The Spectre of Fascism - Echoes from Totalitarianism - Fri. Dec. 2nd - 8PM

Oddball Films presents The Spectre of Fascism - Echoes from Totalitarianism, a program of international 16mm short films, documentaries and animation reflecting on the 20th century's history of fascism and it's repercussions both artistic and humanitarian. With subversive stop-motion animation from Poland and the former Czechoslovakia, dark allegories of political conformity and rebellion, Alain Resnais' definitive Holocaust documentary short, and even Don@ld Duck as a Nazi, it is a powerful night giving testament to the power of the indomitable human spirit in the face of fascism. Alain Resnais’ masterful Night and Fog (1955) is both horrifying and necessary, combining archival material with meditative footage shot at Auschwitz and Majdanek ten years after the end of World War II. In the process, Resnais reveals the yawning gap between what’s left and what was, challenging the commonplace assumption that we can ever really understand the magnitude of history and its many traumas. From former Nazi-occupied Poland comes Tad Makarczynski's The Magician (1962), a pied-piperesque allegory of several young boys recruited to be soldiers by a nefarious magician, as well as the dark stop-motion animation rebellion Bags AKA Worek (1967) directed by Tadeusz Wilcosz. From the former Czechoslovakia we bring you another stop-motion marvel, Jiří Trnka's exquisite parable of totalitarianism and named one of the top five animated films of all-time: The Hand (1965), banned in its country of origin for decades. In De Overkant (1966), Belgian filmmaker Herman Wuyts brings us a bleak interpretation of a totalitarian society in which independence equates to death. The dark animated adaptation of Maurice Ogden's The Hangman (1967) is a chilling vision of the dangers of conformity and a grim metaphor for the horrors of scapegoating and witch-hunts. For a little comic relief (and we'll need it), we bring you Di$ney's Oscar-winning propaganda cartoon Der Fuehrer's Face (1943) featuring Don@ld Duck in a musical Nazi nightmare. Revisit the dark history of fascist oppression so we shall not be doomed to repeat it in the coming years. Everything screened on 16mm film from our massive stock footage archive.

Date: Friday, December 2nd, 2016 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117

Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com 

Cinema Soiree: “Celluloid Scopophilia: The Sensual Dimensions of the Human Body” with Kerry Laitala and Live Music by Wobbly - Thur. Dec. 1st - 8PM

Oddball Films welcomes moving image artist Kerry Laitala to our Cinema Soiree Series, a monthly event featuring visiting authors, filmmakers and curators presenting and sharing cinema insights and films. Laitala will be returning to the cinestage to present Celluloid Scopophilia: The Sensual Dimensions of the Human Body, a film program that examines the fetishization of the human body through rare medical and first aid films as well as vintage fetish shorts, Laitala's own handmade films, and live musical accompaniment from Wobbly. Celluloid Scopophilia is a program that treads the line between visual pleasure and pain in the context of Scopophilia, (the pleasure of looking). Through the camera's gaze, the pleasure imparted by the extraction and isolation of body parts is explored and dwelled upon, sucking the viewer into this seductive, unseemly form of compelling cinema sequencing the program to make the resonance between the films vibrate with a very pervy frequency. This program investigates these abnormalities showcasing rare medical films such as Pain and Its Alleviation (1961) and Oral Hygiene films such as the Technicolor Danish, English co-production Es Leight Ans Dir (1951), later dubbed in German, industrial First Aid films such as Shock and Breathing For Others (1955), outtakes from Obsession, an adult film shot in San Francisco in the 1980s starring Jamie Gillis, and underground foot fetish films. The program will conclude with the viscerally compelling counterpoint Secure the Shadow…’Ere the Substance Fade, a hand-made film by Laitala, a filmmaker and long-time collector of obscure and disturbing medical and industrial films. Additionally the program with incorporate live cinema film loops, triple projections and Laitala wielding her infamous “film flogger”, a celluloid “whip” created to scatter multiple images throughout the screening room. Laitala’s frequent musical collaborator Wobbly will be on hand to create some new sonic interminglings. The program is curated by Oddball Films Director Stephen Parr and filmmaker/cinema historian Kerry Laitala and all films will be screened in 16mm film. Celluloid Scopophilia: The Sensual Dimensions of the Human Body promises to be a disturbing, darkly humorous and ultimately fascinating look at our perceptions of the human body in all its fetishistic forms.

