About the Musician

You see her, a thin, flaxen-haired young woman readying herself for an intimate performance. In your head you hear her voice before she begins: hushed, wispy, delicate. But you are wrong.

She eschews the stage and brings the music to the floor. And what comes forth are full-throated, haunting exhortations – a forceful voice made more forceful as she cups her hands around her mouth for amplification. Now you are stunned. You remain stunned as she effortlessly moves from a cappella numbers to soul-wrenching testimonials accompanied by herself on guitar or piano, her playing insistent and hypnotic. Through the set, friends may augment her sound with some clarinet or singing saw. At the end, she’ll encourage you to join in as a member of a makeshift choir. If you can shake yourself from her spell for long enough, you’ll join.

Influenced by her grandmother, Alabama native Bronwyn Leslie has long felt the power of song and how its power magnifies when shared. Always active with local musicians, artists, dancers, and actors in their endeavors, Leslie is proud to present her craft, these psalms of life’s beauty and despair, to the very community that has inspired her. This isn’t folk music. This is Lionsweb.

After the concert, Beach House ticket-holders funneled into The Crux for an afterparty with Boise’s Hot Lava, Portland, Ore.’s Wooden Indian Burial Ground and the lovely Lionsweb. Comprised of Boise’s Bronwyn Leslie, Lionsweb quieted the packed coffeehouse by launching into a folksy, a cappella number with a crowd of rapt listeners wrapped around her. She made her way to a piano, where she belted out the remainder of her lilting, yet powerfully soulful tracks. This lady is one to keep your eye on.” / Tara Morgan, Boise Weekly

 

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lionsweb

While Boise, Idaho based trio The Dirty Moogs twiddle their knobs in homage to their synthesized heroes (Kraftwerk, Sparks, et. al) they add the element long forgotten by synthesizer music; fun.

Dream the dream that was electronic music in 1977, a simpler time when robots were still cool, nobody except nerds cared about synthesizers, and analog synths were a dirty affair. Or, at least as dirty as methodical, machinist German electronic specialists would allow.

Certainly, analog synth dance bands are not necessarily a groundbreaking phenomena in 2013, but what sets The Dirty Moogs apart from those who use the Moog as a gimmick, or even those who’ve managed to nail the Gary Numan/80′s soundtrack aesthetic, is the songwriting. While some of the tones are nostalgic, dancing is timeless, and the Moogs share the best of traits with their pioneering predecessors; memorable melodies and good songs.

Video:

website: http://sunlesssearecords.com/artists/The-Dirty-Moogs.html
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dirty-Moogs/124846690942417

ParaNorman is the new 3D stop-motion comedy thriller from LAIKA, the animation studio that created the groundbreaking Academy Award-nominated Coraline (2009). In ParaNorman, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only Norman, who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
More information at: www.paranorman.com

Credit: LAIKA, Inc.

About LAIKA:
LAIKA is an animation studio specializing in feature films, commercials  and shorts. Travis Knight serves as President and CEO of the company, which is owned by Nike co-founder and Chairman Philip H. Knight.  In addition to ParaNorman, LAIKA created the Oscar-nominated Coraline, which was released to critical acclaim on February 6, 2009.  Coraline was the first stop-motion feature to be conceived and photographed in stereoscopic 3D. Written and directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach), Coraline is based on a novel by Neil Gaiman. For additional information about our studio and Coraline, access: www.laika.com.

In Attendance: Mark Shapiro

Mark Shapiro:
Head Of Entertainment Brand Marketing, MARK SHAPIRO’s diverse marketing and communications career has taken him across the  United States and around the world, working in brand development, advertising, public  relations, film production and writing for companies including Nike, Town & Country Magazine and Upper Deck.  In 2007, he joined  LAIKA, where he manages brand strategies, including the  marketing efforts for LAIKA’s corporate identity as well as the company’s  feature films. A native of Seattle, Washington, Mark attended Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts and received his  Bachelor of Arts in English from The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He also completed education studies at Lewis  & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

About the Band

Three members of And And And (singer/guitarist Nathan Baumgartner, multi-instrumentalist Ryan Wiggans, and bassist Jonathan Sallas) grew up together in an economically depressed small town on the southern oregon coast.

Guitarist Berg Radin grew up in several different states in the NW, and drummer Bim ditson was raised in burnout hippy/college bro central, eugene, oregon where they all met, eventually moving to Portland where they won Willamette Week’s Best new Band of 2011.

Baumgartner has been living in self-imposed isolation on the oregon coast as a single father and underemployed substitute teacher supplementing his income by selling wild edibles. Wiggans is a certified music teacher who teaches swim lessons and is the only trained musician in the band. ditson makes the finest chainmaille jewelry available on etsY and spends his spare time organizing rigsketball tournaments ( 32 team, 3 on 3, basketball tours made up of Portland bands, where the games are played on a regulation-size hoop mounted on the And And And van.) radin is a pizza delivery boy who builds amplifiers out of suitcases and broken stereo equipment. sallas is a straight man who works at a gay bar, has really nice hair, and is the only member of the band with a real girlfriend.

