"Let s Get Schooled!

Transcription

1 For Immediate Release Contact: Stephen Parr at or Event: Let s Get Schooled! Weird and Wonderful Educational Films from the Archive., curated by David Selsky. Forget those boring filmstrips you saw in elementary school! Tonight s program draws from Oddball s 50,000+ film archive and features a wide variety of films with learning as a focus that will inspire you, tickle your brain, and provide you with enough kitschy pleasure for at least one weekend. We ll begin our journey with The Making of a Slideshow, following bicyclist Bruce Bidwell as he puts together a presentation about bikes to improve community life, then Dining Room Safety, where we ll learn not kill or injure anyone in a restaurant followed by Management Theories X and Y, made by the UCLA Business School (clearly not the film school) featuring an uncomfortable teacher discussing assumptions about human nature which lead to different management styles; The Hippie Temptation (Excerpt), the camp classic 1967 CBS TV doc with Harry Reasoner, choking on anger and contempt, as he guides us through the hippie-strewn Haight-Ashbury; the creepy Toothache of the Clown, featuring Mr. Clown going to the dentist to learn how to brush (not for those afraid of clowns!); Four Famous Frauds, a scare film featuring PT Fraud going door to door (on a cheap painted set) trying to separate people from their money; and Kurt Vonnegut Jr: Deadeye Dick Part 2, a creative documentary about Vonnegut s work including interviews with the author and s reenactments of scenes from his novels Also watch vintage commercials and movie trailers which provide their own form of education! Date: Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 8:00 PM. Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: or info@oddballfilm.com Web "Let s Get Schooled! Weird and Wonderful Educational Films Screens at Oddball Films On Saturday, September 18, 2010 we present Let s Get Schooled!: Weird and Wonderful Educational Films from the Archives, a collection of films centered around learning that will inspire, educate, and amuse. Showtime is 8:00PM and admission is $ Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: info@oddballfilm.com or Oddball Films is located at 275 Capp St in San Francisco.

2 Featuring: The Analog Generation The Making of a Slideshow (color, 1976, 13.5 min) Bruce Bidwell has an idea. An avid cyclist, he d like to get more bikes lanes put in and encourage more people to ride. Good thing he s also a pro at making slideshows! We ll follow Bidwell s process and learn the conceptual and technical requirements for communicating most effectively with 1970s analog simplicity. Dining Rooms of the Middle Class Dining Room Safety (Color, 1969, 8.5 min) How does Delacroix s Liberty Leading the People relate to a training film for restaurant staff? I don t know, but this film seems to think that if we

3 don t learn how to be safe on the job (by going through the appropriate In/Out door, by not pouring hot coffee into cups when people aren t looking), then staff or customers might wind up as one of the dead on the barricade. Come see a metaphor stretched beyond reason, along with dozens of broken dishes. Geek Theorems Management Theories X and Y (Color, 1960s, 8.5 min) Made by the UCLA Business School, this film clearly shows why some people go into creative professions and others go into business. Oh, sorry, that wasn t the actual point of the film! But given the uncomfortable teacher who doesn t look at the camera half the time, the odd choices of music, and the rote lecture and green background, that was my takeaway. However, if you are indeed interested in the two theories of management style and uncovering your assumptions about human nature, you ll leave satisfied and ready to run your own plastics company. The Hippie Hell of San Francisco!

4 The Hippie Temptation Part 1 (Excerpt) (Color, 1967, 18 min) These people are hippies. They occupy a piece of land in Golden Gate Park which has come to be called Hippie Hill. So begins Harry Reasoner s angry narration for this 1967 CBS TV documentary. Reasoner can barely contain his contempt while discussing their lifestyle and the use of LSD, as he visits doctors and rehab centers to show the audience how destructive hippies are to society. Clown Dentistry Toothache of the Clown (Color, 1972, 8.5 min) The title pretty much says it all. One of the weirdest and creepiest films we ve ever seen. *Not for people afraid of clowns!* (you have our permission to take a bathroom break). Door to Door Fraud Four Famous Frauds (Color, 1977, 9.5 min) Watch out for PT Fraud! The embodiment of trickery, Mr. Fraud is cruising a neighborhood looking for his next victims, so pay close attention

5 to make sure he doesn t get you next. And, piece of advice, move out of that cardboard build, cartoon-like neighborhood you live in. Vonnegut s Genius Kurt Vonnegut Jr: Deadeye Dick Part 2 (Color, 1983, 27 min) A wonderful film made by the BBC about famed author Kurt Vonnegut ( Slaughterhouse Five, Sirens of Titan ) which includes interviews with Vonnegut and trippy reenactments of scenes from his novels with his narration and/or participation. Part 2 focuses on Cat s Cradle and Deadeye Dick, among other stories, and follows Vonnegut as he receives an award in Chicago, mirroring his alter-ego Kilgore Trout s trip to accept an award in Breakfast of Champions. Plus! Vintage commercials and movie trailers, which are certainly educational in their own right! Curator Biography: David Selsky is a photographer and nonprofiteer who received his undergraduate degree in Film Studies from UC Berkeley. He has worked at Anthology Film Archives, New Yorker Films, Sundance, and the Seattle Film Festival, and enjoys pouring through the stacks of Oddball Films for art of the highest and lowest kinds.