TGIF! Here’s what’s happening today in LA. Film lovers out there have reason to celebrate this weekend, with an Orphan Film symposium screening rare gems; the Hero Complex Film Festival; and a documentary on typewriters. In addition, we found a performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s epic All-Night Vigil (Vespers), Op. 37; an all-women art show; a ‘Bates Motel’ panel; and an exhibition on the history of Jews in LA. Read on for all the details.
ORPHAN FILMS
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the two-day film symposium, The Real Indies: A Close Look at Orphan Films, beginning tonight at 8 pm at the Linwood Dunn Theater. The films include rarely seen works by Satyajit Ray, Saul Bass and Penelope Spheeris, and holding discussions with directors Rob Epstein, Jeff Friedman and Rick Prelinger, among others. Tickets are $5 general admission/$3 Academy members and students with a valid ID. An all-day pass for Saturday is $15.
CLASSICAL
The Grammy-award winning Pacific Boychoir of Oakland presents Sergei Rachmaninoff’s epic All-Night Vigil (Vespers), Op. 37 tonight at 8 pm at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. The choir performs the work every three years in Oakland, but this marks the first LA performance. The piece was first premiered by a boy’s choir in Moscow in 1915. “In 2007, the Pacific Boychoir became the first choir in America to reproduce the original performing forces.” 8 pm. Tickets available at the door: $18-$28.
ART
There’s an opening reception tonight from 8-10 pm at iam8bit gallery for Grace & Ritual, a new art show that features the work of more than 40 accomplished female artists. The list of artists includes: Lizzy Waronker, Diva Zappa, Jana Cruder, Sawa and others, who examine the “personal, professional, creative and cultural manifestations of the words ‘grace’ and ‘ritual.’”
FILM*
Now in its fourth year, the Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex Film Festivalexamines a darker side of sci-fi, fantasy and horror genre films. Screenings and live Q&As with their creators will be hosted by The Times’ Hero Complex editor Gina McIntyre at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatres through the weekend. Tonight’s film program includes iconic filmmaker John Carpenter, who discusses his career between showings of They Live and Halloween. Tomorrow, Guillermo del Toro discusses his films Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone; and Sunday is an X-Files extravaganza with creator Chris Carter. The show celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and three uncut episodes will be screened: Pilot, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose and Jose Chung’s From Outer Space. Tickets are available now for $20; a few festival passes are also available for $50.
TV
The Paley Center presents the program Bates Motel: Reimagining a Cinema Icon tonight at 7 pm in Beverly Hills. The A&E series Bates Motel is a prequel of sorts to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, examining Norman Bates’ unraveling psyche and his relationship with his mother. We think tickets are sold out, but the panel portion of the event will be streamed live at www.paleycenter.org/live and feature executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin, and actors Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Nestor Carbonell, Olivia Cooke and Nicola Peltz, in conversation with Shawn Ryan, creator & executive producer of The Shield.
HISTORY
The Autry opens the new exhibition Jews in the Los Angeles Mosaictoday. It’s a first-ever museum show about the history of Jews in LA, telling the story of neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and Fairfax and people like Billy Wilder, Max Factor and Frank Gehry. Admission to the Autry is $10 for adults. The show remains up through Jan. 5, 2014.
FILM
Director Christopher Locket brings a film passion project—The Typewriter (In The 21st Century)—for a week-long theatrical run at the Downtown Independent. His film is “about a machine and the people who use, love and repair it” and features 30+ interviews, including authors Robert Caro and David McCullough, who are both typewriter users, and people who gather for “type-ins.” Showings tonight at 8 and 10 pm. Q&A with filmmakers in between films.
*Pencil pick of the day
Want more events? Follow me on Twitter (@christineziemba). Or follow Lauren Lloyd—who takes care of Pencil on Wednesdays (@LadyyyLloyd).
