AFS Events at Film Week Glendale 10/4/22 Film Events September 18, 2022October 7, 2022 The Alex Film Society is honored to participate in Film Week Glendale, which is a sidebar of the Glendale International Film Festival, running from September 29 through October 6 at the Laemmle Glendale 5, just around the corner from the Alex Theatre in downtown Glendale. We’ve selected two outstanding films that transcend their categorization as documentaries, emerging as masterful explorations of the power of cinema to capture reality and preserve it for all time, and to create new realities that often achieve the status of myth. Both films are composed virtually entirely of footage from other films, assembled to reflect the unique vision of their respective directors. Tickets for both films are now available at the following link: Laemmle Glendale 5 Web site Tuesday, October 4, 2022 at 2:00 & 7:00 PM “THE BEST DOCUMENTARY EVER MADE ABOUT LOS ANGELES.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Plays Itself, Thom Andersen’s encyclopedic exploration of how Los Angeles has been depicted in movies, is as sprawling as the city itself. Featuring clips from more than two hundred films, from well-known titles like Chinatown, L.A. Confidential and Blade Runner, through ‘40s film noir to genre films like Gone in 60 Seconds and more obscure independent titles such as Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, Andersen charts the course of motion picture history in parallel with that of the city. In three chapters spanning close to three hours of screen time – “The City as Background,” The City as Character” and “The City as Subject” – Andersen examines the reality of Los Angeles versus the mythologized city usually presented in Hollywood films. “THE WEALTH OF CLIPS WILL MAKE CINEPHILES FEEL THEY’VE GONE TO HEAVEN.” – Robert Koehler, Variety A Los Angeles that only exists in the movies. Tuesday, October 4, 2022 at 1:30, 4:30 & 7:30 PM “WONDROUS, ALMOST INDESCRIBABLE.A COMPLETE ASTONISHMENT FROM BEGINNING TO END.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Bill Morrison’s Dawson City: Frozen Time is on the surface a documentary telling the story of the Dawson City Film Find. In 1978, 533 reels of 35mm nitrate film were unearthed from the permafrost under a swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory. Dating from the 1910s to the 1920s, the reels were a collection of silent shorts, features and newsreels, many perfectly preserved due to the sub-arctic environment. But the discovery is just a point of departure, as Morrison weaves a tapestry of narratives that include a history of the Klondike Gold Rush and the founding of Dawson City; the resulting displacement of First Nation Han-speaking natives; the characters that showed up seeking their fortunes, including Fred Trump Sr., Sid Grauman and Alexander Pantages; as well as the stories contained within the rescued footage, and the threat to our cinematic heritage inherent in unstable nitrate filmstock. The film is ultimately a meditation on the power of the cinematic image, its ability to bring the past back to life, and to expand the everyday to mythic proportions. “…AN INSTANTANEOUSLY RECOGNIZABLE MASTERPIECE.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times Courtesy Kathy Jones Gates Tickets for both films are now available at the following link: Laemmle Glendale 5 Web site
