Mr. Steve Polta, the artistic director of the S.F. Cinematheque was in attendance (probably volunteering, bless his soul) at the screening of Clandestine at Other Cinema. He's honored us by inviting Clandestine to be exhibited some great looking archival/collage titles -- four films by Kelly Sears, one by David Cox. Here is the excerpt from the program:
Very apocalyptic, but also very charming. With a visual style recalling a digital-era Lewis Klahr, the video work of Kelly Sears draws significantly on the American vernacular of mid-century advertising, industrial cinema and other ephemeral forms to describe a paranoiac culture of surveillance and secret messages hidden in plain sight. Voice on the Line describes presciently our contemporary concern with telephonic surveillance in a tale of Cold War paranoia. Once It Started It Could Not End Otherwise, described in Art Lies as “a mix between the horror film Carrie and Charles Burns’ Black Hole” concerns a series of disasters in an early ‘70s American high school. Other Sears films screening include He Hates to Be Second, an abstract portrait-of-sorts of Robert Kennedy and the tragic plight of the mid-century male; The Body Besieged , on the darker side of the yoga craze; and more. This opening program of Sears’ shorts is followed by David Cox’ Time Ghost, “a rumination on current urban geopolitics and technology,” assembled also from appropriated ephemera and the cut-up monologues of William S. Burroughs. Finally, Clandestine, Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater’s similarly collaged speculative history of spy radio broadcasts emanating from so-called “numbers stations,” concludes this evening’s exposé.
Details available here: http://www.sfcinematheque.org/#/calendar/201111180/
It's important for us to express how happy we are about this weekend's screening of CLANDESTINE at Other Cinema.
For those of you who don't know, Other Cinema is the brain child of filmmaker Craig Baldwin. Partly responsible for a renewed interest in ephemeral filmmaking, Craig Baldwin has been making archival collage films for nearly 20 years. His work is one of the primary influences on CLANDESTINE. We are overjoyed that Mr. Baldwin will be playing our film this weekend at Other Cinema Studios.
If you're in the bay area, head over to Other Cinema this Saturday 4/2 and say hello to Mr. Baldwin for us.
Here is the exerpt othercinema.com:
SAT. 4/2: SPY CLANDESTINE + BANKSY + PRANKS + STAR WARS MOCKUMENTARY +
The joke is that it’s actually the day after, but we’re carrying the prankster spirit of April
Fool’s to our gallery tonight. But seriously, we’re celebrating two book launches: David
Cox’ Sign Wars and Brett Kashmere’sIncite, both on counter-archival practices.
Headlining is Gideon C. Kennedy andMarcus Rosentrater’s Clandestine, a wholly appropriated concoction that narrates the fascinating tale of the Conet shortwave-radio broadcasts. These “Numbers Stations” anachronistically use human voices to encrypt classified intelligence in haunting, repeated cadences of simple numerals. ALSO: Damon Packard's insanely funny Star Wars Mockumentary, Banksy in B-Movie, David (Wax) Blair’s Telepathic Cinema of Manchuria, and Mark Amerika’s Spectacle Remix. Come early to browse the books at our Negativland-enriched reception with toast and jam, Yes Men clips, andfree TV Sheriff DVDs!
Also be sure to check out the calendar for more Other Cinema events.
On the weekend of October 16th, 2010 be sure to tune in to PBA 30 (Atlanta's Public Broadcasting affiliate) to watch an edited version of Clandestine. The film will play as part of the ongoing Atlanta Shorts series on PBA 30. You can watch the Atlanta Shorts trailer for our episode here.
There will be two opportunities to catch Clandestine on PBA 30 the weekend of Oct. 16:
- Saturday 1:00 AM
- Sunday Midnight
Stay tuned to Atlanta Shorts' Facebook Page to find out what Atlanta based talent they will showcase next.
For those of you who do not know, there is a film festival in Washington D.C. that is wholly dedicated to spy movies. It is called the Thrill Spy International Film Festival and this year it will host Clandestine.
In its second year the Thrill Spy Film Festival teams up with the National Museum of Crime and Punishment to offer discounted tours to film festival attendees. Filmmakers attending the film festival are invited to participate in a photo shoot held on the set of "America's Most Wanted", which is located in the museum.
It's exciting for us to have our film showcased in the intelligence capital of the world; a city that played host to many of the events documented in Clandestine.
The Thrill Spy International Film Festival will take place on Sep. 30th - Oct. 2nd at the Navy Memorial Archives in Washington D.C.
visit link »
Last month Gideon Kennedy travelled with CLANDESTINE to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil for Seminário de Cinema where he screened the film and presented a paper at a round table discussion, “The Subtle Border Between Reality and Fiction”.
Read about Gideon’s first day in Brazil here »
visit link »
BEGIN TRANSMISSION
You’ve probably heard the news by now: 11 people have been accussed and arrested for participation in a Russian spy ring. Most of the articles written about this case so far have concentrated on the pedestrian lives of the individuals, with one neighbor proclaiming the spies “suburbs personified”. This very thing helped attract us to make Clandestine. Indeed, many of the spies who are documented in Clandestine lived in such a way; meeting their handlers at grocery stores, at the zoo, and in art museums was as public as they ever got.
