The early ‘90s was an explosive time for indie cinema, a window of time where filmmakers of different backgrounds were able to lean into experimentation to make and distribute films that broke the mold of traditional storytelling. Now that 30 years have passed since that fruitful time, we are seeing many of those films be unearthed and remastered. Joining the Speed Cinema’s recent screenings of rarely shown cult classics like “DryLongSo” and “Young Soul Rebels” is the early quintessential eco-cinema “Fresh Kill.”
Fresh Kill
with director Shu Lea Cheang in person
Wednesday, Sept. 18
Speed Cinema
$12/$8 for Speed and Women in Film KY members
Shu Lea Cheang made her directorial debut in 1994 with this chaotic kaleidoscope of a film. Honey is the beloved child of an interracial lesbian couple, Shareen and Claire, and they all live together in near future New York City where the Fresh Kills Landfill has taken over Staten Island. When Honey disappears under mysterious circumstances, her parents take up broadcast activism and are deemed terrorists. In the background looms an ecological disaster that informs the actions of a wide cast of characters. Radioactive fish from Taiwan have arrived in NYC, affecting sushi lovers and cats alike, and causing the consumer to glow green, spout gibberish, before ultimately disappearing. This world is falling apart because corporations create profit out of misery, dumping their waste on poor people, using TV pundits to keep people divided, and catering to an elite few. Sound familiar?
The plot is simple, Cheang’s world building is not, and she uses a wide variety of cinematic tools to achieve something rare — a dystopian ecological film that is fun. Mentioning dystopian ecological disasters usually creates certain expectations for the filmgoer who braces themselves for a slog through an ugly future. But “Fresh Kill” is delightful. Its style and delivery recall the meta textual commercials in “Putney Swope,” the the set design and sound of “Liquid Sky,” and all with the unapologetically hot, loving, and proud lesbianism of “Born Into Flames” tucked in nicely. It is art, through and through, playful and free where other directors would get bogged down with plot mechanics. It is an example of the original glitch film, using technological mishaps to break expectations and open new ways of thinking. The acting is campy and expressionist, the actors delivering speeches like they are on a John Waters set. While it’s not a film for all viewers, cinephiles who like their films to embrace nonsense as a political tool will dig it, and it is a must-watch for any student of Queer and Eco film history.
Most impressive though is that filmgoers will have a chance to interact directly with director Shu Lea Cheang. Originally hailing from Taiwan, she moved to NYC in the 80s, where she was a part of Paper Tiger Television, a non-profit, low-budget public access television program and open media collective. She now describes herself as a digital nomad, a citizen of the world, with no fixed address. “Fresh Kill” comes to the Speed Cinema as part of the current 30 year anniversary theatrical roadshow tour of the film. Accompanied by two young filmmakers — Jean-Paul Jones and Jazz Franklin, Cheang travels with the 35mm film print in five reels and two cans across the country, deliberately connecting to a demographically, racially, and gender diverse audience. What a treat to be able to talk out a rich text with an artist actively seeking out a wider audience 30 years later.
Early Notice
Eno
Thursday, Oct. 10
Speed Cinema
Arthouse Cinemas across the country are hosting generative screenings of the new documentary about the producer/musician/genius Brian Eno. From his time in Roxy Music to his collaborations with David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, and Coldplay, Eno’s influence is widespread. As a leading pioneer of ambient music, his work has seeped into our society’s shared soundtrack, including one of the most recognizable sounds of modern times: the startup sound for Microsoft Windows.
In this documentary, filmmaker Gary Hustwit has taken hundreds of hours of archival and live footage from across Eno’s long, storied career and indexed it so that a program chooses which sequences to use and in what order. This generates a completely unique screening that will only be seen as is at this particular screening. All of which is quite suitable to tell the story of Eno, an artist who has embraced changing technology to create highly innovative art for decades. Tickets are going fast, and in fact they may be gone by publication date, so Louisville Eno Heads out there better act fast!
