Some Urban Nomad Photos

The drama of decay and rebirth (Friday night).


Got the urban sprawl aesthetic goin' on. Towards a new ecology (Friday from behind the screen).


A 12x12m construction tarp with our name spray painted on it flaps in the background, our flag. (Friday: side/back view)


And of course the bar.

Friday, March 25

OPENING FILM: DOCUMENTARY
7:30
Shanghai Rose by Michelle Lang 22 minutes
A young American Born Chinese goes in search of her roots, traveling with her grandmother back to Shanghai. A touching story of courage amidst war, and the trouble adjusting to change in contemporary China.

BUNUN FOCUS: COSMOS VS. HISTORY
8:00
Rendezvous With the Moon Dean Karalekas 23 minutes
A young child, disillusioned with his tribe’s performance in front of goggling tourists is consoled by a Bunun tribe elder, and told his tribe’s poignant myth of the difficulties of living under two suns.
In Our Hearts and Minds Steve Martin 8 minutes
A documentary featuring the Laipunuk Bunun Tribe and one village elder who served the Japanese army in Papua New Guinea. A first hand account of cultures in conflict and the survival of the human spirit.

STRAWBERRY WISHES: STUDENT SHORTS I
8:40
Snake 蛇 Zhou Hou-zhong 周侯仲5 minutes
Bushes, rippling water, a cow bell in the distance, and a sense of longing. A youth reaches for the sun.
A Breathing Apartment Lin Chun Jen 林俊彥 2 minutes
What if a building had lungs?
Urban Rhythm 城市節奏 Huang Wen-xian 黃文賢 5 minutes
A mix of animation and buying milk at 7-Eleven.
Killing Kafka Sice Wang 王志欽 5minutes
A re-creation of an actual murder complete with countless cigarettes rough pacing and hair raising philosophical tension.
Black Dot Summary黑點情節 Chen Zi-yu陳姿予 5 minutes
Do you open automatic doors just to hear the beep? A short catalogue of urbanites’ idiosyncrasies.

CULTURAL AMBUSH: EAST VS. WEST
9:00
Taipei 101: A Travelogue of Symptoms James T. Hong 23 minutes
An American Born Chinese returns to his roots only to find it exactly the same as America. He trains his camera on fat Americans, local film directors, and just about anything else that comes into this spiteful gaze.
Nineteen Seventy-four by Darin Caudle and David Bott 23 minutes
We didn't ever expect anyone would make a good Taiwanese girl student-English teacher seduction movie. This film looks at the subject seriously and succeeds. It's unflinchingly (and almost uncomfortably) real.

GET A LIFE: TAIPEI SHORTS I
9:45
Manipulation Darrell Gallant 2 minutes
This is sort of like cable TV in Taiwan. Actually, it’s exactly like cable TV in Taiwan.
Little Green Lake Norman Szabo 1 minute
Bitan, set to music.
Living the Dream Norman Szabo 5:30 minutes
Fiction. A man takes part in an experiment to make himself more successful.
Telephoney Sean Scanlan 4:30 minutes
Cell phone calls are such a pain in the ass. Fuckin goddam!
An Alter-ego of Thorsten Madsen by Hanna Hanna Leanderdal 4 minutes
A confused testimonial to a Danish novel.

GET YOUR PERV ON: EROTIC SHORTS I
10:00
Innocent Life by Machunfu 9 minutes
CG anime about an innocent blow-up doll who gets abused by her new owner. Sex and PVC, you can't go wrong.
Carmel Macchiato by Yusuke Kun 5 minutes
An erotic food thing by Japanese art/experimental film director Kun. It’s a sensual shrimp curry.
Shakedown: Portrait of a Club, Diary of a Dancer by Leilah Weinraub & Pilar Wiley 10 minutesA short documentary about black lesbian strippers in Los Angeles, California and their clientele. The booty is bumping, the dollars are flying, the music is off the hook!
The Pair Wang Ta-wei 汪大緯 7 minutes
It feels good, but…oh my! O my gosh!

MOVING IMAGES: EXPERIMENTAL FILM
10:45
Noah, Noah Tony Wu吳俊輝 20 minutes
Acclaimed experimental filmmaker, Tony Wu, shows his most literal movie to date, beginning with an e-mail correspondence with a San Francisco based friend, later traveling via train and plane to a city consumed with gay consciousness.
The Ghost of Huashan by Trista di Genova 28 minutes: Resident activist di Genova keeps the camera running on the last night of Huashan before the arts complex was taken over by the evil Council for Cultural Affairs. Basically, this is just a bunch of drunk people, mostly our friends. Read more about it on Trista's web site.


