OCT 1: MoMA Screening of STRANGE CULTURE - Critically Acclaimed Film about Artist Accused of
Dates:
Fri Sep 14, 2007 00:00 - Fri Sep 14, 2007
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?ida48&refElendar
MoMA.org
The Museum of Modern Art
Lynn Hershman Leeson's Strange Culture
October 1, 2007
A frightening and riveting hybrid documentary, Strange Culture confronts the government's inordinate and insensitive reaction to one artist in the practice of his work. In 2004, Steven Kurtz, a founding member of Critical Art Ensemble, a collective dedicated to the advancement of social justice through cultural activities, was working with his wife, Hope, on a piece about genetic food engineering for a MassMoCA exhibition. When Hope died suddenly of heart failure, Kurtz called 911. Police arrived, became suspicious of the Kurtzes' art, and called the FBI. The artist was detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" while federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, cat, and even his wife's body. Despite the fact that the materials in question were harmless bacteria, the government is still pursuing a trial. Since the ongoing nature of the case prevents Kurtz from discussing its details, Lynn Hershman Leeson has employed actors to dramatize parts of the story. One of America's best known and most prolific media artists, Hershman Leeson deftly interweaves news footage, reenactments, animation, interviews, and footage of Kurtz himself in this stranger-than-fiction narrative of the law gone wild.
A DISCUSSION WITH PROFESSOR KURTZ & DIRECTOR LYNN HERSHMAN LEESON WILL FOLLOW THE SCREENING.
Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film.
---
For more information about Strange Culture, please contact Carla Sacks or Ross Clark at
Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000, carla@sacksco.com or ross@sacksco.com.
For more information about the case, please visit the CAE Defense Fund:
www.caedefensefund.org
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?ida48&refElendar
MoMA.org
The Museum of Modern Art
Lynn Hershman Leeson's Strange Culture
October 1, 2007
A frightening and riveting hybrid documentary, Strange Culture confronts the government's inordinate and insensitive reaction to one artist in the practice of his work. In 2004, Steven Kurtz, a founding member of Critical Art Ensemble, a collective dedicated to the advancement of social justice through cultural activities, was working with his wife, Hope, on a piece about genetic food engineering for a MassMoCA exhibition. When Hope died suddenly of heart failure, Kurtz called 911. Police arrived, became suspicious of the Kurtzes' art, and called the FBI. The artist was detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" while federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, cat, and even his wife's body. Despite the fact that the materials in question were harmless bacteria, the government is still pursuing a trial. Since the ongoing nature of the case prevents Kurtz from discussing its details, Lynn Hershman Leeson has employed actors to dramatize parts of the story. One of America's best known and most prolific media artists, Hershman Leeson deftly interweaves news footage, reenactments, animation, interviews, and footage of Kurtz himself in this stranger-than-fiction narrative of the law gone wild.
A DISCUSSION WITH PROFESSOR KURTZ & DIRECTOR LYNN HERSHMAN LEESON WILL FOLLOW THE SCREENING.
Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film.
---
For more information about Strange Culture, please contact Carla Sacks or Ross Clark at
Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000, carla@sacksco.com or ross@sacksco.com.
For more information about the case, please visit the CAE Defense Fund:
www.caedefensefund.org
OCT 1: MoMA Screening of STRANGE CULTURE - Critically Acclaimed Film about Artist Accused of "Bioterrorism"
Dates:
Fri Sep 14, 2007 00:00 - Fri Sep 14, 2007
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?ida48&refElendar
MoMA.org
The Museum of Modern Art
Lynn Hershman Leeson's Strange Culture
October 1, 2007
A frightening and riveting hybrid documentary, Strange Culture confronts the government's inordinate and insensitive reaction to one artist in the practice of his work. In 2004, Steven Kurtz, a founding member of Critical Art Ensemble, a collective dedicated to the advancement of social justice through cultural activities, was working with his wife, Hope, on a piece about genetic food engineering for a MassMoCA exhibition. When Hope died suddenly of heart failure, Kurtz called 911. Police arrived, became suspicious of the Kurtzes' art, and called the FBI. The artist was detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" while federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, cat, and even his wife's body. Despite the fact that the materials in question were harmless bacteria, the government is still pursuing a trial. Since the ongoing nature of the case prevents Kurtz from discussing its details, Lynn Hershman Leeson has employed actors to dramatize parts of the story. One of America's best known and most prolific media artists, Hershman Leeson deftly interweaves news footage, reenactments, animation, interviews, and footage of Kurtz himself in this stranger-than-fiction narrative of the law gone wild.
Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film.