Date: Thursday, December 1st, 2016 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117

Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com 

Baby Animal Bonanza - Fri. Nov. 18th - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Baby Animal Bonanza, a night of 16mm short nature films from the 1930s-1970s all starring the cutest baby monkeys, kittens, bears, foxes, skunks, bunnies, otters, puppies and more. After a grim week in American politics and morale, we here at Oddball know you could use a little distraction with an onslaught of adorable baby animals from yesteryear. Two Black Bear Twins (1952) snack on bacon hung off trees and make a mess of a campsite in this misinformed nature film. The depression-era Tiffany Chimps try to sneak their baby into various hotel rooms with a wide array of ridiculous chimp antics in My Children (1931). And while we're talking tiny primates, make sure to meet Rikki: The Baby Monkey (1949), a little rhesus in the wild on his first excursion into the jungle alone. Interspecies parenting doesn't get any cuter than Mother Cat and her Baby Skunks (1958), unless you want to count one of the most outrageously adorable films ever Baby Rabbit (1969) which looks at bunnies and the children who love and care for them. A ranger finds an orphaned otter and nurtures him to adulthood in the precious Hungarian short Forest Fisherman: Story of an Otter (1972). Forest Babies (1959) provides a barrage of babies from fawns to woodchucks. Adventures of a Baby Fox (1955) teaches you in rhyme about not only baby foxes but the flora and fauna in their woodland world. Head to the polar bear enclosure at the zoo for Cheechako's First Day (1978). Then, head to the beach with Doug, Don and over half a dozen Scottish Terrier puppies in Mother Mack Trains her Seven Puppies (1952). Plus more furry surprises for the early birds and everything screened on 16mm film from our massive stock footage archive.

Date: Friday, November 18th, 2016 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117

Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com 

Strange Sinema 106 - Computeresque: Experiments With Light + Technology - Thur. Nov. 17th - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Strange Sinema, a monthly evening of old finds, rare gems and newly discovered films from the stacks of the archive. Drawing on his collection of over 50,000 16mm film prints-the largest archive in Northern California, Oddball Films director Stephen Parr has compiled his 106th program of offbeat, quirky, experimental outtakes and unusual films. Strange Sinema 106: Computeresque: Experiments With Light + Technology, a program of films examining the early use of light and computers in cinema featuring pioneers of computer-generated art. The centerpiece of the program is based around a selection of Whitney films, innovators of cinematic computer technologies featuring motion graphics pioneer John Whitney Sr. and brother James and son Michael's work, all profoundly audacious and inspiring in their fluidity, motion and spiritual subtext. John Whitney created some of the first computer-generated animation and motion graphics and Catalog (1961) is his remarkable demo reel of work created with his analog computer/film/camera machine he built from a WWII anti-aircraft gun sight. We follow that with Whitney’s Arabesque (1975), a legendary masterpiece of shimmering, oscillating waves set to the music of Persian composer Maroocheher Sadeghi. Experiments in Motion Graphics (1968) once again features early computer motion graphics by John Whitney and a discussion of the computers prospect as an art making tool. Michael Whitney's Binary Bit Patterns (1969) is a hypnotic psych-folk audiovisual experience that suggests a secret symbiosis between the digital and the organic as various Eastern graphic permutations appear, dissolve and undergo metamorphoses on the screen. Lapis (1965), made by a spiritualized James Whitney (one of only 7 films he created) and one of the most accessible experimental films ever made; Lapis was created with handmade cels evoking a single mandala moving within itself; its particles surge around each other in constant metamorphosis. Various other computer innovators include Gary Demos, the special-effects guru behind Tron and Futureworld who creates a mesmerizing light show in I Had an Idea (1972), the first computer generated music video, Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now (1972) from animator and Oscar winner John Wilson, Perspectrum (1974), directed by famed Indian animator Ishu Patel with koto music by Michio Miyagi, this animated short conveys a kaleidoscopic sense of perspective, and Dragonfold and Other Ways to Fill Space (1979) created on the Tektronics 4051 Graphics Terminal by Brooklyn filmmakers Bruce and Katharine Cornwell this brilliant computer-generated animation synchronized to rock music provides an introduction to the idea that a one-dimensional line can fill two-dimensional space, Peter Foldes and the National Film Board of Canada bring us the first short made entirely out of computer-generated animation Hunger (1973); a dazzling and dark nightmare of metamorphosing images that gives new meaning to "eat the rich", and Incredible Machine (1968) from Bell Labs, this film previews early developments in computer-assisted imagery, electronic music, and voice processing. Plus! Hypothese Beta (1967), an Academy Award nominated film featuring an isolated computer punch card who creates chaotic and deadly disorder! 

