Catching up with STF: bowling and avatars and Russia - oh my!

• by Raphaela Neihausen, May 23, 2010

The last few weeks have been jam-packed at STF.  Larry Locke (an STF passholder) presented his 1996 classic PIN GODS about professional bowling.  To commemorate the special occasion, STF hosts Thom Powers and I sported matching retro-bowling shirts (pictured left), courtesy of the generous filmmaker. For the Q&A, Larry was joined onstage by film subject Sonny Pavelchak and his father Tony Pavelchak. The audience then moved on to Alibi Lounge for further drinks and conversation, and were treated to delicious pizza from Two Boots. 

The following week was all about Second Life as Jason Spingarn-Koff brought LIFE 2.0 to a sold-out crowd.  The film had its premiere at Sundance last January and this was its first NY screening.  Mrs. Stranger (me) hosted the evening while Mr. Stranger (Thom) was in Cannes at the film festival (which he calls “working”).  When I started off the Q&A by asking the audience how many people had avatars, only a few hands were raised.  When I repeated the question and asked people to be honest, dozens more hands were raised.  Jason discussed the complexities of making this doc – from shooting within Second Life (they even had a screening of this film in a virtual SL theater) to finding characters willing to be candid on camera.  The film took years to complete.  An unexpected surprise was the lawyer who appears in the film (arguing in defense of individual user’s intellectual property within SL) - he happened to be in the STF audience that evening and said a few words from the audience.  Two days later we shifted gears when Marshall Curry presented RACING DREAMS – you can read guest host Steve Holmgren’s blog here.

And then last week was MY PERESTROIKA (also a Sundance 2010 premiere) with Robin Hessman.  Neither rain nor cold could stop this crowd eager to see a slice of modern Russia.  A standby line snaked down the block (at least 10 got in) and the theater was packed.  Robin discussed her deep involvement with Russia (which began when she first lived there in the early 1990s) and the challenges of making this film over the past five years.  Getting access to official archives was at times a difficult process, but luckily her film subjects happened to have a treasure trove of home movies.  I was delighted to host this evening due to my own Russian heritage (my family left Latvia in 1972 and I’m the first generation born here in America).  I’ve also been tracking this doc ever since it got a Sundance Documentary Fund grant in 2006 and a Garrett Scott development grant in 2007 so it was a treat to finally see it complete on the big screen.

The season continues next week with another doubleheader.  Next Tuesday night is Dziga Vertov’s 1929 classic MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA - although this time with a score by filmmaker John Walter (described as what Vertov would have created if he’d lived in the era of electronic music and DJ mix culture).  Then Wednesday night is PROMISED LAND by Yoruba Richen – a film about land reform and racial reconciliation in the new South Africa.

Click “Read More” for additional photos

PIN GODS

Tony Pavelchak and Larry Locke.

Sonny and Tony Pavelchak

LIFE 2.0

Q&A with filmmaker Jason Spingarn-Koff.

MY PERESTROIKA

L to R: STF Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen, MY PERESTROIKA filmmaker Robin Hessman with her editor Garret Savage

L to R: Suzanne Costas, filmmaker Hamid Rahmanian (THE GLASS HOUSE), Senain Kheshgi (coincidentally her film PROJECT KASHMIR was showing on the bar’s tv!), and filmmaker David Sampliner.

L to R: Filmmaker Josh Fox (GASLAND - premieres on HBO this summer), Robin’s fiance Lorin Wertheimer and filmmaker Lucia Small (THE AXE IN THE ATTIC)

L to R: Filmmaker Gwendolen Cates (WATER FLOWING TOGETHER), IFP’s Danielle DiGiacomo and producer Pamela Cohn.

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