---
The Museum of Modern Art
(212) 708-9400
11 West 53 Street,
between Fifth and Sixth avenues
New York, NY 10019-5497
---
For more information about Strange Culture, please contact Carla Sacks or Ross Clark at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000, carla@sacksco.com or ross@sacksco.com.
For more information about the case, please visit the CAE Defense Fund: www.caedefensefund.org
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?ida48&refElendar
MoMA.org
The Museum of Modern Art
Lynn Hershman Leeson's Strange Culture
October 1, 2007
A frightening and riveting hybrid documentary, Strange Culture confronts the government's inordinate and insensitive reaction to one artist in the practice of his work. In 2004, Steven Kurtz, a founding member of Critical Art Ensemble, a collective dedicated to the advancement of social justice through cultural activities, was working with his wife, Hope, on a piece about genetic food engineering for a MassMoCA exhibition. When Hope died suddenly of heart failure, Kurtz called 911. Police arrived, became suspicious of the Kurtzes' art, and called the FBI. The artist was detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" while federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, cat, and even his wife's body. Despite the fact that the materials in question were harmless bacteria, the government is still pursuing a trial. Since the ongoing nature of the case prevents Kurtz from discussing its details, Lynn Hershman Leeson has employed actors to dramatize parts of the story. One of America's best known and most prolific media artists, Hershman Leeson deftly interweaves news footage, reenactments, animation, interviews, and footage of Kurtz himself in this stranger-than-fiction narrative of the law gone wild.
Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film.
---
The Museum of Modern Art
(212) 708-9400
11 West 53 Street,
between Fifth and Sixth avenues
New York, NY 10019-5497
---
For more information about Strange Culture, please contact Carla Sacks or Ross Clark at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000, carla@sacksco.com or ross@sacksco.com.
For more information about the case, please visit the CAE Defense Fund: www.caedefensefund.org
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY: New screenings of Strange Culture - doc about artist accused of
Dates:
Tue Aug 21, 2007 00:00 - Mon Aug 20, 2007
(PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY)
Don't miss these upcoming screenings of Lynn Hershman Leeson's critically-acclaimed Strange Culture (http://strangeculture.net), which chronicles the ongoing story of artist Steven Kurtz and scientist Robert Ferrell, accused by the US government in 2004 of "bioterrorism" and now awaiting trial:
Aug 17-23
Buenos Aires
2nd Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
August 21-23
Albuquerque NM
The Guild Cinema
Aug 24-30
Chicago IL
Facets Cinema
Aug 29-30
Northampton MA
Maine Street Media Festival
Sept 8
St. Louis MI
Global Fusion Conference
Q&A with Lucia Sommer
Sept 8
Buffalo NY
Hallwalls & Market Arcade Benefit Screening
Market Arcade Film & Arts Center
www.hallwalls.org/special/special.html
Discussion with Steve Kurtz
Sept 7-13
Buffalo NY
Market Arcade
Sept 16-20
Pittsburgh PA
Regent Square Cinema
Sept 14-19
Seattle WA
NW Film Forum
Sept 21-27
San Raphael CA
California Film Institute
Sept 21-27
San Francisco CA
The Roxie Theatre
Sept - TBA
Waterville ME
Railroad Square Cinema
Sept / Oct - TBA
Oklahoma City
Museum of Art
Oct 1
New York NY
MoMA
Q&A with Lynn Hershman Leeson & Steve Kurtz
Oct 5-18
New York NY
Cinema Village
Q&A with Lynn Hershman Leeson & Steve Kurtz
Oct 10-14
Woodstock NY
Woodstock Film Festival
Nov 8
Philadelphia PA
First Person Arts
Q&A with Lucia Sommer
Nov 8
Location TBA
First Person Festival of Memoir & Documentary Art
Nov 22
Toronto
A Space Gallery
Reception with Steve Kurtz
TBA
Los Angeles CA
Laemmle Theatres
THE CASE
Strange Culture (2007, 75min) chronicles the surreal nightmare of Steven Kurtz, an art professor at SUNY Buffalo and a founding member, with his late wife, Hope, of the internationally exhibited art and theater collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). In May 2004 the Kurtzes were preparing to present Free Range Grain, a project examining GM agriculture, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), when Hope Kurtz died of heart failure. Police who responded to Steve Kurtz’s 911 call deemed the couple’s art suspicious, and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was illegally detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" as dozens of federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his wife’s body. Today Kurtz and long-time collaborator Dr. Robert Ferrell, Professor of Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, face trumped-up charges of “mail fraud” and “wire fraud,” punishable, thanks to the PATRIOT Act, by up to 20 years in prison. For more information about the case please visit: http://caedefensefund.org
THE FILM
Since the ongoing nature of the case prevents Kurtz from discussing its details, Hershman Leeson has enlisted actors to dramatize parts of the story, skillfully interweaving dialogue with news footage, animation, interviews, testimonials, and footage of Kurtz himself. Tilda Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia, Broken Flowers) and Thomas Jay Ryan (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) play Hope and Steve Kurtz, and Peter Coyote (E.T., Erin Brockovich) plays Dr. Robert Ferrell.
