Elsewhere: Gypsies, Vagabonds and Refugees - Thur. July 31 - 8PM

Oddball Films Media • Jul 27, 2014



Oddball Films and itinerant guest curator Montgomery Cantsin present Elsewhere: Gypsies, Vagabonds and Refugees, a wide-ranging survey of twentieth-century vagrants and refugees on (16MM) film, covering real and invented wanderings and displacements of all sorts. For one night only, we'll be adrift amidst the down-and-out & the out-and-about; gleaning insights into the "planned mobility" of the gypsy, the hard travels of the tramp, the forced relocation of the refugee, and more. Highlights include: The Hitch-Hiker (1950), a rather racy instructional film on how to get a ride; Railrodder (1965), wherein an aging Buster Keaton traverses the Canadian National Railway in style; Madeline and the Gypsies (1959), the film adaptation of the classic tale by Ludwig Bemelman; The Greenie (1942) a touching bit of WWII propaganda about a young polish refugee; San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (1906), or how Oakland got its start; Thumbs Down (1974), a cautionary educational film featuring real-life Los Angeles hitchers; Story of the Hungarian Refugees (1956), a U.N.-produced piece regarding the perils of border-crossing; and Riff Raffy Daffy (1948), on one unlucky duck's run-ins with the Pigs! ...Plus: Newsreels, Wobblies, Navajos, + "Wild & Bully."   Arrive early for Clowns, Henry Miller in Paris, Donuts and special surprises!  



Date: Thursday July 31st, 2014 at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117




Highlights Include: 

Railrodder (Color, 1965) 
A National Film Board of Canada production co-directed by its star and Gerald Potterton, this hilarious silent-style movie pulls out all the stops! Portraying an old goofball accidentally traveling by motorized rail cart, Buster Keaton shines here in what would be one of his final roles.
Lady of the Road

The Hitch-Hiker (B+W, 1950) 
This lady's no tramp, she's just having car trouble! But this naughty short serves as a reminder that--homeless or not--any one of us might someday be forced to rely on the kindness of strangers....
Gilly Girl

Madeline and the Gypsies (Color, 1959) 
Everyone's favorite boarding school girl, and her buddy Pepito, get left behind after a class field-trip to a gypsy carnival... 
Home Run
The Greenie (B+W, 1942)
A Polish youth--traumatized by bombing raids in his home country--seeks refuge amongst a rag-tag bunch of ball-playing boys. These young Yanks give him a hard time . . . 'til he steps up to the plate.    
No Fault of Their Own...

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (B+W, 1906)
Amazing documentary footage of a momentous event which made refugees of over half the population of San Francisco--many of whom went on to start new lives in the East Bay. 
Driver Beware
Thumbs Down (Color, 1974)
A curious filmmaker sets out to discover the motives, methods, and morals of various Southern Californian roadside rowdies in an attempt to determine just how dangerous thumbing a ride can be. 
Peace Out

Story of the Hungarian Refugees (B+W, 1956)
This United Nations documentary depicts the true experiences of some of those fleeing the violence in Hungary (due to the unsuccessful revolt against Soviet-imposed policies) which resulted in the deaths of some 2500 Hungarians. Names are changed, but these stories are the real deal.
Rough Sleepin' Duck

Riff Raffy Daffy (Color, 1948)
The Man (as portrayed by Porky Pig) is dead set on evicting this one lovable bum from myriad creative encampments, but our homeless hero is determined to be left alone...

Curator's Biography

Montgomery Cantsin, co-founder of the 3TON Cinema Orphanage, is a Brooklyn-based intermedia artist and curator (specializing in 16MM) who got his start working as an archival researcher and editor for foundfootage filmmakers such as Craig Baldwin and Bill Morrison. Since 1999 he's brought film programs and party visuals to galleries/venues around the country, including: Union Docs, The Spectacle Theater, 16 Beaver, ATA, New Nothing Cinema, and SOMArts Cultural Center. "Elsewhere" is his fifth program for Oddball. 

About Oddball Films
Oddball films is the film component of Oddball Film+Video, a stock footage company providing offbeat and unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Summer of Love, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web projects around the world.

Our films are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educational films, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.