77BOADRUM (Jun Kawaguchi, 2010)
IndieScreen
285 Kent Ave. at Second St.
Wednesday, September 1, $10, 8:00
www.indiescreen.us
www.myspace.com/film77boadrum
Two years ago, on August 8, 2008, at 8:08 pm, we watched as 88 drummers, led by Gang Gang Dance, performed for 88 minutes in East River State Park along the Williamsburg Waterfront. It was a magically spiritual, wholly uplifting experience that would go on three hours later in California, led by Japanese noise specialists Boredoms, who had held a similar gathering thirteen months earlier. As we were leaving, we were kicking ourselves for having missed the previous year’s event, when Boredoms led 77 drummers playing for 77 minutes on July 7, 2007, at 7:07 pm in Brooklyn’s Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. Thankfully, plenty of other people were there to witness it, and director Jun Kawaguchi has documented it all on 77BOADRUM, using original footage he shot as well as clips he found on YouTube and other sites. Combining the performance itself with behind-the-scenes action and interviews, Kawaguchi has created an eighty-nine-minute film that will make you feel like you were there too. In advance of the DVD release from Thrill Jockey on September 7, which will come with special photo postcards, the film will be shown for one night only at IndieScreen in Brooklyn. Part of the fun of watching the 8/8/08 event was being in the midst of a crowd, all being lifted by the beautiful percussive sounds floating through the air, so watching it in a theater with other like-minded people is the next-best thing.