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LES BLANK - RETROSPECTIVE

14-23 October SYDNEY & 4 DECEMBER CANBERRA

Antenna is exited to partner with the National Film & Sound Archive (NFSA), to present a retrospective of maverick ‘auteur’ documentary filmmaker Les Blank which was presented as part of the 2022 festival. 

An uncompromisingly independent filmmaker, Les Blank made documentaries for nearly fifty years, elegantly disappearing with his camera into cultural spots rarely seen on-screen — mostly on the peripheries of the United States, but also occasionally abroad. Seemingly off-the-cuff, yet poetically constructed, these films are humane, sometimes wry, always engaging tributes to music, food, and all sorts of regionally specific delights. Their immersive portraits of community come off as simultaneously naive and wise, evocations of worlds that were and could be. The films selected for this retrospective cover the major themes of Les Blank’s career — filmmaking, folk music, food, and festivals.

Les Blank Retrospective is made possible thanks to the Embassy of the United States in Australia. 

 

4 December – arc cinema – Canberra

SESSION ONE – 1:00PM

A WELL SPENT LIFE (1971, 44min)

Many people consider Texas bluesman Mance Lipscomb to be the greatest blues guitarist and songster of all time. This glowing portrait of the legendary musician (also life-long husband and sharecropper) is among Blank’s special masterworks. Instead of growing bitter, tough times made Lipscomb sweet.
 
ALWAYS FOR PLEASURE (1978, 57min)
 Les Blank’s celebration of the spirit and social traditions of New Orleans, featuring Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. It is an intense insider’s portrait of New Orleans’ street celebrations and the unique cultural gumbo of Second-line parades, Mardi Gras, and the Jazz Fest. 
 
 ATHE BLUES ACCORDIN TO LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS (1961, 31min) 
The great Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins is captured brilliantly in this deeply moving film. Blank reveals Lightnin’s inspiration and features a generous helping of classic blues.
 
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SESSION TWO - 4:00pm

GARLIC IS AS GOOD AS TEN MOTHERS (1980, 50min) 

A zesty paean of praise to the great glories of garlic, this lip-smacking foray into the history, consumption, cultivation and powers both culinary and curative of the stinking rose, features chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, and a flavorful musical soundtrack. Lovingly photographed, it’s an odyssey of garlic feasts and interviews with afficionados. Promoting garlic as the first line of defense against blandness, it titillates the taste buds with shots of sizzling dishes.

 
GID RESPECT US WHEN WE WORK, BUT LOVES US WHEN WE DANCE (1968, 20min) 
 Hippies and flower children dance and create rituals at the historic Los Angeles “Love-In” of Easter Sunday, 1967. This 60’s classic documents a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, preserving all the fashions, energy and idealism of the first “alternative lifestyles.”
 
YUM, YUM, YUM! A TASTE OF CAJUN AND CREOLE COOKING (1990, 31MIN) 
A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking (1990, 31min). Les Blank marries his passion for spicy, “down-home food” and his love for Cajuns and Creoles in this mouth-watering, exploration of the cooking and other enthusiasms, of French-speaking Louisiana. Features tangy music and food by Marc Savoy, Paul Prudhomme and other greats.
 
 
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BURDEN OF DREAMS - 6:30pm

BURDEN OF DREAMS (1982, 95min) 

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.  

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