On Saturday May 5, at 2:00 PM at the enchanting Siren Theater, 315 NW Davis, archivists Elizabeth Peterson, Libby Burke, and Dennis Nyback will present a screening of selected films from the minor cinemas of Oregon.
FILM #1
Elizabeth Peterson will screen LUTHER METKE AT 94 (1979), directed by Jorge Preloren & Steve Raymen. 27 min, color, shot on 16mm.
“A portrait of Luther Metke who has lived in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon since 1907. Tells how he was a veteran of the Spanish American War, an early labor organizer, a poet, and a builder, and today serves as a vital and lucid example of the rural ethic in America.”
LUTHER METKE AT 94, an ethnographic film, comes from UO Libraries, where Elizabeth Peterson is Curator of Moving Images.
FILM #2
Libby Burke will screen THE CHANGING COLUMBIA (ca 1981), directed by Homer Groening. 27 min, color, shot on 16mm, color digitally restored by Gary Lacher.
Bonneville Power Administration made several award-winning informational films from 1939 – 1987. “The Changing Columbia” came right after the passage of the Pacific Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Act in 1980. To comply with its mandates, BPA promoted several programs to encourage consumers to conserve power, learn about alternatives like wind, solar, and energy efficiency. Homer Groening won the contract to explore these ideas in a film. It’s beautifully made, but was never distributed. To our knowledge, this is the first public screening of one of Homer Groening’s last films. Libby Burke
THE CHANGING COLUMBIA, a informational film, comes from the Bonneville Power Administration Library, where Libby Burke is archivist and film curator.
FILM #3
Dennis Nyback will screen THE CASE OF THE KITCHEN KILLER (1976), directed by Tim Smith. 21 min, color, shot on (and screened in) 16mm.
“I was 17 years old when I got the idea for this film. Pat McCormick, writer and comic, once mentioned that one of the scariest times in his life was being a approached by a man brandishing a pair of kitchen tongs in the men’s restroom at New York’s Grand Central Station. This joke somehow morphed into an idea of a parody of crime drama’s dealing with the psychological angle.” Tim Smith
THE CASE OF THE KITCHEN KILLER, a low budget live action short, comes from Dennis Nyback Films, a private collection.
Nyback will also screen FOUR MEN TALKING ABOUT A BEER BOTTLE(1969), a regionally made industrial film, and a MYSTERY COMMERCIAL(1960s?), a regionally made television commercial, both from his collection.
Selected Films From The Minor Cinemas Of Oregon
May 5, 2018
2:00 PM- 4:00 PM
315 NW Davis
Portland
Presented by Libby Burke, Elizabeth Peterson, & Dennis Nyback, with assistance from Brad Robison, as part of Oregon Cartoon Institute‘s fourth annual Oregon Film History Conference.
This screening is open to the public
Admission $10
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Founded in 2007 by Anne Richardson and Dennis Nyback, Oregon Cartoon Institute uses new media, archival film, research, networking, and cross disciplinary discussion to explore Oregon film, animation, and print cartooning history. A 501c3 non profit organization, it has no brick and mortar presence, and always works in partnership with organizations which do.
