August 17th, 2017

Third Man Records' Blue Room
Doors 7pm, Films 8pm
$10 / $8 Belcourt Members

A Special L&SM Double-Bill! Tickets Available Now!

FLAMING CREATURES
(Jack Smith | 1962-63 | 43 minutes | B&W | 16mm)
accompanied by
YELLOW SEQUENCE
(Jack Smith | 1963-1965 | 15 minutes | Color | 16mm)
NEWLY RESTORED PRINTS COURTESY OF THE GLADSTONE GALLERY

Jack Smith minted his legendary status as a figurehead of underground cinema and cultural provocateur with FLAMING CREATURES, a writhing, esoteric montage of hedonistic expression that attacked standards of decency, both in the realm of artistic practice and social acceptability. Shot on stolen & expired military film stock with a budget of only $300, the film garnered a degree of attention that many multi-million dollar studio productions could only wish for...for better and for worse. Police seized the film at its 1963 New York premiere and lodged obscenity charges against screening organizers Jonas Mekas, Ken Jacobs, and Florence Karpf. Subsequently, it would be banned in 22 other states. To this day it remains arguably the most heavily persecuted artwork in American history.

It will be preceded by YELLOW SEQUENCE, a sort of addendum to Smith's second feature, NORMAL LOVE, but which stands on it's own as an anarchic ode to (and explosion of) pop culture, featuring none other than Tiny Tim.

"I genuflect before Jack Smith, the only true 'underground' filmmaker." –John Waters

PRECEDED BY....

ECLIPSE CINEMA
(various artists, digital & 16mm, aprox running time 45min)

A special collection of cinematic explorations and invocations of the celestial ballet, in celebration of August 21st total solar eclipse. Featuring work by Georges Méliès, Chris Marker, Ed Emshwiller, and more.