Preview screening of the new documentary film about gerrymandering with post-screening Q&A with co-director Chris Durrance.
Plus, Voter Registration in our lobby from 5pm – 10pm!
The new documentary Slay the Dragon shines a light on the timely issue of gerrymandering, and follows a handful of citizens’ groups, outraged by what they see as an attack on the core democratic principle that every person’s vote should count equally, as they battle party operatives and an entrenched political establishment to fix a broken system.
After the 2008 election, a secretive, well-funded partisan initiative poured money into state legislative races in key swing states to gain control of their redistricting processes and used high-tech analytics to dramatically skew voting maps based on demographic data. The result is one of the greatest electoral manipulations in U.S. history, one that poses a fundamental threat to our democracy and exacerbates the already polarized atmosphere in Congress and state houses across the country.
Gerrymandering, the practice of redrawing electoral maps to serve the party in power, has been around for centuries. But in today’s hyperpartisan political environment it has been taken to unprecedented extremes, fueled by the elimination of corporate campaign contribution limits and the availability of vast amounts of personal information.
The effects of this audacious plan have continued to bear fruit through the 2018 midterms. But voters, fed up with cynical efforts to sidestep the will of the majority, have begun fighting back. In one example, a grassroots movement led by a young woman with no political experience gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures to put an anti-gerrymandering initiative on the ballot in Michigan.
Join ALTER for two lovely nights of terror at Nitehawk Cinema with two short film programs: ROSES ARE DEAD Volume One on Friday, February 14 and ROSES ARE DEAD Volume Two on Saturday, February 15 at Midnite. The showcases explore a wide-ranging journey of things both romantic and repulsive, comic and tragic, intimate and confrontational. Experience Valentine’s Day through the lens of the horror genre.
TONIGHT IT’S YOU
Directed by Dominic Haxton
Browsing profiles on his phone, handsome CJ arranges a late-night hookup with misfit Hunter, only to discover more going on in Hunter’s backwoods farmhouse than he bargained for. (17 1/2 min)
UNDRESS ME
Directed by Amelia Moses
A socially awkward college freshman begins to experience a mysterious and gruesome physical deterioration after a chance encounter at a frat party. (13 1/2 min)
DEATHLY
Directed by Mike Williamson
And now, I’ll love you to death… (14 min)
LUCY’S TALE
Directed by Chelsea Lupkin
An introverted teen girl develops Telekinesis powers as she grows into her own skin. A TALE of growing up and coming to terms with your body. (17 min)
THE SERMON
Directed by Dean Puckett
In an isolated church community in the English countryside, a powerful hate preacher prepares to deliver a sermon to his flock, but his daughter has a secret that could destroy them all. (11 1/2 min)
MY BLOODY VALENTINE
Directed by Seb Billings
My Bloody Valentine is a romantic horror story about the pain love causes and the scars it leaves behind. A modern re-telling of the boy meets girl story, but with a lot more blood. And of course, no romance would be complete without a song and dance number thrown in at the end. (13 min)
GWILLIAM
Directed by Brian Lonano
A recently released criminal is looking for a good time. He can forget his sins but he can never forget…Gwilliam. (6 min)
Join ALTER for two lovely nights of terror at Nitehawk Cinema with two short film programs: ROSES ARE DEAD Volume One on Friday, February 14 and ROSES ARE DEAD Volume Two on Saturday, February 15 at Midnite. The showcases explore a wide-ranging journey of things both romantic and repulsive, comic and tragic, intimate and confrontational. Experience Valentine’s Day through the lens of the horror genre.
THE RAT
Directed by Carlen May-Mann
It’s Halloween night and Renee is madly in love with Jim. On their way to a party, Jim detours to a haunted house, where Renee is forced to confront a terrifying situation. (13 min)
JULIETTE
Directed by Lora D’Addazio
Juliette is a shy girl terrified to catch a ride with two women that are not paying any attention to the road. (7 min)
INSTINCT
Directed by Marie Alice Arida
A lonely gallery owner falls for a performance artist, but at what cost? (15 min)
THE ONLY THING I LOVE
Directed by Sydney Clara Brafman
Ranch. Dipped. Chicken. Fingers. (1 min)
SLUT
Directed by Chose Okuno
A naive young girl becomes the target of a murderous sociopath when she attempts to reinvent herself to impress the boys in her small Texas town. (21 min)
LVRS
Directed by Emily Bennett
A magical realism/horror film that explores the paradox of why a woman chooses to stay in an abusive relationship. (12 min)
CALL GIRL
Directed by Jill Gevargizian
In one man’s attempt to exploit his date night via video-chat, he ends up sharing something much more disturbing. Some people like to watch. Do you? (6 min)
Starring: Bethany Anne Lind, Will Patton, Elisabeth Rohm, Jimmy Gonzales, Jared Ivers
A woman’s panicked decision to cover up an accidental killing spirals out of control when her conscience demands she return the dead man’s body to his family.
