Our film screenings highlight underground, avant-garde and independent cinema. When we can, we host the filmmaker for an introduction and post screening Q&A. We have shown thousands of films ranging from structural classics like Tony Conrad's "The Flicker" on 16mm, to music films such as Bjork's "Biophilia Live" and Sigur Ros' "Heima". We strive to bring classic films to be screened on 16mm but also new films by emerging independent filmmakers.
Date:
11.23.2014 7:30pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
"FLY COLT FLY: The Legend of the Barefoot Bandit"
7:30PM, Sunday November 23rd, 2014, MIDTOWN CINEMA, 250 Reily St. Harrisburg.
Date:
11.04.2014 8:29pm
Venue/Location:
moviate at THE MAKESPACE
THOLLEM live music to films: "SILVER OCHRE"
The nomadic videos of ACVilla take us through doorways in the Rustbelt, into a spider’s life at a rest stop, past murals in the
Southwest, among other visions she’s found along her peripatetic life. Thollem provides electric eclectic sonic interpretations
with the one of its kind AO 44 made of re-purposed Hammond M3 organs.
www.thollem.com/silver-ochre
Thollem (US) has been traveling perpetually throughout North America and Europe for 7 years, collaborating with perhaps thousands of diverse artists in this period; a random selection includes Nels Cline, Ava Mendoza, Brian Chase, Sara Lund, Damo Suzuki, Jad Fair, Mike Watt, Greg Saunier, John Dieterich, William Parker, Pauline Oliveros, Martha Colburn, Matthew Barney. Signal to Noise magazine marvels, "It seems beyond the capacity of one human being to contain so much densely-packed creative energy".
ACVilla has been traveling perpetually for many years now throughout North America and Europe documenting artists work and captivating scenes, seeing and listening to Life in new and unique ways.
7:30pm, $8. location to be confirmed.
Date:
11.03.2014 5:30pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
"BJORK: BIOPHILIA LIVE"
"From a mind unlike any other, Biophilia Live chronicles the multidimensional concert centered on the eighth studio album of avant-garde Icelandic artist Björk. Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland, unique voices in their own right, film Björk live in performance and punctuate her music with evocative animation and science and nature footage. The infinitely creative journey presents a culmination of work that represents one of the most original musical endeavors of a generation"
"biophilia live' is a concert film by nick fenton and peter strickland that captures the human element of björk's multi-disciplinary multimedia project: biophilia. recorded live at björk's show at london's alexandra palace in 2013, the film features björk and her band performing every song on 'biophilia' and more using a broad variety of instruments - some digital, some traditional and some completely unclassifiable. the film has already been hailed as " a captivating record of an artist in full command of her idiosyncratic powers" (variety) and " an imaginative stand-alone artwork" (hollywood reporter) and is a vital piece of the grand mosaic that is 'biophilia."
"There are not many artists who can combine the lifecycle of a jellyfish with a breakbeat and make it work. But this is an extraordinary piece, perhaps more an opera, where Björk and drummer Manu Delago are at their virtuosic best. It's utterly bonkers yet moving – especially a strange love song set to a mutating virus. It should be mandatory viewing for anyone about to dam a glacial river to facilitate aluminium smelting." - The Guardian
97 minutes. 2014.
Cast & Credits Director: Nick Fenton, Peter Strickland
Screenwriter: n/a
Producer: Jacqui Edenbrow
Editor: Nick Fenton
Cinematographer: Brett Turnbull
Executive Producer: Derek Birkett, Emma Birkett, Meroë Candy
Add'l Credit 1: Björk
Cast: Björk
Date:
11.03.2014 8:00pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
LIVE MUSIC TO FILM:
James Harrar's CINEMA SOLORIENS
James Harrar’s experimental and highly personal film/video images will be viewed with a live musical rendering of soundtracks for each work. The musical concepts are created, directed and performed by Harrar, often with local musicians.
The project places attention on exploring the moving image with live performance and when combined, attempts to reveal deeper levels of interpretation within Harrar’s visceral film poems. This presentation also celebrates the early beginnings of cinema, providing live music to support and elevate the silent movie experience.
With the performance, the viewers will experience the spiritual states of mind through Harrar’s visual poetry, comparable to a moving painting.
