list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Strange Culture on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Strange_Culture/315895/default.aspx Title: Strange Culture
Year: 2007
Director: Lynn Hershman Leeson
Plot: Filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson examines a strange miscarriage of justice amplified by post-9/11 hysteria in this imaginative fusion of documentary and docu-drama. Steve Kurtz is an artist and political activist who was an associate professor at State University of New York's Buffalo campus and a member of a politically oriented creative collective known as the Critical Art Ensemble. In the spring of 2004, Kurtz was preparing an installation of pieces commenting on the potential dangers of genetically modified foods for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art when his wife Hope Kurtz unexpectedly suffered heart failure. Kurtz called 911 to report the emergency, but by the time the police arrived she was dead. While looking through Kurtz's home, authorities found Petri dishes used to grow bacteria and genetically modified flies the artist had obtained for his exhibit; soon a Hazmat crew had sealed off the house, and Kurtz was behind bars under laws designed to combat bio-terrorism. While Kurtz purchased his materials legally through the internet and the case against him is flimsy at best, the FBI has refused to drop charges against him, in part because the federal government is eager to strengthen bio-terrorism laws rather than call attention to their flaws, and in part because the Food and Drug Administration would prefer to keep critics of bio-engineered food (which the FDA has embraced over the objection of many in the scientific community) as quiet as possible. Since Kurtz is not able to tell his own story on camera, for the film Strange Culture Leeson has combined interviews and newsreel footage with cinema verite-style recreations, featuring actors Thomas Jay Ryan as Steve Kurtz, Tilda Swinton as Hope Kurtz, and Peter Coyote as Steve's associate Robert Ferrell. Strange Culture also features an original score by pioneering experimental rock group the Residents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 7
Number of Lists: 2
Number of blog posts: 8
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:01:01 GMTStrange Culture2007Lynn Hershman LeesonFilmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson examines a strange miscarriage of justice amplified by post-9/11 hysteria in this imaginative fusion of documentary and docu-drama. Steve Kurtz is an artist and political activist who was an associate professor at State University of New York's Buffalo campus and a member of a politically oriented creative collective known as the Critical Art Ensemble. In the spring of 2004, Kurtz was preparing an installation of pieces commenting on the potential dangers of genetically modified foods for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art when his wife Hope Kurtz unexpectedly suffered heart failure. Kurtz called 911 to report the emergency, but by the time the police arrived she was dead. While looking through Kurtz's home, authorities found Petri dishes used to grow bacteria and genetically modified flies the artist had obtained for his exhibit; soon a Hazmat crew had sealed off the house, and Kurtz was behind bars under laws designed to combat bio-terrorism. While Kurtz purchased his materials legally through the internet and the case against him is flimsy at best, the FBI has refused to drop charges against him, in part because the federal government is eager to strengthen bio-terrorism laws rather than call attention to their flaws, and in part because the Food and Drug Administration would prefer to keep critics of bio-engineered food (which the FDA has embraced over the objection of many in the scientific community) as quiet as possible. Since Kurtz is not able to tell his own story on camera, for the film Strange Culture Leeson has combined interviews and newsreel footage with cinema verite-style recreations, featuring actors Thomas Jay Ryan as Steve Kurtz, <a href="/players/P____69397/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tilda Swinton</a> as Hope Kurtz, and <a href="/players/P____15513/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Peter Coyote</a> as Steve's associate Robert Ferrell. Strange Culture also features an original score by pioneering experimental rock group the Residents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide7Taggedy Taggged (6-10)283http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/s315895.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Strange_Culture/315895/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/shaunhuston/archive/2008/8/20/34205.aspx Post By: ShaunHuston
Post To: ShaunHuston filmblog
Post Date: 8/20/2008 7:01:01 PM
Body: My PopMatters feature on Strange Culture (2006) and documentary film has generated some comment on other blogs. You can follow the reactions and critiques at: AJ Schnack's All These Wonderful Things.Chuck Tryon's The Chutry Experiment.Indiewire. Originally posted on:Short-Circuit Signs
]]>Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:01:01 GMTShaunHustonShaunHuston filmblog8/20/2008 7:01:01 PMMy PopMatters feature on Strange Culture (2006) and documentary film has generated some comment on other blogs. You can follow the reactions and critiques at: AJ Schnack's All These Wonderful Things.Chuck Tryon's The Chutry Experiment.Indiewire. Originally posted on:Short-Circuit Signs http://www.spout.com/blogs/shaunhuston/archive/2008/8/14/34013.aspx Post By: ShaunHuston
Post To: ShaunHuston filmblog
Post Date: 8/14/2008 4:00:50 PM
Body: I have two items at PopMatters today. One, a feature about documentary filmmaking that doubles as a review of the DVD for Strange Culture (2006), I've been waiting to see "in print" for awhile. The other is a review of the recently released Criterion Edition Mon Oncle Antoine (1971). PopMatters home.Read the feature on Strange Culture and documentary film.Read the review of Mon oncle Antoine. Originally posted on:Short-Circuit Signs
