Blog

Ricky

“In the not too distant future of 2001… In the not too distant past of 2001, Ricki-Oh (or also known as Ricky-Ho for some reason in the English dubbing) is sent to prison after he murders the drug dealers who killed his girlfriend (well, technically she killed herself). Ricki, a fairly nice guy when he’s not punching a hole in your stomach for trying to kill him, soon finds out how things work in this corrupt prison. The Gang of Four, a group of inmates who run the different wings of the prison, treat the inmates as their personal punching bags in order to keep the peace. They discover quickly that Ricki is going to adapt to their sadistic means and he is quickly at odds with the system. Now everyone is after him, and Ricki’s only means of survival are his fists!”

Things I learned from this movie:
(from badmovies.org)

Wood lathes should be used in Rhinoplasty.
Dead prisoners are kept handcuffed.
The inside of your hand is made out of styrofoam.
Kneecaps are ticklish.
Destroying gravestones is okay if it’s for Kung Fu training.
People keep their fake eye in a glass of ice water.
Glass eyes are full of mints.
You can tie your tendons together.
Leaves sound just like a flute if you know how to play them.
You can stop someone’s heart with a certain martial arts punch.
Prisons have rooms boobytrapped to fill with cement.
Cement really will turn you into stone!
Kung Fu masters can split a bamboo pole with their tongue. (So why are they always single?)
Asian women exhibit “Lemming Syndrome.”
Straight razor blades are not food.
Never put your foot through a hot water heater.

Food and snacks provided by Chef Chanklas Chefware • Short Films provided by Hamburger Eyes prior to feature

http://www.unpiano.com
http://www.hamburgereyes.com

More than 300,000 children presently serve in armies in over 40 countries

Based on the true story of screenwriter Oscar Torres’s embattled childhood, Luis Mandoki’s Innocent Voices is the poignant tale of Chava (Carlos Padilla), an eleven-year-old boy who suddenly becomes the “man of the house” after his father abandons the family in the middle of a civil war.

In El Salvador in the 1980s, the government’s armed forces are already recruiting twelve year olds, rousting them out of their classes at the local middle school. If he is lucky, Chava has just one year of innocence left, one year before he, too, will be conscripted to fight the government’s battle against the peasant rebels of the FMLN. Chava’s life becomes a game of survival, not only from the bullets of the escalating war, but also from the dispiriting effects of daily violence. As he hustles to find work to help his single mother pay the bills, and experiences the pangs of first love for a beautiful classmate, Chava’s tiny home village becomes both playground and battlefield. 2004, Mexico, Spanish with English subtitles, 120 min.

With a report and discussion on the history of U.S. involvement in El Salvador by an activist from the FMLN and ANSWER Coalition.

Visit www.actionsf.org for more info.

The Dial
The Dial is a duo from North Adams, Massachusetts, comprised of multi-instrumentalist Anne Doerner, and composer and sound artist Ven Voisey.  A mix of acoustic instrumentation (violin, accordion, xylophone, guitar…), field recordings, and electronic textures make up their intricately carved sonic structures. http://www.v—v.net

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma with film by Paul Clipson
Cantu-Ledesma, a local experimental musician and noise maker, is the founding member of Tarentel, and also currently performs in The Alps and The Holy See. Paul Clipson, a local filmaker and artist who also projects film with Tarentel and The Holy See, will accompany Cantu-Ledesma with Super8 film footage. http://www.rootstrata.com

Gregg Kowalsky

Kowalsky’s compositions range from textural ambient to drone and noise pieces, which are highly influenced by the thick, humid air of South Florida where Gregg lived for most of his life. He is interested in filling the spaces his music occupies through dense, live electro-acoustic mixes, and has composed for film, dance, acoustic ensembles and sound installations. 
http://www.greggkowalsky.net

Joshua Churchill

Churchill is a local interdisciplinary artist that works with sound in the context of performance, recordings, and art installations. He performs and records multi-layered instrumental improvisations under his own name, as well as solo noise work under the name T/R. http://joshuachurchill.com