THE PROJECTR MOVIE CLUB IS A NEW VIRTUAL SERIES SHOWCASING RARE, LOST AND UNRELEASED FILMS
The First edition will launch February 5, 2021 with the streaming
Premiere of Sion Sono’s RED POST ON ESCHER STREET
Grasshopper Film today announced the launch of the Projectr Movie Club, a new series dedicated to presenting virtual premieres of important yet underseen and unreleased films. The first edition will launch February 5, 2021 with four films presented in two-week engagements over an eight-week period.
The first edition will present online premieres of Sion Sono’s RED POST ON ESCHER STREET (2020), co-presented with Japan Society (Sono’s new film Prisoners of the Ghostland starring Nicholas Cage is slated to premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival), Ehsan Khoshbakht’s FILMFARSI (2020), Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s THE DEPTHS (2010), and a Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet double feature, A VISIT TO THE LOUVRE and CEZANNE (1989, 2004).
Projectr Movie Club will premiere new films every other Wednesday, which will only be available to stream during their two-week presentations. Screenings will be complemented by filmmaker and critic introductions, short films and other supplementary materials. Viewers will be able to learn more about the films by posting questions for filmmakers (when available). They will also be able to share films they love with friends and fellow cinephiles by offering a $5 coupon. Tickets will be $12 per film or $25 for a 4-film Edition Pass.
Said Grasshopper’s Ryan Krivoshey, “The Projectr Movie Club is a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on vital and extraordinary films, previously thought lost or unreleased due to rights and other issues, which have not received the attention or acclaim they deserve. We’re thrilled to build on the success of Projectr with this exciting new initiative.”
The first edition will include the following four films:
● AVAILABLE TO STREAM FEBRUARY 5 – 18, 2021
RED POST ON ESCHER STREET, dir. Sion Sono, 2020 *ONLINE PREMIERE Co-presented with Japan Society (who are including the film as part of their upcoming February 2021 season).
A film director Tadashi Kobayashi holds an audition for his new film project. Several unique actors and actresses apply for the roles but most of them does not pass but participate as extras after all and go out of control. Can the film come to completion without accident?
● AVAILABLE TO STREAM FEBRUARY 17 – MARCH 2, 2021
FILMFARSI, dir. Ehsan Khoshbakht, 2020 *ONLINE PREMIERE
Sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll — Iranian style! A personal journey through the history of Iranian popular cinema before the revolution and the world of “filmfarsi”, a term referring to the rowdy and melodramatic genre films made from the early 1950s to 1979. Filmfarsi provides a fascinating archaeology of “the biggest secret in cinema history” (The Guardian) — a compelling window into a lost past. This documentary uncovers a cinema of titillation, action and big emotions, which presented a troubling mirror for the country, as Iran struggled to reconcile its religious traditions with the turbulence of modernity, and the influences of the West. Four years in the making, Filmfarsi features clips from more than 100 films, almost all banned in their country of production.
● AVAILABLE TO STREAM MARCH 3 – 16, 2021
THE DEPTHS, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2020 *ONLINE PREMIERE
A famous Korean fashion photographer on assignment in Japan discovers a new kind of friendship with a mysterious male escort in Hamaguchi’s delicate character study. Anticipating his masterful epics, Asako I & II and Happy Hour, The Depths reveals Hamaguchi’s fascination with the unspoken and often indescribable bonds that create real intimacy.
● AVAILABLE TO STREAM MARCH 17 – 30, 2021
A VISIT TO THE LOUVRE and CEZANNE, dir. Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet, 1989 and 2004 *ONLINE PREMIERE
A double feature of Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet’s most beloved films exploring the essence, history and presentation of art.
Cézanne
Joachim Gasquet’s 1921 memoir of his friend Paul Cézanne is an invaluable portrait of the painter’s life and work. Straub-Huillet use passages from this book, together with pastoral scenes from Jean Renoir’s film adaptation of Madame Bovary (1933) and photographs of Cézanne by the painter Maurice Denis, to make a moving and profound personal essay. Cézanne (along with Giotto) was a guiding light for Straub and Huillet. They shot the film, in part, at Mont Sainte-Victoire, where Cézanne revolutionized the history of art, marveling, “Look at this mountain—it was once fire.”
A Visit to the Louvre
Straub and Huillet had fierce opinions about the presentation and preservation of art in museums, from the use of protective glass to the way paintings are hung, lit, and conserved. Their visit to the Louvre is a reflection of these strong sentiments, as well as a richly revealing look at their way of looking. They use words attributed to Paul Cézanne (as quoted by Joaquim Gasquet) to critique images, venomous about some artists (David, Ingres) while honey-tongued about others (Murillo, Tintoretto, Veronese, Delacroix, Courbet).