“Strange Culture is an important heads-up to what is going on in our country right now in the name of national security, and a brilliant statement on artistic freedom and the dangers it faces. This film should be seen, should be discussed and is an important document on our times.” —Film Threat
“Strange Culture is a veteran artist’s thoughtful, indignant response to Patriot Act America.” —indieWIRE
“You don’t have to be paranoid for Strange Culture to scare the hell out of you.” —Reuters
For more information:
http://strangeculture.net
http://caedefensefund.org
::::::::::
Don't miss these upcoming screenings of Lynn Hershman Leeson's critically-acclaimed Strange Culture (http://strangeculture.net), which chronicles the ongoing story of artist Steven Kurtz and scientist Robert Ferrell, accused by the US government in 2004 of "bioterrorism" and now awaiting trial:
Aug 17-23
Buenos Aires
2nd Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
August 21-23
Albuquerque NM
The Guild Cinema
Aug 24-30
Chicago IL
Facets Cinema
Aug 29-30
Northampton MA
Maine Street Media Festival
Sept 8
St. Louis MI
Global Fusion Conference
Q&A with Lucia Sommer
Sept 8
Buffalo NY
Hallwalls & Market Arcade Benefit Screening
Market Arcade Film & Arts Center
www.hallwalls.org/special/special.html
Discussion with Steve Kurtz
Sept 7-13
Buffalo NY
Market Arcade
Sept 16-20
Pittsburgh PA
Regent Square Cinema
Sept 14-19
Seattle WA
NW Film Forum
Sept 21-27
San Raphael CA
California Film Institute
Sept 21-27
San Francisco CA
The Roxie Theatre
Sept - TBA
Waterville ME
Railroad Square Cinema
Sept / Oct - TBA
Oklahoma City
Museum of Art
Oct 1
New York NY
MoMA
Q&A with Lynn Hershman Leeson & Steve Kurtz
Oct 5-18
New York NY
Cinema Village
Q&A with Lynn Hershman Leeson & Steve Kurtz
Oct 10-14
Woodstock NY
Woodstock Film Festival
Nov 8
Philadelphia PA
First Person Arts
Q&A with Lucia Sommer
Nov 8
Location TBA
First Person Festival of Memoir & Documentary Art
Nov 22
Toronto
A Space Gallery
Reception with Steve Kurtz
TBA
Los Angeles CA
Laemmle Theatres
THE CASE
Strange Culture (2007, 75min) chronicles the surreal nightmare of Steven Kurtz, an art professor at SUNY Buffalo and a founding member, with his late wife, Hope, of the internationally exhibited art and theater collective Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). In May 2004 the Kurtzes were preparing to present Free Range Grain, a project examining GM agriculture, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), when Hope Kurtz died of heart failure. Police who responded to Steve Kurtz’s 911 call deemed the couple’s art suspicious, and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was illegally detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" as dozens of federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his wife’s body. Today Kurtz and long-time collaborator Dr. Robert Ferrell, Professor of Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, face trumped-up charges of “mail fraud” and “wire fraud,” punishable, thanks to the PATRIOT Act, by up to 20 years in prison. For more information about the case please visit: http://caedefensefund.org
THE FILM
Since the ongoing nature of the case prevents Kurtz from discussing its details, Hershman Leeson has enlisted actors to dramatize parts of the story, skillfully interweaving dialogue with news footage, animation, interviews, testimonials, and footage of Kurtz himself. Tilda Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia, Broken Flowers) and Thomas Jay Ryan (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) play Hope and Steve Kurtz, and Peter Coyote (E.T., Erin Brockovich) plays Dr. Robert Ferrell.
“Strange Culture is an important heads-up to what is going on in our country right now in the name of national security, and a brilliant statement on artistic freedom and the dangers it faces. This film should be seen, should be discussed and is an important document on our times.” —Film Threat
“Strange Culture is a veteran artist’s thoughtful, indignant response to Patriot Act America.” —indieWIRE
“You don’t have to be paranoid for Strange Culture to scare the hell out of you.” —Reuters
For more information:
http://strangeculture.net
http://caedefensefund.org
::::::::::
