Movies are more than the Oscars. Sometimes we need to look at something besides beautiful people on a red carpet, supposedly stunned award recipients and montages of “those we’ve lost this past year.” Centre for Art Tapes programming coordinator John Mathews continues to curate a provocative program of short-ish films screening at Eyelevel Gallery (2063 Gottingen). The series is worth mentioning for the thoughtful programs he makes. On Sunday, March 2 at 7pm, he’ll show four titles under the concept “offstage music”: Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986), a look at a thriving American sub-culture in its heyday; a 60-minute doc, There’ll Always be Stars in the Sky—The Indian Film Music Phenomenon (1992); King at the Controls (2006) about one of Jamaica’s great music producers, King Jammy; and Pita Kohn: Ghosts of Isan (2006) about a festival for “psychedelic ghosts” in Thailand.
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 5, 2008.