The James River Festival is a program of the Richmond Moving Image Co-op, a non-profit organization formed in March 1999 through a partnership between the Festival and Flicker, a bi-monthly festival featuring short films (Super 8, 16mm and films transferred to video) by area filmmakers. The Richmond Moving Image Co-op is a 501(c) (3) organization that can accept tax-deductible contributions.

All events FREE unless otherwise noted, compliments of the Richmond Moving Image Co-op and its sponsors. Donations to the Richmond Moving Image Co-op are encouraged and appreciated – and tax deductible! Make checks payable to:
RMIC
PO Box 7469
Richmond, VA 23221

7th Annual
JAMES RIVER FILM FESTIVAL
Virginia’s Festival for the Independent-Minded

APRIL 2-8, 2000
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

MONDAY APRIL 10
4th Biennial Juried Competition
Firehouse Theatre, 1609 W, Broad St,,
7:30 pm, $3
Since 1994 the James River Film Festival has hosted a biennial national competition of short film and video, awarding cash prizes up to $2000. These works vary from animation and documentary to narrative and experimental narrative and non-narrative forms. With entries from CA, CO, FL, NH, SC, NJ, PA, OH, DC, MA, and of course, VA, this year's show looks to be especially top-notch. Screen the final picks and judge for yourself. (Seating limited)

TUESDAY APRIL 11
The Animated Works of Karen Aqua
VCU Business Building Auditorium, 14 N Linden St,,
7:30 pm
Ms. Aqua's independent work has been screened widely in domestic and international festivals for twenty years and her creative endeavors with Sesame Street date to 1990. A veteran of the American animation scene, she began making films with "Penetralia" in 1976 upon graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design. Since then, acclaimed titles include "Heavenly Bodies" ('80), "Nine Lives" ('87), and "Ground Zero/Sacred Ground" ('97). Ms. Aqua has lectured on animation at Boston College and received production grants from the American Film Institute and the Puffin Foundation.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 12
Karen Aqua's Animation for Children
Jepson Hall, Rm 118, UR, 2:30 pm
Transforming stars, walking cups, dancing petroglyphs and animated candy are some of the surprises found in the animated films of festival guest Karen Aqua. Ms. Aqua will screen "Heavenly Bodies", "Yours for the Taking", "Kakania" and "Candyjam", as well as selected works created for Sesame Street. In a post-screening interactive discussion, Ms. Aqua will show flipbooks and drawings used in the production of her critically acclaimed work. Recommended for ages 3 to adult, Ms. Aqua's work appeals to the kid in all of us.

Karen Aqua at World of Mirth
3005 W Cary St., 4:30-5:30 pm
Meet festival guest Karen Aqua during her in-store appearance at World of Mirth, Richmond's most eclectic toy store for the youngster in all of us! Ms. Aqua will exhibit drawings and be glad to answer any questions you might have about the animation world. So browse and be sure to say hello to Karen. (PS Don't miss the lunchboxes!)

Alan Berliner's "The Family Album" ( '86, 60 min)
Jepson Hall, Rm 120, UR, 7:30 pm
"The Family Album" is a collage film chronicling the life cycle via hundreds of home movie clips from the 1920s – 50s. Collected from over seventy-five families, these amateur moments authentically (and unwittingly) document an entire swath of culture-- ethnic, economic, and geographic. Complemented by a sound montage of interviews and home recordings of birthdays, weddings, holidays and music lessons, "The Family Album" emerges as "a great humanistic statement" (Roger Ebert).

