Bill Morrison follows the boom and bust of a Yukon gold-rush town in Dawson City: Frozen Time
DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME (Bill Morrison, 2016)
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria
August 18-20
718-777-6800
www.movingimage.us
billmorrisonfilm.com
“What power has gold to make men endure it all?” a title card asks in William Desmond Taylor’s 1928 silent film, The Trail of ’98, based on a novel by Robert Service. Both Taylor and Service were at one time residents of Dawson City, the town in the Yukon in Canada that was at the center of the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s. In June 1978, while construction was just under way to build a new recreation center behind Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall in Dawson, Pentecostal minister and city alderman Frank Barrett uncovered a treasure trove of motion picture stock, hundreds of silent films that had been believed to have been lost forever. Writer, director, and editor Bill Morrison uses stunning archival footage from those films in his elegiac, beautiful documentary, Dawson City: Frozen Time, which brilliantly tells the story of greed, perseverance, and the growth of the entertainment industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After gold was discovered in Dawson, the indigenous Hän people were relocated to Tr’ochëk and some hundred thousand prospectors stampeded in, the gold mining destroying the Hän’s fishing and hunting grounds. Morrison also follows the invention of film itself, celluloid stock that would end up causing many fires, including one every year in Dawson for nine years. Bookended by an original interview with Michael Gates, Parks Canada curator of collections, and his wife, Kathy Jones-Gates, director of the Dawson Museum, the film traces the boom-and-bust fortunes and misfortunes of Dawson, as gambling casinos, movie theaters, hotels, and restaurants are built, including the Arctic, a hotel and restaurant owned by Ernest Levin and Fred Trump, the president’s grandfather, that might have served as a brothel as well. The film is supplemented with photographs by Eric A. Hegg, a giant in the field who left behind glass plates when he ultimately departed Dawson. Among others making their way through Dawson at one time or another are newsboy Sid Grauman, who went on to build Grauman’s Chinese Theatre; New York Rangers founder Tex Rickard; comic superstar Fatty Arbuckle; and Daniel and Solomon Guggenheim, who dominated the mining there.
Discovery of long-lost silent films tells a fascinating story in Dawson City: Frozen Time
Morrison, whose previous films, including Decasia, The Miners’ Hymns, and The Great Flood, employ archival footage to often tell historical tales, uses thousands of clips in Dawson City: Frozen Time, from newsreels to such films as Temperance Town, The Half Breed, The End of the Rainbow, and The Frog. Footage from the found clips, identified as “Dawson City Film Find” on the screen, also delves into the evolving battle between workers and owners, the deportation of political radicals, and the Black Sox scandal, all of which Morrison relates to the upstart movie industry. The film is a tour de force of editing, as Morrison streams together scenes of actors going through doorways, kissing, or moving in vehicles, not just a torrent of random images, all set to Alex Somers’s haunting experimental score. (Somers’s brother, John, is the sound designer.) The film also sets a new personal high for Morrison, clocking in at 120 minutes, by far his longest work; all of his previous features are less than 80 minutes, but this latest one further establishes that Morrison’s mesmerizing but unusual visual approach is not time-sensitive. With Dawson City: Frozen Time, Morrison has created a magical ode to the history of film, to preservation, to pioneers, and to perseverance, told in his hypnotic, unique style. Following its initial theatrical run this past June at IFC Center, the film is screening August 18-20 at the Museum of the Moving Image, with Morrison on hand Friday at 7:30 to talk about the work. In addition, as part of its “New Adventures in Nonfiction” series, MoMI is presenting