He will be investigating aspects of his Tiwa/Isleta Pueblo Native American identity. Harrar believes that language is the essential lifeblood of any culture. Unfortunately, many Southwestern Native American tribes are losing the very soul of their heritage. Mythical Tiwa stories and mystic chants are presented in the Tiwa (Tuei) dialect (a historic first in New York).
Full Program
+ Vlaamperd, HD, 2014, 4’08″, Flemish horse race.
+ Tian, HD, 2013, 6’42″, Shanghai.
+ Stardust, HD, 2013, 7’00″, beauty, dazzle and excess of old Las Vegas.
+ Death & the Injun, HD, 2013, 4’43″, imagined encounter of a Native American meeting Death.
+ Invisible College, HD, 2013, 4’36″, a small group of mystics journey to discover hidden truths, invoke the night and participate in an initiation that reveals secret teachings resulting in departing their physical form.
+ Alembic, HD, 2013, 3’36″, themes of light, distillation, color and breath.
+ Prime, 16mm, 2012, 4’49″, for Tom Chomont, spirit portrait evoking psychic states through suggestions with playing cards, hands and face.
+ Prasad at the Mandir, HD, 2011, 6’15″, thorough examination of Mandir Temple with themes of spiritual journey and facing cosmic awareness.
+ Astro Mutable Equation, HD, 2011, 6’35″, meditation and portrait of friend, musician, Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra.
+ Noh Drama, HD, 2010, 5’36″, Edo Period Noh Play depicting the life of husband and wife together with a suggestion of domestic violence.
+ Biblioteca Sol Oriens, 16mm, 2005, 8’15″, special library of Hermeticism is examined, revealing a rare collection of texts and imagery.
+ Ornamental, 16mm, 2005, 3’40″, a union of opposites in the Alchemical cycle.
+ Bandolier, 16mm, 2005, 6’15″, a meditation of Anasazi culture, cliff dwellings and Southwest land forms.
+ Thompson-Neeley House, s-8, 1993, 3’00″, a house George Washington slept in becomes a study of filmic time and space.
+ The Yellow Lion, 16mm, 1998, 6’00″, a gentle dance, ritual, allegory, meditation.
“What is most refreshing about James Harrar…is extraordinary lack of pretension with which the whole thing is carried off…Throughout the performance, one is reminded of Nietzsche’s definition of maturity as the attainment of the seriousness of a child at play.” - Robert Barry, The WIRE
MONDAY November 3rd, 2014
7PM, $8. all-ages, MIDTOWN CINEMA, 250 Reily St. Harrisburg.
Date:
11.02.2014 5:30pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
"BJORK: BIOPHILIA LIVE"
"From a mind unlike any other, Biophilia Live chronicles the multidimensional concert centered on the eighth studio album of avant-garde Icelandic artist Björk. Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland, unique voices in their own right, film Björk live in performance and punctuate her music with evocative animation and science and nature footage. The infinitely creative journey presents a culmination of work that represents one of the most original musical endeavors of a generation"
"biophilia live' is a concert film by nick fenton and peter strickland that captures the human element of björk's multi-disciplinary multimedia project: biophilia. recorded live at björk's show at london's alexandra palace in 2013, the film features björk and her band performing every song on 'biophilia' and more using a broad variety of instruments - some digital, some traditional and some completely unclassifiable. the film has already been hailed as " a captivating record of an artist in full command of her idiosyncratic powers" (variety) and " an imaginative stand-alone artwork" (hollywood reporter) and is a vital piece of the grand mosaic that is 'biophilia."
"There are not many artists who can combine the lifecycle of a jellyfish with a breakbeat and make it work. But this is an extraordinary piece, perhaps more an opera, where Björk and drummer Manu Delago are at their virtuosic best. It's utterly bonkers yet moving – especially a strange love song set to a mutating virus. It should be mandatory viewing for anyone about to dam a glacial river to facilitate aluminium smelting." - The Guardian
97 minutes. 2014.
