Portland Art Museum & Northwest Film Center at home.
From Ben Popp, Head of Artist Services, NWFC The Benefits of Gusbandry Director: Alicia J Rose, U.S. Seasons 1&2 Available on Amazon Prime Let yourself fondly remember the days of pre-social distance partying through the lens of Portland filmmaker and musician Alicia J. Rose’s comedic series The Benefits of Gusbandry. At her debaucherous 40th birthday… Read more
From Morgen Ruff, Exhibition Program Manager & Programmer A sui generis gem from the 2019 Portland International Film Festival, which would make a great double feature with Diamantino. Jessica Forever Director: Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel, France Streaming on Shudder (offers free trial) Deeply influenced by contemporary video game aesthetics, Poggi & Vinel fashion a hyper-stylized blast of pure cinema set in… Read more
From Amy Dotson, NWFC Director and PAM Curator, Film & New Media The Last Black Man in San Francisco Director: Joe Talbot, United States Available on Amazon Prime Jimmie Fails and Joe Talbot were best friends growing up in San Francisco. They were two teenagers who loved movies—making them, writing them, dreaming of a day… Read more
From Micah Vanderhoof, Theater Manager Paranoia AgentDirector: Satoshi Kon, Japan 2004 – 13 episodes. Available from Funimation studios (free with advertisements) This limited run series from existential animation master Satoshi Kon follows two detectives investigating what appears to be a string of assaults committed by a boy on rollerblades with a golden bat. Providing a… Read more
From Ben Popp, Filmmaker Services Manager Grand Bizarre Director: Jodi Mack, U.S. – 13 Available on MUBI (get a free three-month trial with link) Filmmaker Jodi Mack’s travelogue film utilizes the animation concept known as “Replacement Animation” in which at every frame, or every other, depending on motive, a new image is put in front… Read more
From Morgen Ruff, Exhibition Program Manager & Programmer A sui generis gems from the 2019 Portland International Film Festival. Diamantino Directors: Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt, Portugal/France Streaming on the Criterion Channel (offers a free trial; also available for rent through various services) This unclassifiable film follows the world’s biggest football (soccer) star, the titular… Read more
From Amy Dotson, Director of NWFC: Fleabag, Seasons 1 & 2 Creator: Phoebe Waller-Bridge Available on Amazon Prime Fleabag—and the talents of Phoebe Waller-Bridge—first burst onto the scene in 2016 showcasing a six-part series with a seemingly simple premise: a complex and hilarious British woman attempts to cope with her grief, her family and herself.… Read more
From Micah Vanderhoof, Theater Manager Foxfire dir. Annette Haywood-Carter, US, 1996 Streaming on Hulu Annette Haywood-Carter directs this modernized-to-1996 adaptation which follows a girl gang led by “Legs” (Angelina Jolie), and new-to-school “Maddie” (Hedy Burress) as they band together to fend off the sexism surrounding them at school and life all set against the backdrop… Read more
From Ben Popp, Filmmaker Services Manager Climaxdir. Gaspar Noé, France, 2018 Streaming on Amazon Prime The climax in any story is the point at which everything comes to a heightened point before cresting downwards into resolution. What might it look like then to tell a story riding the climax, or in which a gradual rise… Read more