The Hole Wisconsin-born, Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Jaimie Warren will activate her twisted fairy-tale installation at the Hole on August 17, promising that “you will witness vomiting deities, epic love ballads, and multiple beheadings.” Warren, a photographer, performance artist, filmmaker, and codirector and cofounder of the traveling community-oriented, child-friendly fake public access television show Whoop-Dee-Doo, will stage, with more than twenty collaborators, One Sweet Day, a half-hour musical at 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 for no more than fifty guests at a time, in the medieval cave/castle/forest/mountain she has built in the back of the Bowery gallery, consisting of, among other elements, giant saints with glowing red eyes, an open wall casket with three somewhat familiar bodies, and a pair of video stations where visitors can watch “One Sweet Day: Self-Portrait as Shepherd, GG Allin, and Prince in Re-Creation of Studio Reconstitution of the Thebaid by Fra Angelico,” a cracked tale of good vs. evil vs. weird that mixes in Punky Brewster with all the madness. The exhibition itself, which continues through September 3, also includes the music videos “I Got My Mind Set on You: Self-Portrait as George Harrison in Re-creation of Ancient Egyptian Papyrus Painting of Ma’at and Isis,” “Somebody to Love: Self-Portrait as Freddie Mercury in Re-creation of Saints Cosmas and Damian by Matteo di Pacino (1350-75),” “I Just Called to Say I Love You: Self-Portrait as Stevie Wonder in Re-creation of Primavera by Sandro Botticelli (1482),” and “You Are Not Alone: Self-Portrait as Michael Jackson in a Re-creation of the Genealogical Trees of the Dominican Order,” featuring characters dressed up as pop-culture icons; the works were made at residencies at the Abrons Art Center in Manhattan, Artspace in North Carolina, American Medium in Brooklyn, and Helmuth Projects in San Diego. Advance RSVP is strongly recommended. Artists Space Ugo Rondinone’s citywide celebration of his husband, “I ❤ John Giorno,” continues Wednesday night with a special poetry jam at Artists Space organized by Bowery Poetry Club, the downtown institution down the street from John Giorno’s apartment and studio. The free event will be hosted by Bob Holman, Nikhil Melnechuk, Ashley August, and Mason Granger and feature readings by Julius Baltonado, Stefan Bondell, Steve Cannon, Lynne DeSilva Johnson, Timothy DuWhite, Joel François, Myles Golden, David Henderson, Sam Jablon, Amy Lawless, Lisa Markuson, Sam O’Hana, Noel Quiñones, Shawn Randall/Symphonics Live, Patrick Roche, Hannah Wood, and Anton Yakovlev. Swiss artist Rondinone’s tribute to his life partner, the eighty-year-old Giorno, a poet, painter, musician, and performance artist who has no time for rules, is taking place at thirteen venues, with exhibitions, wall murals, film and video, portraiture, at the Kitchen, Hunter College, the New Museum, White Columns, Sky Art in Hell’s Kitchen, the Swiss Institute, Red Bull Arts New York, Artists Space, and the Broadway and Washington Square windows. A.R.T./New York Theatres Tickets are going extremely fast for Ars Nova’s latest production, KPOP, a collaboration with Ma-Yi Theater and Woodshed Collective running at A.R.T./New York Theatres from September 5 to October 7, with opening night set for September 22. The immersive show takes audiences behind-the-scenes at a K-pop music factory and will involve standing, walking, climbing stairs, and dancing as a cast of eighteen leads audiences throughout the space. It was conceived by Woodshed Collective (Empire Travel Agency, The Tenant) and Jason Kim; Kim wrote the book, with music and lyrics by Helen Park and Max Vernon, choreography by Bessie winner Jennifer Weber, and direction by Teddy Bergman. Ars Nova has previously presented such inventive, immersive works as Small Mouth Sounds, Eager to Lose, The Lapsburgh Layover, and a little thing called Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. So this is no time to dawdle if you want to catch what promises to be another unique, unpredictable experience. Michael Moore makes his Broadway debut in The Terms of My Surrender (photo by Joan Marcus) Belasco Theatre “How the fuck did this happen?” Michael Moore asks at the beginning of his Broadway debut, The Terms of My Surrender, which opened last night at the Belasco Theatre for a three-month run. He makes it clear that he’s talking about the election of Donald J. Trump, not his one-man show on the Great White Way. For nearly two hours, the filmmaker, activist, and mensch, dressed in his usual schmatas including ever-present baseball cap, mixes pivotal moments from his life with ideas about how the left can come together and retake control of the White House and Congress. When he’s talking about President Trump, usually standing at a microphone at the front center of the stage, a giant American flag behind him, he does not quite have the fanatical fury or commanding presence of George C. Scott as General George S. Patton