Film – Los Angeles Visionaries Association / LAVA Wed, 30 Mar 2016 19:48:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8 Of Scrap & Steel: free rooftop screening of rare 1949 color film set on Main Street, Downtown L.A. /2015/08/12/of-scrap-steel-free-rooftop-screening-of-rare-1949-color-film-set-on-main-street-downtown-l-a/ /2015/08/12/of-scrap-steel-free-rooftop-screening-of-rare-1949-color-film-set-on-main-street-downtown-l-a/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 Please use the form on the left to register for this event. No “Plus Ones.”

ABOUT THIS EVENT:

LAVA – The Los Angeles Visionaries Association is pleased to announce a free roof-top screening of a newly-discovered circa 1949 short color film of Main Street and other downtown Los Angeles locations, the Union Rescue Mission-produced Of Scrap & Steel. The screening is in conjunction with a series of downtown stories on the In SRO Land time travel blog, featuring material from the Union Rescue Mission Archives.

ABOUT THE FILM: In mid-1948 the Board of Directors of the Union Rescue Mission approved the expenditure of $5,000 to make the 30-minute film Of Scrap & Steel which portrays the redemption and good works of Arthur Hawkins, an alcoholic executive who ended up on the streets of Los Angeles and whose life was saved when he turned to the URM for help. Porter Hall (Arthur Hawkins) is one of only two actors in a film otherwise populated by real Los Angeles characters. (You may recall Hall’s performance as the pesky guy on the train in Double Indemnity.)

Of Scrap & Steel was only shown in screenings organized by the URM or related organizations, and would have been completely lost if Liz Mooradian, URM historian, had not saved a deteriorating 16mm print and had it transferred to video before it was too late. Of Scrap & Steel is just one of the remarkable artifacts discovered in the Union Rescue Mission archives and explored in the In SRO Land blog.

This entertaining and powerful short film is a compelling snapshot of life on Skid Row (Main Street) circa 1949, and a fascinating document of the important work that the URM continues to do with the most needy in the community. Although downtown Los Angeles features in numerous noir films, it is extremely rare to see color images of eastern downtown, and rarer still to see full-color live-action footage of the vibrant street scene that included rescue missions, pawn shops, amusement parlors, bars, restaurants and the ever-patrolling paddy wagon in search of drunkards to haul away to jail or County work crews.

This free rooftop screening is jointly organized by LAVA–The Los Angeles Visionaries Association, the In SRO Land time travel blog and the Union Rescue Mission. Attendees are encouraged to dress warmly for the cool night air. Refreshments will be provided compliments of URM.

This screening is held in conjunction with the Skid Row Walking Tour, a separate free event beginning two hours before the screening. Separate registration for each event is required if you wish to attend both the screening and walking tour.

Nearest Metro station is Little Tokyo.

Limited free parking is available at the URM’s underground parking lot. Just tell the attendant you are there for the film. Please carpool: if each guest arrives with one other person in their car, there should be enough parking for all. Those arriving later will have to leave their keys with the parking attendant.

In addition, there will be overflow parking in the San Julian parking lot located just behind the URM, on San Julian Street between 5th & 6th Streets, on the east side of the street, adjacent to URM. Registered attendees will be able to enter the URM from the Women’s entrance on San Julian. There will be ample staff to direct you from the lot to this entrance.

In the event of rain, we will screen the film in the Chapel.

Schedule

6pm – Doors open (reserved guests check in at the main entrance and are sent up to the roof)

7pm-7.30pm – Refreshments served compliments of the URM. Guests can watch the sunset (7:45pm)

7.30pm – 8pm – Rev. Andy Bales (URM), Richard Schave (Esotouric) and Prof. Paul Rood (BIOLA) will introduce the film in the context of the neighborhood’s history, and their work on the In SRO Land time travel blog, and a brief introduction to the life and legacy of the URM‘s founder, Lyman Stewart.

