Tomorrow: The Last Passenger & Sidewalk Performance by Bentenya
TOMORROW, A SCREENING OF
The Last Passenger (2023)
With a Live Sidewalk Performance by Bentenya at 6:30pm!
Film Starts 7:30pm with live introduction with Director Takashi Horie
Event includes a post-screening reception party in the gardens of the Velaslavasay Panorama.
Tickets $16 / VPES Members $14
Mr. Endo, a taxi driver, has been waiting for his daughter since she left to take a college exam in Tokyo. One late night, Mr. Endo picks up several customers, including a mother with a young girl and another young girl about around the same age as his own daughter. They all ask him to take them to Seaside town. What will they find in Seaside town?
SIDEWALK PERFORAMCE BEFORE THE FILM BY
BENTENYA
Bentenya is one of the few professional female Chindon-ya in Japan, a kind of marching band dedicated to street advertising who also performsat events or matsuri.Donning glamorous kimonos and colorful wigs, Bentenya blends nostalgia and modernity. Going beyond the traditional chindon style, they play Japanese folk songs, J-pop, anime or music from all over the world!
***
Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy)
Doors 7:30pm
Film Starts 8:00pm
Tickets $14 / VPES Members $12
Directed by Karel Zemann, Czechoslovakia, 1958, 78 min. Digitally restored, digital projection.
** Special introduction & screening of Middle Watch by John Stevenson! **
The most successful Czech film in history, Invention for Destruction (1958) is based on the novel Facing the Flag by Jules Verne. The black and white narrative, story-book sets, striking design and innovative music of Zdeněk Liška, all contribute to the unique feel of this exquisite story with its antiwar subtext.
Director & Zeman enthusiast John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda, Sherlock Gnomes) will give a special introduction to Invention for Destruction and screen his new BAFTA nominated animated short film Middle Watch, inspired by the films of Karl Zeman and based on a real maritime mythical encounter of a World War Two sailor aboard a ship in the Indian Ocean.
The Painted Cinema of Karel Zeman
In collaboration with the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles, the Velaslavasay Panorama hosts three screenings of Zeman’s films exploring a deep sea voyage, the perils of prehistoric life, and the airborne adventures of Jules Vernes.
Thursday October 5, 2023 - Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy)
Sunday October 8, 2023 - Journey to the Beginning of Time (Cesta do pravěku)
Thursday October 12, 2023 - The Stolen Airship (Ukradená vzducholod')