THURSDAY APRIL 13
A Tribute to Jean Vigo
VCU Business Building Auditorium, 2:30 pm
The 1920-35 period in France was one of the richest and most exploratory in film history. Emerging from a crucible of genius filmmakers, there was Jean Vigo, whose cinematic vision burned brightly for but four years with his death in 1934. His stature grew as a film artist/theorist on the strength of the mere four films he made. Vigo's marvelous works bridge a gap between the corrosive nature of surrealism and the systems of class divisions in poetic realism.
To be shown: "A Propos de Nicè" ( '30), "Taris Swimming" ( '32), "Zero de Conduite" ( '33).
Introduced by Trent Nicholas, Office of Education and Outreach, VMFA, and Depatment of Art History, VCU

FLICKER #11, the 2nd Anniversary Show!
Cafine's, 401 E Grace St., 8 pm, $3
Flicker celebrates its second anniversary--an unbelievable run at 1708 Gallery and Cafine's--with another exciting installment of short films by area filmmakers. That's right folks, it's a film thing, and that means sprocket holes! Since '98 FlickerRVA has hosted 11 shows--screening more than 100 films by Richmond-area filmmakers and awarding $1200 in $100 Flicker Grants. At three bucks, Flicker is the best entertainment value in town. (Seating limited)

FRIDAY APRIL 14
The Jean Vigo Tribute: L'Atalante
VCU Business Building Auditorium, 10 am
Vigo's first and final feature, "L'Atalante" ( '34) is one of the classics of the French poetic realist tradition with its lyrical photography and poignant story of a barge pilot and his provincial bride. Beautifully photographed by Boris Kaufman; Vigo's simple plot evolves into an unforgettable tale of love and experience as the newlyweds float less than idyllically into Paris.
Introduced by Michael Jones, Department of Art History, VCU

Short Films by Alan Berliner
Jepson Hall, Rm 118, UR, 2:30 pm
Like most independent filmmakers, Berliner began by making shorts. The short film form--because of its brevity, its minuscule budget, its proximity to the maker--lends itself to experimentation. Join the filmmaker and Dr. Irby Brown of the University of Richmond's Department of English for an informal screening of short films from 1975-85. In these shorts, Berliner demonstrates a preoccupation with the sound editing techniques that are to be such an integral part of his family features--"Natural History" ( '83) features 33 frogs, 22 birds, lion growls, bomb whistles, a heartbeat and chromatic scale.

Reception (open to the public)
Sculpture Garden Lobby, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 6 pm
Join us for refreshments, meet festival guests and staff, and stay for a special festival screening after. Sponsored by the Virginia Film Office and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Alan Berliner's "Noboby's Business" ( '96, 60 mins.)
Auditorium, VMFA, 8 pm
Screened since its release at over sixty festivals and museums, "Nobody's Business" has been featured in the N.Y. Times and New York Magazine, acclaimed in The Nation and USA Today. Berliner again aims close to home and heart with this unforgettable study of a reluctant father (Oscar Berliner) as subject, as they attempt to come to grips with one another and a mutual family history.
"Alan Berliner illustrates the power of fine art to transform life."--N.Y. Times
"What leapfrogs Berliner's work to the head of the pack is a combination of involvement, intellect, and thematic consistency...and a virtual inability to bore the viewer. A Berliner hour is like a New York minute--a lot happens in a short amount of time and it's over before you know it."--Chicago Jewish Star
Mr. Berliner will discuss his work after the screening. Introduction by Richard Herskowitz, Director of the Virginia Festival of Film held every fall in Charlottesville, Virginia.

SATURDAY APRIL 15
Experimental Media: (Un) Ruling the Animal Domain
Jepson Hall, Rm 118, UR, 10 am
The cinematic apparatus, from its roots in Muybridge's studies of animal locomotion through the present, has frequently celebrated its capacity to master the wilderness of nature and the animal kingdom. Experimental media artists from Stan Brakhage, Peter Kubelka and Carolee Schneemann through William Wegman, Peter Greenaway, Daniel Reeves, and Emily Breer have exposed and transformed this practice of domination. Richard Herskowitz, director of the Virginia Film Festival, will explore the cinematic influences and ideas informing the upcoming festival's theme, Animal Attractions. The festival in Charlottesville will be coming up October 26-29, 2000.

