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Series looks back to post-punk era

The film “Athens, GA: Inside Out,” will be screened on the third night of the Post-Punk Junk film series put on by The Cinefamily. The film chronicles the art and music scene in the city during the mid-’80s.

By Ruiling Erica Zhang

Feb. 2, 2010 2:25 a.m.

Michael Stock arrived at a University of Nebraska classroom when he was an 18-year-old undergraduate to attend the screening of a film called “Liquid Sky.” About 16 people showed up, and when the film ended, Stock looked around and saw maybe only five people left.

Two decades later in present-day Los Angeles, The Cinefamily will screen the same film on the closing night of its Post-Punk Junk film series, a tribute to the vibrant post-punk art and music scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, taking place at the Silent Movie Theatre beginning Feb. 4 and continuing each Thursday of February.

Now a series co-programmer for Post-Punk Junk and KXLU’s “Part Time Punks” disc jockey, Stock looks back with a laugh.

“The farm kids in Nebraska couldn’t take the aliens doing heroin,” said Stock, who holds a doctorate from UCLA in critical film studies

The series is a revisit of the rare footage and films that captured the essence of those decades.

“I think the reason a lot of people love our film is because we actually shot it in real time,” said producer Bill Cody of the film “Athens, GA: Inside Out” that will be screened on the third night. “The ability to watch a film and then you’re put back in that place of what that was like ““ I don’t think you can recreate that.”

The Cinefamily is a full-service revival movie machine that shows everything from silent films to current films that premiere in Los Angeles said Calendar Editor and Post-Punk Junk series Co-programmer Bret Berg. The nonprofit organization occasionally ventures into the genre of musical documentary, which Berg, a former KXLU DJ, takes a personal interest in.

Stock will DJ some sets at the theater before and after the screening that will fit in historically or conceptually with the theme of the night. According to Stock, it makes conceptual sense that the film series is very much connected to “Part Time Punks” and the music aspect of the post-punk period.

“During the punk, post-punk era, people were media-savvy enough to start recording things and documenting what was going on,” Stock said. “That’s part of the whole (do it yourself) spirit, and the music video is born out of that.”

The opening night, Night Flight Presents: A Tribute to New Wave Theatre, pays homage to the early ’80s TV show, “Night Flight,” filmed in Los Angeles.

“(“˜Night Flight’ is) basically a parade of Southern California punk and new wave bands, and filmed in a very hyperactive experimental style, and it is one of the coolest things that I’ve ever seen,” Berg said. “The show is a fantastic portrait of democracy and weirdness and the excitement of the scene in Los Angeles at the time.”

Like last year’s Post-Punk Junk series, this year will also include a mix night. This second night of screening will consist of short documentaries and music videos ““ fun bits and pieces put together like a mixed tape.

Capping off the night will be a very rare screening of “Car Cemetery!,” a French post-apocalyptic TV movie in the early ’80s by European surrealist director Fernando Arrabal.

“Athens, GA: Inside Out” surveys the art and music scene of Athens, Ga., during the mid-’80s, featuring a host of its homegrown bands such as R.E.M., Pylon and B-B-Que Killers.

Having released the film 23 years ago, Cody only became aware of the current revival of post-punk in the music scene two years ago.

“So some of the bands in my film are touchstones of the post-punk revival,” Cody said. “But our film has been beloved by several film communities over the years, so I’m just always honored that there are still people who love the film and love the vibe that came out of that period.”

The closer, “Liquid Sky,” was on Stock’s dream list for last year’s series. The film was out of print and The Cinefamily only got ahold of a copy when Berg tracked down its director, Slava Tsukerman. Both Tsukerman and Cody will participate in a question-and-answer session after the screening of their films.

According to Berg, Tsukerman was a Russian emigrant who came to New York City and found the punk underground scene very alien. In “Liquid Sky,” he envisioned a what-if scenario with actual aliens in the scene.

Stock said he believes you don’t have to be a fan of the post-punk scene to appreciate the films.

“”˜Liquid Sky’ for instance, for anyone who’s into David Lynch or science fiction ““ that film is just really crazy,” Stock said. “Or someone who’s into indie. This is one of the early indie American weirdo films. … It’s the birth of the independent film scene.”

A plan for summer screenings is already in the works, and in next year’s series, Stock said he hopes to show films coming out of the New York No Wave scene, where the musicians were also the filmmakers.

“I think that the great thing about movies is the filmmakers work very hard to draw people in from outside of that (culture),” Cody said. “Just like people go to Pandora to listen to something different ““ it allows you to go into that world and be there, and that’s a thrilling thing.”

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Ruiling Erica Zhang
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