Back in the saddle again

Defunct American flagship airliner from Pan Am, flying over old Bay Bridge (also defunct)

Commencing in March, this life will take a turn, and leaving Korea, which has been “home” the last four and a half years, I’ll be taking to the road for a long trip of 18 or more months.  Initially a handful of days in Tokyo, to talk at the wrap up of an 11-film partial retrospective being mounted at the Athenee Francais.  This place stands in as the Japanese Cinematheque, since for some reason there is no Japanese thing like that, so this French cultural institute seems to have taken on the job.  A few years ago they did a Pedro Costa retrospective.  The schedule for my program is as follows:

ジョン・ジョスト監督特集2012
The Works of Jon Jost

Feb 28-Mar 3 2012

Feb 28
16:40-Speaking Directly
19:00-Last Chants for a Slow Dance (Dead End)

Feb 29
16:30-Bell Diamond
18:30-Plain Talk & Common Sense（Uncommon Senses）

Mar 1
16:50-Rembrandt Laughing
19:00-London Brief

Mar 2
17:00-6 Easy Pieces
18:30-Oui Non

Mar 3
14:00-Images of a Lost City
15:40-Special Screening & Talk ※Free
Screening: The Student Films of Digital Cinema Workshop at The Film
School of Tokyo
Talk: Jon Jost and Toshi Fujiwara

Ticket:
1000 YEN/ 2700 YEN (for 3 screenings)
Athenee Francais Cultural Center members: 800 YEN

Venue:
Athenee Francais Cultural Center
4F　2-11 Kandasurugadai Chiyoda-ku Tokyo
JAPAN 101-0062

That covers not quite a third of my work, though I guess these days a full retrospective would tax the scheduling time of the most lavish of such places.

Saddle ’em up

And then come March 14, I’ll fly to Los Angeles to begin a 6+ weeks screening tour, as follows:

Los Angeles

.

March 16, 8:00 pm   Los Angeles Filmforum at the Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N Alvarado St. (@ Sunset Blvd.) Los Angeles, CA. 90026 | (213) 484–8846, showing Chameleon
March 17,    4 pm     Cinefamily, 4 o’clock Saturday matinee (bring popcorn), showing Angel City
March 18,  7:30 pm, Los Angeles Filmforum, at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., LA, TBA
.
March 28, Nashville, Tenn.
International Lens,  Vanderbilt University 310 25th Avenue South  Nashville, TN 37240, 6 Easy Pieces, and classroom workshops 27th
.
Knoxville, Tenn.
March 29-31, Society of Media Arts, Over Here, and workshops on 29th and 30th
.
Tampa, Fl.
March 4,  Tampa, Univ Southern Florida, TBA
.
Chicago
April 6 , Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640  Over Here

April 7, Chicago Filmmakers Coop, Parable
Columbia College classroom workshop, April 9 or 10.
.
Kansas City
April 11-16,    Kansas City Film Jubilee, Swimming in Nebraska
and Imagens de uma cidade perdida, and a two part seminar, Digital Dancing

.
St Cloud, Minn.
State University, TBA
.
Northfield, Minn.
Carleton College, screening of All the Vermeers in New York, and daytime meeting, classroom seminar.

.
Lincoln, NE
Ross Film Theater, TBA
.
Portland, Oregon
May 31, NW Film Center,  Last Chants for a Slow Dance, Parable
Workshop June 1-2
June 3, La Lunga Ombra, Imagens de uma cidade perdida

Seattle, Washington

June-July screening(s) and workshop, Northwest Film,  1515 12th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122, dates and film(s) TBA

[As I get more information, time/place/etc. I will update this post.]

The foregoing is but a prelude to an 18 month (or perhaps more), lingering, last American trip, zig-zagging the continent, shooting a new essay film, Plain Songs, along with a few fictional narratives.   The essay film I imagine will be a sprawling 6 or more hours long, a wrap-up to the sequence begun in 1973 with Speaking Directly (some American notes), and then Plain Talk & Common Sense (uncommon senses) made in 1987.  I’ll be doing some kind of blogging as I go, video and text.    I hope to raise some modest funding for this with Kickstarter or some grants, and try to avoid dipping into my small bit of savings, which, once this grand tour is done, must suffice to see me to “the end,” somewhere necessarily very cheap.   Needless to say, any help, of any kind – fiscal, places to stay, suggestions as to things or people of interest – will be much appreciated.

Whether for this spring trip, or in the upcoming 18 months after March, if you’d be interested in arranging a screening, talk, workshop, or other engagement, please contact me at http://www.jon-jost.com.