When:
April 17, 7:00 pm

Written and Directed by Asheville's own Joe Chang

ABOUT THE FILM:

Daniel Crane (Nesey Gallons) is a semi-famous performance artist traveling and touring around the country, entertaining small enthralled audiences in the living rooms of houses with his awkward and sometimes alienating acts. On Halloween weekend, he finds himself with a few days off in Asheville, NC, staying with his kid sister, Dorothy (Faith Callaway) who works as a waitress at an old mom and pop Diner.

When a couple leaves a book at the Diner, Dorothy and Daniel decide to revisit the small town where they grew up. Along with Dorothy's roommate Cassie (Mariana Templin), they set out on a trip to Mount Airy, NC, discovering the things they once remembered are vanishing, and realizing things they've kept inside themselves since childhood never go away.

The film was written and directed by Joe Chang and produced by the Asheville based Papercookie Picture Company. Chang's first feature, Neutral, was an award winning surrealist comedy that John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) praised as "beautifully written and bursting with sweet sympathy for its whimsical characters". Chang also directed the band Kovacs & the Polar Bear's "Skeleton Crew" video, which won the Top Prize and Audience Award at the 2011 Music Video Asheville Festival, and was also voted the Best Music Video 2012 by Mountain Xpress readers. He also produced the independent feature Passenger Pigeons, which premiered at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival where it won the "We Believe In You" Award.

Present marks the feature film acting debuts of Nesey Gallons, a musician and collaborator with the highly influential and cult Elephant 6 Music Collective, and Faith Callaway, the adorable star of the Skeleton Crew video. It also features artist Mariana Templin and musician Teaadora. The film was shot by Greg Hudgins and made possible through a successful KICKSTARTER campaign.

Tickets are available at the Fine Arts Theatre Box Office.

Learn more about the film and watch the trailer at- ithappenedonehalloween.com

When:
November 8th. 6:00pm

This collaborative community event is to raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence in our region. A portion of the proceeds will go to support domestic and sexual violence programs in our community.

6:00 pm - 6:30pm Sales and Reception
6:30 - 6:45 Welcome and Opening Remarks
6:45 - 8:10 Film
8:10 - 8:30 Discussion

A Southern Documentary Fund production, Private Violence is a feature-length documentary film that explores the complex issue of domestic violence through the stories of survivors, advocates, activists, domestic violence scholars, abusers, district attorneys, judges, healthcare workers and others who have devoted their lives to stopping this hidden crime. Woven throughout these stories of danger and survival, fatal indifference and courageous intervention, is the history of a social movement created over the past two hundred years.

The illusion that domestic violence only happens "over there" affecting "those kinds of people," belies national statistics that clearly demonstrate that domestic violence crosses all cultural, racial, socio-economic, religious, sexual and educational divides. Today, despite the continued marked improvement in how we perceive and act against domestic violence, there are still myths and assumptions that obscure the issues and hinder real progress toward ending the rising toll of spouse and child abuse and murder.

The feature-length documentary features personal stories shot in cinema verite style filmed primarily in Chatham County, North Carolina. The film also employs the classic elements of historical documentary, interweaving the perspectives of key figures in the movement through interviews that give context to the present. The film offers a complex and multi-layered mosaic of sounds, events and images related to domestic violence from the past and present. The audience views this world through the eyes of influential activists and advocates who have been involved in addressing this issue in their respective communities for decades. As we follow these individuals and the survivors and abusers they come in contact with, we experience the challenges facing them every day as they attempt to navigate through an often confusing and hostile system. These stories provide the narrative backbone of the film. The historical aspects of the documentary interviews, archival material, and statistics will inform viewers on how we got here.

Tickets are $8.00 and can be purchased at the Fine Arts Box Office during regular business hours.

Kit Gruelle, Executive Producer and Project Creator of the film, will be keynote speaker at the November 7, 2012 "Keeping Families Safe" Conference at Mountain Area Health Education Center in Asheville.

