Actress and Model Sol Romero plans to attend the Downtown Film Festival — L.A. and The GRAMMY Museum at L.A. LIVE
Actress Sol Romero seen here at The Ugly Truth Premiere plans to attend Downtown Film Festival in August.
Los Angeles, CA – “This is the first ever Music Film Festival with seven nights, seven artists and seven films, that’s going to keep us hopping from one exciting event to another,” said Actress Sol Romero, who has recently completed a movie with Mel Gibson, “The Edge of Darkness,” directed by Martin Campbell. "I heard that Luke Wilson will be coming and I look forward to meeting him and many others stars," she said.
The Screening events will include live performances, filmmaker and artist questions and answer sessions and after screening parties.
The first-ever music film festival at the Museum will run seven consecutive nights during the film festival, Saturday, Aug. 15 through Friday, August 21.
Each night will present a different film in the Museum’s 200-seat Sound Stage auditorium, located near the corner of Figueroa and Olympic in downtown’s South Park district. Many of the film programs. Ticket prices are $15 for single programs and $100 for the series.
“This film series perfectly reflects The GRAMMY Museum’s mission to celebrate the enduring legacies of all forms of music. From classic rock to rap, Latin jazz to new wave, the series has a film for virtually every musical taste,” said Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli.
“Music fans will love seeing their favorite artists in The GRAMMY Museum’s Sound Stage. It’s very intimate, more like being in someone’s living room but with state-of-the-art sound and great sight lines,” said Greg Ptacek, the film festival’s director.
The series begins with Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple’s no-holds-barred look at the phenomenon of Woodstock in its various incarnations from the 1969 rock concert to its subsequent iterations. The film screening coincides with the 40th anniversary of the original concert and the Museum’s own Woodstock public programming.
Subsequent programs include an evening with Devo’s Jerry Casale (bass/keyboardist) and Devo-tee avant-garde filmmaker and music video pioneer Bruce Conner as they present Devonia 1976, 1978, 2009; and, the Los Angeles premieres of two critically-acclaimed documentary features, In Search of Beethoven and Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison.
Also screening are the Los Angeles premiere of Still Bill, documenting the celebrated singer-songwriter Bill Withers; Poncho At Montreux, showcasing the Latin jazz master, who will perform live following the screening, and the world premiere of Dirty: One Word Can Change The World, which is about one of the founding members of the influential rap group Wu-Tang Clan with members of Brooklyn Zu performing live afterward.
Sol Romero
“As a singer myself working on a new album, I have a great appreciation for music and music artists,” said Romero, who sings soprano and is in a recording studio this month.
Additional live performances and celebrity artist appearances as well as after-screening parties will be announced up until the start of the series; check the festival website (www.dffla.com) for details. The complete program series schedule is below.
Published reports say “The Jackson 5 in Africa” — a film of rare footage documenting the Jackson 5 during their 1974 tour in Senegal — will be the centerpiece of the Closing Night Gala for the 2009 Downtown Film Festival-L.A. on Aug. 22. Tickets for the film will go on sale Aug. 1. Narrated by actor Robert Hooks, the film opens with the Jackson 5 being greeted by a group of dancers and drummers at the airport. The camera follows Michael Jackson and the family cinema-verité style on their first-ever visit to Africa, including live footage of their visit to an African market, classic live footage of the group spontaneously performing “Hum Along and Dance,” and footage of the Jackson 5 performing on stage before a packed, standing-room-only audience at the height of their career in the mid-1970s. I
• Libros Revolución/Revolution Books will present a screening and discussion of “Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About” on Aug. 8, 7 p.m., at Papa West Dinner Club, 4336 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles. The film is from a 2003 talk delivered by Revolutionary Communist Party Chairman Bob Avakian, which breaks down the very nature of the society we live in and how humanity has come to a time where a radically different society is possible.