8pm – Film screening

8.30pm – Q & A 

9pm – Event ends

Of Scrap & Steel screen shot

]]> /2015/08/12/of-scrap-steel-free-rooftop-screening-of-rare-1949-color-film-set-on-main-street-downtown-l-a/feed/ 0 Watts Riots @ 50: “More Than A Riot: The Joyce Ann Gaines Story” film screening /2015/07/28/watts-riots-50-more-than-a-riot-the-joyce-ann-gaines-story-film-screening/ /2015/07/28/watts-riots-50-more-than-a-riot-the-joyce-ann-gaines-story-film-screening/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, in association with the Watts Towers Arts Center, will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots with a variety of programs in August. Here is an opportunity to revisit the uprising and learn from its aftermath as America in 2015 continues to struggle with the prevalence of African American victims of police brutality, demands for civil rights and equal justice, and institutional racism. August 15, 2015 2 PM Film Screening: “More Than A Riot: The Joyce Ann Gaines Story” Film Screening and panel discussion with the filmmakers and Ms. Gaines, led by King Carter, MCLM Board Member Reception will follow. Videographer will be on site to collect visitor’s recollections of or reflections on the Watts Riots in 1965. Free.

]]> /2015/07/28/watts-riots-50-more-than-a-riot-the-joyce-ann-gaines-story-film-screening/feed/ 0 The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain’s Southern California Nightmare tour /2015/07/19/the-birth-of-noir-james-m-cains-southern-california-nightmare-tour/ /2015/07/19/the-birth-of-noir-james-m-cains-southern-california-nightmare-tour/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 Southern California 1931: Amongst the burgeoning urban sprawl built atop bulldozed orange groves and the bitter realization that you can’t eat the sunshine, recent emigré James M. Cain found a kernel of truth and his voice, which would eventually distill through his novels, ”The Postman Always Rings Twice,” “Mildred Pierce” and “Double Indemnity” and subsequent film adaptations into the unique American genre: Film Noir.

How did this East Coat sophisticate go from managing editor of “The New Yorker” to populist novelist accused of writing dirty books? Esotouric’s tour explores Cain’s L.A. from Hollywood to Glendale and along old Route 66, and includes illuminating visits to Forest Lawn Memorial Park (a Glendale institution and site of the funeral of Mildred Pierce’s “other” daughter, Ray), the Glendale Train Station where the “Double Indemnity” murder plot played out, and the punch line to a Billy Wilder joke so subtle, it’s taken 63 years for anyone to get. The tour will also cover the artisans who transformed Cain’s tales into film, including Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner, each an important contributor to the Film Noir canon.

]]> /2015/07/19/the-birth-of-noir-james-m-cains-southern-california-nightmare-tour/feed/ 0 Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles tour /2015/07/19/raymond-chandlers-los-angeles-tour/ /2015/07/19/raymond-chandlers-los-angeles-tour/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 Bungalows. Crime. Hollywood. Blondes. Vets. Smog. Death.

This was Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles, which resonated under deft and melancholy fits from his writer’s bow.

Join Esotouric down the mean streets that shaped his fiction, and that in turn shaped his hard-boiled times, in a four hour tour of downtown, Hollywood and surrounding environs: The Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Larry Edmunds Bookshop, the Hotel Van Nuys, Paramount Studio’s gates, and much, much more, including a Chandler-themed gelato stop at East Hollywood cult favorite Scoops.

Through published work, private correspondence, screenplays and film adaptations, we trace Chandler’s search for meaning and his anti-hero Philip Marlowe’s struggle to not be pigeonholed or give anything less than all he has, which lead them both down the rabbit hole of isolation, depression, and drink.

Exclusive on this tour: the fascinating story of Raymond Chandler’s lost comic operetta The Princess and the Pedlar, a bombshell in Chandler studies, discovered by our own Kim Cooper in 2014.

Tour passengers will have the opportunity to purchase an autographed copy of co-host Kim Cooper’s mystery novel The Kept Girl, inspired by this tour and starring the young Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe on the trail of a cult of murderous angel worshippers, as well as the new Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles.

]]> /2015/07/19/raymond-chandlers-los-angeles-tour/feed/ 0 Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth /2015/05/29/bubblegum-music-is-the-naked-truth/ /2015/05/29/bubblegum-music-is-the-naked-truth/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 Do you remember the daffy, colorful, sing-along sound of Bubblegum Music–“Yummy Yummy Yummy,” “Green Tambourine” and “Sugar Sugar”? For a few incredible years starting in the late 1960s, top producers and session musicians made some of the most sophisticated, unexpected and downright infectious pop music ever heard for an audience of little kids.

Join Kim Cooper and David Smay, co-editors of the book Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth: The Dark History of Prepubescent Pop from the Banana Splits to Britney Spears, and contributors Becky Ebenkamp and Gene Sculatti, for an audio-visual celebration of the history and mythology of this under-appreciated musical genre, and the Saturday morning cartoons where many of the most memorable songs debuted.