Saturday, March 26

FILMMAKER FORUM: HI-DEF FILMING
5:30pm
Tobie Openshaw, of the leading video software maker Ulead, gives this free 40-minute presentation on high-definition cameras, software, and editing techniques.

RURAL NOMAD: DOCUMENTARY
7:30
Yol D’s Marata Amanda Donigi 16 minutes
In some of Papua New Guinea’s languages, a marata is the word for sago palm leaves. A marata house is one thatched with such leaves. This documentary from PNG shows 17-year-old Yol Israel Donigi weaving his roof.

STRAWBERRY WISHES: STUDENT SHORTS II
7:45
The Passage 一個過程 Chen Wei-Hung 6 Minutes
Cool images and other op-ed effects are artfully choreographed in this student film which may cause epileptic fits, dizziness, and a general mindfuck if watched for too long. Hey we warned you!
I guess, who knows Jamie Wang王家敏, 6 minutes
Ever wonder how many surveillance cameras are in your neighborhood? Well this student film maker did a little research, hopping from camera to camera, eventually settling back onto the sofa and speculating just what the hell people are doing as viewed by his apartment’s surveillance system.
Jaio Huan 交歡 Dan Jing-lin 詹京霖 5 minutes
Dali paraphrased: a melting clock.
Savage Apartment Chang Jya Wei張家維11minutes
Five students put on wigs, fake beards, and recreate a life when people lived outdoors amongst the mosquitos. A hilarious take on modern life, and some pretty good cave-man like sets.

GLOBAL CRISIS: DOCUMENTARY
8:15
Boom Kenton Harmer 15 minutes
An aide worker ducks mortar shells and carries injured victims as Liberian rebels herd the population into an overflowing soccer stadium. A lesson in humanity at its worst, and lots of blood to boot.
Those Left Behind Kloie Picot 10 minutes
Taipei resident Picot filmed this footage in Sri Lanka during the second month after the killer tsunami devastated the area. She turns her camera lens to the ongoing relief effort and political turmoil of the island nation.

CLOAKED IN IRONY: NARRATIVE SHORTS
8:45
Fries Wang Ta-wei汪大緯3 minutes
Nobody eats lunch this way. Nobody should.
Mold Wang Ta-wei汪大緯11 minutes
Comic surrealism meets film noir: A private investigator tries to recover a stolen object and get a lot of sunlight; she’s suffering from mold.
No More Sympathy For Bastards and My Lover Patrick Tsai 13 minutes
A man, fed up with his wife and adorable child, first tries to kill himself by smoking cigarettes, later throwing himself off a building. Boy, was he pissed off at his wife.

AUTEUR IN ACTION: SOLO SHORTS BY MARC D’ANDRE
9:15
Marc D’Andre is a malcontent LA-NY scenester documenting an entire era from the inside of his own apartment. That’s right, to be a guerilla, you don’t have to go outside anymore.
Vegas Marc D’Andre 2 minutes
What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.
Good Gum Marc D’Andre 2 minutes
If you had telekinesis, that would be, like, really cool.
Hex My Ex Marc D’Andre 5 minutes
Guy who just broke up with his girl friend: “Could you put warts all over her face and make her real ugly? Hex hit man: “Do you want me to do the dog too?”

GET A LIFE: TAIPEI SHORTS II
9:25
Lady X Preview T.C. Lin 2 minutes
Local director T.C. Lin won the web-based Lady X competition (http://www.ladyxfilms.com/) and was commissioned to make the spy series’ hour long finale. Here’s a sneak preview.
The Crazy 8 LAX 6 minutes
Kind of like Superfly, but at Taipei Sports Bar.
The Coffee Run Sean Scanlan 2 minutes
A fat guy caught in traffic.
The Beautiful Film Anne 6 minutes
Six one-minute clips from six directors around the world.
Kai Wan Jason Sedor 4 Minutes
During a quick Taiwan tour, pro surfer Kai Otton busted some airs and hit some floaters and shit.
Others to be announced...

