Program Guide - San Francisco International Film Festival - San ...

Live & Onstage
70
ProVIng groUnd
Usa
2007
60 mIn
dIr Travis Wilkerson
sCr Travis Wilkerson
ed Travis Wilkerson
mUs Los Duggans
Cast Travis Wilkerson
PrInt soUrCe Extreme Low Frequency, 855
East Kensington Road, Los Angeles, CA 90026.
EMAIL: extremelow@gmail.com.
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Is now the right time to present a Leninist agitation
on the history of American imperialism and war? The
answer may depend on whether you believe that things
like carpet-bombing, the tactics of decimation and the
role of capitalism have something to teach us moving
forward. We think it does. Leading the way is filmmaker
Travis Wilkerson (An Injury to One, Who Killed Cock
Robin?), whose unapologetic diatribe—some might call
it screaming—is set against the surprisingly engaging
music of death-folk musicians Los Duggans of Los
Angeles. Wilkerson mans the Kaptivator, a tiny box filled
with images and video intended for use in dance clubs.
Wilkerson stocks his toy with visual evidence of the
history of worldwide conflict and destruction, and Los
Duggans provides the live soundtrack. The result is an
intense mixture of theater, punk show, political rally and
film screening. No matter which side you are on, you
won’t be able to leave this performance without questions,
ideas and conversations about the politicization of art
or the aestheticization of politics. Proving Ground, first
presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007, has
undergone many changes and incarnations, and the crew
is prepared to get back in the saddle and lay it down. You
won’t want to miss this rare chance at thought-provoking,
enjoyable and powerful political theater.
—Sean Uyehara
traVIs WIlkerson
A chance meeting in Havana with legendary Cuban film
propagandist Santiago Álvarez changed the course of Travis
Wilkerson’s life. He now makes films in the Third Cinema
tradition, wedding politics to form in an indivisible manner.
His best-known work is an agitprop essay on the lynching of
Wobbly Frank Little called An Injury to One (2002). His other
films include Accelerated Underdevelopment (2003) on
Santiago Álvarez, and Who Killed Cock Robin? (2005), one of
the most divisive films ever screened in the Sundance dramatic
competition. Wilkerson is an assistant professor of film studies at
the University of Colorado at Boulder.
los dUggans
With their release CD Cavalry in 2007, Los Duggans appeared
to hail from Appalachia, by way of CBGB’s and the Sunset
Strip. Featuring “honest music about American working people,”
the death folk rockers take American roots music in and send
it out as electrified, punk-style metal riffs. Most recently, Los
Duggans played at Café du Nord as part of the alternative lineup
at the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival. For this
performance, Los Duggans performs as a duo with electric
guitar, gutbucket and drums and amplification at full volume.
THu APr 30 10:00 KABuKI PrOV30K