Cast & Credits Director: Nick Fenton, Peter Strickland
Screenwriter: n/a
Producer: Jacqui Edenbrow
Editor: Nick Fenton
Cinematographer: Brett Turnbull
Executive Producer: Derek Birkett, Emma Birkett, Meroë Candy
Add'l Credit 1: Björk
Cast: Björk
Date:
11.01.2014 5:30pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
"BJORK: BIOPHILIA LIVE"
"From a mind unlike any other, Biophilia Live chronicles the multidimensional concert centered on the eighth studio album of avant-garde Icelandic artist Björk. Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland, unique voices in their own right, film Björk live in performance and punctuate her music with evocative animation and science and nature footage. The infinitely creative journey presents a culmination of work that represents one of the most original musical endeavors of a generation"
"biophilia live' is a concert film by nick fenton and peter strickland that captures the human element of björk's multi-disciplinary multimedia project: biophilia. recorded live at björk's show at london's alexandra palace in 2013, the film features björk and her band performing every song on 'biophilia' and more using a broad variety of instruments - some digital, some traditional and some completely unclassifiable. the film has already been hailed as " a captivating record of an artist in full command of her idiosyncratic powers" (variety) and " an imaginative stand-alone artwork" (hollywood reporter) and is a vital piece of the grand mosaic that is 'biophilia."
"There are not many artists who can combine the lifecycle of a jellyfish with a breakbeat and make it work. But this is an extraordinary piece, perhaps more an opera, where Björk and drummer Manu Delago are at their virtuosic best. It's utterly bonkers yet moving – especially a strange love song set to a mutating virus. It should be mandatory viewing for anyone about to dam a glacial river to facilitate aluminium smelting." - The Guardian
97 minutes. 2014.
Cast & Credits Director: Nick Fenton, Peter Strickland
Screenwriter: n/a
Producer: Jacqui Edenbrow
Editor: Nick Fenton
Cinematographer: Brett Turnbull
Executive Producer: Derek Birkett, Emma Birkett, Meroë Candy
Add'l Credit 1: Björk
Cast: Björk
Date:
10.29.2014 7:20pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
Moviate Spooky 16mm Film Night:
"MONSTER'S HOLIDAY" 1981, 47min. Rare 16mm print, I.B TECH of an "Alice in Wonderland" meets "Where The Wild Things Are" style monster film, PLUS the following short subjects:
"Halloween Is Grinch Night", "Winter of the Witch", "The Tiny Tiny Witch" and "Halloween Safety". CAMPY, KITSCH, FAMILY FRIENDLY FUN!
Date:
10.29.2014 8:30pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
A group of artists and musicians living in a small, post-industrial town chase jobs, struggle with bills, and use art and music to build their own small world. When their friend Maya dies, they set out on an extraordinary voyage, unknowingly accompanied by her ghostly presence. And while they drift past empty new condo developments, explore crumbling castles, and swim in iridescent quarries, Maya narrates a parallel story about a strange and meandering river that flows both ways.
Flood Tide is a collaboration with the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea, a project dreamed up by the artist Swoon and built by a group of artists and performers who floated seven large sculptures down the Hudson River. Flood Tide interweaves documentation of this journey with layers of fiction, mythology, and oral history to create a film that both documents and reimagines the real-life project.
Music is an integral part of Flood Tide, both on screen and off. The film features an all-original score by the band Dark Dark Dark and includes several onscreen performances by the band as well as a special performance by renowned experimental musician Pauline Oliveros.
A preview of the film with a live score by Dark Dark Dark was presented at the Hammer Museum, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, 01SJ Biennial, and Rooftop Films and the Museum of the Moving Image in 2010 and 2011. Flood Tide premiered at the 2013 Torino Film Festival.
7:00pm, $8, MIDTOWN CINEMA! 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
Date:
10.22.2014 8:09pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
pleased to welcome back, MIKE KUCHAR!
LEGENDARY FILMMAKER from SAN FRANCISCO:
a program of ALL NEW DIGITAL WORKS featuring the "SOUL SEARCHING" and "GENERATION Z" Series
PLUS: SAN FRANCISCO "STUDIO 8" PRODUCTIONS WITH HIS STUDENTS! (ALWAYS A TREAT!)
Date:
09.28.2014 7:20pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
"A documentary film that explores the early Boston Hardcore music scene from the years 1981 through 1984. Unlike earlier films that were centered on the members of the bands, this film delves into the social and communal aspects of that particular era. The community, culture, straight edge and DIY (do it yourself) ethic of the time are all explored in the film. Never before seen archival footage, photographs, interviews and dramatizations make up the body of the film." -Duane Lucia
Date:
09.13.2014 8:09pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
"GOD HELP THE GIRL" by STUART MURDOCH (of Belle and Sebastian)
7:30, $5.
