uniondocs
October 3: James T. Hong: Some Works for Everyone and No One
This event is presented with the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, who are presenting Hong’s film, Lessons of the Blood, October 11th at Anthology Film Archives as part of their Flaherty NYC screening series.
James T. Hong’s work emerges from the conflicts between different regimes of truth, of power, and of what is unsaid. As a filmmaker, he emphasizes the manipulative features of cinema itself, where the essential hermeneutic aspect of filmmaking, even so-called “experimental film,” makes cinema a form of ideology or propaganda par excellence.
He will present some of his older and more obscure works, and a small selection of works that has influenced his cinematic practice. He hopes this small selection of films, and two of his own that have never screened in New York, will inspire the audience’s capacity for brightness and cheerfulness in a time of economic uncertainty and cinematic boredom.
Tribulation 99byCraig Baldwin
USA, 1992, five minute excerpt, digital projection
In the year 1000, aliens from the planet Quetzalcoatl flee their dying planet and take refuge under the Earth’s surface . . . A classic and perfect rendering of found-footage.
The Spear of Destiny: A Film for Everyone and No OnebyJames T. Hong
USA, 2004, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection or 16mm
A film about the dot-com revolution in San Francisco, the history of the West, and an anti-hero crushed by capitalism. A film for no one.
Hiroshima Nagasaki August 1945byErik Barnouw
Japan/USA, 1970, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection or 16mm film
Footage from the aftermath of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Previously banned by US authorities. Gruesome and necessary — a film for everyone.
Nanjing 1937 (aka Don’t Cry Nanjing)byWu Ziniu
China, 1996, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection
A narrative film chronicling a family’s attempt to survive the Japanese onslaught of Nanjing in 1937. Again, gruesome and necessary – another film for everyone.
Behold the Asian: How One Becomes What One IsbyJames T. Hong
USA, 1999, 15 min, from 16mm
An Asian-American walks to Death Valley and his end. Identity politics for everyone and no one.
Hitler: ein Film aus Deutschland by Hans-Jurgen Syberberg
Germany, 1977, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection
A 1977 German film about the “Hitler within us.” Susan Sontag acclaimed Hitler “one of the great works of art of the twentieth century.”
The End of Oneby Paul Kocela
USA, 1970, 7 minutes, digital projection
An educational/art film. A document of the death of a seagull. Presented by the New York Film Festival in 1970.
“Paul Kocela’s seven-minute ‘The End of One’ shows us seagulls going out of their small minds with delight at a huge garbage dump, crosscut with shots of one very ill bird staggering off to die alone down the beach. Although I don’t have much feeling one way or the other for a seagull, I did wonder why the film maker photographed rather than helped it.” Vincent Canby, The New York Times
Taipei 101: A Travelogue of Symptoms by James T. Hong
USA, 2004, 23 min, digital projection
An Asian-American discovers that Taipei 101 — currently the world’s tallest building — Taiwan’s culture, and his own consciousness are marked by globalization, America, capitalism, the transnational power of white men, and the power of the unsaid. A movie for everyone and no one.
Total Program Runtime: 70 minutes
James T. Hong has been producing thought-provoking, unconventional, and occasionally controversial films and videos for over a decade. His moving image works, described by Steve Seid of the Pacific Film Archive as “a sump-hole of chilling irony,” have shown at many prominent and obscure film festivals and galleries throughout the world. He shoots a lot of film, but completes few. He has been nominated for many awards, but wins next to none. His works are designed for everyone and no one. He currently temporarily resides in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Chi-hui Yang is a film programmer, lecturer and writer based in New York. From 2000-2010 he was the Director and Programmer of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the largest showcase of its kind in the US. As a guest curator, Yang has presented film and video series at film festivals and events internationally, including the 2008 Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (“The Age of Migration), Seattle International Film Festival, Washington D.C. International Film Festival and Barcelona Asian Film Festival.
Yang also contributes writes on politics and culture and lectures on Asian American cinema. He has also served on funding panels for Creative Capital, Rockefeller Foundation, ITVS and the San Francisco Arts Commission. Yang holds a BA in Political Science/International Relations from Stanford University and is currently a Visiting Scholar at NYU’s Center for Media, Culture and History.
