What we’re about
This group is for people who appreciate music and other forms of art beyond the mainstream, with a particular focus on the avant-garde or otherwise odd. Free Jazz, Musique Concrete, Atonality, Noise Music, Outsider Art, Surrealism, Dada, Junk Art, ...you name it! Not all events will necessarily be "weird", but simply off the beaten mainstream path.
This is intended to be an oasis from crass commercial banalities.
I'll post events that interest me, but I am also interested in hearing from artists, musicians, and other creative types about their events that I can share with members. Post your events and ideas in the "Discussions" section. I want this group to also be a vehicle that helps support artists and organizations that are doing interesting creative work.
The only requests are that we keep things friendly and civilized and free from partisan politics.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- THE EXILES (1961) – Landmark American Independent Film ScreeningPhilosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, CA
Date and time: Friday, November 29 · 7 - 9pm PST
Venue: Philosophical Research Society
3910 Los Feliz Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90027Tickets: $12.51 including fees
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-exiles-1961-landmark-american-independent-film-screening-tickets-1046870607167Rotten Tomatoes gives it 89% positive rating
Trailer: https://youtu.be/GLlsAme5fIQ?si=GNe7NOuLuRRhqv1i
About this event
The Philosophical Research Society is proud to present one of the great landmarks in American independent cinema, Kent McKenzie’s THE EXILES (1961). Striking and vital, McKenzie’s incredible film is important not only in its place in the burgeoning US indie movement of the late 50s/early 60s, but as an indispensable document of Los Angeles’ now vanished Bunker Hill district and the neighborhood, culture, and community – perhaps the last concentrated Native American community in metropolitan LA – that was entirely wiped out by callous governmentally driven redevelopment.THE EXILES chronicles one night in the lives of young Native American men and women living in the rundown Bunker Hill district of Los Angeles. Based entirely on interviews with the participants and their friends, the film follows a group of exiles — transplants who’d been relocated or forcibly removed from Southwest reservations in the ‘50s— as they flirt, drink, party, fight, and dance.
After graduating from USC in 1956, Kent Mackenzie began to hang around with a group of young Native Americans in downtown Los Angeles. He then asked them to collaborate on a film that would present a realistic portrayal of life in the community. In 1961, it was finished, but it was rarely seen for nearly fifty years. With UCLA Film & Television Archive’s magnificent restoration and Milestone’s release, THE EXILES stunned the film world. It introduced a filmmaker of incredible talent and insight and revealed a subject that had not been seen before or since: the Diaspora of Native Americans who had left the reservations for the city. Gritty, realistic, beautifully photographed, and energized by the brilliant rock-and-roll score by Norman Knowles and The Revels, THE EXILES is a cinematic miracle.
Following the screening, Peter Nabokov – anthropologist, author, and UCLA Dept. of World Arts & Cultures/Dance professor emeritus – will join us (via Zoom) for a conversation about THE EXILES*’* historical context, legacy, and his forthcoming book about the film.
Dir. Kent McKenzie, 1961, 72 mins, Unrated, USA, English, Digital
Restoration by UCLA Film & Television Archive
Special thanks to George Schmalz of Kino Lorber
Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.
- Tuesdays @ Monk Space - Sarah Gibson: Small Chamber WorksMonk Space, Los Angeles , CA
Date: December 3, 2024 8:00 pm
Venue: Monk Space
4414 W. 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90004Tickets: $16.88-$27.38 Senior/Student $16.88 Price $15.00 + $1.88 Fee
https://brightworknewmusic.com/event/sarah-gibson-small-chamber-works/Sarah Gibson: Small Chamber Works
The Los Angeles new-music community lost one of its own when Sarah Gibson died on July 14 at the age of 38. Sarah Gibson was a Los Angeles based composer and pianist whose works draw on her breadth of experience as a collaborative performer. Her compositions reflect her deep interest in the creative process across various artistic mediums—especially from the female perspective.
Sarah Gibson was a beloved member of our community and was frequently featured on Tuesdays @ Monk Space as a composer and pianist. Join us for an evening celebrating her life and music by exploring her small chamber works. Performers include Aperture Duo, Eclipse Quartet, Alyssa Park, Vicki Ray, and members of Brightwork Ensemble. This concert is part of a citywide celebration of Sarah’s music during the 2024/25 season.
Program
Sarah Gibson: tiny, tangled world (2018)
Aperture Duo, violin, violaSarah Gibson: Our Eyes Once Watered (2018)
Ray-Kallay Duo, piano duetSarah Gibson: I prefer living in color (2017)
Brian Walsh, clarinets
Shalini Vijayan, violin
Linnea Powell, viola
Maggie Parkins, cello
Aron Kallay, piano
Nick Terry, percussionSarah Gibson: You are still here (2020)
Alyssa Park, violinSarah Gibson: Sea Monkey (2010)
Maggie Parkins, cello
Nick Terry, percussionSarah Gibson: Arson (2011)
Stacey Fraser, soprano
Aron Kallay, pianoSarah Gibson: all ashore (2021)
Eclipse Quartet, 2 violins, viola, celloSarah Gibson: I do not want horses or diamonds (2021)
Eclipse Quartet, 2 violins, viola, cello**Aron Kallay**, pianoBrightwork newmusic is the only organization in Southern California with a performing ensemble, monthly concert series and educational initiatives all focused through the lens of contemporary classical music. Our monthly concert series, Tuesdays @ Monk Space, presents cutting edge works by both established and emerging artists in a funky former speakeasy near downtown LA.
Brightwork Ensemble is a sextet of Grammy winning and nominated musicians who are fluent in many musical styles and who perform and record actively across Southern California and beyond. The ensemble is a favorite of composers: they have been engaged for hundreds of world premieres and premiere recordings.