Date: Thursday, November 17th, 2016 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117

Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com 

Pre-Code Betty Boopathon! - Thur. Nov. 10th - 8PM

Oddball Films and curator Kat Shuchter bring you Pre-Code Betty Boopathon!, a program of 16mm cartoons from 1930-1934 from the Fleischer Brothers starring the original cartoon sexpot and the most popular female cartoon character of all time: Betty Boop. Dave and Max Fleischer were true animation pioneers; the first to introduce sound in animation and creators of rotoscoping (tracing human movement from film) as well as the originators of Popeye, the first Superman cartoons and more. They also introduced the world to one of its sexiest and most beloved cartoon heroines ever. The Betty Boop cartoons are incredibly imaginative, sexy, surreal, and possess the spirit of the Jazz Age with a kooky and spooky edge. "Born" in 1930 as a dog lady singing in a Bimbo the dog cartoon, Betty eventually evolved over the next few years into not only a human woman but also from an unnamed bit player into the star of dozens of cartoons. In 1934 Betty's appearance changed again - thanks to the Hayes Morality Code - that forced her to raise the bustline on her dress and lower its hemline. Betty fell out of favor in the late 1930s but continues to inspire and amuse over 80 years later. The evening's selections include Mysterious Mose (1930) one of Betty's earliest incarnations as a dog - who keeps losing her nightgown to a horny ghost; she keeps dropping her top for Bimbo the rag man in Any Rags? (1931) which was also her final appearance as a dog; Betty Boop M.D. (1932) where she stars as a sexy snake oil salesman peddling a magic elixir with psychedelic effects; Betty Boop's Penthouse (1933) where a science experiment goes wrong and Betty captivates a monster with her charms; Red Hot Mamma (1934), the devil squares off against Betty and gets nothing but the cold shoulder; Betty sings her way into the heart of her Prince Charming (with the help of a risque makeover from her fairy godmother) in Poor Cinderella (1934); she sings for your vote in Betty Boop for President (1932); the great Cab Calloway teams up with the Fleischer Brothers and Betty Boop for a double dose of rotoscoped cartoons: Old Man of the Mountain (1933) and Minnie the Moocher (1932) including a spooky night of skeletons, ghosts and witches as well as the earliest footage of Calloway ever filmed. Betty hulas her heart out in nothing but a grass skirt and a lei in Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle (1932) with an authentic soundtrack by the Royal Samoans and rotoscoped hula moves. Betty shows off her flapper moves as she teaches a dance class in The Dancing Fool (1932). Plus, more 1930s cartoons for the early birds! Everything screened on 16mm film.