For more information on the conference visit Keeping Families Safe Conference

Please contact Linda Stanton, MHS, BSN, RN for more information about the film screening or the conference; 828-257-4423 linda.stanton@mahec.net

Executive Producer Gloria Steinem calls Private Violence "The best film I've ever seen on domestic violence."

When:
May 16, 7:00pm - May 17, 1:00pm

DEFIANT REQUIEM

DEFIANT REQUIEM tells the little-known story of the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin. Led by imprisoned conductor Rafael Schächter, the inmates of Terezin fought back...with art and music. Through hunger, disease and slave labor, the Jewish inmates of Terezin hold onto their humanity by staging plays, composing opera and using paper and ink to record the horrors around them.

This creative rebellion reaches its peak when Schächter teaches a choir of 150 inmates one of the world's most difficult and powerful choral works, Verdi's Requiem, re-imagined as a condemnation of the Nazis. The choir would ultimately confront the Nazis face to face... and sing to them what they dare not say.

For over ten years, conductor Murry Sidlin has dreamed of bringing the Requiem back to Terezin. Now, through soaring concert footage, powerful survivor recollections, cinematic dramatizations and evocative animation, DEFIANT REQUIEM brings the incredible story of this artistic uprising to life.

All Tickets $8.00

Tickets are on sale now at the Fine Arts Theatre Box Office

Learn more at ashevillejewishfilmfestival.com

When:
May 23, 7:00 pm

TO SPRING FROM THE HAND

"It’s not a way of making a living, it’s a way of making a life."

This film examines the life and philosophy of an acclaimed artist who, for the last 40 years, has chosen not to sell his work.

Paulus Berensohn was born to Jewish émigré parents in Brooklyn NY and, despite family opposition, became a dancer who studied with greats Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham and appeared in major Broadway productions.

Then Paulus found clay, and has spent the past forty-five years discovering his relationship with this living substance. Along the way he has taught countless workshops at Penland School of Crafts and numerous other places both nationally and internationally.

In the film he discusses his life, philosophy, views on the art world and his fairy godchildren, his love of movement and ongoing practice of Qigong and the Alexander Technique, and death and dying.

British reviewer Keith Howes wrote: “See this film, breathe it in, use it as a journal, a way of moving forward. Paulus believes that "Everybody is an artist", whether that art is embodied in decorating an envelope or creating a miracle on a potter's wheel. This elegant, endlessly insightful film is a call to touch, to feel to enrich our world from a universal palette.”

For more information about the film visit- springfromthehand.com

No Admission Fee - Donations to Penland School of Crafts will be taken at the door. Reserve your seat today!

Reserve Seats Here

When:
June 13, 7:00 pm

Presented by The Center for Craft Creativity and Design

There was a time, as recently as the 1980s, when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade.

In 2010 filmmakers Faythe Levine and Sam Macon began documenting these dedicated practitioners, their time-honored methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship. Sign Painters, the first anecdotal history of the craft, features the stories of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States. The documentary and book profiles sign painters young and old, from the new vanguard working solo to collaborative shops such as San Francisco’s New Bohemia Signs and New York’s Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals.

For more information about the film visit- signpaintermovie.com

All Tickets are $10, and are available at the Fine Arts Boxoffice or Online Here-

Online Tickets

When:
June 27, 7:00 pm

One Night Only!

Director Jacob Hatley's intimate documentary finds Mr. Helm at home in Woodstock, NY, in the midst of creating his first studio album in 25 years. Shot during the course of two-plus years, this highly anticipated film focuses in on the four-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member after his 2007 comeback album, Dirt Farmer, brought him back to the spotlight.

All Tickets are $10

Tickets are now available at the Fine Arts Theatre Box Office.

Check back next week to purchase tickets online

Learn more about the film and watch the trailer at- http://levonhelmfilm.com