When
Prelinger returns this weekend with three screenings of motion-picture snapshots of the city. The footage was recorded mostly by amateur filmmakers from 1916 through the late 1970s. The video-projected program comes from mostly one-of-a-kind 8mm and 16mm films that are part of his Prelinger Archives, a collection of historical industrial and home movies.
"Much of this year's edition came from films I have found recently," Prelinger said in a phone interview. "The biggest difference from last year is the amount of African-American film footage that has come my way."
Among the scenes:
•
• Women working at a Chrysler auto plant during World War II.
• The 1965 national meeting of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, with special guest speaker Wilt Chamberlin.
• Detroiters making a pilgrimage to the newly opened
As with last year's program, Prelinger will present the footage without sound.
"This isn't about nostalgia, another chance to mourn the loss of the old
7 p.m. Friday-Saturday ($5) and a matinee at 4 p.m. Saturday (free when you come with a child) at the
'The Tree' worth trip to DFT: In the first few minutes of "The Tree" ( * * *), a young father and husband drops dead suddenly, leaving his wife and four kids scrambling for closure.
Then 8-year-old daughter Simone (Morgana Davies) discovers that the massive fig tree at the side of their house whispers to her as she nestles in its welcoming arms. Soon her mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who has taken to her bed after the loss of her husband, is also hanging out in the tree. "It's not a tree; it's an octopus," barks a disapproving neighbor as the tree's roots spread almost supernaturally.
With a big heart and an eye for stunning color composition, director Julie Bertuccelli turns "The Tree" into a symbolic fable about the way people mourn. Though the kids are good, the movie is anchored by Gainsbourg's understated performance as a young widow who's unprepared to raise a family alone.
7 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward, Detroit. 313-833-4686 or www.dia.org/dft. $7.50; $6.50 students, seniors.
This weekend, the theater will show "Irma Vep" ( * * *), starring Maggie Cheung as the star of a troubled French film shoot, and "The Corporation" ( * * *), an acclaimed 2004 documentary that puts a human face on big business.
"We want to provide diversity for Detroiters, not the narrow focus of the former programmers," says Landy. He was referring to the offbeat cult and horror films that showed at the theater between October 2009 and May of this year, when a lease dispute closed the theater.
The new Cass City Cinema is named after a former program that showed political and socially minded art films and documentaries in the
"We have already been in contact with several cultural organizations and film collectors to put upcoming programs together," he says.
Cass City Cinema is at
Ferndale Film Festival this weekend: The third annual Ferndale Film Festival screens mostly short films in three locations this weekend. The focus will be on independent, locally produced films, and many of the filmmakers will be in attendance.
Titles range from horror movies like Matt Cantu's "The Zombie Factor" (7 p.m. tonight) to Erin Curd's documentary "The Gentleman's Club" (1 p.m. Saturday) about a transformative program for fifth-graders in a
Venues include the Ringwald Theatre (22742 Woodward), the Ferndale Public Library, (222 E. Nine Mile) and Blumz (503 E. Nine Mile). Info at www.ferndalefilmfestival.org . $5 per screening, except for the free 1 p.m. Saturday program at the Ferndale Public Library.
Zombies invade