Besides all that, there is a mention to Numbers Stations in this case. During surveillance of one couple’s home there was a discovery of
“the irregular electronic clicking sounds associated with the receipt of coded radio transmissions.”
And Numbers Stations around the world continue to broadcast.
END TRANSMISSION
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The Festival de Cine de Huesca, taking place in Huesca, Spain, is one of the country’s premiere short film festivals. It has competitive sections for narrative and documentary short films. Clandestine will be competing in the International Documentary Short Films section for the 38th edition of the Festival de Cine de Huesca.
Just wanted to send out a quick reminder about the screening of our movie, CLANDESTINE, tomorrow (or later today, Sunday 18th) at the Atlanta Film Festival. Here are some details for those of you that can make it.
The first and most important thing to remember is that our film is playing as part of DOCUMENTARY SHORTS #1. Tickets are not sold individually for CLANDESTINE, so the staff may be confused if you ask for them.
The screening is at 4:40pm at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema in theater 6. As you may know, there are a bazillion festivals going on in Atlanta this weekend. In preparation for this, the film festival has hired parking lot attendants to make sure only movie watchers are using the parking lot (not Dogwood Festival). Even still, parking was tight on Saturday, so car-pool if you can.
The after-party will take place at the 10-High immediately following the screening and Q&A session. There will be a healthy serving of beverages, cake, spy music, and obscure mid 20th century movies. We hope you will come celebrate with us. (Free beverages for ticket holders, while supplies last)
IMPORTANT LINKS
Hope to see you all there!
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Mobile Press Register’s Michael Dumas talks about Clandestine and it’s Mobile premiere this weekend.
“Our nation’s enemies, working in our midst, must use codes.” So says an unidentified American military official, seen through scratchy archival footage as he demonstrates the tools and techniques of the espionage trade. The scene is from the short film “Clandestine,” which premieres Saturday evening at the Mobile library’s main branch.
Come on out if you’re in the area!
CLANDESTINE
A film by Gideon C. Kennedy & Marcus Rosentrater
Screening: Sunday, April 18th at 4:40pm
at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema
Local Filmmakers Bring Film Home After International Premiere
If you had walked into the Highlands video store Movies Worth Seeing in 2004, chances are filmmakers Gideon Kennedy or Marcus Rosentrater would have been your helpful clerk, organizing titles or studying their future career on the countertop T.V.
It was here, in fact, in Anne and Jerry Rubenstein’s decades-old neighborhood institution, where the two met each other, forming a collaboration that has produced three short films, six commercials, three special event videos, and one music video under their production company, Climenole LLC. Their works have played in over 30 cities worldwide and have won several awards.
Now, in what they consider their homecoming, their latest short, “Clandestine”, a documentary/fiction hybrid made entirely from ephemeral materials, will have its Atlanta premiere at the 34th edition of the Atlanta Film Festival this April.
The two began work on “Clandestine” in 2005, after first being given the idea by another Atlanta filmmaker, Matthew Owensby, then a video store clerk at that other Highlands film hub Videodrome. Before “Clandestine” would be completed, Kennedy and Rosentrater finished another short film, six commercials and a music video. But, in March of 2009 an inquiry about the project from the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) would crack the whip. The two would race to have the film completed in time for its world premiere at IDFA, the world’s largest documentary film festival, in November of 2009.
Since then, “Clandestine” has shown at the Cinequest Film Festival in California and the Thin Line Film Festival in Texas. It is currently on tour around the country with the Black Maria Film + Video Festival, where it received a Jury Prize (1st Prize).
Clandestine will play as part of the Atlanta Film Festival on Sunday, April 18th at 4:40pm and Wednesday, April 22nd at 2:20pm. Kennedy and Rosentrater are expected to be joined by family, friends, fans, and supporters for the screening and Q&A at the April 18th screening.
About the Filmmakers
Gideon Kennedy, a native to Atlanta, has had roots in the Southern film community since he operated Georgia State University’s Cinefest Film Theatre in 2001 and 2002. After graduation, he went on to manage Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema during its first years of operation, running projection and assisting in film selection. After moving to Mobile, AL in 2005, he continued pursuing his passion for cinema, helping to open a single-screen independent arthouse cinema, organizing a variety of film screening events, and acting as programming director for the inaugural South Alabama Film Festival. Additionally, Gideon has served on numerous juries and film selection committees, including the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, UT and the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.
Marcus Rosentrater moved to Atlanta from his home state of Colorado in 2004. His first stop off of the plane was Movies Worth Seeing, where he submitted his application for employment. Working at Movies provided Rosentrater with a connection to the Atlanta film and art community. Besides his collaborations with Kennedy, he worked together with fellow Movies employee Ron Hughes designing the website and brand for Hughes’ newest endeavor, the photography exhibition space Composition Gallery. With Will Sanders, another Movies alum, he started editing films for local film collective Big Party High 5.
