Uniting the Diaspora

When I first heard about Central Cinema, a new movie theater that opened at 21st Avenue and East Union Street in the Central District, I wasn't sure how it would be different from the Little Theatre or even the new Columbia City Cinema. Now I do. Instead of trying to program the latest offbeat independents, the Central Cinema folks program with their neighborhood in mind. Teaming up with Cinema Diaspora, they've been presenting movies that focus on minorities and women. This weekend they've got a program called 6000 Degrees of Black Men Reelized (Fri-Sat Nov 14-15 at 6 pm; Sun Nov 16 at 4 pm), which includes three short films that DO NOT contain drug slingers, athletes, rappers, deadbeat dads, gangbangers, or other black male stereotypes.

Speaking of the Little Theatre, this weekend it's showing a great batch of B movies and classic independent fare. Before home video and public access channels, there were the Kuchar brothers, whose no-budget exploitation films (Thurs Nov 13) hold up to repeated viewings nearly 40 years later. Other movies this weekend, as put together by B-movie archaeologist Jack Stevenson, include war propaganda, historical sexploitation films, and a tribute to camp cinema (as identified by Susan Sontag in her 1963 essay "Notes on Camp").

Monday, November 17, brings Chicago filmmaker Deborah Stratman to the Little Theatre to present some of her 16mm films. This is the show to go to for anyone interested in contemporary experimental cinema. Minimalist by first appearance, her films are chock-full of gorgeous, often static shots teamed with occasional bursts of found footage. Layered on top are soundtracks that alternate between ambient sound and found/historical texts. As a filmmaker, she has a scientific detachment that invites you to look more closely, and what you notice is fascinating--like "night vision" helicopter surveillance footage of a man on the run, or Icelandic vistas contrasted with readings of letters from a bored English tourist.

Another visiting filmmaker is Julie Talen, supplementing the presentation of her wonderfully imaginative DV feature Pretend (Consolidated Works, Fri-Sun Nov 14-16) with a free mini workshop on how to make a DV feature. Cosponsored by the UW Film Club, the event will take place on Thursday, November 13, at 6:00 p.m. in Room 102 of Smith Hall; nonstudents are encouraged to attend.

There are other great shows happening this week at 911 Media Arts, the Rendezvous, and the Independent Media Center (check the listings), but I want to point out two more "events." Cinema Seattle has a special edition of its Screenwriters Salon at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, at Richard Hugo House. The focus is on the critical "third act" of a screenplay, and will be discussed by two charming people: film critic Robert Horton and filmmaker Robinson Devor. And over at the Seattle Art Museum on Tuesday, November 18, IFP/Seattle is cohosting a benefit for the Spotlight Award-winning short Hello, featuring a screening of Alan Rudolph's Investigating Sex. It's a good way to support local filmmaking.

andy@thestranger.com