IndieCollect’s RESCUE FEST — December 6 – 9, 2024
RESCUE FEST celebrates 10 glorious 4K restorations of indie movies that couldn’t be seen in a high-quality format until nonprofit IndieCollect transformed and revived them. Some of the negatives were physically lost or misplaced for decades. Opening night, the spotlight is on Restoration World Premiere of the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner opus, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Jane Fonda will introduce the movie, pay tribute to the Academy Film Archive that found the missing negative, and conduct post-screening dialogue with Lily Tomlin & Jane Wagner. (Opening Night tickets at indiecollect.org)
RESCUE FEST highlights include:
- West Coast Premiere of Camera d’Or winner Northern Lights,fresh from the New York Film Festival (coming soon from Kino Lorber)
- Director’s Cut of Nationtime by William Greaves, lost for nearly 50 years, the only film made about the National Black Political Convention of 1972 (in release via Kino Lorber)
- F.T.A., produced by and starring Jane Fonda, followed by Q&A with Jane Fonda (in release via Kino Lorber)
- Melvin Van Peebles’ rarely seen movie debut The Story of a Three Day Pass, presented by Mario Van Peebles (in release via Criterion Collection/Janus Films)
- Closing Night West Coast Premiere of Shadow Magic, Ann Hu’s valentine to the birth of cinema, starring Jared Harris & Xia Yu, from Sony Pictures Classics.
Guest presenters and speakers include Chaz Ebert (author of It’s Time to Give a Feck), Rosalind Chao (star of Three Body Problem and IndieCollect restoration Thousand Pieces of Gold), Winnie Holzman (Wicked, My So-Called Life), and Jan Oxenberg (director of IndieCollect restoration, Thank You and Goodnight.) All the restorations were supported in part by the Golden Globe Foundation.
RESCUE FEST also features “Reel Resistance” Roundtable on saving indie films for the future and a rallying point for IndieCollect’s Filmmaker Bill of Rights, Sunday, December 8, 12-2pm. Keynote by indie producer Ted Hope (former head of Amazon Studios and author of Hope for Film book and Substack newsletter). Discussants include Gregory Nava, Sandra Schulberg, Karen Helmerson, Mario Van Peebles, journalists and archivists. Roundtable is FREE, but reservations required. (Registration at indiecollect.org)
“We Were the Underdogs,” says IndieCollect Board Member and Film Independent co-founder Gregory Nava (El Norte, Selina). “In the 1970s & 80s, indie filmmakers of diverse backgrounds found ourselves shut out of the industry. All we had was our guts, yet we made movies that changed the face of American cinema. But young filmmakers don’t know the story of our movement or why it’s important to save and see these films. IndieCollect restorations are our gift to the next generation.”
IndieCollect was launched by IFP founder Sandra Schulberg to ensure that indie movies made from 1950 to 2000 — on celluloid — remain accessible for generations to come. “Indie films reflect a multi-faceted America, a fantastic jigsaw puzzle. But one film after another is falling into oblivion. Our archive colleagues share our concern, but they don’t have the resources to rescue all this work and neither do we. It’s time to unite and take a stand.”
A week later, the Academy Museum salutes IndieCollect’s mandate to #SaveIndieFilm by hosting:
- Restoration World Premiere of Solomon Northup’s Odyssey by Gordon Parks, presented by Mario Van Peebles, DP Hiro Narita, and Eva Yuma, in dialogue with the Ford Foundation’s Jon-Sesrie Goff —Ted Mann Theater, Dec 13, 7pm.
- West Coast premiere of Hairstory by LaTanya Richardson Jackson and A Question of Color by Kathe Sandler, in conversation with Maya Cade — Ted Mann Theater, Dec 14, 2:30pm.
Full schedule and film descriptions below:
RESCUE FEST
Laemmle Monica Film Center
1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
December 6 to 9, 2024
www.laemmle.com/theater/monica-film-center
General Admission $16. Student Tickets $7 (only at box office)
DECEMBER 6 – 6:30pm
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, written by Jane Wagner for Lily Tomlin, directed by John Bailey (1985, 117’)
A “philosopher for primetime” (per The New York Times), comedienne Lily Tomlin slyly comments on the women’s liberation movement and American society at large, speaking through Trudy, her bag lady savant. ** Jane Fonda conducts Q&A with Lily Tomlin & Jane Wagner. Their presence will make this a night to remember. (Tickets only at IndieCollect.org)
DECEMBER 7 – 11:00am
Nationtime by William Greaves (1972, 80’) via Kino Lorber
Lost for nearly 50 years, Nationtime takes you inside the 1972 National Black Political Convention — a must-see for everyone interested in the history of Black Power in America — and features Amiri Baraka, Dick Gregory, Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, Bobby Seale, Betty Shabazz and Harry Belafonte, with narration by Sidney Poitier. ** Q&A with David Greaves, who shot the film with his father.
DECEMBER 7 – 1:45pm
F.T.A., produced by and starring Jane Fonda, directed by Francine Parker (1972, 97’) via Kino Lorber
In 1972, at the height of the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Holly Near and fellow artists entertained 60,000 troops with a musical revue called “Free The Army.” Dissidents joked that the “F” stood for something else. ** David Zeiger conducts Q&A with Jane Fonda.