L.A. ROCKUMENTARY
9:50
Tortured by Joy by Henry Griffin 10 minutes
Both of these films have made the rounds of the North American underground film fest circuit. Tortured by Joy is short film narrated by acclaimed hipster, socialite, and leader of NY’s Lounge Lizards, John Lurie. Friggin’ hilarious. It was recently distributed as DVD supplement to the US pop literary journal The Believer. There's a bit to read on both films if you Google them. I'd provide links but for some reason the Internet is oddly slow right now.
The Tooth by Marcel Dejure 28 minutes b&w super 8
The latest surrealist directorial bow from festival co-founder Marcel DeJure, features among other things, political intrigue, a shady netherworld, mind-controlling hallucinogenic teeth and the cumbia band The Very Be Careful.

AWARDS
10:30
Lucky draws, give-aways, and prizes for Urban Nomads of note.

SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: VARIOUS
10:45
Incarnation Tony Wu 吳俊輝 6 minutes: A film recycler, Tony Wu, presents a short film based upon found imagery which he manipulates with swatches of color and other visual distortion
Total Mobilization James T. Hong and Chen Yin-ju 12 minutes: A pretty good “ant” movie by most standards, as a long, macro lens is used to trace the all-too-short lifecycle of ants from larvae to drone armies which consume a cheese-shaped cutout of the US
Turn the Turntable, (Three Cup of) Coffee, Henry, Memory of Hair, Umbilicus: Experimental Shorts by Wang Ta-wei汪大緯 14 minutes
A Story About the Box by Machunfu 23 minutes
Is that vomit or semen on my dead gay lover?
Pili Cat by Yang Zhi 10 minutes
Grandma Yanlin by Wang Duan-yu 5 minutes.

城市游牧影展 -- 時間表

時間: 3月25日 (五)　晚上7：30-11:00
3月26日 (六) 晚上5：30-11:00
地點： 寶藏巖, 台北市汀州路三段230巷 (走到底)

關於城市游牧影展:
既將邁入第四屆的城市遊牧影展，由兩位外籍記者Sean Scanlan和 David Frazier承辦，最早只是收集朋友們的作品，選片則忠實於自創自導的獨立製片方式之非商業創作，而導演包括台灣當地居民以及台灣國際居民，或邀請國外獨立製作電影。 打破傳統電影院觀摩型態以無限制空間及自由取位方式，以自己最輕鬆的姿勢與方式欣賞電影為其特色，影展中也將穿插音樂演出，更結合影視及音效的即興表演，都是策展人的最終遠景HAVE FUN！影展發展至今像是好萊塢巨大看板陰影下，逐漸成長的一枚小香菇，今年仍是高潮不斷。正值春暖花開，3月25、26日歡迎走入寶藏嚴一起發現好電影 LET'S HAVE FUN！


3月25日 (五)

7pm
開幕片: 紀錄影輯
Shanghai Rose by Michelle Lang 22 minutes
一部以紀錄片的方式輕輕道來，由美國華僑導演，陪伴她在上海出生的奶奶，歷程拜訪中國上海。以沉緩的筆觸碰觸現代中國轉變，並帶來其疏離與渴望的相互拉距，影片將緩緩訴說感人肺腑的故事。

8:00
布農焦點: 宇宙 VS史實
Rendezvous With the Moon by Dean Karalekas 23 minutes
兩部各以部族流傳神話及記錄專訪方式，以細膩平和手法一舉劃破精神文明及人性心靈互相衝突之隱喻，令人撇見導演的哲思與妙構。

8:40
草莓夢: 學生短輯 I
台灣學生影視觀摩，型態包括喜劇、實驗、漫畫等。各導演創作議題新奇獨特，各具風格，都是令人值得期待的新影像創作者。

9:00
文化伏擊: 東方 VS 西方
Taipei 101: A Travelogue of Symptoms James T. Hong 23 minutes
Nineteen Seventy-four by Darin Caudle 23 minutes
一部是由一位本著神秘與好奇的憧憬來到台灣取經的西方人，被現實目睹的打擊而逐漸幻滅，鏡頭的對焦在在呈現少許哀傷與憤慨。而另一部是令人未料的電影題材，成功的描寫外語老師及台灣學生的戀情，實為大快人心。

9:45
生之頌: 台北短輯 I
由五位台灣國際居民製作之影片，以生動大膽的手法，真實而虛幻的劇情交織而成的台灣生活電影筆記。

10:00
情慾倒錯: 情愛短輯
四部靜謐貪婪的作品，一觸即發，巧妙的模糊了情愛道德與欲望的界線，而後韻汩汩，力道深遠。

10:45
移動意象: 實驗特輯
一部由連獲兩屆台北電影之最佳實驗電影得主導演吳俊輝，透過一趟旅程與情感關係，連結而成的視覺旅程。
另一部是導演將攝影機鏡頭對焦游移於，徘徊停留在最後一夜華山的朋友們，彷彿不散的鬼魂？



