Episode #120 - Alison Kozberg (Nowhere)

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"I think it’s important to remember that the majority of art house cinemas in this country are not in Los Angeles or New York, but are in cities and towns of all sizes where it is incredibly valuable for people to have the opportunity to come together and watch media." 

If cinema enters what might be its 100th identity crisis since its birth, there is at least a more appropriate question to ask: where will cinema take place? As the first guest of 2020, Peter brings in Art House Convergence director Alison Kozberg to tackle how the art house scene has changed less in Los Angeles and New York but instead transformed cities like Tuscon and Charleston. Alison charts her life as a repertory-goer in the 1990s to learning the tricks of programming for both classic Hollywood and experimental works in places like Minneapolis, Boston, and South Carolina. She then looks at the new challenges—but more so, opportunities—for art houses to engage and create new community spaces. Finally, the two dive back into her teen years to examine Gregg Araki's apocalyptic teenage satire Nowhere, which Alison argues as a rare breakthrough film of the time to openly accept queer identities as normative.

0:00–5:06 Opening
5:52–51:11 Deep Focus — Alison Kozberg
52:28–57:34 Sponsorship Section
58:57–1:17:03 Double Exposure — Nowhere (Gregg Araki)
1:17:28–1:19:21 Close

Notes and Links to the Conversation
—Learn more about Alison Kozberg and Art House Convergence
—The Lyric Theatre in Fort Collins, CO.
—Nowhere has never been released on DVD or any streaming series so it is pretty much impossible to watch outside a few video stores that carry the film on a Region 2 DVD. But also.
—Alison has worked at the Brattle, the Walker Arts Museum, Los Angeles Film Forum, and the Nickelodeon
—Some history of the Silent Movie Theater.
—Douglas Fairbanks in The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916).
—Clara Bow in Hula (1927).
—Sherman Torgan of New Beverly
—Ted Barron at The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
—Roy Grundmann at Boston University
—David James's The Most Typical Avant-Garde
—Mark Toscano on The Cinephiliacs
—The history of Los Angeles's avant-garde scene was in part compiled by Alison in the book Alternative Projections and the corresponding website.
—More about Art House Theater Day
—Issues related to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox and the "vault."
—Alison on the future of the industry and its changes.
—Alison responds to the New York Times's take on the future of movies.
—The Loft Cinema in Tuscon
—Jacobs Burns Film Center
—Belcourt Theatre, Nashville
—Texas Theatre, Dallas
—The Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis. Alison wrote briefly about their 35mm projection here. Peter bought some posters from the Trylon during their last sale!
—Matatu Think Tank in Oakland
—Blobfest at the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, PA
—Peter wrote about Southland Tales here.
—Gregg Araki's Now Apocalpyse

Theme Music: “Forward” by Northbound

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