After the presentation, copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

The event is free. Arrive on time to ensure you get a seat.  

]]> /2015/05/29/bubblegum-music-is-the-naked-truth/feed/ 0 SONGS FROM SKID ROW | a fundraising event /2015/03/18/songs-from-skid-row-a-fundraising-event/ /2015/03/18/songs-from-skid-row-a-fundraising-event/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 THESE DAYS, MORE THANNE and GAME GIRLS are hosting an event connecting the new and old Downtown Los Angeles. We’ll be celebrating the launch of the Game Girls Indiegogo Campaign, where we seek your support to complete a unique documentary about the female experience in skid row. We have already raised $7,800 – which is amazing – but we need your help to meet our goal of $20,000. Together, WE CAN DO THIS!

Game Girls is “A poetic take on Skid Row… Game Girls re-imagines what the documentary film genre can be.” -Shana Nys Dambrot for KCET Artbound.

We want to share some of what our team has learned and discovered along our journey making Game Girls! And trust us, you NEED TO SEE THIS.

See Downtown Los Angeles through director Alina Skrzeszewska’s eyes. She has been making films in Skid Row for nearly a decade. We’ll be screening her award winning documentary Songs From The Nickel in Indian Alley from 7:00 – 8:30PM. The film is comprised of 8 vignettes that will take you into the small flophouse rooms of an era since passed, into the old King Eddy Saloon, to underground tunnels of LA and street corners that have since drastically changed… Pop in and out, grab a drink and meander from the screening in Indian Alley to THESE DAYS store & gallery to view the late Carl Ramsey’s beautiful portrait series Women of Skid Row and other urban landscapes. Visit More Thanne’s special vintage sale, where 15% of the profit will be donated directly to Game Girls. More Thanne will also feature exclusive, unreleased clips from Game Girls! Listen to a live set of eclectic “soul ethnique” tunes by Gaio, straight from Marseille, France! And get inspired by a soulful, healing musical presentation by Downtown’s very own Charles Porter. Snacks and Drinks generously provided by our wonderful neighbors at Blossom and The Must.

Your donations will help fund the completion of Game Girls. Please donate what you can – we suggest a $20 or more contribution – every dollar counts. Our goal through this campaign is not only to raise money to move the film forward, but also to build awareness. We can do this together!

If you cannot make it to the event, please consider donating directly to the GAME GIRLS Indiegogo Campaign.

]]> /2015/03/18/songs-from-skid-row-a-fundraising-event/feed/ 0 The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain’s Southern California Nightmare tour /2014/12/15/the-birth-of-noir-james-m-cains-southern-california-nightmare-tour/ /2014/12/15/the-birth-of-noir-james-m-cains-southern-california-nightmare-tour/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 Southern California 1931: Amongst the burgeoning urban sprawl built atop bulldozed orange groves and the bitter realization that you can’t eat the sunshine, recent emigré James M. Cain found a kernel of truth and his voice, which would eventually distill through his novels, ”The Postman Always Rings Twice,” “Mildred Pierce” and “Double Indemnity” and subsequent film adaptations into the unique American genre: Film Noir.

How did this East Coat sophisticate go from managing editor of “The New Yorker” to populist novelist accused of writing dirty books? The tour explores Cain’s L.A. from Hollywood to Glendale and along old Route 66, and includes illuminating visits to Forest Lawn Memorial Park (a Glendale institution and site of the funeral of Mildred Pierce’s “other” daughter, Ray), the Glendale Train Station where the “Double Indemnity” murder plot played out, and the punch line to a Billy Wilder joke so subtle, it’s taken 63 years for anyone to get. The tour will also cover the artisans who transformed Cain’s tales into film, including Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner, each an important contributor to the Film Noir canon.

]]> /2014/12/15/the-birth-of-noir-james-m-cains-southern-california-nightmare-tour/feed/ 0 Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles tour /2014/12/15/raymond-chandlers-los-angeles-tour/ /2014/12/15/raymond-chandlers-los-angeles-tour/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 Bungalows. Crime. Hollywood. Blondes. Vets. Smog. Death.

This was Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles, which resonated under deft and melancholy fits from his writer’s bow.

Join Esotouric as they go down the mean streets that shaped his fiction, and that in turn shaped his hard-boiled times, in a four hour tour of downtown, Hollywood and surrounding environs: The Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Larry Edmunds Bookshop, the Hotel Van Nuys, Paramount Studio’s gates, and much, much more, including a Chandler-themed gelato stop at East Hollywood cult favorite Scoops.

