The Film Forum to Premiere Chiara Clemente's Portrait of 5 NYC Women Artists

Written by Tabatha Lindo Friday, 11 February 2011 23:19

NEW YORK, NY - The Film Forum will present the New York theatrical premiere of OUR CITY DREAMS, a new documentary by Chiara Clemente, beginning Wednesday, February 4. It’s an affecting love letter to the city which strings together the self-told narratives of five women artists (ages 30 – 80), each of whom has a passion for art-making inseparable from her devotion to New York . Swoon, the youngest, exhibits cut-outs directly on city walls and subways, and exudes idealism and energy while carrying a two by four the way some women would carry a briefcase. Cairo-born Ghada Amer mixes media -- embroidering with painting -- to confront sexual taboos that cross cultural boundaries.

After experiencing the New York Dolls in San Francisco , Kiki Smith realized she needed New York ’s energy to create her wildly influential paintings and sculptures; Marina Abramovic, originally of Belgrade , is a performance art pioneer who often uses her own body as a canvas. And Nancy Spero returned from Paris with artist-husband Leon Golub in 1964, to meld art and activism during the Vietnam War and become, in her own words, “a woman warrior.”

Chiara Clemente has been making documentaries on art and artists since 2000. Her work includes THREE WORLDS: A PORTRAIT OF FRANCESCO CLEMENTE and short films on Frank Gehry, Jim Dine and Brice Marden, as well as shorts commissioned by W Magazine, Saatchi and Saatchi and The New York Times.

Film Forum began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972 and under her leadership, Film Forum moved downtown to the Vandam Theater in 1975. In 1980, Cooper led the construction of a twin cinema on Watts Street. Finally, in 1989, when the Watts Street cinema was demolished by developers, Film Forum’s current Houston Street cinema was built. Today, Film Forum is a 3-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with 250,000 annual admissions, 489 seats, 59 employees, 4500 members and a $4.1 million operating budget.

We present two distinct, complementary film programs – NYC theatrical premieres of American independents and foreign art films, programmed by Cooper and Mike Maggiore; and, since 1987, repertory selections including foreign and American classics, genre works, festivals and directors’ retrospectives, programmed by Bruce Goldstein. Our third screen is dedicated to extended runs of popular selections from both programs, as well as new films for longer engagements.

Visit The Film Forum at : http://www.filmforum.org/

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