Date: Thursday, November 10th, 2016 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117

Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com 

Hey Sailor! Antique Naval VD, Training, and Ephemeral Films - Fri. Nov. 11th - 8PM

In honor of Veteran's Day, Oddball Films presents Hey Sailor! Antique Naval VD, Training, and Ephemeral Films, a program of short films and cartoons from the 1930s-1950s centered on those brave fighting seamen who sailed the seas of yesteryear. We've got VD scare films, awkward enema lessons, Popeye cartoons, sailor chimps, musical numbers, and naked sailors galore, all on original 16mm film from our massive stock footage archive.  We're declassifying two homoerotic rarities from the US Navy: dozens of naked sailors go full frontal for their medical exam and a hands on posture lesson in Bluejackets Personal Hygiene (1943) and get down and dirty in the infirmary with an uncomfortable excerpt of Giving an Enema (1944). Check your privates, private in the Navy training film The Pick-Up (1944), starring an unlucky schmuck who picks up a nasty case of the clap just in time for his furlough. More sailors make a sucker's bet on a game of poker and some loose women in One a Minute (1944). What sailor program would be complete without a Popeye cartoon, and on that note we bring you an original Fleischer brothers short: In the Army Now (1936) when Popeye and Bluto show off their greatest hits when Olive Oyl declares her love for a man in uniform. Shorty the Chimp dons his sailor cap and heads to the high seas in Chimp the Sailor (1950). Plus, a boatload of 1940s Sailor Soundies including Heaven Help a Sailor and the bizarrely hulatastic Little Grass Shack, excerpts from Swim and Live (1944) double projected with Vintage Beefcake footage and more naval surprises for the early birds!

Date: Friday, November 11th, 2016 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117

Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com 

Political Party Animals: Bizarro Politics and Propaganda - Fri. Nov. 4th - 8PM

Oddball Films presents Political Party Animals: Bizarro Politics and Propaganda, a night of the most strangest electoral eccentricities of the archive. On the week of the most controversial presidential election of the century, we're tapping into the historical and hysterical vaults of the collection with tons of politically themed cartoons, commercials, spoofs, propaganda and musical numbers from the 1930s-1980s. All- American cheesemaster Jerry Fairbanks brings us patriotic talking animals with Speaking of Animals - In Current Events (1940s). Tiny Shirley Temple tarts it up and tries to cheat an honest man in the "Baby Burlesk" Polly Tix in Washington (1933). Betty Boop sings for your vote in Betty Boop for President (1932). Escalation (1968) an animated anti-war short from Academy Award-winning Di$ney animator Ward Kimball is jam-packed with a montage of everything from erotic imagery to commercial mascots to skewering LBJ's policies on Vietnam. Fictitious candidate Roy Hardale preens and poses like a model while spouting his campaign promises in the hilarious spoof Political Posture (1984). Ford Motor Company sponsors the vintage voter guilt trip Where Were You? (1960). Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda and more celebrities urge you to buy war bonds while singing and dancing for the troops (with a surreal sequence of pin-ups coming to life) in All-Star Bond Rally (1945). Take a feminist musical break with Schoolhouse Rock and Sufferin' till Suffrage (1974). Porky Pig reveals all America's goofiest secrets when he presents a faux-propaganda satire in Meet John Doughboy (1941).  Humor meets education in the US Army’s cartoon propaganda short Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike (1944) written by Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel which shows Snafu (Situation Normal All F*cked Up) learning the hard way about the consequences of not protecting himself from malaria infection. Ladies, it's time to sign up for the coast guard and free a man for combat in the propaganda recruitment film Coast Guard Spars (1942). Plus, the Action Faction dancers get groovy at the capital, the wacky patriotic Soundie I Want to Foof on a Fife (1940s), a 1958 puppet-animation Voting PSA and more surprises. Everything screened on 16mm film from our massive stock footage archive.

Date: Friday, November 4th, 2016 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilms.com or (415) 558-8117

Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com