Sat, Aug 14 / 7:10pm
Fri, Aug 20 / 7pm
Sat, Aug 21 / 3pm
Sun, Aug 22 / 7:05pm
Tue, Aug 24 / 9:05pm
Thu, Aug 26 / 9 pm
Directed by Les Blank
1987/1980/1968, USA, total runtime: 121 min
It’s no secret that Dave Barber’s two biggest passions in life were movies and music. It can be argued that music was his biggest passion. Having lived in London as a teenager in the late 60’s/early 70’s, Dave grew up immersed in the best, most progressive and exciting music of the times. His ceaseless curiosity in seeking out new artists and pieces of music carried through his entire life and was always cross-pollinated with his work programming at the Cinematheque. In 2008, Dave met one of his idols when Gimme Some Truth documentary festival programmer Kier-La Janisse brought the inimitable documentary filmmaker Les Blank to Winnipeg for a retrospective of his films. Les Blank shared Dave’s hearty enthusiasms for music, film, food, people and the humorous little moments in life. Unfortunately, Les Blank passed away in 2013 so he and Dave didn’t have the occasion to meet again, but Dave kept up a correspondence with Les Blank’s family throughout the years. Here we present 3 of Les Blank’s films that perfectly captured what Dave admired most about the filmmaker’s work, including Dave’s absolute fave: The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins.
Gap Toothed Women (1987, 31 mins) Blank breezily questions our commonly accepted standards of beauty with this paean to women with extra-wide dental spaces.
Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980, 50 mins) More than just a nonfiction lark, Blank’s highly personal film ode to the “stinking rose” is a loving tribute both to a food that unites the most disparate of cuisines and to the East Bay, California, community that appears on-screen.
The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins (1968, 31 mins) Soon after founding his production company, Flower Films, Les Blank got up close to the legendary Texas blues musician Lightnin’ Hopkins for this rollicking film.