Saturday September 13th and Sunday September 14th
Date:
08.14.2014 8:00pm
Venue/Location:
THE OTHER ROOM THEATRE at F&M, Lancaster
FILMMAKERS IN-PERSON: The Smyth Brothers, from Raleigh, N.C.
CREATIVE DESTRUCTION: The Smyth Brothers
Creative destruction is an economic concept that describes the paradox of progress by attaching evolutionary theory to capitalism. "It's the process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one." The dualistic nature pairs well with who we are as twins and the stories we try to tell- tales of a people and their pursuit of money. How does this pursuit mutate now that change is the only constant in capitalism?
Por Dinero
31min, 16mm to video, 2012
Quotes from an ancient Mayan hero tie together the life of an undocumented Mexican, his indigenous family, and their dying language.
Rice for Sale
31min, 16mm in-camera edits, 2013
An experimental tale distorting Bali's modern world into a historical account depicting the demise of its former cultural motto, "Rice is Life." Ten wordless vignettes, all in-camera edits, are strung together to compose a two-part mythological venture down the heavenly mountain toward the demonic sea, culminating at the site of the 2002 terrorist bombing.
BIO
Brendan and Jeremy Smyth are 16mm experimental documentary filmmakers who explore the globe in search of cultural oddities. Their interest in visual anthropology has sent them from Mexico to Indonesia showcasing the economic plight of workers through unique methods of storytelling. The twins' work has won multiple awards and screened at notable festivals/venues including Anthology Film Archives, Antimatter, Atlanta, Big Muddy, Chicago Underground, Edinburgh Int’l, and Indie Grits. The two are the directors/programmers of the Haverhill Experimental Film Festival in Massachusetts, soon to open submissions for the third annual event. Currently, the Smyth brothers live in Durham, NC, where they curate a monthly experimental film series known as UNEXPOSED.
8PM, all-ages. at The Other Room Theater, Lancaster.
Date:
08.24.2014 8:08pm
Venue/Location:
MIDTOWN CINEMA 250 Reily St. Harrisburg
"AS IT IS IN HEAVEN"
"After the death of the Prophet, a man is called to lead his small religious sect as they anxiously await the end of the world they were promised. Director Joshua Overbay deftly leads audiences down a twisting path of passion and devotion, envy and manipulation in this sympathetic portrayal of a modern-day cult leader and his spiritual convictions. Devoted to a simple life of faith in unforgiving Kentucky backcountry, a small religious sect seeks spiritual awakening as their Prophet (John Lina) nears death and his son, Eamon (Luke Beavers), prepares to step forward as their new leader. But, in his last moments, the Prophet instead names newcomer David (Chris Nelson) as his spiritual successor"
a cult approaches the end of the world
critic's pick! "cooks a surprising amount of tension from the barest minimum of ingredients."
— new york times
"a tantalizing experience . . . potent"
— rogerebert.com
"a disquieting film about testing faith"
— chicago sun-times
"the stakes are nothing less than the end of days. . . quietly compelling . . . ominous"
— hollywood reporter
". . . finds its creepy heart in the performance of Chris Nelson, who imbues his fledgling cult leader with deep spiritual feeling and a welcoming humility . . ."
— the stranger (seattle)
Date:
04.09.2014 6:30pm
Venue/Location:
THE ORANGE ROOM (at Second City Church)
FREE SCREENING of a rare 16mm print.
PIER PASOLINI's "THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW" 1964.
at SECOND CITY CHURCH, free. wednesday april 9th. 6:30
Date:
04.08.2014 7:30pm
Venue/Location:
The PHILLIPS MUSEUM of ART at F&M College, LANCASTER
Film Screening of short films by Su Friedrich
Su Friedrich's films regularly combine elements of narrative, documentary, and experimental styles of film-making and often focus on the roles of women, family, and homosexuality in contemporary America. Su Friedrich has been a leading figure in avant-garde filmmaking and a pivotal force in the establishment of Queer Cinema. Her work has radicalized film form and content by incorporating a feminist perspective and issues of lesbian identity and by creating a remarkable and innovative synthesis of experimental, narrative and documentary genres.
