The Agenda

The author continues his tradition of bizarre meditations on film

By Evan Villari

[Note: This article first appeared in The Agenda #16]

Cheat Sheet: An Eastern European family hires Evan to transfer some film to video. The film, from an orphanage in Russia, is of a little girl this family is thinking of adopting. When the people at the orphanage strip the little girl down, Evan becomes uncomfortable with it, and begins to wonder if he might be involved in something illegal. This gives him the chance to reflect on some of his favorite Eastern European filmmakers.

And so patiently I waited. Happiness for a possibly sterile family was depending on my abilities. Railway tracks were quite literally crossed to get here. It was the end of the month and I wasn't proud of what I was about to do. A craigslist post had brought me here. He said she was from Russia. I of course knew this could have meant just about any satellite nation (formeror otherwise) in the Eastern Bloc. Although I must confess when the shoves get pushed around, my ultra-west, red-painting ignorance had a way of calling the whole of it Russia too. My thoughts wandered to a work by Jan Svankmajer.

By Dave Fischer

[Note: This article originally appeared in The Agenda #15]

Every rumor of another movie about the
early punk scene is met with trepidation by the fans of that period. Every time
we hear about another film project covering the life of Darby Crash, we hear a
chorus of moans from the ranks of the obsessed. It was a period of high drama
and embarrassing excess, and every survivor seems to be a mental case with an
arsenal of axes to grind.

My Long Overdue “Enough is Enough” Response to the Modern Horror Flick in “How-To” Form

by Evan Villari

[Note: This article first appeared in Agenda #18]

Much like all the other forms of popular entertainment, the moving picture industry has once again created a market where the mindless can assemble, shell out, and forget what they just saw until the next one's release.

This month-long sidebar festival celebrates international documentary filmmaking and runs through May 2nd at various locations throughout the state, including: the University of Rhode Island, Feinstein Campus, Providence; the Columbus Theater Arts Center, Providence; Roger Williams University, Bristol; the Westerly Public Library, Westerly; and the Courthouse Center for the Arts, West Kingston.