Expanding the Frame: Journeys @ the Walker, 1/21 - 2/28

This week the Walker Art Center will launch its annual five week "Expanding the Frame" film series, which "brings together works that challenge the form and structure of conventional cinema; the unusual approaches taken by these filmmakers provide a fresh and profound take on the universal as they journey into the unknown."

This year's series, Journeys, features a handful of area premieres and appearances by directors, including Ellen Kuras, whose Oscar-nominated documentary, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), was #6 on my documentary list last year. That film will also screen, leaving you with no excuse if you haven't seen it yet (it's been on PBS and has played here theatrically at least twice already). Prior to last year's Oscar nomination for her directing debut, Kuras had made a career as a cinematographer for directors including Martin Scorsese, Julian Schnabel, Michel Gondry, and Spike Lee - should be a fascinating discussion.

Films are screened in the Walker Cinema and tickets remain impressively affordable at $8 a piece, or $6 for Walker members (you can also buy a five-pack for $18/$24). Here is the complete schedule (clips and trailers can be viewed in a neatly compiled post on the Walker's film blog):

- Thursday, January 21 @ 7:30 PM - FREE
An Evening with Ben Russell: TRYPPS and The Black and White Gods (live performance)

 - Saturday, January 23 @ 7:30 PM
Where Is Where? (Missä on missä?); d Eija-Liisa Ahtila (area premiere)

 - Wednesday, January 27 @ 7:30 PM
Where Is Where? (Missä on missä?); d Eija-Liisa Ahtila 

- Friday, January 29 @ 7:30 PM
Petition - The Court of the Complainants; d Zhao Liang (area premiere) 

- Saturday, January 30 @ 3:00 PM
Gallery Talk: Zhao Liang (discussion w/filmmaker) 

- Saturday, January 30 @ 7:30 PM
Crime and Punishment; d Zhao Liang (area premiere)

 - Saturday, January 30 @ 7:30 PM
It Came from Kuchar; d Jennifer Kroot (area premiere)

 - Friday, February 12 @ 7:30 PM
Liverpool; d Lisandro Alonso (area premiere) 

- Wednesday, February 17 @ 7:30 PM
Swoon; d Tom Kalin, c Ellen Kuras

 - Thursday, February 18 @ 7:30 PM - FREE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon); d Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath 

- Friday, February 19 @ 7:30 PM (double feature w/Berlin)
I Shot Andy Warhol; d Mary Harron, c Ellen Kuras

 - Friday, February 19 @ 9:15 PM
Berlin; d Julian Schnabel, c Ellen Kuras

 - Saturday, February 20 @ 7:30 PM
An Evening with Ellen Kuras (discussion w/filmmaker)

- Wednesday, February 24 @ 7:30 PM
An Evening with Daniel Barrow: Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry (live performance)

 - Saturday, February 27 @ 7:30 PM
Hapax Legomena; d Hollis Frampton

 - Sunday, February 28 @ 2:00 PM
Hapax Legomena; d Hollis Frampton


*(Apart from Expanding the Frame series)*
Of Language and Longing: The Films of Marguerite Duras - February 7 - 10 

*Map and Directions to the Walker Art Center