that setup evokes but instead comes off as a comic pundit preaching to the choir on MSNBC. But when he sits down at a desk or in a comfy reading chair and shares personal stories about how one person — himself, in several cases — can indeed make a difference, the his performance is riveting. Moore relates how he got involved in an Elks Club controversy; how he and a friend went to Germany to protest Ronald Reagan’s visit to a Nazi cemetery in Bitburg; how the governor of Michigan is involved in the poisoning of thousands of children with lead-laced drinking water in Moore’s impoverished hometown of Flint; and how one librarian from Englewood affected the publication of his 2001 book Stupid White Men. (That librarian, Ann Sparanese, was in the audience on opening night and received a standing ovation. Also on hand for the opening-night celebration were Harry Belafonte, Anna Deavere Smith, Dan Rather, Christie Brinkley, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marlo Thomas, Jonathan Alter, Nia Vardalos, Al Sharpton, Rosanna Scotto, and Tony Bennett.) Michael Moore will consider ways to win back Congress and the White House during three-month run at the Belasco Theatre (photo by Joan Marcus) A set piece about carry-on items banned by the TSA is hit-or-miss, and a game show pitting the dumbest Canadian in the audience against the smartest American is silly and goes on too long, serving as a way for Moore to spout yet more statistics at us. An informal tête-à-tête with a surprise guest — on opening night it was Gloria Steinem and previously has featured Bryan Cranston, Rep. Maxine Waters, Morgan Spurlock, and Judah Friedlander — can become self-indulgent, a crafty way to turn the spotlight away from Moore temporarily, but that’s easier said than done, as Moore can’t help being the center of attention, whether on a Broadway stage, on television (TV Nation, The Awful Truth), or in such films as Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Michael Moore in Trumpland. His shocking tale of receiving death threats and assassination attempts brings the show to a screeching halt when he decides to test the FCC by calling a public figure and making the same death threats he got from Glenn Beck. Moore most certainly is not in Trumpland at the Belasco, where the predominantly liberal audience claps often in support of the Flint native’s views on the president and politics. Tony-winning director Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Spring Awakening) has his hands full with the show, which jumps around from scene to scene and bit to bit, including a fair amount of ad-libbing, as Moore updates his comments with the latest news to keep things fresh. Tony-winning designer David Rockwell’s (She Loves Me, Kinky Boots) set features a desk and chairs that slide on- and offstage and a large American flag backdrop onto which Andrew Lazarow projects photographs, clips of Trump, headlines, and other images. There’s also an empty presidential box waiting for Trump, complete with “little opera gloves,” but don’t expect Trump or Vice President and Broadway superfan Mike Pence to take those seats anytime soon. The show is uneven, but when Moore, an often amiable yet fiery fellow who drives the right insane, gets away from the rhetoric and focuses on his heartfelt conviction that one person really can initiate change — and insists that now is most definitely not the time to give up — The Terms of My Surrender is right on target, reminding us all that if Moore can do it, there’s no reason we can’t either. Who: Akerman/Jansen, Battery Dance, Danuka Ariyawansa + Behri Drums and Dance Ensemble, Janis Brenner & Dancers, Martha Graham School, Cía. Elías Aguirre, Compañía Nacional de Danza Contemporánea de República Dominicana, Fadi J. Khoury’s FJK Dance, Mari Meade Dance Collective (MMDC), Nadine Bommer Dance Company, SLK Ballet, Trezon Dancy, Aakansha Maheshwari, Dimple Saikia, Kalanidhi Dance, Kalamandir Dance, Sruthi Mohan, Viraja and Shyamjith Kiran, Ballet Inc., Buglisi Dance Theatre, Cía. Elías Aguirre, Maxine Steinman & Dancers, Tina Croll + Company, Wilder Project, Mophato Dance Theatre, Amy Marshall Dance Company, Ariel Rivka Dance, Bollylicious, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, SYnC Dance Company, the Movement Playground, Trainor Dance Three brothers go on a different kind of spiritual journey in Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited THE DARJEELING LIMITED (Wes Anderson, 2007)
JAIMIE WARREN PERFORMANCE: ONE SWEET DAY
312 Bowery
Thursday, August 17, free with advance RSVP, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00
