ROCATERRANIA
(2009, 74 min.)
with director Brett Ingram
12:30 pm, The Byrd Theatre
Admission $6

Director Brett Ingram first noticed the subject of his most recent documentary on a bus in Raleigh years ago – an eccentrically dressed gentleman who spoke to the driver with a hint of German accent. Two years later as new videographer at NC’s Natural  History Museum he actually met the man – Renaldo Kuhler, a scientific illustrator at the museum.

Eventually Kuhler showed him his secret creation – an illustrated, incredibly detailed history of a magical kingdom known as Rocaterrania, which he’d been working on for over fifty years! Rocaterrania premiered in February in NYC, and is being hailed as an important revelation of “outsider art.” Ingram will be available for a Q&A session after the screening. See the Brett Ingram website.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION
(100 min., Made from 1982-1989, Premiered May 2003)
with producer Chris Strompolos
2:00 pm, The Byrd Theatre
Admission $6
(Also screening Saturday, April 18)

A shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark produced and directed by three boys from the Mississippi Gulf Coast – Eric Zala, Jayson Lamb and Chris Strompolos – over 20 years ago. The trio of 10-year-olds began shooting in the summer of 1982 and wrapped seven years later.

This remake has everything – the rolling boulder, the live snakes, the heart-thudding truck sequence, and everywhere flames, flames, flames. With a few inventive substitutions – a puppy dog stands in for a monkey, a boat for a plane – they didn’t skimp on production value by including a submarine, a truck on fire, a melting face, the same copy of a 1936 Life magazine used in the original.
Strompolos will be available for a Q&A session after the screening.
Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation website.

• Watch the trailer
• See Vanity Fair article

STALIN THOUGHT OF YOU
(2008, 58 min.)
with director Kevin McNeer
5:00 pm, The Byrd Theatre
Admission $6

An in-depth look at Russia’s greatest political cartoonist, Boris Efimov, who died last year at the age of 108. A close friend and supporter of Leon Trotsky (there is home movie footage of the two), Boris later finds himself working under Stalin. Tension builds when Efimov is further compromised by the certainty that Stalin had his journalist brother killed. Richmond native McNeer befriended the cartoonist in his later years, and was given access to Efimov’s home movies, which gives the audience a look inside the Red Curtain like never before, i.e. shots of Stalin supervising the cartoonist at work! Presented in the U.S. for the first time courtesy of the director and the JRFF. McNeer will be available for a Q&A session after the screening.

BODY OF WAR
(2008, 87 min.)
7:00 pm, Movieland at Boulevard Square (Bow-Tie Cinemas) Note: location is a correction.
Admission $6
(Also screening Sunday, April 12 at the Byrd Theatre)

Body of War is an intimate and transformational feature documentary about the true face of war today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine – wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week. Body of War is Tomas’ coming home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. The film is produced and directed by talk show superstar Phil Donahue and ex-Richmonder Ellen Spiro, and features two original songs by Eddie Vedder. Body of War is a naked and honest portrayal of what it’s like inside the body, heart and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man. The People’s Choice Award at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and the National Board of Review’s Best Documentary of 2007, Body of War is a powerful testament, not only against war, but also to one man’s courage to say so. Spiro will be available for a Q&A session after the screening. See Body of War website.