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Award-winning filmmaker Eric Slade to present “Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton” at Schnitzer Cinema in March

Award-winning filmmaker Eric Slade to present “Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton” at Schnitzer Cinema in March

The screening is part of the Schnitzer Cinema season on Experimental Media

 

EUGENE, Ore. -- (February 20, 2015) – Schnitzer Cinema continues its look at American experimental media and the history of American avant-garde film with a screening of “Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton” on March 11 at 7 p.m.  Co-director Eric Slade will be present for the screening. Curated by Cinema Pacific director Richard Herskowitz, the show begins at 7 p.m. at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus and includes free popcorn and soda.

 

 “Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton” portrays San Francisco, years before the Beats arrived, as a city that was exploding with artistic expressions –painting, theatre, film, and poetry. At its center was the groundbreaking filmmaker and poet James Broughton. “Big Joy” explores Broughton's passionate embrace of a life of pansexual transcendence and a fiercely independent mantra: ‘follow your own weird’.

 

His remarkable story spans the post-war San Francisco Renaissance, his influence on the Beat generation, escape to Europe during the McCarthy years, a lifetime of acclaim for his joyous experimental films and poetry celebrating the human body, finding his soul mate at age 61, and finally, his ascendancy as a champion of sexual liberation.

 

“The filmmakers intersperse Broughton’s diaries, poems, and experimental films, weaving an entertaining and complex tribute,” says Herskowitz. “We are honored to have Eric Slade, who co-directed the film and is known for creating the PBS documentary “Hope Along the Wind,” join us for the evening.”

 

Ryan Lattanzio wrote in IndieWire: “Lovingly co-directed by Stephen Silha, Eric Slade and Dawn Logsdon, "Big Joy" is as exuberant and maddening as Broughton himself. The film courses with energy, vitality and, of course, joy, revealing a fascinating portrait of an unsung artist ahead of his time and never past his prime.”

 

Eric Slade, the film’s co-director, will accompany the film and participate in a Q&A. He is an independent director and producer based in Portland, Oregon, where he was born and raised. Eric’s feature documentary “Hope along the Wind,The Life of Harry Hay,”premiered on PBS in 2001 and won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival and numerous Best Documentary Awards at festivals around the world (including the Seattle, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Fort Worth Lesbian Gay and Film Festivals). Eric has worked extensively with PBS, including as a producer on the PBS series “History Detectives(2003-2010).

 

Schnitzer Cinema continues in April with the work of avant-garde film legend Jonas Mekas in two programs on April 15 and April 29. The series closes with the return of the Black Maria Film and Video Festival on May 13.

 

About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

The University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a premier Pacific Northwest museum for exhibitions and collections of historic and contemporary art based in a major university setting. The mission of the museum is to enhance the University of Oregon’s academic mission and to further the appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts for the general public.  The JSMA features significant collections galleries devoted to art from China, Japan, Korea, America and elsewhere as well as changing special exhibition galleries.  The JSMA is one of six museums in Oregon accredited by the American Association of Museums.

 

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is located on the University of Oregon campus at 1430 Johnson Lane. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. Free admission is given to ages 18 and under, JSMA members, college students with ID, and University of Oregon faculty, staff and students. For information, contact the JSMA, 541-346-3027.

 

About Cinema Pacific

Cinema Pacific is an annual film festival based at the University of Oregon in Eugene that is devoted to discovering and fostering the creativity of international films and new media from Pacific-bordering countries, including the U.S. Through onsite and online presentations, the festival connects stimulating artists and ideas with a diverse public, furthering our understanding of world cultures and contemporary issues.

 

About the University of Oregon

The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.

 

Contact: Debbie Williamson Smith, 541-346-0942, debbiews@uoregon.edu

 

Links: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, http://jsma.uoregon.edu

Cinema Pacific, http://cinemapacific.uoregon.edu/