Exhibition continues through September 3
212-466-1100
theholenyc.com
BOWERY POETRY ❤ JOHN GIORNO
55 Walker St.
Wednesday, August 16, free, 7:00
artistsspace.org
TICKET ALERT: KPOP
502 West 53rd St.
Monday – Saturday, September 5 – October 7, general admission $45 (select dates $25-$35), premium $75
212-352-3101
arsnovanyc.com/kpop
MICHAEL MOORE: THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER
111 West 44th St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
Tuesday – Saturday through October 22, $29 – $149
www.michaelmooreonbroadway.com
BATTERY DANCE FESTIVAL 2017
What: Thirty-sixth annual Battery Park Dance Festival
Where: Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park, 20 Battery Pl., Battery Park City
When: August 13-19, free, 7:00 – 9:00
Why: Continuing its mission to connect the world through dance, Battery Dance, which was founded in Lower Manhattan in 1976, is hosting the thirty-sixth annual Battery Dance Festival, held outside August 13-18 in Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park in Battery City. Thirty companies from around the world are participating, with troupes from Sri Lanka, Spain, the Dominican Republic, India, Belgium, Botswana, and the United States. The always popular IAAC Erasing Borders Festival of Indian Dance takes place on August 15, while the closing event, including reception, is set for August 19 at 6:00 in the Michael Schimmel Center, with free tickets and $50 VIP admission available in advance here. That finale will feature Battery Dance’s On Foot, Bollylicious’s Yatra, and Mophato Dance Theatre’s Pula. In addition, there will be daily free morning workshops at 10:30 at Battery Dance Studios on the fifth floor of 380 Broadway, with Battery Dance on August 14, Compañía Nacional de Danza Contemporánea de República Dominicana on August 15, Cía. Elías Aguirre on August 16, Bollylicious on August 17, and Mophato Dance Theatre on August 18; advance RSVP is required here.
BACK 10: 2007 — BRUNCH MOVIE: THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
Saturday, August 12, and Sunday, August 13, 11:45 am
Series runs through August 26
718-384-3980
nitehawkcinema.com
www.foxsearchlight.com
Wes Anderson takes viewers on a wild ride through India aboard the Darjeeling Limited in this black comedy that opened the 2007 New York Film Festival. Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (cowriter Jason Schwartzman) are brothers who have not seen one another since their father’s funeral a year before, after which their mother disappeared. Having recently survived a terrible accident, Francis — looking ridiculous with his face and head wrapped in bandages — convinces them to go on a spiritual quest together to reestablish their relationship and help them better understand life. Peter and Jack very hesitantly decide to go along on what turns out to be a series of madcap adventures involving bathroom sex, bloody noses, jealousy, praying, cigarettes galore, running after trains, and savory snacks. Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore) injects his unique brand of humor on the action, ranging from the offbeat to the sensitive to the absurd as the brothers bond and battle in a search for themselves and what’s left of their family, set to a score adapted from the films of Satyajit Ray and Merchant-Ivory. The film, which features cameos by Bill Murray, Natalie Portman, Barbet Schroeder, and Anjelica Huston, is screening August 12 and 13 at 11:45 in the morning in Nitehawk’s “Back10” series, revisiting the films of 2007; several audience members at each show will receive a free copy of Matt Zoller Seitz’s The Wes Anderson Collection. (You can see a video of the chapter on The Darjeeling Limited here.) The festival continues through August 26 with such other decade-old fare as Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, Andrew Currie’s Fido, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood.