Show Times
Sunday 19, July
Brain Stab w LIVE MUSIC (The Clog & Slosh)
Brian, a struggling filmmaker and alcoholic, is determined to bring his dream slasher film to life. But as his substance abuse disorder takes over, his relationships crumble and his grip on reality deteriorates. Mentally breaking down during a film shoot, Brian descends into a hellish psychological nightmare war zone. To survive, he must confront his inner demon zombies—or be consumed by them. Most importantly, he must not allow the killer from his movie to stab his brain. Premiere of the Debut Feature Film from Michael Cruz with live music from The Clog & Slosh DOORS at 7:00 PM MUSIC at 8:00 PM FILM at 9:30 PM $15 ADV | $18 DOOR
God Said Give 'Em Drum Machines (with LIVE DJs)
Detroit is a city of struggle. Historically, economically, and artistically, Detroit has had to fight for survival. And it’s had to fight even harder for recognition. The spirit of that fight is epitomized by GOD SAID GIVE ‘EM DRUM MACHINES, a documentary which traces the birth of techno music to its unlikely origins in the D. Detroit’s African-American cultural roots cultivated musical movements like jazz, Motown, and disco. By the late ‘70s, DJs like Ken Collier were infusing underground clubs and public airwaves with radically danceable sounds, and in the early ‘80s groundbreaking technology like the infamous Roland TR-808 was falling into the hands of a new generation. The merging of these artistic and technological forces would bring about one of the most significant musical breakthroughs of the modern era. GOD SAID GIVE ‘EM DRUM MACHINES tells the tale of the young visionaries who made that breakthrough happen. Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, Eddie Fowlkes, and Santonio Echols were the vanguard of a new musical style they dubbed “techno,” which would soon become the most celebrated and profitable genre in the world. And yet their names are largely unknown to most fans of that very genre. Despite the best efforts of musical historians and journalists, the story of how a handful of black kids from Detroit invented techno has never been told. It’s a story of damaged friendships, mismanaged success, and broken dreams. But it’s also a story of inspiration. While the originators of techno may not enjoy the fame and fortune of those who cruised to success in their wake, they have seen their music touch lives around the globe. And they find comfort in knowing their creation will live on for generations to come. Like Detroit itself, the artists who created techno struggle for survival and recognition. GOD SAID GIVE ‘EM DRUM MACHINES documents their fight and hopes to help them achieve both. DOORS & DJs at 3:00 PM FILM at 5:00 PM
Kin-dza-dza!
Imagine Andrei Tarkovsky circa SOLARIS directing Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and you’ll come close to the existential weirdness of the wonderfully loopy Soviet-era sci-fi comedy KIN-DZA-DZA!Two average Muscovites – a plainspoken construction foreman (Stanislav Lyubshin) and a Georgian violin student (Levan Gabriadze) – encounter an odd homeless man on the street who asks, “Tell me the number of your planet in the Tentura?”In a flash, they’re teleported across the universe to the planet Pluke in the Kin-Dza-Dza galaxy – a Tatooine-like desert world whose inhabitants are hilariously noncommunicative (their main words are “ku” for good and “kyu” for very bad) and where common wooden matches are tremendously valuable. A deadpan, absurdist mixture of Kurt Vonnegut, Monty Python, Samuel Beckett and Jodorowsky’s never-made Dune where alien cultures are even more haphazard and WTF? than our own, the film is also a savage satire of bureaucratic idiocy and dysfunction no matter what political system you’re living under – or what planet you’re living on.
LIVE MUSIC: Inner Magic, Winston Tong & LX Rudis
LIVE MUSIC: Inner Magic (with Adam Miller & Jeff Schroeder) Winston Tong & LX Rudis Zachary James Watkins with DJ Mashi Mashi Visuals by Camera Oscura CINEMATIC SYNCHRONISMS: PART I - DREAM THEMES Presented by Synth News & Nada Sound 7:00 PM Doors 8:00 PM Music $18 ADV | $22 DOOR
Media Meltdown Movie Madhouse: Poppers
POPPERS (1984) A guy named Santos is released from prison after having killed his best friend. The dead friends father then organizes a manhunt to kill Santos. Santos escapes and then turns things around as he starts hunting the hunters. MEDIA MELTDOWN MOVIE MADHOUSE Gender jesters Piranha Psychotronica and Kafka X bring you a new experience in cinematic depravity… Media Meltdown Movie Madhouse! Prepare yourself to enter into a world of face-flaying forgotten and forsaken films… Made-for-TV, Direct-to-Video, VCR games, underground cinema, and more wiley weirdness than your minds can handle! In a world dominated by AI, CGI, mega streaming platforms, and cinematic universes, Media Meltdown celebrates the amateur, the low-budget, the handmade, the experimental, and the weird! Commit yourself every 3rd Sunday to … MEDIA MELTDOWN MOVIE MADHOUSE!
Museo de la Noche (with LIVE DRAG)
F.A.G. Archive presents: MUSEO DE LA NOCHE (plus LIVE DRAG) At the end of the 1960s, Argentine artist Leandro Katz participated in “Theatre of the Ridiculous”, an eccentric group linked to New York’s queer underground. This film-essay moves between archives, testimonies, and spectres of the past that question the present. Photography, film, video, and sound intertwine to approach, if only in brief flashes, that mythical past and raise questions about time, art, sexuality, death, and cinema. DOORS at 7:00 PM DRAG at 7:30 PM FILM at 8:00 PM
Pete Seeger: Down by the Riverside
In the 1960s, the American folk singer Pete Seeger devised an extraordinary plan: he built a 106-foot sailboat to save the polluted Hudson River. Down by the Riverside follows the unlikely story of the Clearwater, a boat that launched a movement. An intimate portrait of Pete, his wife Toshi, and the grassroots community they anchored for over 40 years, the film takes the audience on a musical and nautical odyssey, showing how an unconventional campaign to save a beloved American waterway prompted a green revolution. The tale of the Clearwater is a parable for our time, offering hope for a fractured nation and revealing how participatory imagination can solve environmental problems and transform how we relate not only to the earth but also to one another.
Summer Tour (with LIVE MUSIC from DHPT)
A young couple, Jerry and Annie, set out on the road to follow Dead & Company on their final tour, immersing themselves in the vibrant, nomadic community that has long surrounded the music of the Grateful Dead. From dusty parking lots to packed stadiums, they make their way busking and selling handmade clothes on “the lot”. The film is a portrait of the band through the fans, capturing a unique perspective of the scene and community. Jerry and Annie move from city to city, carried by the rhythms of the road and the spirit of the crowd, rediscovering American and all the beauty it holds. As they journey across the country, a tapestry of fan call-ins—stories, memories, and reflections — builds a collective portrait of the Grateful Dead experience. Blending past and present, the film captures the enduring spirit of a community defined by freedom, resilience, and the open road DOORS at 7:00 PM LIVE MUSIC at 7:30 PM FILM at 8:30 PM