Michael Werner Gallery, New York City, NY - Gallery news: STUDIOFILMCLUB at X

STUDIOFILMCLUB at X (26.6.2009)

As part of No Soul for Sale: A Festival of Independents, STUDIOLFILMCLUB presents a series of rooftop screenings at X each night at 9:00. X is located at 548 West 22 Street in the former Dia Center for the Arts.

THURSDAY:
Black Narcissus (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, UK, 1947, 101 minutes). Plagued by uncertainties and worldly desires, five Protestant missionary nuns, led by Deborah Kerr's Sister Clodagh, struggle to establish a school in the desolate Himalayas. All the elements of cinematic arts are perfectly fused in Powell and Pressburger's fascinating study of the age-old conflict between the spirit and the flesh, set against the grandeur of the snowcapped peaks of Kanchenjunga.
Scoundrel (Nile Saulter, Jamaica, 2008, 30 minutes). Deep in the Jamaican countryside lives Jacket, a bumbling, argumentative and filthy restaurateur. He has few fans in the area--least of all, his future-superstar neighbors, Bubbles and Lakesha, who constantly berate him in between dance routines, and Ticks, his nephew and unwilling sidekick. When a customer gets a bit more on his plate than he'd bargained for, Jacket still seems not to care about the folly of his ways--that is, until the health inspector is alerted to his activities and Jacket is forced to clean up his act.

FRIDAY:
Denko (Mohamed Camara, Guinea, 1992, 20 minutes). Set in a small African village this mystical tale explores the taboo subject of incest, ritual healing, sexuality and tradition.
Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambéty, Senegal, 1973, 86 minutes). Touki Bouki tells a familiar, universal story--a pair of lovers who will do just about anything to escape the slums of Dakar. Mory, the young man, has come to Dakar searching for a better life than he had as a village shepherd. He cruises around Dakar on his noisy motorcycle whose handlebars are adorned with a zebu's skull and horns and whose seat bears what looks like a traditional fetish of some sort. Dakar is obviously a disappointment to him, and he concludes that his journey needs to be taken further; he will need to leave the continent entirely, cross over the sea to Europe.

SATURDAY:
Babylon (Franco Rosso, UK / Italy, 1980, 95 minutes). A young Rastafarian toaster with hopes to rise above the trials of his daily life and succeed at a sound system competition. Atmospherically shot by Chris Menges with a killer soundtrack by Dennis Bovell--the only "composed" dub reggae soundtrack. A rare treat for film and music lovers.
Reggae (Horace Ove, UK, 1971, 60 minutes). The first film made about Reggae music. Pre-dread and with the predominant palette of red gold and green, this film highlights the Caribbean Music Festival at London's Wembley Empire Pool.

SUNDAY:
Carnival Roots (Peter Chelkowski, Trinidad and Tobago / USA, 2003, 90 minutes). An electrifying documentary about the people and the music that fuel Trinidad's carnival. Made over a period of three years in collaboration with some of Trinidad's most dynamic designers, musicians, masqueraders and historians, Carnival Roots touches on all of the major elements and themes shaping carnival as we know it today.
Candy Shop (Joel Burke, Jamaica, 2006, 98 minutes). Three students plan a special evening to celebrate their last day of high school and a mate's birthday. They decide to check out an upscale gentleman's club to see the internationally acclaimed pole dancer, Crystal Peaks. When one boy gets too close for the security guard's comfort, they are thrown out, but a shady cart vendor convinces them to go to another club. The three friends head out to find what The Candy Shop might have to offer - and get a lot more than they bargained for!

STUDIOFILMCLUB is a weekly film club run by artists Peter Doig and Che Lovelace in Port of Spain, Trinidad, offering screenings of Caribbean, foreign-language, independent and art-house films in an eclectic, free-and-easy atmosphere.

X is a not-for-profit initiative of the global contemporary art community presenting exhibitions in four phases over the course of one year in the exhibition spaces formerly occupied by Dia Center for the Arts. No Soul for Sale: A Festival of Independents brings together 30 alternative spaces, not-for-profits, collectives and independent enterprises from around the world. It is an experiment in creative coexistence: participants are assigned spaces that are only marked on the floor, mapping an imaginary city of art where distances and hierarchies are abolished.

X is located at 548 West 22nd Street, New York City. For more information please visit x-initiative.org.

Michael Werner | 4 East 77th Street | New York, NY 10075
Tel: +1 212 988 1623 | Fax: +1 212 988 1774 | info@michaelwerner.com