TITLE | DIRECTOR | LENGTH | YEAR | Screening Dates |
Point and Shoot | Marshall Curry | 93 min | 2014 | Thur. 1/16 |
Above Us Only Sky | Michael Epstein | 89 min | 2018 | Thur. 1/30 |
Fata Morgana and Lessons of Darkness | Werner Herzog | 75 min 50 mins | 1971 1997 | Thur. 2/13 |
What Happened Miss Simone? | Liz Garbus | 102 mins | 2015 | Thur. 3/5 |
This seminar will screen four quirky and somewhat obscure documentaries by noted filmmakers. A brief introduction and post-film discussion will follow each screening.
Quirky documentaries are not typical documentaries, like, for example, Ken Burns’ PBS films.
Typical documentaries focus on nature, history, art, science, and other classically academic or journalistic subjects.
Quirky documentaries focus on atypical people and their unusual lives. Quirky documentary filmmakers frequently insert personal observations, philosophies, critiques, and wonderment about their subjects—sometimes called “direct cinema.” A quirky documentary can often be as much about the filmmaker as about the subject of the film. Their content goes deeper than “just the facts” of journalistic documentaries. They can be considered thought-provoking works of art.
Each film in this series will have a short introduction, with a discussion and Q&A after. Seminar Leader is Bob Maier, who is a documentary filmmaker (PBS and others), has published three books on film, was head of the broadcasting production department at Gaston College, and started several film discussion groups in the Charlotte area. He and his wife Catheryn moved to Halls Chapel Rd. last August, after many years visiting the Celo area.
The seminar will be held in the Celo Community Center from 7:00pm to about 9pm (with its new projector and wide projection screen on Blu-Ray discs). See dates above.
Titles and times are subject to change depending on availability, weather, etc.
Please register with Bob at 828-675-6362 or rgm234@gmail.com so you can be alerted about schedule changes, and give him an idea of how many will attend. Also feel free to contact him with any questions.
Thank-you for your interest…
Bob