The Decay of Fiction

Is there an avant-garde cinema in Southern California, the belly of the Hollywood machine? Pat O'neill, the director of "The Decay of Fiction" proves that the answer is "yes!" An experimental film that uses heavy noir elements, centered around a mythic hotel, this detective story brings ghosts and detectives together, distancing us through its dialogue and time-lapse photography.

If you are not the experimental type, fear not. Stephen Holden's New York Times review says, If there were more experimental films as entertaining as “The Decay of Fiction,” the notion of a thriving avant-garde cinema might not be so intimidating to the moviegoing public."

"The Decay of Fiction" will be showing at OFFscreen on Sunday, October 26 at 7 and 9:30 at the Newcomb Hall theater.

Also this week: The Bridge Progressive Arts Institute is having two screenings. For more information please click here .
To get you in the mood for these two films, here is a short teaser from Cartune Exprez, showing at the Bridge this Friday evening.

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My Winnipeg

After a break for UVA’s reading weekend, OFFscreen will be coming back on October 19^th with acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg. This is OFFscreen’s second Maddin showing in as many years (who could forget last year's stylish Brand Upon the Brain?). My Winnipeg is a personal journey, a "docu-fantasia" to use Maddin's own term that explores his hometown and upbringing with a sometimes disturbing, sometimes humorous psychological depth. The film has done very well on the festival circuit, winning the award for best Canadian film at the Toronto Film Festival and also played at this year's Berlin and Tribeca festivals. Madden was particularly pleased at the film's European journey, saying “My dream is to show this film at the Berlin Film Festival and have hundreds of Germans watching it as a travelogue of Winnipeg.” It is certainly quite a ways from Berlin to Winnipeg, but if there is anyone who can make the capital of Manitoba relevant besides Wayne Gretzky it is Guy Maddin.

Check out this interview where Maddin talks My Winnipeg (and David Lynch).

Also for those who haven't seen the trailer, here it is.

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