]]>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:00:50 GMTShaunHustonShaunHuston filmblog8/14/2008 4:00:50 PMI have two items at PopMatters today. One, a feature about documentary filmmaking that doubles as a review of the DVD for Strange Culture (2006), I've been waiting to see "in print" for awhile. The other is a review of the recently released Criterion Edition Mon Oncle Antoine (1971). PopMatters home.Read the feature on Strange Culture and documentary film.Read the review of Mon oncle Antoine. Originally posted on:Short-Circuit Signs http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/5/2/28088.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 5/2/2008 9:01:01 AM
Body: New developments in the case of an artist arrested for bioterrorism (from the doc Strange Culture), lead us into a web of noir (Murder, My Sweet) and an unexpected look at No Country for Old Men. All of which reveal the sinister culture of PARANOIA! (Subscribe to FilmCouch–Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the iTunes store and an episode will download each Friday) FilmCouch #68 - Paranoia Strange Culture, Murder, My Sweet, No Country for Old Men Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 02 May 2008 13:01:01 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com5/2/2008 9:01:01 AM New developments in the case of an artist arrested for bioterrorism (from the doc Strange Culture), lead us into a web of noir (Murder, My Sweet) and an unexpected look at No Country for Old Men. All of which reveal the sinister culture of PARANOIA! (Subscribe to FilmCouch–Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the iTunes store and an episode will download each Friday) FilmCouch #68 - Paranoia Strange Culture, Murder, My Sweet, No Country for Old Men Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/paul/archive/2008/5/2/28087.aspx Post By: paul
Post To: paul on spout.com
Post Date: 5/2/2008 9:00:23 AM
Body: New developments in the case of an artist arrested for bioterrorism (from the doc Strange Culture), lead us into a web of noir (Murder, My Sweet) and an unexpected look at No Country for Old Men. All of which reveal the sinister culture of PARANOIA! (Subscribe to FilmCouch–Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the iTunes store and an episode will download each Friday) FilmCouch #68 - Paranoia Strange Culture, Murder, My Sweet, No Country for Old Men Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Paul Moore
]]>Fri, 02 May 2008 13:00:23 GMTpaulpaul on spout.com5/2/2008 9:00:23 AM New developments in the case of an artist arrested for bioterrorism (from the doc Strange Culture), lead us into a web of noir (Murder, My Sweet) and an unexpected look at No Country for Old Men. All of which reveal the sinister culture of PARANOIA! (Subscribe to FilmCouch–Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the iTunes store and an episode will download each Friday) FilmCouch #68 - Paranoia Strange Culture, Murder, My Sweet, No Country for Old Men Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Paul Moore http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/4/22/27627.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 4/22/2008 10:01:22 AM
Body: Yesterday, a judge threw out all charges against Steve Kurtz, the artist who had spent the past four years defending himself against false accusations of bio-terrorism, as detailed in Lynn Hershman-Leeson’s must-see hybrid doc Strange Culture. The AP has the story, via GreenCine Daily. I wrote about the film, which earned a mention on my Best of 2007 round-up, on SpoutBlog when it screened in New York last year; I originally covered the film and interviewed the director when it premiered at Sundance. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:01:22 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog4/22/2008 10:01:22 AMYesterday, a judge threw out all charges against Steve Kurtz, the artist who had spent the past four years defending himself against false accusations of bio-terrorism, as detailed in Lynn Hershman-Leeson’s must-see hybrid doc Strange Culture. The AP has the story, via GreenCine Daily. I wrote about the film, which earned a mention on my Best of 2007 round-up, on SpoutBlog when it screened in New York last year; I originally covered the film and interviewed the director when it premiered at Sundance. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/4/22/27625.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 4/22/2008 10:01:12 AM
Body: Yesterday, a judge threw out all charges against Steve Kurtz, the artist who had spent the past four years defending himself against false accusations of bio-terrorism, as detailed in Lynn Hershman-Leeson’s must-see hybrid doc Strange Culture. The AP has the story, via GreenCine Daily. I wrote about the film, which earned a mention on my Best of 2007 round-up, on SpoutBlog when it screened in New York last year; I originally covered the film and interviewed the director when it premiered at Sundance. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:01:12 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com4/22/2008 10:01:12 AMYesterday, a judge threw out all charges against Steve Kurtz, the artist who had spent the past four years defending himself against false accusations of bio-terrorism, as detailed in Lynn Hershman-Leeson’s must-see hybrid doc Strange Culture. The AP has the story, via GreenCine Daily. I wrote about the film, which earned a mention on my Best of 2007 round-up, on SpoutBlog when it screened in New York last year; I originally covered the film and interviewed the director when it premiered at Sundance. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/11/29/22365.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 11/29/2007 2:00:56 PM
