A Place Called Home:

TOM CHAMBERLIN
Documentary Filmmaker

DENNIS NYBACK
Historian • Film Archivist

TOM ROBINSON
Archivist • Writer • Photographer

Join us on Sunday, June 24th, for the fourth and last installment of A Place Called Home: Lectures on Filmmaking in Portland, a monthly lecture series focused on the history of movie-making in the city, at the Whitsell Auditorium, with guests Tom Chamberlin, Dennis Nyback and Tom Robinson (co-presented with the Northwest Film Center).

TOM CHAMBERLIN will address the community of 16mm filmmakers who worked in Portland between 1969-1979 and their extraordinary level of cooperation and mutual support. He’ll also discuss his approach to making documentaries, and the opportunities and challenges facing documentary makers. Chamberlin began making film in the mid-1960s, made commercial work for Encyclopedia Britannica and Lucas Films in the ’70s and ’80s, before spending most of the 1990s doing community-based documentary video projects for nonprofits and social justice groups.

DENNIS NYBACK will give a short lecture “Filmed in Portland Before Sound,” on Jesse Sill, Lewis Moomaw, Lew Cook and others. Nyback will explore the wild film scene in Portland in the Teens and Twenties before “sound entered the picture and screwed things up”. Nyback houses his archive of thousands of rare short films at Marylhurst University. He has been a featured guest at film festivals around the world, and has taught at PSU, NW Film Center and Marylhurst.

TOM ROBINSON will talk about the relationship of home movies to documentary, drawing from his collection of historic Oregon home movies. Robinson is an archivist, writer, photographer and master photographic printer. Robinson’s library of original film and glass negatives and transparencies is the largest collection of Oregon original film negatives in the world.

ABOUT THIS SERIES
A Place Called Home is a monthly presentation series examining the history of filmmaking in Portland. Held at roving venues on last Sundays at 1PM, lectures aim to orient recent transplants and residents to the city’s rich lineage of film and how it informs our sense of place.

HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Tickets are just $5/ members; $10/ general. Purchase tickets online here.

FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM
This program is made possible by a grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Additional support provided by Pro Photo Supply, Willamette Week, Oregon Humanities, In the Can Productions and Oregon Media Production Association.

A Place Called Home:

Sunday, May 27, 1PM
Clinton Street Theater
2522 Southeast Clinton St
$5/ members, $10/ general
(not a member? click here)

JIM BLASHFIELD
Shorts and music videomaker for Michael Jackson, Talking Heads etc.

BROOKE JACOBSON
Co-founder, NW Film Center • Assistant Professor, Film Studies, PSU

MATT McCORMICK
Fimmaker, Some Days are Better Than Others, The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal

Join us on Sunday, May 27th, for the third installment of A Place Called Home: Lectures on Filmmaking in Portland, a monthly lecture series focused on the history of movie-making in the city, at the Clinton Street Theater with guests Jim Blashfield, Brooke Jacobson and Matt McCormick.

JIM BLASHFIELD will talk about his work, as well as the work of his peers in Portland, dating back to the 1960s. Blashfield, a filmmaker, director and media artist who works in live-action and animation, is the recipient of a Grammy, a Cannes Golden Lion and several MTV awards for his groundbreaking music videos for Talking Heads, Michael Jackson and others. His recently completed work includes the found-footage films “Vanity” and “Suctionmaster: Triumph of Science” and the multiple-screen installations “Circulator ” and “Conveyor”.

BROOKE JACOBSON will discuss her involvement as an arts organizer in the Portland filmmaking community. In the late 1960s, Jacobson co-founded the NW Film Study Center (now NW Film Center) and prior to that she was chair of the student film committee at Portland State University. In 1974, she co-founded the The Media Project, a nonprofit that distributed regional independent film and video. She will also screen her short work “Lair Hill,” which captures a neighborhood on the brink of being lost to urban renewal.

MATT McCORMICK will speak about his experimental films and his work to nurture opportunities for local filmmakers. McCormick’s work crosses mediums and defies genre distinctions to fashion witty, abstract observations of contemporary culture and the urban landscape. His work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival, MoMA, Seattle Art Museum and numerous others, and his credits include music videos for the Shins, Sleater-Kinney and YACHT. McCormick was founder of the PDX Fest (2004-2009), and Peripheral Produce, a DVD label for experimental and documentary makers.

ABOUT THIS SERIES
A Place Called Home is a monthly presentation series examining the history of filmmaking in Portland. Held at roving venues on last Sundays at 1PM, lectures aim to orient recent transplants and residents to the city’s rich lineage of film and how it informs our sense of place.

HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Tickets are just $5/ members; $10/ general. Purchase tickets online here.

FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM
This program is made possible by a grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Additional support provided by Pro Photo Supply, Willamette Week, Oregon Humanities, In the Can Productions and Oregon Media Production Association.

Filmmaker Matt McCormick, Image: dinca.org

I moved to Portland because of Matt McCormick. I had met Matt a few years prior through booking a screening of his work at My House, an arts center based out of the basement in the house I was living in, in Eugene, OR. In 2005, Matt offered me a job working for his video label Peripheral Produce, a video label that distributed independent and countercultural films, as well as helping to direct the annual film festival, the PDX Fest.

The choice was a no brainer. I was a huge fan of Matt’s work, ever since I had first seen his short “The Subconsious Art of Graffiti Removal.” The documentary carefully examines graffiti removal as an emerging but unrecognized art form, and curiously falls somewhere in between documentary, mockumentary and narrrative filmmaking. Check out a preview clip below; then click the jump to read the rest!

Besides Matt’s stunning body of films, he has always worked to nurture the work of other filmmakers, especially the local film community. Through the video label, he provided an outlet for truly independent film: excellent, thought-provoking work made on the thinnest shoestring of budgets.

After taking a break from Peripheral Produce, Matt has gone on to make music videos for numerous Northwest bands, including Sleater Kinney, YACHT, the Shins and more. In 2010, he completed his first feature film, Some Days Are Better Than Others, starring Carrie Brownstein (Sleater Kinney, Portlandia) and James Mercer (The Shins). He has also moved on to focus on installation-based work, and has solo shows at Elizabeth Leach Gallery, among others.

Portland is lucky to have Matt McCormick, a true ambassador for the city. Matt’s films are distinctly Northwest, gorgeously depicting the city, its landscape and its people. His efforts to foster the work of others is equally important, and he provides a link between alternative screenings in the ’90s and ’00s, and a newer generation of experimental makers, celebrated by this year’s inaugural Experimental Film Festival Portland. Be sure to check out the video Matt made this year about the Dill Pickle Club; you can also see more of his films at his website: www.rodeofilmco.com.

Don’t forget, you can catch Matt talk about his work this Sunday at A Place Called Home: Lectures on Filmmaking in Portland at the Clinton Street Theater. Tickets are just $5/ members; $10/ general…or check out yesterday’s post to get 2 tickets for the price of 1. See you there!

We’re announcing a web-only mega-deal: PRE-ORDER YOUR TICKETS ONLINE NOW AND YOU’LL GET TWO TICKETS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! $10 gets you two tickets to Sunday’s lecture…but this deal applies only to pre-orders through Brown Paper Tickets, and is not valid at the door. Get your tickets here now!!

BTW this Sunday’s lecture is being held in conjunction with the Experimental Film Festival Portland, presented by Grand Detour, May 22-27.  Lots of cool stuff, including installation shows, special screenings and talks. In the meantime, enjoy this awesome promo video!

Our friend Karl Lind made a new short video to preview A Place Called Home: Lectures on Filmmaking Portland. Guest esteemed experimental filmmakers Jim Blashfield, Brooke Jacobson and Matt McCormick will screen some of their films, as well as talk about making self-created opportunities for alternative filmmakers to screen their work. It all takes place at the Clinton Street Theater next Sunday (Sunday, May 27th!). Read more about the program, including presenter bios, and purchase advance tickets here.

A Place Called Home: Lectures on Filmmaking in Portland continues on Sunday, May 27th with a program on experimental filmmaking at the Clinton Street Theater, with guest speakers Jim Blashfield, Brooke Jacobson and Matt McCormick. It should be excellent. Get the full info (and your tickets) here.

For more information, visit their site.

Jonathan Combs, Marketing Manager at Pro Photo Supply

A HUGE HEARTFELT THANKS goes out to Jonathan Combs and all at Pro Photo Supply, who today donated a Nikon D3200 SLR digital camera to the Dill Pickle Club. The camera will be a great asset for us, allowing us to document our lectures, tours and workshops, as well as produce short videos for the web. DPC is truly blessed to work with such caring and supportive local businesses.

Whether you need to purchase or rent photo equipment, Pro Photo has you covered! Since 1983, they’ve been the source for the latest and greatest gear, as well as a good selection of used equipment. Next time you’re in need of photo supplies, please support the people who support us. Once again, thanks Pro Photo; we appreciate all you do for Portland’s arts community!

Oh BTW Pro Photo is also a sponsor of our A Place Called Home lecture series; for more info, click here.