FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9th, 2002
SILENT SUMMER NIGHTS
Celebrate the End of Summer in Style
Do a little something different this Labour Day weekend - saunter over to Commercial Drive's Grandview Park for Silent Summer Nights, three fantastic evenings of the best in silent (and not so silent) film. Park your blanket under the stars for a magical cinematic experience, all to the accompaniment of original live music by Blinding Light Cinema regulars Eye of Newt Collective.
Friday, August 30 City Lights (1931)
Charles Chaplin's most celebrated film and voted number eight on the American Film Institute's list of top 100 U.S. screen romances. City Lights was a lone hold-out against the assault of the "talkies" - a melodramatic celebration of the art of body language and pantomime featuring his most beloved character, The Tramp. Featuring guitarist Tony Wilson.
Saturday, August 31 Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon, 1902) followed by Lektionen in Finsternis (Lessons of Darkness, 1992)
The silver screen's first science fiction film, Le Voyage dans la lune is a 14-minute masterpiece by French director and master magician, George Méliès, cinema's "father of fantasy". By contrast, Werner Herzog's Lektionen in Finsternis portrays the burning fires of Kuwait in a film that is part surrealism, part documentary and part avant-garde experiment. Featuring text and readings by Vancouver poet, Lisa Robertson (The Weather). Due to the subject matter, this program may not be suitable for children.
Sunday, September 1 Mosura tai Gojira (Godzilla vs. Mothra, 1964)
End your weekend right with a dose of cheesy special effects, and wall-to-wall action in Ishiro Honda's Mosura tai Gojira, a crowning achievement of the Japanese monster genre. Years of nuclear testing have reduced Mothra's home on Monster Island to a hideous wasteland. Now, greedy businessmen have turned Mothra's egg into a billion-dollar tourist attraction - and she wants it back. With guest conductor Giorgio Magnanensi.
Grandview Park (Commercial Drive at William Street) Screenings begin at 8:15pm FREE!
Silent Summer Nights is charmingly co-presented by the Eye of Newt Collective, Radix Theatre, Rumble Productions and The Celluloid Drugstore.
The presenters gratefully acknowledge the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, City of Vancouver - Office of Cultural Affairs, and Fets Pasta Bar and Grill.
Media contact:
Ellie O'Day
Tel: 604.731.3339
Email: ellie@oday.org