Body: With 49 days to go until the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival, expect to see some space here devoted to previews of some of the films I’m particularly interested in. The first thing that really caught my eye upon skimming the schedule was Derek, a film about Derek Jarman directed by Isaac Julien. Executive produced by actress/Jarman muse Tilda Swinton and produced by film historian Colin MacCabe, the World Documentary Competition entry purports to “combine document with fiction, and experiment with narrative” to fashion “a timely reappraisal and celebration of the work of one of Britain???s most important artist filmmakers.” There’s a bit of an expanded synopsis on Julien’s web site. After Sundance, the film will be part of an exhibit devoted to Jarman curated by Julien, at the Serpentine Gallery in London. I’m generally fan of what I know of Jarman’s work, but I’m mostly interested in this because lately I’ve been kind of a sucker for non-fiction films that take huge liberties with documentary form. In a recent interview with BOMB magazine, Julien actually spoke of Derek not as a documentary, but as “a strange kind of biopic about [Jarman’s] life.” All in all, it’s classification in the doc competition seems a little strange, but it maybe another sign of Sundance 2008’s swing towards a more adventurous programming attitude. Strange Culture, another non-fiction film involving Swinton that incorporated narrative elements, premiered at Sundance last year in the marginalized Frontier sidebar, which I thought was unfortunate–it was hands down the best documentary I saw at the festival last year, but got little attention out of competition. Jarman, who died of AIDS in 1994, is fairly well represented today on YouTube. More after the jump. (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:00:56 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com11/29/2007 2:00:56 PM With 49 days to go until the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival, expect to see some space here devoted to previews of some of the films I’m particularly interested in. The first thing that really caught my eye upon skimming the schedule was Derek, a film about Derek Jarman directed by Isaac Julien. Executive produced by actress/Jarman muse Tilda Swinton and produced by film historian Colin MacCabe, the World Documentary Competition entry purports to “combine document with fiction, and experiment with narrative” to fashion “a timely reappraisal and celebration of the work of one of Britain???s most important artist filmmakers.” There’s a bit of an expanded synopsis on Julien’s web site. After Sundance, the film will be part of an exhibit devoted to Jarman curated by Julien, at the Serpentine Gallery in London. I’m generally fan of what I know of Jarman’s work, but I’m mostly interested in this because lately I’ve been kind of a sucker for non-fiction films that take huge liberties with documentary form. In a recent interview with BOMB magazine, Julien actually spoke of Derek not as a documentary, but as “a strange kind of biopic about [Jarman’s] life.” All in all, it’s classification in the doc competition seems a little strange, but it maybe another sign of Sundance 2008’s swing towards a more adventurous programming attitude. Strange Culture, another non-fiction film involving Swinton that incorporated narrative elements, premiered at Sundance last year in the marginalized Frontier sidebar, which I thought was unfortunate–it was hands down the best documentary I saw at the festival last year, but got little attention out of competition. Jarman, who died of AIDS in 1994, is fairly well represented today on YouTube. More after the jump. (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2007/8/2/17087.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 8/2/2007 5:00:45 PM
Body: Oooh, this is exciting. One of my favorite films from Sundance 2007, Lynn Hershman-Leeson’s Strange Culture has booked a two-week engagement at the Cinema Village here in New York. Strange Culture is an experimental documentary about Steve Kurtz, an artist with the renowned Critical Art Ensemble who was arrested on fraud charges after the FBI searched his home found biological testing materials from an art installation, which they misconstrued as weapons of mass destruction. Because Kurtz is barred from speaking on camera about the details of his case, the director hired actors, including Tilda Swinton and Thomas Dean Ryan, to star in dramatizations, which are woven with testimony from Kurtz’ friends and colleagues. It’s a fairly academic approach, but the finished film is persuasive, and as a document of what happens to art in a post-terrorism climate of paranoia, it’s surprisingly moving. Check out the trailer above, and for more info on when and where Strange Culture might be playing near you, check out the film’s website. Originally posted on:Spoutblog
]]>Thu, 02 Aug 2007 21:00:45 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com8/2/2007 5:00:45 PM Oooh, this is exciting. One of my favorite films from Sundance 2007, Lynn Hershman-Leeson’s Strange Culture has booked a two-week engagement at the Cinema Village here in New York. Strange Culture is an experimental documentary about Steve Kurtz, an artist with the renowned Critical Art Ensemble who was arrested on fraud charges after the FBI searched his home found biological testing materials from an art installation, which they misconstrued as weapons of mass destruction. Because Kurtz is barred from speaking on camera about the details of his case, the director hired actors, including Tilda Swinton and Thomas Dean Ryan, to star in dramatizations, which are woven with testimony from Kurtz’ friends and colleagues. It’s a fairly academic approach, but the finished film is persuasive, and as a document of what happens to art in a post-terrorism climate of paranoia, it’s surprisingly moving. Check out the trailer above, and for more info on when and where Strange Culture might be playing near you, check out the film’s website. Originally posted on:Spoutblog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/politics/MemberTagFilms.aspxpolitics
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