OCCUPY FILM

When the Occupy movement hit the streets of the US and abroad, we here at Cinema Speakeasy were over the moon. As an organization devoted to furthering independent media, we know first-hand how artists of all stripes suffer under a corporate-led system. With little to no public support for the arts, most filmmakers turn to sponsorship or advertisement — with all the strings attached. In short: A new system for our country means a potentially more supportive environment for artists; a world where success is not defined by winning a crowd-sourced Doritos commercial competition.

With all this in mind, Cinema Speakeasy is thrilled to partner with the vital new organization Occupy.com to bring you a free night of short films about the Occupy movement. The film program will last about an hour, with plenty of time for drinking and socializing beforehand. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Occupy.com’s David Sauvage.

Tuesday, May 8th

8PM Doors
8:30PM Screening

9:30PM Join us for a post-screening panel on filmmaking and activism, featuring:
Gina Levy (filmmaker)
Abraham Heisler (filmmaker)
Sandrine Orabona (filmmaker)
Lisa Clapier (OccupyLA media producer)
Moderated by David Sauvage (filmmaker, Occupy.com)

Space 15 Twenty
1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles CA. 90028

Entry is free.
Cash bar, bring your designated driver!
RSVP: heythere@cinemaspeakeasy.com

Download the flyer here.

‘Tierra Brillante‘ is a moving and compelling documentary that gives voice to the spirit and aspirations of a Purepecha artisan from  Michoacan.

We will also be hosting a lead-free pottery exhibit and sale from the Michoacan communities of Santa Fe de la Laguna and Capula.  Proceeds from sales benefit Purepecha artisans and the D.I.Y. distribution of Brilliant Soil.

By custom, thousands of artisans in Mexico still use lead based glazes in their pottery without knowing the damage that this toxic element causes to their health. Herlinda, an indigenous Purepecha potter, is one of the few artisans in her community who uses alternative lead-free glazes. Having achieved safer and healthier living conditions for her family, she faces the difficult task of finding a market for her impressive pieces.

But this does not dull her dreams of having her shop thrive and her brothers return from the United States to rejoin the family tradition. An unexpected trip could crystallize this dream.

There will be beer and wine for sale at the venue, so bring your favorite designated driver.

Check out the trailer

Brilliant Soil (Tierra Brillante)
Sunday April 15^th, 7PM
Atwater Crossing Screening Space (3245 Casitas Ave., LA 90039)
Followed by a Q&A with the producer & directors
$5 at the door (goes to the filmmakers and the venue)

Cinema Speakeasy is thrilled to team up with Southern California Public Radio, 89.3 KPCC and the Crawford Family Forum to present a free sneak preview of director Brian Knappenberger’s festival buzz-maker: ”We are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists“.

Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, the London riots – all point to social media and the Internet as driving factors for their movements. And then there’s Anonymous, the radical “hacktivist” collective that has redefined civil disobedience as they set their sights on everyone from big banks to Scientology. Is there still a role for “boots on the ground”  or has the digital age changed activism forever?

Join KPCC’s social media editor P. Kim Bui, Brian Knappenberger, writer/director of “We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists”, and community activist Manuel Criollo for talk about modern activism,  followed by a sneak preview screening of the film. Free with RSVP.

Check out the trailer.

RSVP HERE

Cinema Speakeasy is proud to team up with ATX to present
The 5 for 5 Clothing Swap for the East Side Lady

February’s event has nothing to do with film, but you know what? We’re diverse people with diverse tastes that need to be explored. So, we decided to take it to the east side to host our inaugural clothing swap.

With some of our old favorites, plus some new offerings hot off the 2011 presses, we think this will be a program worth laughing to, and – most importantly perhaps- drinking to.

On that note, we’re screening these shorts right above Ace Hotel + Swim Club’s beautiful outdoor bar. Dip your toes in the water as you sip your gin and tonic, play some ping-pong, and – most importantly – join us on January 15th!

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Sun. January 15th, 2012
Program starts at 9:00PM
ACE Hotel & Swim Club (701 E. Palm Canyon Dr. Palm Springs, CA 92264)
at the poolside bar
Tickets: Free at the door, 21+ only
Alcohol: ACE’s mixologists will brew up their funny juices to help you get the yuks flowing.
Bring cash, and tip your bartenders.

To RSVP for the screening at Ace Hotel and Swim Club:
Email heythere@cinemaspeakeasy.com and tell us who’s coming!

]]> http://cinemaspeakeasy.com/2011/12/29/funny-shorts-to-drink-to-ps-jan-15/feed/ 0 saskiawb My First Hollywood Audition ACE PSP logo http://cinemaspeakeasy.com/2011/12/05/holiday-break-2/ http://cinemaspeakeasy.com/2011/12/05/holiday-break-2/#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:27:26 +0000 Saskia http://cinemaspeakeasy.com/?p=2850 ]]> Hello Speakeasy-ers.

We here at CS hope you are enjoying the ramp up to the holiday season as much as we are. Our trees are twinkling and our menorahs are lit, and we’re wearing our slippers and pyjamas. All month.