Find more Brightwork newmusic Events and Music events in Los Angeles
- MOVIE NIGHT: THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATESLos Feliz 3 Cinemas, Los Angeles, CA
Part of American Cinematheque's series ‘Three Homelands: The Transcaucasian Cinema of Sergei Parajanov’
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 4 7:00 pm
Venue: Los Feliz Theatre
1822 N Vermont Ave Los Angeles, CA 90027Tickets: $13,00 GA $8.00 members
https://www.americancinematheque.com/now-showing/the-color-of-pomegranates-12-4-24Rotten Tomatoes: 94%: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_color_of_pomegranates
Trailer: https://youtu.be/ci1ddK_1h6E?si=wHTCYrd9iBbFpEMJ
### ABOUT THE FILMS:
“Hakob Hovnatanyan,” 1967, Dir. Sergei Parajanov, 9 Min, Soviet Union
Made prior to the shooting of THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES, this short documentary for the Yerevan Newsreel-Documentary Film Studio depicts the work of 19th century Tblisi-based Armenian portrait painter Hakob Hovnatanyan. Parajanov is less concerned with a biographical precis and largely focuses on the artist’s luminous canvases which combine elements of illuminated manuscripts with European figurative art.
FORMAT: DCPTHE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES, 1969, Dir. Sergei Parajanov, 78 Min, Janus Films, Soviet Union
In a series of tableaux that blend the tactile with the abstract, THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES revives the splendors of Armenian culture through the story of the eighteenth-century troubadour Sayat-Nova, charting his intellectual, artistic, and spiritual growth through iconographic compositions rather than traditional narrative. The film’s tapestry of folklore and metaphor departed from the realism that dominated the Soviet cinema of its era, leading authorities to block its distribution, with rare underground screenings presenting it in a restructured form. This edition features the cut closest to Parajanov’s original vision, in a restoration that brings new life to one of cinema’s most enigmatic meditations on art and beauty.
FORMAT: DCPNYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/movies/the-color-of-pomegranates-sergei-parajanov.html
Sergei Parajanov Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Parajanov
Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni stated that “The Color of Pomegranates by Parajanov, in my opinion one of the best contemporary film directors, strikes with its perfection of beauty.” Parajanov was also admired by American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. French film director Jean-Luc Godard also stated that "In the temple of cinema, there are images, light, and reality. Sergei Parajanov was the master of that temple".Despite having many admirers of his art, his vision did not attract many followers. "Whoever tries to imitate me is lost", he reportedly said
ABOUT THE SERIES:
'Three Homelands: The Transcaucasian Cinema of Sergei Parajanov'
Sat. Nov 23 - Wed. Dec 18, 2024
Egyptian Theatre and Los Feliz 3The American Cinematheque and the UCLA Film & Television Archive are thrilled to partner in presenting a comprehensive film series honoring filmmaker Sergei Parajanov on the centennial of his birth. Born in 1924 to an Armenian family in Tbilisi, Georgia, Parajanov defied boundaries in life and art. Deeply knowledgeable of the rich traditions and cultures throughout Caucasia, Parajanov reimagined cinema as a vibrant fusing of movement, myth, music, ritual and folk arts. His approach was inclusive and open to diverse influences. At once both archaic and modernist, Parajanov’s cinema proudly stood out of time and beyond borders. Featuring a new restoration and scans from original camera negatives, 'Three Homelands' offers a complete look at one of cinema’s true visionaries.
Special thanks to our collaborators and partners: guest programmer Bernardo Rondeau, Daniel Bird, Cecilia Cenciarelli (Cineteca di Bologna), Olena Honcharuk (Dovzhenko Centre), Zaza Abashidze, Georgian Film, Cinema Foundation of Armenia.
Series Includes: SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS, “Hakob Hovnatanyan,” THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES, THE LEGEND OF SURAM FORTRESS, “Arabesques on the Theme of Pirosmani,” “Confession” and ASHIK KERIB
- MOVIE: "GAUCHO GAUCHO"Laemmle Glendale, Glendale, CA
A celebration of a community of Argentine cowboys and cowgirls, known as Gauchos, living beyond the boundaries of the modern world.
Date: Opens December 5 at 7:30
Venue: Laemmle Glendale
207 N. Maryland Ave.
Glendale, CA 91206
310-478-3836Ticket information will be posted here
https://www.laemmle.com/film/gaucho-gauchodinner at ?? at Khinkali House Georgian restaurant, 113 Artsakh Ave, Glendale, CA
We've eaten here before and it's delicious.Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 92% favorite rating:
Trailer: https://youtu.be/08BVd9UwwyY?si=eX2zRoP8TWQwgXY5
Gaucho Gaucho is a 2024 is a black-and-white documentary film directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw. The film, set in the drought-threatened northwestern cattle country of Argentina, captures the lives of gauchos. It premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize for Sound. The documentary received an outdoor screening in August 2024 on the Piazza Grande of the 77th Locarno Film Festival and won the first Letterboxd Piazza Grande Award.
The documentary follows several characters, including Guada, a teenage girl aspiring to join the male-dominated gaucho culture. Her journey serves as a narrative thread, showcasing her challenges and growth in the rodeo circuit.
Gaucho Gaucho received critical acclaim at its Sundance premiere, where it won a Jury Prize for sound. Variety’s Guy Lodge described it as a “perfectly framed,” “loving, visually resplendent documentary” that "gives the Argentine cowboy community ample space to bond and merge". Senior US Critic, Tim Grierson from Screen Daily said Gaucho Gaucho is "An affecting tone poem that ruminates on the passage of time and the passing of traditions".
