CineMarfa 2016
The 2016 CineMarfa film festival lineup focused on films from and about California, with an emphasis on the rich history of experimental film from the Golden State. Two films from Agnes Varda's California film cycle, "Lions, Love (...and Lies)" and "Black Panthers", were screened, along with short films by Jordan Belson, Bruce Conner, Bruce Baillie, Wallace Berman, and Freude Bartlett. Filmmaker Harmony Korine presented one of his favorite films: the gritty crime drama “Straight Time” (1978) directed by Ulu Grosbard. "Void California", a shorts program curated by Craig Baldwin of Other Cinema and presented by Bill Daniel, included films by Survival Research Labs, Tuxedo Moon, and Super-8 films by Texas artist Bill Daniel, who was in attendance for the screening. Thom Andersen's documentary on L.A.'s visual and geographic history, "Los Angeles Plays Itself" was shown, and Light Industry's Thomas Beard brought "Bless Their Little Hearts", Billy Woodberry's rarely screened feature about life in South Central L.A. in the 80s. Other programs included Leo Gabin's new found footage adaptation of Harmony Korine's "A Crackup At The Race Riots", the Texas premiere of Tamar Halpern's artist documentary "Llyn Foulkes One Man Band", and a sneak peek at West Texas filmmaker Travis Walker's feature "Bird Boi". CineMarfa 2016 also featured the first-ever public exhibition of Jordan Belson's paintings, shown at the Eugene Binder gallery, a free concert at the Lumberyard, co-presented with Marfa Live Arts, by Chicago band Tortoise, and a live analog video synthesis workshop led by Los Angeles artist Jennifer Juniper Stratford of Telefantasy Studios.