October 3: James T. Hong: Some Works for Everyone and No One
This event is presented with the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, who are presenting Hong’s film, Lessons of the Blood, October 11th at Anthology Film Archives as part of their Flaherty NYC screening series.
James T. Hong’s work emerges from the conflicts between different regimes of truth, of power, and of what is unsaid. As a filmmaker, he emphasizes the manipulative features of cinema itself, where the essential hermeneutic aspect of filmmaking, even so-called “experimental film,” makes cinema a form of ideology or propaganda par excellence.
He will present some of his older and more obscure works, and a small selection of works that has influenced his cinematic practice. He hopes this small selection of films, and two of his own that have never screened in New York, will inspire the audience’s capacity for brightness and cheerfulness in a time of economic uncertainty and cinematic boredom.
Tribulation 99byCraig Baldwin
USA, 1992, five minute excerpt, digital projection
In the year 1000, aliens from the planet Quetzalcoatl flee their dying planet and take refuge under the Earth’s surface . . . A classic and perfect rendering of found-footage.
The Spear of Destiny: A Film for Everyone and No OnebyJames T. Hong
USA, 2004, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection or 16mm
A film about the dot-com revolution in San Francisco, the history of the West, and an anti-hero crushed by capitalism. A film for no one.
Hiroshima Nagasaki August 1945byErik Barnouw
Japan/USA, 1970, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection or 16mm film
Footage from the aftermath of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Previously banned by US authorities. Gruesome and necessary — a film for everyone.
Nanjing 1937 (aka Don’t Cry Nanjing)byWu Ziniu
China, 1996, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection
A narrative film chronicling a family’s attempt to survive the Japanese onslaught of Nanjing in 1937. Again, gruesome and necessary – another film for everyone.
Behold the Asian: How One Becomes What One IsbyJames T. Hong
USA, 1999, 15 min, from 16mm
An Asian-American walks to Death Valley and his end. Identity politics for everyone and no one.
Hitler: ein Film aus Deutschland by Hans-Jurgen Syberberg
Germany, 1977, 5 minute excerpt, digital projection
A 1977 German film about the “Hitler within us.” Susan Sontag acclaimed Hitler “one of the great works of art of the twentieth century.”
The End of Oneby Paul Kocela
USA, 1970, 7 minutes, digital projection
An educational/art film. A document of the death of a seagull. Presented by the New York Film Festival in 1970.
“Paul Kocela’s seven-minute ‘The End of One’ shows us seagulls going out of their small minds with delight at a huge garbage dump, crosscut with shots of one very ill bird staggering off to die alone down the beach. Although I don’t have much feeling one way or the other for a seagull, I did wonder why the film maker photographed rather than helped it.” Vincent Canby, The New York Times
Taipei 101: A Travelogue of Symptoms by James T. Hong
USA, 2004, 23 min, digital projection
An Asian-American discovers that Taipei 101 — currently the world’s tallest building — Taiwan’s culture, and his own consciousness are marked by globalization, America, capitalism, the transnational power of white men, and the power of the unsaid. A movie for everyone and no one.
Total Program Runtime: 70 minutes
James T. Hong has been producing thought-provoking, unconventional, and occasionally controversial films and videos for over a decade. His moving image works, described by Steve Seid of the Pacific Film Archive as “a sump-hole of chilling irony,” have shown at many prominent and obscure film festivals and galleries throughout the world. He shoots a lot of film, but completes few. He has been nominated for many awards, but wins next to none. His works are designed for everyone and no one. He currently temporarily resides in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Chi-hui Yang is a film programmer, lecturer and writer based in New York. From 2000-2010 he was the Director and Programmer of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the largest showcase of its kind in the US. As a guest curator, Yang has presented film and video series at film festivals and events internationally, including the 2008 Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (“The Age of Migration), Seattle International Film Festival, Washington D.C. International Film Festival and Barcelona Asian Film Festival.
Yang also contributes writes on politics and culture and lectures on Asian American cinema. He has also served on funding panels for Creative Capital, Rockefeller Foundation, ITVS and the San Francisco Arts Commission. Yang holds a BA in Political Science/International Relations from Stanford University and is currently a Visiting Scholar at NYU’s Center for Media, Culture and History.