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, James Corden, John Cleese, Russel Brand, Christine Baranski
Trolls is an irreverent comedy extravaganza with incredible music! From the genius creators of Shrek, Trolls stars Anna Kendrick as Poppy, the optimistic leader of the Trolls, and her polar opposite, Branch, played by Justin Timberlake. Together, this unlikely pair of Trolls must embark on an adventure that takes them far beyond the only world they’ve ever known.
Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Alexis Arquette, John Ritter, Katherine Heigl, Nick Stabile
After being cut apart by the police, killer doll Chucky is resurrected by Tiffany, an ex-girlfriend of the serial murderer whose soul is inside the toy. Following an argument, Chucky kills Tiffany and transfers her soul into a bride doll. To find the magical amulet that can restore them both to human form, Chucky and Tiffany arrange to be driven to New Jersey by Jesse and Jade, who are unaware that their cargo is alive.
Accessibility: Closed Captions, Assisted Listening, Descriptive Audio
Starring: Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown
Blake Lively stars as Stephanie Patrick, an ordinary woman on a path of self-destruction after her family is tragically killed in a plane crash. When Stephanie discovers that the crash was not an accident, she enters a dark, complex world to seek revenge on those responsible and find her own redemption.
Starring: Stephan ESPO Powers, Mike Graham, Anjoli Santiago, Jose Antonio, James Crawford, Joseph Crouse, Steve Crum, Nick Falcon, Ari Forman
A Love Letter For You is a genre defying film that mixes elements of documentary and narrative with love and loss, community and solidarity, art and crime. The narrative piece centers around Fire, a graffiti writer from Philly, who is fresh out of prison. He is determined to reignite the love between he and the mother of his child. The documentary piece of the film follows the true story of Stephen ESPO Powers: a graffiti legend who has returned to his stomping grounds in Philadelphia to paint a series of 50 rooftops along his old train line. When Fire clues in to what ESPO is up to, the film seamlessly ties both storylines and genres into one as each character finds a way to help one another get what they are after.
A Love Letter For You uses an all local cast as well as several non-actors. It coincides with Steve Power’s inaugural 2009 A Love Letter project with the City Of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Foundation and is loosely based on events in the life of Philly native and artist Timothy Curtis.
Screening with a rare cut of the earlier film Espo Runs the Show:
With only a few weeks to go before his art opening at Dietch Gallery in Soho, Steve ESPO Powers struggles to finish his show. Much of his work is made and informed by the street so how is he supposed to find inspiration indoors? Steve would rather spend his days bombing police vehicles and painting over the Coney Island Cyclone. His street marketing pal Gary isn’t trying to hear that and neither is the notorious henchman of a gallery owner Jeffery Dietch. The two set out to make Espo complete his art show by any means necessary. This hybrid film tells one story using two film styles.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue
Mike Figgis’ grim drama documents a romantic triangle of sorts involving prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue), failed Hollywood screenwriter Ben (Nicolas Cage), and the constant flow of booze which he loves more dearly than life itself. Arriving in Las Vegas with the intention of drinking himself to death, Ben meets Sera, and they gradually begin falling for one another. From the outset, however, Ben warns Sera that no matter what, she can never ask him to quit drinking, a condition to which she grudgingly agrees. A darkly comic tragedy, Leaving Las Vegas charts the brief romantic convergence of two desperately needy people who together find a brief flicker of happiness.
Starring: James Caan, Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita
On her deathbed, a mother makes her son promise never to get married, which scars him with psychological blocks to a commitment with his girlfriend. They finally decide to tie the knot in Vegas, but a wealthy gambler arranges for the man to lose $65K in a poker game and offers to clear the debt for a weekend with his fiancée. Suddenly the man is insanely jealous, and pursues his fiancée and her rich companion, but finds pitfalls in his path as the gambler tries to delay his interference.
