Oddball Films and guest curator Soumyaa Kapil Behrens bring you A Hard Road to Easy Street, an evening of films on adventures, real and imagined, that reveal it’s not so easy to be living the good life in today’s world. The program explores the journey of personal and creative place-making through the lens of groundbreaking queer cinema, vintage animations, satire and hard hitting documentary film. The highlights of the program include Lloyd Reckord’s 1965 short, Dream A40, one of the first queer films of its kind, a film that goes on the road with two men and their feelings, the bold and sometimes too truthful More Than A Dream, (1974), following two working class families-one white, one black-in the South who have been transformed by the civil rights movement. The Boo Boo Monster Enters A Beauty Contest (1973) has delightful character renderings and a groovy musical score that scats the audience along with rhythm and an independent spirit while He Was Her Man (1937), harkens back to the beginnings of Merrie Melodies with a classic battle of sexes. The Good, Good, Good Life (1974) is a bizarre and musical story about finding happiness in shiny things and Of Cats and Men (1977) animates the historical journey of the domestic cat from Egyptian times to his current seat atop the hearts of men. No matter if you are a boo boo monster, a human being or a kitty cat, the road to success is rife with wrong turns and misleading situations. Who prevails and who perishes? Find out Thursday night at Oddball Films!
Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Featuring:
He Was Her Man (Color, 1937)
She sells apples on the street in the snow while he drinks beer upstairs. She brings home the bacon but that’s not good enough for him. When he goes off into the night, leaving her with no more than a note, she takes matters into her own hands. This depression era Merrie Melodies short is progressive and full of archetypal renditions on gender politics-then and now.
Dream A40 (B+W, 1965)
This groundbreaking short film follows two men, one afraid to show his feelings and one eager to. As they travel down the road in a beautiful car, society watches them. Jamaican born British director, Lloyd Reckord presents a strikingly beautiful and stark tale of homosexuality before it was highly visible in film and media. His journey from the real to the distorted is languid and almost terrifying. A brave film that helped shaped the face of queer cinema in its earliest days.
Of Cats and Men (Color, 1968)
Ever wonder how the cat got his place at the top of the domesticated animal food chain? This Walt Disney animation takes us through the history of the fickle feline from his early days with the Egyptians, overpopulation, mythical fear and the eventual rise to greatness in the world of people.
The Boo Boo Monster Enters a Beauty Contest (Color, 1973)
Rhythmic, staccato beats structure this darling short on the Boo Boo Monster who is always prone to making mistakes that we can learn from. See him try to win a beauty contest using unconventional methods. The softness of style and the sweetness of the characters make this lesson on race and acceptance very accessible and un-accusatory.
More Than A Dream (Color, 1974)
Douglas Kiker, NBC news reporter, takes on the Supreme Court decision on Brown versus the Board of Education to ban segregation in public schools. Twenty years later, he follows two families, both working class, one white, one black. The resulting documentary reveals candid and eye-opening experiences for the people left with the task of integrating themselves in the American South. It is a brave film that represents the subjects’ feelings about integration and embedded racism in a very honest way. Includes footage of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
The Good, Good, Good Life (Color, 1977)
One man’s family takes it upon themselves to cheer him up after his wife’s death. They inspire and encourage him to use shiny credit cards to buy many shiny things. This kitsch filled short expresses itself through hilarious musical numbers, overly cheerful characters and a strong sense of doggone goodness that is sure to make you giggle and squeal!
Soumyaa Kapil Behrens is a filmmaker and scholar based in San Francisco. She is currently directing a documentary film on the eviction of one of the oldest recycling centers from their 30-some year old space in Golden Gate Park, the crown jewel of San Francisco. She earned an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University.