Saturday, August 15, 7:30 pm
MY GENERATION
2000 USA 103 minutes
The definitive =2 0 documentary of Woodstock ‘69,’94 and ‘99 concerts, including behind-the-scenes logistics and promotions planning, and the concert’s effect on the residents of the host town of Saugerties, New York. A picture emerges of two generations acting in remarkably different ways, but expressing the same longing for togetherness in a world of uncertainty and violence.
Writer, Director, Producer: Barbara Koppel
Director: Tom Haneke
Producer: Michael Lang
Executive Producer: Allen Newman, Jeff Rowland
Cinematographer: Tom Hurwitz
Cast: Aerosmith, Joe Cocker, David Crosby, Sheryl Crow, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Melissa Ethridge, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Michael Lang, Moby, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Carlos Santana, John Sebastian, Steven Tyler, The Who
Sunday, August 16, 7:30 pm
DEVONIA
1976, 1978, 2009 USA
Formed in Akron, Ohio, in 1974, De vo too k its name from their concept of “de-evolution”-the idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society. Mark Mothersbaugh will be present to introduce Bruce Conner’s 4-minute experimental film with Devo, Mongoloid and two Devo music videos:The Complete Truth About De-Evolution and the premiere screening of Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man).
Monday, August 17, 7:30 pm
IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN
2009 UK 138 minutes
The first truly comprehensive feature length cinema documentary ever made about Beethoven features a who’s who of performers and experts, who reveal new insights into this legendary composer. Interviewees include Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Roger Norrington, Riccardo Chailly, Claudio Abbado, Fabio Luisi, Frans Brüggen, Ronald Brautigam, Hélène Grimaud, Vadim Repin, Janine Jansen, Paul Lewis, Lars Vogt, and Emanuel Ax. With over 60 live performances. The film is narrated by Juliet Stevenson and young RSC actor David Dawson.
Director, Producer: Phil Grabsky
Cast: Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanual Ax, Giovanni Biette, Jonathan Bliss, Ronald Brautigam, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Roger Norrington, Barry Cooper, Jonathan Del Mar, Louis Langree, Vadim Repin, Ilona Schmielm, Phil Grabsky
Tuesday, August 18, 7:30 pm
JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON
2008=2 0US A 87 minutes
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison remains one of the greatest live albums ever made, and the man himself one of America’s greatest troubadours. Cash also was a tireless and passionate advocate for prison reform. Forty years later, the album still resonates today with a rawness and authenticity that few recordings have ever achieved. This film will expose a lesser known “Man in Black” through an exciting, visually compelling examination of this histori c concert.
Director, Producer, Cinematographer: Bestor Cram
Co-Producers: Peter Reichenbach, Louise Rosen
Writer: Michael Streissguth
Cinematographer: Miguelangel Aponte-Rios
Cast: Gene Beley, Jim Brown, John Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Merle Haggard, Jimmy Tittle
Wednesday, August 19, 7:30 pm
STILL BILL
2009 USA 78 minutes
Best known for “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean on Me,” Bill Withers topped the charts, and then stopped performing in 1985. The makers of Still Bill wanted to know why. Combining old performances and intense interviews with Withers, the film reveals how the artist started as a musician relatively late in life. After careers in the Navy and assembling airplane toilets, he eventually won three Grammys. But facing the pressure from record execs to promote himself, he retreated into his Hollywood mansion and stopped making music. Now, with his children grown, he is ready to beg in again, on his own terms. Even at 70 years old, as he sits on his porch and describes his goals, it’s evident that Bill Withers is oblivious to fame and still happy about it.
Directors: Damani Baker, Alex Vlack
Producers: Damani Baker, John Fine, Alex Vlack
Executive Producers: Alex Vlack, Andrew Jackerman
Cinematographers: Damani Baker, Jon Fine, Ed Marritz
Cast: Bill Withers, Corn el West, Tavis Smiley, Jim James, Angelique Kidjo
Thursday, August 20, 7:30 pm
PONCHO AT MONTREUX
2004 USA 86 minutes
The Montreux Jazz Festival has seen an incredible array of performers take to the stage over the years. So when it came to celebrating the 30th anniversary of Concord Records, it seemed appropriate that one of their leading lights, Poncho Sanchez, should take to the stage at the festival. Bringing his own inimitable brand of Latin jazz to the festival, Sanchez delights the crowd with some of his signature tunes. A highly appropriate tribute to a label that has produced some historic music, Sanchez pours all his energy into his performance, working his way through songs such as “Watermelon Man,” “One Mint Julep,” “Conmigo,” and many others.