We’ll see you in the new year in LA, SF and Palm Springs, with our usual jet of turbo-radness. In fact, we have so many good programs lined up that we feel confident saying that 2012 – our third year of programming – will be our best year yet… Consider it your new year’s surprise.

In the meantime, eat, drink, be merry in our honor. Also, send us stuff to watch!

See you in 2012!

Thursday, Nov. 3rd

Hey 99%-ers!  What if we told we had these magical sunglasses that you could put on to see that the upper 1% were really free enterprising aliens from another planet?  That’s what happens in They Live  (1989).  And that’s what you can see November 3rd at GAFFTA.

1. This film inspired Shepard Fairey’s Obey the Giant campaign. Which sparked a chain of events that put Obama in the White House. Just saying.

More information!

CS + Big City Forum present ‘There’s No There, There: LA Films LA’


Big City Forum & Cinema Speakeasy present an evening of short films that examine what LA means to those that inhabit it, in a program and discussion about our public urban identity. We will be screening pieces that capture the complexity and reality of living in our de-centralized – yet mythical – metropolis.

Before you moved here, and you thought of Los Angeles, what came to mind? Hollywood? Getty Center? Strip malls and traffic? Urban sprawl? Hardened cops? Gang warfare? Chicks in bikinis filing their nails under towering palm trees?

LA is the constantly shifting metropolis constructed entirely for mass consumption by fantastical and fevered minds with nary a glance at the rich complexity roiling beneath its shimmering skin. From gritty downtown cop dramas to technicolor Hollywood fantasies, it has been omnipresent in American celluloid, but rarely truly captured. It is, in short, the most filmed yet least understood megalopolis in modern American history. 

Filmmakers will be on hand for a post-screening discussion about their sense of place, moderated by Saskia Wilson-Brown and Big City Forum.

PROGRAM

Part 1: LA Isn’t a Real City, It Just Plays One on Camera (Observations)
‘I Hate LA’ by Suzy Barrett (TRT 2.5 min)
‘Los Angeles: A Love Poem’ by Dylan King (TRT 2.25 min)
‘Not West of Western’ by Clay Dean (TRT 13.5 min)

Part 2: Interlude (Moments)
‘Javelin @ Bob Baker Marionette Theatre’ by Alex Pelly, Dublab (TRT. 10 min)
‘Mall Mania’ by Joel Fletcher (TRT 4.5 min)
‘Intolerance’ by Lisa Marr and Paolo Davanzo (TRT 2.25 min)

Part 3: A Manufactured Narrative (Stories)
‘Untitled (Perlman Place)’ by Vera Brunner-Sung (TRT 1 min)
‘Dos, Por Favor’ by Fabian Euresti (TRT 15 min)
‘The Worm, Episode 10′ by Austin Young (TRT 10 min)

More information

SF: You only respect hills that are committed to verticality and you know how the Tenderloin got its name? We know what you want. Upcoming SF events here.

Why are cobwebs all over the corner store? This wine better not be that old. What is with all this orange and black? No one is celebrating the Giants. And why are all horror films just a little more…horrifying? You know why. Halloween is here! Almost.

And we’re here to raise the hairs on the back of your neck with a few cold beers during our next DRINK-A-LONG to the indie cult classic THE EVIL DEAD. Thursday October 6th!

We’re taking horror to the next level by making it a DOUBLE FEATURE: The Evil Dead and EVIL DEAD 2 Costume Party.  Wow! We’re kind of scaring ourselves right now. Scared of how incapacitated you’ll be at the end of it.

Marking the 30th anniversary of its release, we’re resurrecting The Evil Dead to witness Sam Raimi make movie magic (and history) with a scary small budget, THEN compare it to the Hollywood budget he had for Evil Dead 2. The basics are the same: a creepy cabin in the woods, some book and audio recording conjuring evil spirits from beyond, and this dude Ash running around in the woods dismembering people possessed by demons. If that doesn’t raise goosebumps on your arms, then you’re probably the evil dead too.

Here are some rules to follow lest YOU get dismembered. Every time:

• A human gets possessed by an evil spirit: DRINK!
• Someone suggests going out on their own (or something equally stupid): Yell NOOO! Then DRINK!
• A milky white substance excretes from someone’s face: CHEERS and DRINK!
• You’re a little scared: LAUGH and DRINK! It’ll help. Trust us.

And get your most blood-curdling scream ready, because during intermission, we’ll have a screaming contest! The best, loudest, most terrifying scream gets a spooky surprise! And the winning doesn’t stop there.  Come dressed as an evil dead flesh-possessing demon zombie and get a free raffle ticket!  (Raffle tickets lead to amazing prizes, as usual.)

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

You know the drill. 5 bucks. Prizes. Beer. Film lovers so sexy it’s scary.

When? Thursday October 6.
Where? GAFFTA! 998 Market St at Taylor St.
Time? Doors at 7:30PM, movie at 8PM
How much? 5 squeamish dollars

Be there, or be haunted by the remorse you’ll feel if you miss out. THAT is scary.