Through published work, private correspondence, screenplays and film adaptations, we trace Chandler’s search for meaning and his anti-hero Philip Marlowe’s struggle to not be pigeonholed or give anything less than all he has, which lead them both down the rabbit hole of isolation, depression, and drink. 

Exclusive on this tour: the fascinating story of Raymond Chandler’s lost comic operetta “The Princess and the Pedlar,” a bombshell in Chandler studies, discovered by co-host Kim Cooper in 2014.

Tour passengers will have the opportunity to purchase an autographed copy of Kim Cooper’s mystery novel “The Kept Girl,” inspired by this tour and starring the young Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe on the trail of a cult of murderous angel worshippers, as well as the new “Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles.”

]]> /2014/12/15/raymond-chandlers-los-angeles-tour/feed/ 0 Haunts of A Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s Los Angeles tour /2014/11/11/haunts-of-a-dirty-old-man-charles-bukowskis-los-angeles-tour/ /2014/11/11/haunts-of-a-dirty-old-man-charles-bukowskis-los-angeles-tour/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 “[This tour is] a poetic journey full of rare insight into the life of a man who’s come to represent the ghettoized contingency of the City of Angels.” (Tanja M. Laden, Flavorpill)… “Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s LA” from Esotouric focuses on Bukowski’s great passions: writing, screwing and Los Angeles. We’ll take in the canonical locations of his life and myth: the Postal Annex Terminal where he gathered the material for “Post Office,” the De Longpre apartment where he briefly experimented with marriage and fatherhood, one of his favorite bars and liquor stores, and many other spots. Along the way, we’ll explore the people and ideas that made up the warp and weft of Buk’s rich inner life. This Esotouric bus adventure is hosted by Richard Schave. The tour spans Bukowski’s personal city, from Skid Row to once-genteel Crown Hill, to Bukowski’s favorite East Hollywood liquor store, the Pink Elephant. Esotouric has made its name with true crime bus tours (Black Dahlia, Pasadena Confidential) and explorations of literary LA (Raymond Chandler, John Fante, James M. Cain). Now they turn their creative attentions to Bukowski, the prolific poet, novelist and screenwriter whose rough-hewn tales of boozing, wild women and rotten jobs never obscure the deep vein of sweetness and hope that runs through all his work. 

]]> /2014/11/11/haunts-of-a-dirty-old-man-charles-bukowskis-los-angeles-tour/feed/ 0 Great Actresses of the Past (16mm Film Screening) /2014/08/19/great-actresses-of-the-past-16mm-film-screening/ /2014/08/19/great-actresses-of-the-past-16mm-film-screening/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2015 04:06:58 +0000 The film Great Actresses of the Past, compiled by MOMA Film Library in 1938, offers four legendary theatre actresses of the Belle Époque in their most famous roles.

To quote Arthur Symons, legendary English drama critic, “Only three actresses in our generation possessed that supreme quality, Genius: Eleanora Duse, Sarah Bernhardt and Réjane.”
 
Great Actresses of the Past showcases:
• Sarah Bernhardt in La Dame aux Camélias from the 1912 Film d’Art production
• Réjane in the title role in Madame Sans-Gêne from a 1911 film
• Minnie Maddern Fiske in Vanity Fair from the 1915 Edison-Kleine film
• Eleanora Duse in Cenere, a 1916 Ambrosio-Caesar film

After the screening, Ilana Turner (Founder of The Réjane Project and playwright of the upcoming O Réjane) will further discuss Réjane, a remarkable French actress and theater impresario who changed French culture, fashion and socio-politics as the 19th century morphed into the 20th. World famous in her time, Réjane’s story has been all-but-lost. As a longtime friend of Réjane’s descendants, Turner founded the Réjane Project, which is dedicated to telling the story of this groundbreaking, indomitable woman of strength and passion. Based on the clip of Réjane from Great Actresses of the Past, Turner co-wrote the paper “Madame Sans Genre: A Collaboration in the Process of Theatre and Documentation,” for the Theatre Library Association (Annual Conference Plenary Session, 2010) with Tonia N. Sutherland, PhD Information Studies.

This free program is presented by the Fiction & Literature Department and the Photo Collection Department, sponsored by Photo Friends LAPL.

]]> /2014/08/19/great-actresses-of-the-past-16mm-film-screening/feed/ 0