Producer: John Burk
Cinematographer/Editor: Duane Conder
Cast: Poncho Sanchez, Edward James Olmos, Duane Conder
Friday, August 21, 7: 3020pm
DIRTY: ONE WORD CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
2009 USA 55 minutes
This is a personal tribute by the filmmaker to one of the most enigmatic, controversial and tragic figures in hip-hop music history, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, or just ODB for those in the know. During his years with the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, he became famous for his slurred, half-sung, half-rapped delivery of bizarre lyrics, which personified the raw, unadulterated and innovative style of the group. His own solo career was at once celebrated and fraught with legal troubles and eventually, his death by overdose. Featuring members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the Brooklyn Zu and many others, this film celebrates the life of a genius madman who lived life without any breaks.
Director, Producer, Cinematographer: Rasion Allah
Cast: Ghostface, Meth, RZA, Raekwon, Masta Killa, ODB’s parents, Rasion Allah
The 2009 Downtown Film Festival will be held in venues throughout downtown L.A. More information at www.dffla.com. Rock ‘N Fish restaurant (www.rocknfishlalive.com) at L.A. Live! will be hosting three after-screening parties during the series; details to be announced.
Who: Films featuring Beethoven, Johnny Cash, Devo, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Poncho Sanchez, Bill Withers and the artists of the Woodstock concerts, plus live musical sets by select featured artists and Q&As with artists and filmmakers.
What: 2009 Downtown Film Festival &mdash L.A.’s Music Film Series at The GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live!
When: A ugust 15 – August 21, 2009. All Screenings Times: 7:30 pm
Where: The GRAMMY Museum
800 W. Olympic Blvd. (corner of Figueroa St.)
Los Angeles, CA 90015 213.765.6800
How Much? Tickets: $15 for single program; $100 for series (available only online). All advanced series tickets go on sale beginning August 1st at www.dffla.com
More Info: www.dffla.com or www.grammymuseum.org
DIRTY: ONE WORD CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
2009 USA 55 minutes
This is a personal tribute by the filmmaker to one of the most enigmatic, controversial and tragic figures in hip-hop music history, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, or just ODB for those in the know. During his years with the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, he became famous for his slurred, half-sung, half-rapped delivery of bizarre lyrics, which personified the raw, unadulterated and innovative style of the group. His own solo career was at once celebrated and fraught with legal troubles and eventually, his death by overdose. Featuring members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the Brooklyn Zu and many others, this film celebrates the life of a genius madman who lived life without any breaks.
Director, Producer, Cinematographer: Rasion Allah
Cast: Ghostface, Meth, RZA, Raekwon, Masta Killa, ODB’s parents, Rasion Allah
The 2009 Downtown Film Festival will be held in venues throughout downtown L.A. More information at www.dffla.com. Rock ‘N Fish restaurant (www.rocknfishlalive.com) at L.A. Live! will be hosting three after-screening parties during the series; details to be announced.
Who: Films featuring Beethoven, Johnny Cash, Devo, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Poncho Sanchez, Bill Withers and the artists of the Woodstock concerts, plus live musical sets by select featured artists and Q&As with artists and filmmakers.
What: 2009 Downtown Film Festival &mdash L.A.’s Music Film Series at The GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live!
When: A ugust 15 – August 21, 2009. All Screenings Times: 7:30 pm
Where: The GRAMMY Museum
800 W. Olympic Blvd. (corner of Figueroa St.)
Los Angeles, CA 90015
213.765.6800
How Much? Tickets: $15 for single program; $100 for series (available only online). All advanced series tickets go on sale beginning August 1st at www.dffla.com
More Info: www.dffla.com or www.grammymuseum.org
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