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The Ann Arbor Chronicle presents
The 2011 Summer Documentary Film Series

Mondays at 7:00 PM
A hand-picked assortment of the best
documentary films of the past few years


Remember to get your Frequency Card stamped before every screening to earn great prizes!
Pick up yours at our host stand!

Series Schedule
WINNEBAGO MAN
June 6 at 7:00 PM
PRODIGAL SONS
June 13 at 7:00 PM
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD
June 20 at 7:00 PM
GREY GARDENS
June 27 at 7:00 PM
MARWENCOL
July 4 at 7:00 PM
NENETTE
July 11 at 7:00 PM
WASTE LAND
July 18 at 7:00 PM
BLOOD INTO WINE
July 25 at 7:00 PM
BEIJING TAXI
August 1 at 7:00 PM
THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM
August 8 at 7:00 PM
THE LAST WALTZ
August 15 at 7:00 PM
SWEETGRASS
August 22 at 7:00 PM
A FILM UNFINISHED
August 29 at 7:00 PM


WINNEBAGO MAN

June 6 at 7:00 PM

Jack Rebney is the most famous man you've never heard of - after cursing his way through a Winnebago sales video, Rebney's outrageously funny outtakes became an underground sensation and made him an internet superstar. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer journeys to the top of a mountain to find the recluse who unwittingly became the "Winnebago Man."

85 minutes. Not rated.

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June 6 at 7 PM


PRODIGAL SONS

June 13 at 7:00 PM

Filmmaker Kimberly Reed returns home for her high school reunion, ready to reintroduce herself to the small town as a transgender woman and hoping for reconciliation with her long estranged adopted brother Marc. Things are complicated by the shocking revelation that Marc may in fact be the grandson of Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth, forcing Kim and her family to explore questions of sexual orientation, identity, severe trauma and love.

86 minutes. Not rated.

Click on the date to purchase your ticket in advance:
June 13 at 7 PM


JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT:
THE RADIANT CHILD

June 20 at 7:00 PM

Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. As a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man. The documentary serves as the first time this rare footage of the artist has been shown publicly.

88 minutes. Not rated.

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June 20 at 7 PM


GREY GARDENS

June 27 at 7:00 PM

In this frontrunner of cult documentary, the Maysles brothers visit Edith Bouvier Beale, nearing 80, and her daughter Edie. Reclusive, the pair live with cats and raccoons in Grey Gardens, a crumbling mansion in East Hampton. Edith is dry and quick-witted, while "Little Edie" sets a style her own with ensembles that include scarves wrapped around her head.
Inspiring countless reenactments and award-winning film adaptations, see where it all began.

100 minutes. Rated PG for language.

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June 27 at 7 PM


MARWENCOL
FREE for veterans

July 4 at 7:00 PM

Marwencol documents the fantasy world of Mark Hogancamp, who builds a miniature scale World War II-era town in his backyard dubbed "Marwencol" to cope with being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men. Playing in the town and photographing the action helps Mark to recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds of the attack. Suddenly Mark's therapy is deemed "art", forcing him to choose between the safety of his fantasy life in Marwencol and the real world that he's avoided since the attack.

83 minutes. Not rated.
FREE for active military and veterans.


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July 4 at 7 PM


NÉNETTE

July 11 at 7:00 PM

Nénette, an orangutan, is the star of the Parisian zoo where she has lived for most of her life. At 40 years old, she is a mother of four and has survived three mates, and only bonds with a few select keepers. The camera rests throughout on Nénette and the other apes in everyday situations. We only see the visitors as occasional reflections in the glass, but we hear their recorded comments and conversations alongside interviews with the zoo keepers.

70 minutes. Not rated.

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July 11 at 7 PM


WASTE LAND

July 18 at 7:00 PM

An uplifting feature documentary highlighting the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. Top-selling contemporary artist Vik Muniz takes us on an emotional journey from Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, to the heights of international art stardom. Vik collaborates with the brilliant catadores, pickers of recyclable materials, true Shakespearean characters who live and work in the garbage quoting Machiavelli and showing us how to recycle ourselves.

99 minutes. Not rated.

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July 18 at 7 PM


BLOOD INTO WINE

July 25 at 7:00 PM

Music fans know Maynard James Keenan as the frontman of such bands as Tool and A Perfect Circle, but in this documentary filmmakers Christopher Pomerenke and Ryan Page offer a closer look at one of the prolific rocker's more unexpected hobbies -- winemaking. Through unguarded conversations with Keenan and his business partner Eric Glomski, Pomerenke and Page discover just what got the pair interested in winemaking, and why they chose the hostile natural environment of Arizona to serve as the site of their winery.

100 minutes. Not rated.

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July 25 at 7 PM


BEIJING TAXI

August 1 at 7:00 PM

In the ancient capital of China, three taxi drivers are seen through a humanistic lens as they navigate a quickly morphing city, confronting modern issues and changing values, all the while adapting to new realities of life in the modern city. With stunning imagery of Beijing and the 2008 Summer Olympic Games as the backdrop for Beijing Taxi's story, the film serves as metaphor for Chinese society and its struggles to reconcile with a new capitalist system in the Communist-ruled and educated society.

78 minutes. Not rated.

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August 1 at 7 PM


THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM

August 8 at 7:00 PM

Exploring the controversial American subculture of raising the deadliest and most exotic animals on earth as common household pets, the story follows the journey of two men at the heart of the issue. One, Tim Harrison, an Ohio police officer whose friend was killed by an exotic pet, and the other, Terry Brumfield, a big-hearted man who struggles to keep two pet African lions that he loves like his own family.

96 minutes. Not rated.

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August 8 at 7 PM


THE LAST WALTZ

August 15 at 7:00 PM

Martin Scorsese's 1978 documentary of the Band is mixed with interviews of its members like Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm. The major motion picture director, whose works include Raging Bull, gives the same attention to their exit and influence as does the film's final stage show.

The result is a poignant and powerful review of classic rock legends that include Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and many more.

"the most beautiful rock film ever made" -- New York Times

117 minutes. Not rated.

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August 15 at 7 PM

Sponsored by Booth Plumbing and Heating of Ann Arbor


SWEETGRASS

August 22 at 7:00 PM

This films follows a group of shepherds who took a herd of sheep one final time through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, part of the extreme northwest of the United States. Spanning 300 kilometers through expansive green valleys, fields of snow, and across hazardous, narrow ridges - this is a journey brimming with challenges. The high mountains and trecherous terrain include wolves and grizzly bears which only add to the already major feat of keeping hundreds of sheep together which proves a surprisingly satisfying, albeit suspenseful, documentary.

101 minutes. Not rated.

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August 22 at 7 PM


A FILM UNFINISHED
Shtikat Haarchion (original title)

August 29 at 7:00 PM

Director and screenwriter Yael Hersonski takes an unflinching look at our understanding of historical representation--and misrepresentation--in film by unspooling a well-known "unfinished" film documenting the life in the Warsaw Ghetto that historians used as a guide to life during that time. The later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings, showing the manipulations of camera crews in these "everyday" scenes. These unwilling but complicit actors are alternately fearful and in denial of their looming fate. This official selection of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival is the finale to our season.

88 minutes. Rated R for frightening and intense scenes.

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August 29 at 7 PM




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