Sally Mather Gibson Curriculum Gallery, The Phillips Museum of Art
This event is open to the public.
projection services by MOVIATE
Date:
03.18.2014 7:30pm
Venue/Location:
The PHILLIPS MUSEUM of ART at F&M College, LANCASTER
16MM screening of short films by Marie Menken
Glimpse of the Garden (1957)
Eye Music of Red Major (1961)
Arabesque for Kenneth Anger (1961)
Go Go Go (1964)
Andy Warhol (1965)
Lights (1966)
As an American experimental filmmaker, Menken incorporated collage, painting and stop motion into her work. She took influence from the various art movements her contemporaries took part in, including abstract expressionism. Menken was known for her association and influence on many of the leading members of the movement, including Andy Warhol and experimental filmmakers Kenneth Anger and Stan Brakhage.
Sally Mather Gibson Curriculum Gallery, The Phillips Museum of Art
Co-Sponsored by the Department of Theatre, Dance, Film
Projection by MOVIATE
This event is free and open to the public.
Date:
02.18.2014 7:30pm
Venue/Location:
The PHILLIPS MUSEUM of ART at F&M College, LANCASTER
In conjunction with the exhibition, Theresa Bernstein: A Century in Art, The Phillips Museum presents a selection of short films by Maya Deren. "American experimental filmmaker and entrepreneurial promoter of the avant-garde in the 1940s and 1950s, Maya Deren combined her interests in dance, voodoo and subjective psychology in a series of surreal, perceptual, and black and white short films." Featuring: At Land (1944) Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) Ritual In Transfigured Time (1946) The Witch's Cradle (1943) A Study In Choreography For Camera (1945) February 18, 2014, Curriculum Gallery, The Phillips Museum of Art, 7.30 P.M. Co-Sponsored by the Department of Theatre, Dance, Film Projection by Moviate www.moviate.org This event FREE and open to the public.
Date:
01.30.2014 8:00pm
Venue/Location:
STUDIO A, HARRISBURG
Something Weird Presents
THAT'S SEXPLOITATION! A Visual History
A Documentary Film by Frank Henenlotter
One Night Only!
Thursday January 30, 2014
8pm
$5 Suggested Donation
"A wall-to-wall Lazy Susan of tits, ass and hilarity!"
- John Waters
Moviate is proud to present a screening of the new film by Frank Henenlotter (Basketcase, Brain Damage, Frankenhooker). This documentary film is still on the festival circuit and we are excited to host a local screening.
THAT’S SEXPLOITATION!, is a visual history of over 40 years of sex in the cinema (1930-1970)! It will feature rare and lost clips from vintage “adults only” feature films, shocking short subjects, quaint coin drop arcade loops, naughty stags and smokers, and graphic sex educationals from days gone by! Archival footage shows the many genres that developed over the years; including the early sex hygiene and drug scare films, glamour, panties and pasties, pretty pin-ups, goona-goona exotica, nudist camp classics, striptease and burlesque, art house sinema, nudie cuties, roughies, sexy psychedelia and tying things up with the pre-hardcore white coaters.
Your guides for this seldom seen side of American film history are The Mighty Monarch of Exploitation Film DAVID F. FRIEDMAN and cult movie director FRANK HENENLOTTER. They’ll accompany you on a fun and informative wild ride through the wonderful world of sexploitation cinema! The film was produced by SWV head honcho Mike Vraney and our partner in crime Jimmy Maslon. Directed by the illustrious Frank Henenlotter.
Trailer:
Review from The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sexploitation-film-review-609107
Date:
12.20.2013 8:00pm
Venue/Location:
STUDIO A, HARRISBURG
THE ANNUAL HOLLY JOLLY FILM SHORTS are returning to Harrisburg, FRIDAY DECEMBER 20th!
Rare 16mm film prints of lost holiday classics, warm cider and candy canes.
Fun for the whole family. 8PM, STUDIO A, $5 suggested donation.
Date:
10.23.2013 8:00pm
Venue/Location:
STUDIO A, HARRISBURG
LEGENDARY FILMMAKER:
MIKE KUCHAR, from San Francisco California, in-person, presenting FOUR NEW SHORT MOVIES!
8pm,
$5 donation goes directly to visiting filmmaker.