Field & Screen returns to the Wex
Films, visiting filmmakers, discussions, a dinner, and more
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Truck Farm (Ian Cheney, 2011) Image courtesy of Wicked Delicate Films |
El Bulli: Cooking in Progress (Gereon Wetzel, 2011) Image courtesy of Alive Mind Cinema |
Field & Screen, a monthlong film series focused on food, cooking, and the environment, will be presented for the third year in February 2012 at the Wexner Center. In addition to a full slate of films—largely, but not exclusively, documentaries—this year’s series also features a dinner, a panel discussion, three visiting filmmakers, and more.
“Back by popular demand, Field & Screen is an opportunity for us to present the best films on food and the environment,” says David Filipi, director of the film/video department. “It’s a series that the community responds to in a big way. We are pleased to be able to offer up a rich program of special and related events again this year.”
A few highlights:
- A panel discussion featuring local environmental advocates will be held following the screening of Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie on February 10.
- The screening of the film Milk and the Land on February 11 will include a visit from the CEO and founder of Snowville Creamery, as well as a Snowville milk tasting.
- Dinner & A Movie, the inaugural dinner hosted by the Wexner Center’s acclaimed Heirloom café, will be offered on February 17, featuring a prix fixe, family-style dinner, followed by the documentaries Truck Farm and The City Dark, introduced by director Ian Cheney.
- On February 24, director Christopher Munch introduces his film Letters from the Big Man, about an artist/hydrologist in Oregon’s Klamath National Forest; and on February 29, Minnesota-based Kyja Kristjansson-Nelson introduces two of her captivating films.
The full schedule follows; trailers and more information can be found at wexarts.org/fv. Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $7 general public, $5 members, students, and seniors, available in advance at tickets.wexarts.org, 614-292-3535, or at the ticket office.
Field & Screen schedule
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (Sturla Gunarsson, 2010) – 93 mins., 35mmFriday, February 10 | 7 pm
Followed by panel discussion
Force of Nature follows the iconic Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki as he reveals what events in his life caused him to become perhaps the most eloquent and passionate voice for environmental sanity in the world. After the film, local environmental advocates share and discuss their own stories of what has motivated them to get involved. The panel features Keith Dimoff, executive director of the Ohio Environmental Council; Kai Landis, who leads sustainability projects through Ohio State’s Office of Student Life; Mike Minnix, owner and president of Eartha Limited, which promotes and facilitates food service sustainability; Doug Morgan, attorney and bicycling advocate; and Shelly Casto, director of education at the Wexner Center and environmental education advocate. Cosponsored by the Ohio Environmental Council.
Introduced by Snowville Creamery CEO Warren Taylor
Milk and the Land (Ariana Gerstein & Monteith McCollum, 2009) – 75 mins., video
Saturday, February 11 | 2 pm
Milk and the Land, from the creators of the acclaimed experimental corn documentary Hybrid, blends animation, archival footage, and original music to trace the relationship between the popular drink and American culture. Warren Taylor, founder and CEO of Ohio-based Snowville Creamery, introduces the film. A Snowville milk tasting with cookies provided by Heirloom will be offered following the movie.
Earthwork (Chris Ordal, 2011) – 93 mins., 35mm
Preceded by Kudzu Vine (Josh Gibson, 2011) – 20 mins., 35 mm
Saturday, February 11 | 7 pm
Earthwork is the story of real-life crop artist Stan Herd who, in 1994, risked everything to travel from Kansas City to New York to create a massive environmental artwork on land owned by Donald Trump. Starring John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone, Deadwood, Eastbound & Down).
The feature is preceded by the short film Kudzu Vine, a black-and-white cinemascope ode to the maligned vine that has overtaken much of the south—and the human efforts to coexist with it.
Valentine’s Day Special
El Bulli: Cooking in Progress (Gereon Wetzel, 2011) – 108 mins., video
Tuesday, February 14 | 7 pm
El Bulli is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Spanish restaurant in Catalonia many have hailed as the world’s most influential eatery for its inventive rethinking of fine dining. (El Bulli closed in the summer of 2011.) Employing a direct, cinema verité style, the filmmakers follow chef Ferran Adrià and his staff through the six months it took to design and create the menu for the 2008-09 season.
Dinner & A Movie
Friday, February 17 | 6 pm
Followed by Truck Farm and The City Dark (see following listing)
$32 general public, $27 members; includes dinner and film admission
This inaugural dinner at the Wexner Center’s Heirloom café showcases the creative, seasonal cuisine that’s making the eatery so popular. The menu features a grand salad, herbed roasted chicken (or a vegetarian entrée) with a hearty root vegetable risotto, and a glorious dessert. In keeping with their commitment to local ingredients, chefs John and Kimberly Skaggs will use Ohio chicken, cheese, and other products in the featured dishes. The meal will be served family-style and comes with a nonalcoholic drink (beverages can also be ordered from a cash bar). The inclusive price covers both dinner and a ticket to the films. Purchase your Dinner & A Movie package at tickets.wexarts.org by February 13.
Double Feature | Introduced by Ian Cheney
Truck Farm (Ian Cheney, 2011) – 48 minutes, video
The City Dark (Ian Cheney, 2011) – 84 minutes, video
Friday, February 17 | 7 pm
2nd film | 7:50 pm
Truck Farm follows an edible, mobile exhibit that brings a rural experience to urban students in the form of a 1986 Dodge pickup with a mini-farm planted in back. In The City Dark, Ian Cheney examines the problem of “light pollution” and the evolution of our relationship with the sky after the invention of electricity. Ian Cheney, who cocreated the award-winning documentary King Corn, is a founding member of the Food Corps and a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post.
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Letters from the Big Man (Christopher Munch, 2011) Image courtesy of the director |
Letters from the Big Man (Christopher Munch, 2011) – 105 mins., video
Friday–Saturday, February 24–25 | 7 pm
Letters from the Big Man is the eagerly anticipated latest film from one of American independent film’s unsung auteurs. Lily Rabe plays an artist/hydrologist who finds herself in Oregon’s Klamath National Forest trying to balance a recent break-up with the politics of deforestation and a burgeoning love with a sasquatch. Instead of playing the premise for laughs, Munch examines the ancient and spiritual beauty of the region and the people unaffected by the last ice age.
Introduced by the director
Kyja Kristjansson-Nelson: Landscapes – app. 60 mins.
Wednesday, February 29 | 7 pm
For more than 10 years, Minnesota-based filmmaker Kyja Krisjansson-Nelson has created a singular body of work combining experimental approaches to documentary, animation, and portraiture. This program, introduced by the director, includes two films inspired by her ancestral homeland of Iceland. Sveit (2009) examines the mythology of her family’s emigration to North Dakota while contrasting it with the realities of present-day Iceland. Landslag (2004) is a rumination on the natural forces that shaped the area in northern Iceland from where her great-grandparents emigrated.
Media contact
For high-res images, more information, and interviews contact Karen Simonian
ksimonian@wexarts.org
614-292-9923
ksimonian@wexarts.org
614-292-9923
SERIES AND SEASON SUPPORT
Significant contributions for the Wexner Center’s 2011–12 film/video season are made by the Rohauer Collection Foundation.
Generous support for Field & Screen 2012 is provided by Puffin Foundation West, Ltd.
The preferred airline of the film/video program is American Airlines/American Eagle.
Field & Screen 2012 is supported by community partners the Ohio Environmental Council, Dine Originals Columbus, and Wayward Seed Farm.
The Wexner Center also receives generous support from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, The Columbus Foundation, Nationwide Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council, as well as from the Corporate Annual Fund of the Wexner Center Foundation and Wexner Center members.