The idiosyncracies of the band members’ lives have informed all aspects of And And And’s music. This is not a band that is worried about looking super-hip and being part of the scene. Pretentiousness is a great fear of theirs. honesty is an ambition. They play music that is at once earnest and orchestrated yet outof-control and off kilter. Their songs range from lo-fi garage pop to folksy ballads with clarinet or trumpet. Their live shows have been known to become sweaty booze soaked singalongs. Band members have injured themselves on stage (or by jumping off the stage) and have been known to be disoriented and half naked at times.

Video:

http://andandandmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/andandandmusic

Hillfolk Noir – modern day old time wonderment.”
~ Rick Stuart, Roots and Fusion Radio of Pure Radio, UK

If John Steinbeck had a Speakeasy, Hillfolk Noir would be the house band.”
~ John Doe, of John Doe, X, The Sadies, and The Knitters

Hillfolk Noir is touring behind its latest album, Hillfolk Noir Radio Hour (March 2012). The full-length studio recording is sequenced like an old-timey radio program straight out of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, complete with commercial breaks plugging a bunch of fake products they made up. The album is available on CD, MP3 and limited-edition 10-inch vinyl packaged to resemble a 1920s-era 78 (but sounding much better).

Video

Hillfolk Noir has performed with Built to Spill, James McMurtry, Neko Case, Justin Townes Earle, Deer Tick, Gourds, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Gerald Collier, Heroes and Villains, Train, Jesse Dayton, The Dusty 45s, Neva Dinova and tons of other great acts that you may or may not have heard of. The good Junkerdash word also has been spread on countless American street corners because the Hillfolkers hold the busking tradition in high regard and, well, sometimes they need the gas money…

Dynamic and energetic indie rock trio Finn Riggins has made a name for itself around the West and the greater US as road warriors from the oft-overlooked state of Idaho over the last several years.

Since their debut release on Portland’s beloved mom-and-pop label Tender Loving Empire in 2007, they have averaged close to 200 shows a year in 43 states — including a massive 80-day tour around the entire perimeter of the US in the Spring of 2010. Most of which has been on the backs of their DIY ethic and wide open approach to the changing music industry.

Indie-pop outfit Finn Riggins plays rhythm-heavy rock with flourishes of piano, organs and steel drums. Imagine a more world-music-friendly version of Los Campesinos!” — Time Out New York

The collaborative brainchild of three music school graduates from the University of Idaho — Cameron Bouiss, Eric Gilbert and Lisa Simpson — Finn Riggins has always been a tough entity for the music industry to pin down. Their genre-defying approach to rock-n-roll has yielded a long stream of varied explanations for their sound over the years — experimental pop, prog-pop, post-punk post-epic 70s rock, synth-driven indie rock, and so on. One consistent thread through most of the press raves over the years has been the fact that Finn Riggins’ sound is unique and fresh and not adhering to any particular trend, all while being accessible through pop-hooks and an incredibly well executed and fun live show.

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Website: http://www.finnriggins.com

Grandma Kelsey is the anonym of Boise based singer/songwriter Kelsey Swope.

Singer/Songwriter Grandma Kelsey will kick off Friday Night’s after screening festivities followed by Hillfolk Noir, and Finn Riggins all hailing from Boise, Idaho.

A solitary, wingless creature armed with autoharp, guitar, and song, Grandma Kelsey’s disarming voice blends poetic narratives and structured melodies that draws the hearts of her listeners.
It is rare to feel alone in a room full of people, but one can not help feeling singled out by her sincerity. Grandma Kelsey is in the midst of recording her first full length album which is set for release in the Summer of 2012.

Video:

fb: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grandma-Kelsey/217933098226999

Directors Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims

Only The Young encapsulates the best of documentary film with its sincerity but is shot with the beautiful still aesthetic of a narrative film. This coming of age documentary is scored with soul music which makes it unlike any other documentary film.

I’m ready to file ONLY THE YOUNG in the all-time coming of age canon.”
- Hammer & Nail

Synopsis

ONLY THE YOUNG follows the story of three teenagers that live in a small desert town in Southern California – a town dominated by foreclosed homes and underpasses, unfilled swimming pools and skate parks. These kids must find things to do in a place that offers nothing – yet in the course of observing their day-to-day lives, we see them discover friendship, first love, heartbreak, and what it means to be young. Tippet and Mims’ delicate, ethereal filmmaking and ONLY THE YOUNG’s innocent yet rebellious subjects collectively embody the very essence of adolescence.

TRAILER

FILMMAKER BIOS

JASON TIPPET, DIRECTOR
Jason Tippet attended CalArts for his undergraduate degree where he directed Thompson, his first short documentary, which screened at Sundance 2010 and won the Jury Award at SXSW 2009.