Alan Berliner's "The Family Album"
Jepson Hall, Rm 118, UR, 2:30 pm
(see Wednesday, April 12 for description)
Mr. Berliner will discuss his work after the screening.

Alan Berliner's "Intimate Stranger"
Jepson Hall, Rm 118, UR, 8 pm
The extraordinary life of Berliner's grandfather, Joseph Cassuto, whose obsession with Japanese culture caused a problem on the homefront, is the subject of "Intimate Stranger". As a cotton merchant in Egypt in the '30s Cassuto began a lifelong consuming passion for Japan--to the point of living eleven months every year there despite a wife and children in New York. Cassuto's remarkable story unfolds through the snapshots and letters saved, from the comments and opinions of family and neighbors --"I wouldn't give two cents to see a film about his life," one testifies. Mr. Berliner will discuss his work after the screening.

SUNDAY APRIL 16
Tom Verlaine Performs Music for Film
Byrd Theatre, 2908 W Cary St., 1 pm
Tickets $8 advance (@ Plan 9 Music) $10 at the box office window day of show only.
Ex-Television singer/guitarist Tom Verlaine with long-time accompanist Jimmy Rip serves up fresh scores for old classics in this special festival presentation. Featuring films from Man Ray, Fernand Leger, and the rarely seen "The Life and Death of 9413"--A Hollywood Extra (photographed by Greg Toland, [Citizen Kane]), all newly struck on 35mm. Verlaine and Rip have appeared at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH; The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OH and St. Ann's, Brooklyn, NY. Verlaine found working with silents especially challenging: "There's no click track, nobody saying 'I want music for this scene; it's constant music..."

A Tribute to Paul Robeson: "Here I Stand"
Wall Auditorium, Ellison Hall, VUU, 1500 N Lombardy St., 3 pm
The remarkable talents and vision of Paul Robeson, a true American icon and international citizen, are still largely unknown to audiences of all color. The son of a black minister, Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers, made Phi Beta Kappa, dominated stages on both sides of the Atlantic for four decades with his "voice of the century" baritone, starred in movies, spoke twelve languages fluently and yet his amazing accomplishments are ignored. Robeson's political awareness was first ignited by the 1929 strikes of British coal miners, as he marched with them; later, subsequent visits to the Soviet Union and his support of anti-segregationist Henry Wallace cost him dearly during the blacklist era of the forties and fifties. This pull-no-punches look at a man unafraid to speak out against labor and racial injustice is packed with rare footage of concerts, movies, and interviews with Robeson, his family, and colleagues. A real education. (Dir: St. Clair Bourne, Jr., American Masters Prob. '99)
Introduction and discussion by Professor Margaret Duckworth, Department of English, VUU

"Looking for a Lost Skyscraper" ('00, 23 min, video)
VCU Business Building Auditorium, 6 pm
Premiere
In 1975, Dr. Ringo Tate began building a 13th century-styled skyscraper in his mother's yard--65 feet tall in its prime, it housed the Tate Art Museum, and was the beacon for a yard-wide flea market. Today his tower, "sort of woven together" with every imaginable industrial discard, is bent by the wind at ninety-degrees and wedged between two trees. And it's as firmly entrenched in the opinions of his neighbors! In this ode to creative gumption and human perseverance, Ringo emerges as a contemporary hero. Camera: Ted Salins & Ken Jordan; edited: Ken Jordan; directed: Michael Jones.

"Trouble in Paradise" (dir: Ernst Lubitsch, '32, 83 min)
VCU Business Building Auditorium, 7 pm
The late American film critic and historian Gerald Mast shoveled the praise on "Trouble in Paradise", claiming its "combined ingredients make it the most polished comedy of manners in the history of American film". Admittedly, it was Lubitsch's favorite, ranking higher in his esteem than "Ninotchka" ('39), and was a definitive link to those screwball prototypes, Howard Hawk's "Twentieth Century" and Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night." Film critic Dan Neman, Richmond Times-Dispatch, introduces this sexually sophisticated farce starring Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins as two jewel thieves fleecing one another as they fall in love.
Mr. Neman fell under Lubitsch's spell as an undergrad in Chicago, and has been employed by Richmond Newspapers since 1987.

