A model of the institutionally supported post-New American Cinema avant-gardist, University of Virginia associate professor and 2006 Filmmaker Magazine 25 New Face in Independent Film Kevin Jerome Everson will be in New York tonight to present a program of recent and brand new short works at Ed Halter and Thomas Beard's Light Industry, which in just over a year on the New York City film exhibition scene has carved out a strong niche for itself as a place to see recent film and electronic art. Employing a mix of found footage and docu-fiction hybrid that is reminiscent of Jia Zhangke and Alain Resnais, Everson, a regular at headier festivals like Rotterdam who's work has been showcased at the Whitney Biennial and Sundance, explains the program's title, "To Do Better...", thusly:

The quote is from Curley Lanier, a city employee in the film Company Line (2009). He explains to the viewer why he, his mother and younger siblings left Alabama and migrated to Mansfield, Ohio in the late 1950’s. His answer is poignant yet reserved. It seems that, more than fifty years later, Curley is still not sure what “better” means...

Company Line, narrated primarily by city employees, residents of one of Mansfield’s first predominately Black neighborhoods are ambivalent about their city, their work and their choices relating to migration. The title Company Line is actually the name originally given by residents to their neighborhood, which was founded by African Americans from the south.

# posted by Brandon Harris @ 5/18/2009 12:17:00 PM

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