ELIZABETH MIMS, DIRECTOR
Elizabeth Mims grew up in Austin, Texas and graduated from CalArts in 2010. There, she produced Thompson. Not to brag, but she was also freshman homecoming princess at Austin High School.

Director Zach Weintraub

“In this foreigner-abroad antiromance, writer-director Zach Weintraub stars as an American journalist in Argentina, searching for a lost love and neglecting the new girl (Sophia Takal) he’s taken up with. The film upends expectations at every turn, from the defiantly nontouristic views of Buenos Aires to the tough, unsparing conclusions the story reaches about its adrift protagonist.” — Time Out New York

Synopsis

The International Sign for Choking depicts the day-to-day encounters of Josh, a would-be expatriate from the US living in Buenos Aires for the second time. While his primary purpose seems to be the production of a vaguely defined video project, he devotes more of his time to tracking down a mysteriously absent ex-girlfriend. Frustrated by continual failure, Josh finds himself the perpetrator of a series of small yet uncharacteristic acts of deceit that ultimately place him in a low-key love triangle alongside Anna, his fellow N. American housemate, and Roger, a local musician.

“The unusual casting of two filmmakers as co-leads works remarkably well, since the key factor for both Weintraub and Takal is chemistry…expressed less in words than by look and touch.”

–Robert Kohler, Variety

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Zach Weintraub (1987, California) studied film at New York University before moving home to the town where he grew up to write/direct Bummer Summer, his micro-budget directorial debut. He co-founded Newhard Entertainment alongside frequent collaborator Nandan Rao. He wrote/directed his second film, The International Sign for Choking, in Argentina.

Festivals

BAFICI 2012 (world premiere), Maryland 2012, Local Sightings 2012, AFI Fest 2012, Indie Lisboa 2012, BAMcinemaFest 2012

Official Site

http://newhardentertainment.com/

ENCORE PERFORMANCE: 10PM at The GRANADA! Tonight MARCH 2

Director & Writer Kim Nguyen

The sensitively imagined story of a child soldier in Africa makes War Witch a genre benchmark and a breakout work for writer-director Kim Nguyen.”
- The Hollywood Reporter

Synopsis

Komona, a 14 year old girl, tells her unborn child the story of how she became a rebel. It all began when she was 12; kidnapped by the rebel army, she was forced to carry a AK 47 and kill. Her only escape and friend is magician, a 15 year old boy who wants to marry her. Despite the horrors and daily grind of war, Komona and Magician fall in love.

They thought they had escaped the war, but fate decided otherwise. In order to survive, Komona will need to return to where she came from and make amends with her past.

Around them, war rages on….

A tale set in Sub-Saharan Africa, WAR WITCH is a love story between two young souls caught in a violent world yet filled with beauty and magic.

WAR WITCH is a life lesson, a story of human resilience.

The Trailer

About the Filmmaker

In 2002, Kim Nguyen wrote and directed his first feature film: Le Marais. The film received 6 Jutra nominations including Best Film and Best Director. His second feature, Trufe, which he wrote, directed and produced, stars Roy Dupuis and was the opening film at Montreal‘s FANTASIA Film Festival in 2008. It also garnered international awards including Best Film at the Karlovy Vary Fresh Film Festival. In 2009 he directed La Cité, an international co-production starring Jean Marc Barr.

War Witch, his latest feature was entirely shot in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2011. Presented in Official Competition at Berlin International Film Festival War Witch received the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Rachel Mwanza) and a special mention from the Ecumenical Jury.

Director Nandan Rao

Rao has created a film that moves in small steps. Viewers are given little in terms of plot, but are richly rewarded by thoughtful and charming characters, confident cinematography and the use of a stunningly beautiful location.
- Northwest Film Forum

Synopsis

Twentysomething J. and two of his close friends are in the process of realizing their utopian dream: turning an abandoned cathedral into a grant-powered, environmentally sustainable art space. Newcomers to the post-industrial frontier where they found this chapel, they have been carried here by progressive beliefs that have since left them in a muddled quandary to question the validity of their presence. Luckily they find things to do. They keep themselves busy.

Although the cast and crew hail from the Northwest, the filming of Dodge City took place in Detroit. The centerpiece of the film’s location (and its visual eye-candy) is the church building where the trio spend much of their time. Director Nandan Rao, who is also the cinematographer, expertly captures each scene so that the physical space in all its beauty and decrepitude as an active player in the film. Filmed in the winter, the sun is always hanging low in the sky, surrounding the characters and the space in a perpetual twilight. The sound design is a perfect compliment to the stark picture on screen, as the absence of a score accentuates the naturalistic performances. Magically, each room inside the building becomes a fully-formed character just by the very sound of the empty space.- Northwest Film Forum

The Trailer