Romero Revisited: "Document of the Dead"
VCU Business Building Auditorium, 9 pm
Long before "The Blair Witch Project", a bunch of friends got together and shot a low-budget feature that triggered a revolution in the horror genre--"Night of the Living Dead" ('68). Few historians have ever addressed the major conflicts engrained in horror--fear of loss of identity, fear of mortality. Fewer still have explored director George Romero's films with anything other than a dismissive eye. The seldom seen "Document of the Dead" takes a behind-the-scenes look at Romero's style and the proteges that developed with him.
Introduced by John Porter, WCVE-FM deejay, freelance writer, and cult film fanatic.

FEATURED GUESTS

Karen Aqua, animator-
A veteran of the American animation scene, Ms. Aqua has exhibited and screened at dozens of museums and festivals since 1976. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she has received production grants from the American Film Institute, the Puffin Foundation, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. Since 1990 she has produced, directed and animated over a dozen segments for Sesame Street. Her recent independent series include Sympathetic Magic, a live dance/animation collaboration with Annie Loui, and the moving Ground Zero/Sacred Ground.

Tom Verlaine, composer & musician-
Mr. Verlaine is known to an entire generation as the guitarist and vocalist for Television, one of a handful of definitive '70's punk acts. Classically trained since childhood, Verlaine's virtuosity and unique looping style led Patti Smith to exclaim that "Tom plays guitar like a thousand bluebirds screaming". Since 1979, Verlaine has pursued a solo career, drawing critical raves for Flashlight ('87) and Warm and Cool ('92), his first instrumental release. His current tour, Music for Film, features Verlaine and guitar sidekick Jimmy Rip, performing his new scores for an eighty minute presentation of avant-garde films by Man Ray, Fernand Leger, Carl Dreyer and others, newly struck on 35 mm.

Alan Berliner, filmmaker and media artist-
Mr. Berliner has achieved recognition as one of the leading independent filmmakers working today. A recipient of both the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships, Mr. Berliner's work was recently honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. His films The Family Album ('86), Intimate Stranger ('91) and Nobody's Business ('96) have reworked the family genre documentary, and The New York Times described them as "compelling and bittersweet...illustrating the power of fine art to transform life."

SPONSORS, COMMITTEE AND THANKS SPONSORS
Tucker/Boatwright Film Series,
University of Richmond
Virginia Film Office
Department of Art History, Department of Communication Arts and Design,
Organization for the Exhibition of Photography and Film,
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Virginia Union University
Friends of the Festival
(if you'd like to support the Richmond Moving Image Co-op, the non-profit organization that presents the annual film festival and the bi-monthly Flicker screenings, call 355-6537.)

FESTIVAL COMMITTEE 2000
Irby Brown, Kerry Mills, Janet Scagnelli, Trent Nicholas, Ashley Kistler, Joan Strommer, Nell Chenault, Bob Ellis, Jeanne Greene, Michael Clautice, Christopher Hibben, Peyton Whitacre, Macrae Buruss, Ted Salins, James Parrish and Michael Jones.

SPECIAL THANKS:
A.C.T. Printing; Robert A. Cox, Jr.; Margaret Duckworth; Ron Epps; Rita McClenny; Mary Nelson; Janet Howell; Paul Porterfield; Judy Little; Bob Kaputof; Richard Herskowitz; Dan Neman; John Porter; UR Media Resources and Support; VCU Media Resources and Support; VaTex; Angie's Gourmet Market; Mark Szafranski & Metro Sound and Music; the Cafine's crew; Duane Nelson & Byrd Theatre staff; Catherine Harvey & World of Mirth staff; Plan 9 Music staff; Harry Kollatz & Firehouse Theatre; Andrew Mann at Visual Aids Electronics; Ken Hopson.