Southern Theatre Presents SEEN AND UNSEEN, Closes 10/9

Over ten years, Sound Unseen has established itself as one of the premiere "films-on-music" festivals in the country and has become a vital part of the Twin Cities cultural scene. The festival is known for the breadth of its multimedia productions, documentaries, rare concert footage, short films, animation, music videos, gallery exhibitions and dozens of live music events showcasing both local and national acts. In partnership with the Southern, the festival will add cinema installation, live music accompaniments to films, and multimedia performance art to its groundbreaking history.
 
"We are very pleased to partner with the Southern Theater to present the 11th annual Sound Unseen," said festival director Richard Hansen. "The event combines two great organizations with strikingly parallel missions - working together to present compelling, thought-provoking, and entertaining cinematic and performance events. This will be a great year."
 
Southern program includes
OPENING NIGHT: October 7 at 7:30pm
The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil SpectorFollowed by an opening night dance party with Hipshaker! DJ Greg Waletski
 
"Not only a hell of an exclusive but a work of art itself, a synthesis of a psychological profile, a critical history and a candid, surprising interview. An overwhelming experience." - Andrew Billen, The Times (London)

"Lives up to its grandiose title. A scoop. A Top 40 opera. The Ronettes performing songwriter Spector's infectiously plaintive 'Be My Baby.' Pure ecstasy! And so it goes for the next 100 minutes, as Spector's discourse and observations... are interwoven with his greatest hits, often played in their glorious entirety. Spector didn't invent adolescent emo, but he dignified it with Wagnerian pow." - J. Hoberman, Village Voice
 
"Creepily riveting! A rock 'n' roll Napoleon in exile, caught in a time warp. His accomplishments speak for themselves; he was a pop giant mingling with rock 'n' roll deities at a moment when people believed in them." - Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Phil Spector wrote and produced the soundtrack of America's love affairs, creating the famously resonant mono recording style he called the "Wall of Sound" instantly recognizable in hits from The Crytals' Da Doo Ron Ron to The Righteous Brothers You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling. Until, after tabloid frenzy and two trials, Spector faced the music himself and was convicted for the second-degree murder of Lana Clarkson. Partly an ode to what Spector called his "Wagnerian approach to rock & roll: little symphonies for kids," and partly a stage for megalomania that alternates between charming and creepy, Agony is an always-riveting inquiry into a man and his music. Award-winning producer and director Vikram Jayanti continues a series of documentaries on larger-than-life people who are, in his words, "about something even bigger than themselves". Granted an almost unheard of interview with the reclusive Spector at his suburban Los Angeles mansion during his first trial for murder, Jayanti pays tribute to Spector's richly layered sound by crafting Agony from an analogous layering of images, commentary and magnificent renditions of Spector hits. John Lennon's Crippled Inside plays to Spector's involuntary tics and twitches; we see Spector in court with the sounds of He's a Rebel and hagiographic subtitles excerpted from a biography. Shot by the trail-blazing cinematographer Maryse Alberti (Happiness, Velvet Goldmine), in the end, as Jayanti says, Spector is "naked on-screen and he's weird [but] however complicated the film is in its view of him, it's also a love song to his legacy."
 
Director: Vikram Jayanti, 2009, USA/UK, 102 min.Publicity photos available upon request.
 
Hipshaker! is the Twin Cities' long standing vintage soul dance night. DJs Greg Waletski and Brian Engel plus special guests spin a wide range of soulful, funky sounds from that purest of sources, the 45 rpm single.  Expect an inspired playlist celebrating the opening of Sound Unseen at the Southern and an ode to Phil Spector.
 
FRIDAY NIGHT: October 8 at 8pm
Ride, Rise, Roar
Opening set by David Byrne collaborator and Ride, Rise, Roar star Steve Reker
 
"Energetically photographed avant-garde dance turns David Byrne concert movie into a visceral experience." - The Hollywood Reporter
Ride, Rise, Roar is a David Byrne concert film that blends riveting onstage performances with intimate details of the creative collaborations that make the music and performance happen. Shot with multiple cameras over several concerts during the 08/09 tour, the film blends the energy and charisma of classic Talking Heads with the heartfelt pathos of David Byrne and Brian Eno's most recent collaboration. Between the songs, the film achieves an unprecedented intimacy with David Byrne and the band, documenting behind-the-scenes auditions, rehearsals, and interviews with key players while revealing the creative process that led to the show's unique fusion of pop music and modern dance. Ride, Rise, Roar celebrates Byrne's extensive career as a musician and testifies to the creativity that keeps him going today.
 
Director: David Hillman Curtis, 2010, USA, 87 min.
 
Working in both the worlds of independent music and contemporary dance, Steven Reker will preview music and video work for his upcoming performance at The Kitchen (March 2011).  Many of the songs that will be presented were written while he was on tour with David Byrne as a dancer.  Soon after he returned to New York, he made a record consisting of these songs and formed the band People Get Ready.  The songs stand alone yet also serve as an invitation for more conversation between the two cultures of independent music and contemporary dance - a conversation that leads, he hopes, to more participation.
 
CLOSING NIGHT: October 9 at 8pm
Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?
Opening set by Gary Louris
 
"Everything a great documentary needs to be." - Ain't It Cool News
A wildly entertaining, star-studded documentary about The Beatles' favorite American musician, Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him) is a vibrant and definitive portrait of one of the most talented singer-songwriters in pop music history. Directed by Emmy and Grammy nominee John Scheinfeld (The U.S. vs. John Lennon), the film combines compelling interviews with Nilsson's family, friends and colleagues - including BrIan Wilson, Randy Newman, Robin Williams, Micky Dolenz and Yoko Ono - with rare and never-before-seen archival footage, home movies, and excerpts from a recently discovered oral autobiography. Delving deeply into Nilsson's artistic process, his combative friendship with John Lennon, and the addictions that haunted him in and outside the studio, Scheinfeld also depicts a devoted husband and father who finally found a measure of peace outside the passing glare of fame.
 
Director: John Scheinfeld, 2006/2010, USA, 116 min.View trailer: www.whoisharrynilsson.com

 
Southern Theater screenings & performances: October 7-9, 2010
Thu. at 7:30pm, Fri. & Sat. at 8pm
Tickets: $10 opening night, $15 Fri., $20 Sat.Southern Theater box office: 612.340.1725
1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN  55454
www.southerntheater.org