3月26日 (六)

5:30pm
電影製作探討: 高解析度影像攝影
由領先的影像軟體ULEAD公司所提供，介紹高解析度影像相機其軟體運用、剪接技巧之詳細座談，約40分鐘。

7:30pm
鄉間遊牧: 紀錄影輯
Yol D's Marata Amanda Donigi 16 minutes
紀錄在巴布亞新畿內亞當地人利用棕櫚葉建造房屋。本片將刻意描寫17歲的男孩如何編設他的草葉屋頂。影片注入無比真誠單純的質地，卻擁有回味無窮的光環。

7:45
草莓夢: 學生短輯 II
四部由台灣學生製作的影片，各新穎節奏、幽默氛圍及敘事邏輯，讓人眼睛為之一亮。

8:15
地球危機: 紀錄影輯
Boom Kenton Harmer 15 minutes
Those Left Behind Kloie Picot 10 minutes
一部藉由賴比瑞亞叛變而犧牲無辜的生命，意境深長的探討人性最痛的一課––戰爭的戰利品為無數的熱血？
一部透過導演將攝影機的鏡頭，於斯里蘭卡被海嘯毀滅的區域，看見了救災的真實層面與島上的政治紛爭。

8:45
暗喻諷刺: 敘事短輯
這樣的午餐便當吃了妥當嗎？ 以及一個女孩為長黴受苦。其兩部由汪大衛導演製作的影片，焦點緩慢，風格自然而細膩卻令人震撼，強烈帶有黑色幽默，味道濃厚的短片。
另一部則敘述一個男人厭倦了自己可愛的小孩和老婆，以抽菸進而跳樓自殺！

9:15
藝術家自導自演: MARC D’ANDRE短輯

9:25
生之頌: 台北短輯 II
由台灣國際居民製作之短片。

9:50
洛杉磯搖滾記事
Tortured by Joy by Henry Griffin 10 minutes
The Tooth by Marcel Dejure 28 minutes

10:30
頒獎典禮: 幸運抽獎及頒發各最佳城市遊牧獎項。

10:45
週六夜晚特輯:
影像及現場音效結合，影音原味呈現不同的生動面貌！

The Controversial Film

Lots of people seem to have heard of James Hong's Taipei 101: A Travelogue of Symptoms(Sensitive Version) from Max Woodworth's Taipei Times article and everyone who's read the article says they want to see it, but no one I've talked to has.

The 23-minute film came to the Taipei International Documentary Festival in December where it screened twice. Very much in the vein of Farhenheit 9/11, where Michael Moore slants a 'documentary' agains the Bush family, and Supersize Me, a half-proved indictment of McDonald's, Hong turns his camera towards Caucasians on the streets of Taipei, talks a lot shit, and uses post-colonial crit-speak to blame random individuals for a larger state of affairs that doesn't agree with him: his own identity conflict as a Taiwanese-American. This doesn't completely undermine all his criticisms, however, as he makes some good points along the way. The question is: How seriously can you take this kind of argument? Discussions will follow the film at the bar.

James Hong's Taipei 101: A Travelogue of Symptoms(Sensitive Version) --I have no idea why Sean grabbed this still, but it's all we've got at the moment. Playing: Friday, March 25, 9pm

Hong's other film (a collaboration with his wife, Chen Yin-ju) is about ants eating a piece of cheese shaped like America: Total Mobilization. This is a very cool idea, and there's more to it, but the segments in which we learn the rules of ant societies is pretty greusome.

Total Mobilization by James Hong and Chen Yin-ju. Playing: Saturday, March 26, 11-ish

Get Your Perv On

For those wondering about the Friday night segment 'Get Your Perv On,' here are a few stills:


Carmel Macchiato by Yusuke Kun (Japan, Canada)


Pair by Wang Ta-wei (汪大緯)

Also, Innocent Life by Machunfu is the photo at the very top with "Urban Nomad 4: The Schedule" over the top of it. And unfortunately we don't have a still yet from Shakedown: Portrait of a Club, Diary of a Dancer, the LA documentary about black lesbian strippers. We'll try to get that up soon.

Covered Bridge Theater

Marco's design for our theater will use the small bridge (35m long x 7m wide) just south of the Treasure Hill site. The screen will be at the end of the bridge facing Treasure Hill so residents can watch movies from their homes if they feel like it.