Panel – following screening @ Ritz Theater, August 25 @ 4:30pm
After the screening of the Girls Rock! Documentary, join a group of Twin Cities women who rock for a discussion of their work in local music featuring Kate Galloway, former owner of Vamp Booking, Melisa Rivi?re, manager of reggaeton sensation Maria Isa and owner of Emetrece productions, Jenny Case, producer of the recent Twin Cities’ Girls Rock Camp and a member of the national Rock Camp Alliance, Rachel Lee Joyce, music publicist and DJ, and legendary Babes in Toyland drummer Lori Barbero, and band manager for Revolver Modele, Karrie Vrabel..
Pizza Luce Closing Night Party – Downtown Luce FREE, 21+
Sunday, August 26th
Come celebrate another hard rockin’ year of Sound Unseen with us! Featuring a world music mix of Afro Funk, Boogaloo, Arabesque, and assorted exotic rhythms by DJ Nite Nurse.
Sound Unseen Venue Locations
Riverview Theater
3800 42nd Ave S
Minneapolis
(612) 729-7369
www.riverviewtheater.com
The Ritz Theater
345 13th Ave NE
Minneapolis
(612) 623-7660
www.ritztheaterfoundation.org
The 331 Club
331 13th Ave NE
Minneapolis
(612) 331-1746
www.331club.com
Clubhouse Jager
923 Washington Av. N. Minneapolis
(612)332-2686
www.myspace.com/clubhousejager
Pizza Luce
119 N 4th St
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 333-7359
www.pizzaluce.com
Tickets
All Access Festival Passes
$45.00 General
Single Film Tickets
$7.00 General
Passes may be purchased at the Electric Fetus in Mpls, and online beginning August 10, 2007
Advance single tickets will be available online beginning August 10, 2007.
Sound Unseen is generously supported by our sponsors:
Schell’s Brewery, Pizza Luce, Ritz Theater, Cinequipt, The Current, Copy Cats Media and The Electric Fetus.
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