DECEMBER 7 – 5:00pm
Tokyo Pop by Fran Kuzui (1988, 99’) via Kino Lorber
Disillusioned with New York’s punk scene, bleached blond rocker Wendy (Carrie Hamilton) hops a plane to Tokyo with dreams of making it big. Hamilton’s enthralling performance augured a major career, but she died of cancer soon after making this movie. Restored with support of the Carrie Hamilton Foundation and Dolly Parton.** Intro by archivist Ed Carter.
DECEMBER 7 – 7:30pm
Thousand Pieces of Gold by Nancy Kelly, starring Rosalind Chao & Chris Cooper (1991, 105’) via Kino Lorber
Rosalind Chao plays a Chinese woman sold into sexual slavery and Chris Cooper, the saloon owner who buys her freedom — both magnificent. Kelly’s directorial debut was lauded as a “triumph [of] classic Western filmmaking,” comparing her to John Ford, but she was never offered another movie to direct. This touching film resonates more deeply since #MeToo and #TimesUp and amidst the current xenophobia. ** Q&A with Nancy Kelly, Rosalind Chao (Three Body Problem), Michael Paul Chan, Kenji Yamamoto, and DP Bobby Bukowski.
DECEMBER 8 – 2:30pm
Northern Lights by John Hanson & Rob Nilsson (1978, 98’) via Kino Lorber
After it won the 1979 Cannes Festival Camera d’Or, critics worldwide hailed Northern Lights as an indie cinema classic. In luminous B&W, it dramatizes the battle between small wheat farmers and big-city grain merchants who were pushing them into bankruptcy. Their grassroots party caught fire and won the North Dakota elections of 1916—at a cost. In the words of lead organizer Ray Sorenson, “You struggle for a good life, but you never get to live it.” •• Q&A with Rob Nilsson, Susan Lynch & Joe Spano.
DECEMBER 8 – 5:00pm
The Story of a Three Day Pass by Melvin Van Peebles (1968, 87’) via Criterion Collection/Janus Films
A Black American soldier (Harry Baird) wins a promotion and a 3-day leave, but his weekend idyl with a lovely Parisian (Nicole Berger of Shoot the Piano Player) turns bitter as people react to the biracial couple. Like so many Black artists, Melvin Van Peebles exiled himself to Europe to write and direct, but he found racism there too. ** Introduction by Mario Van Peebles.
DECEMBER 8 – 7:30pm
Thank You and Goodnight by Jan Oxenberg (1991, 83’) via Criterion Collection/Janus Films
Portraying herself as a cartoon cardboard cutout that smiles or scowls, Jan Oxenberg wryly poses the ultimate questions of life and death in this genre-bending comedy that won acclaim from critics across America, including rave review by Richard Brody in The New Yorker. ** Winnie Holzman (Wicked) conducts Q&A with Jan Oxenberg.
DECEMBER 9 – 5:00pm
The Atomic Cafe, by Jayne Loader, Kevin & Pierce Rafferty (1982, 86’) via Kino Lorber
Knitting together unintentionally hilarious U.S. government films on how to prepare for a nuclear bomb, this cheeky meditation on Armageddon was named to the National Film Registry in 2011 and remains a masterpiece. ** Peter Conheim conducts Q&A with Jayne Loader.
DECEMBER 9 – 7:30pm
Shadow Magic by Ann Hu, starring Jared Harris (2000, 116’) via Sony Pictures Classics
Set in China in the 1900s and based on a true story, Ann Hu’s valentine to the birth of cinema stars Jared Harris as an itinerant motion picture exhibitor and Xia Yu as a young still photographer who becomes entranced with the moving image. They are invited to present their “shadow magic” at the Imperial Palace, but with devastating consequences when their films catch fire. ** Video intro by Jared Harri. Q&A with Ann Hu & DP Nancy Schreiber.
Academy Museum
Ted Mann Theater
December 13 & 14, 2024
https://www.academymuseum.org/en/programs/series/present-past-a-celebration-of-film-preservation2024
DECEMBER 13 – 7:00pm
Solomon Northup’s Odyssey by Gordon Parks (1984, 114’)
Solomon Northup’s Odyssey predated Steve McQueen’s movie, 12 Years a Slave, by 30 years and equals its narrative power. Based on Northup’s 1853 memoir, it is the true story of a free black man who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. The movie was co-financed and broadcast by American Playhouse on PBS. It then lay dormant in the DuArt Lab vault until the negative was identified decades later by Warrington Hudlin. The Golden Globe Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Roger & Chaz Ebert Foundation supported IndieCollect’s restoration. ** Dialogue with Mario Van Peebles, DP Hiro Narita and IndieCollect’s Eva Yuma, conducted by Ford Foundation’s Jon-Sesrie Goff.
DECEMBER 14 – 2:30pm
Hairstory by LaTanya Richardson Jackson (2000, 30’)
Set on Mother’s Day, Hairstory depicts a mother determined to impose her idea of beauty on her daughter, and woe to anyone who stands in her way. The young girl’s rebellion threatens to break their bond. This is a funny and heart-warming story about respect and forgiveness — and, yes, hair!
A Question of Color by Kathe Sandler (1993, 57’)
This was the first documentary to confront colorism in the Black community, a long-taboo subject. Sandler illuminates a caste system based on how closely skin color, hair texture and facial features conformed to a European ideal and shows how this was a legacy ofsexual subjugation of Black women by slave owners and the preferential treatment their mixed-race children received.
** Maya Cade in conversation with LaTanya Jackson & Kathe Sandler.
Click here for Laemmle Monica Film Center Tickets
Click here for Academy Museum/Ted Mann Theater Tickets
