Revue Cinema free screening: “Public Hearing” – 9:15 pm, Feb. 27, 2014

The following text is from a CORRA email:

CORRA Update
REVUE CINEMA –
“PUBLIC HEARING”

February 20, 2014

To CORRA Members, Resident and Ratepayer Executives:

Passing along a cinema event “Public Hearing” by James N. Kienitz Wilkins (2012) that may be of interest to you and your RA members. It makes its Canadian premiere in Toronto on:

February 27, 2014 at the Revue Cinema
400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
416. 531.9950
THIS SHOWING IS FREE

PUBLIC HEARING

A civic transcript about a Walmart expansion is regenerated as a feature film, word-for-word and entirely in close-up.

16mm-to-HD / B&W / 110 min / USA

Directed and produced by James N. Kienitz Wilkins

Original music by Eugene Wasserman

The trailer may be view here or copy this link into your browser, http://public.automaticmoving.com/.

The February 20, 2014 review from “The Star” is extracted below:

“Public Hearing: Some screenwriters labour long and hard to create the stuff of great cinema. Others find what they need in more surprising wellsprings.

How surprising? In the case of Public Hearing — a deeply odd American film that makes its Canadian premiere in Toronto this week — it’s the complete transcript of a civic meeting in the town of Allegany, N.Y., in which local citizens debate the merits of a proposal to expand the local Walmart.

Discovered by chance on the town’s website by director James N. Kienitz Wilkins, it’s the kind of document that typically attracts little notice. Yet the Brooklyn-based filmmaker and self-professed “Internet archeologist” found it so compelling that he enlisted actors to perform the transcript verbatim while shooting them in a series of black-and-white close-ups.

While this unique endeavour may sound like a prank, Public Hearing proves to be one of the most remarkable not-quite-documentaries of recent years. It’s hard to think of a more conventional film that so effectively illustrates the messy nature of democracy or the clashing imperatives of corporate giants, small-town politicians and defenders of vulnerable communities. With its stark yet stylized presentation, Wilkins’ movie is variously reminiscent of an Edward R. Murrow news special, a David Mamet play and a poverty-row film noir. The latest pick in the Refocus series of under-heralded indie flicks at the Revue Cinema, Public Hearing plays for free on Feb. 27 at 9:15 p.m.”

From

From CORRA’s Executive team,
Confederation of Resident and Ratepayer Associations in Toronto
corratoronto@gmail.com

This communication is being sent out to Member groups and associations:
ABC Residents Association; Annex Residents’ Association; Arwold Gate Residents Association; Avenue Road & Eglinton Community Association; Bloor West Village Residents Association; Bayview Village Association; Beach Triangle Residents Association; Bloor West Village Residents Association; Corktown Residents Association; Deer Park Residents Group Inc.; Don Mills Resident Inc.; Don Valley East Residents Association; Dovercourt Park Community; Edithvale-Yonge Community Association; Edward Gardens Neighbourhood Association Inc.; Eglinton Park Residents Association; Etobicoke Lakeshore Residents Association; Fifeshire Road Area Community Association; Forest Hill Homeowners’ Association; Glenorchy Residents’ Association; Grange Community Association; Harbord Village Residents Association; High Park Residents Association; Islington Residents & Ratepayers Association; Kensington Market Action Committee; Kingsway Park Ratepayers Inc.; Lakeshore Planning Council; Lawrence Park Ratepayers’ Association Inc.; Leaside Property Owners’ Association; Liberty Village Residents’ Association; Lytton Park Residents Organization Inc.; Markland Wood Homeowners Association; Moore Park Residents Association; North Rosedale Residents Association; Old Mill Community Association; Oriole Park Association; Ossington Community Association; Palmerston Area Residents Association; Queensway Residents Association; St. Andrews Ratepayers’ Association; Sherwood Park Residents’ Association; South Armour Heights Residents’ Association; South Eglinton Ratepayers and Residents Association; South Rosedale Residents Association TO; Stanley Knowles Housing Co-Op; Summerhill Residents Association; Swansea Area Residents Association; Teddington Park Residents Association Inc.; Thompson Orchard Community Association; Toronto Beach East Residents Association; Uptown Yonge Neighbourhood Alliance; West Kingsway Ratepayers Association; West Lansing Homeowners Association; Yonge Ridge Homeowners Association; York Mills Gardens Community Association; York Mills Ratepayers Association Inc.; York Mills Valley Association; Other West and East End Resident and Ratepayer Groups