It’s been a long, strange trip for indie filmmaker Gary
Hustwit. The guy started out working at the SoCal-based SST Records
in the early ’80s back when the label had seminal acts like Sonic
Youth, Black Flag and the Meat Puppets on its roster. From there, he
got into book publishing, running his Incommunicado Press out of a San
Diego warehouse. He took the company to New York, renting a space next
to the avant-jazz club Tonic for a short time. After a brief stint at
Salon.com, Hustwit turned to
filmmaking. In 2007, he delivered Helvetica, a documentary about
typography and graphic design that coincided with the font’s 50th
anniversary. Now, he’s promoting his latest venture,
Objectified, a documentary about the people who design
manufactured objects. It features interviews with designers Karim
Rashid, Jonathan Ive and Dieter Rams. Hustwit will introduce the film
at a special screening at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 7, at the Cleveland
Institute of Art Cinematheque (11141 East Blvd., 216.421.7450).
Tickets: $20.
The Cedar Lee Theatre’s (2163 Lee Rd., 216.321.5411) “Hi-Def
Hitch” series was so successful last month, the theater extended
its run by adding screenings of the filmmaking master’s best-known
movies. “We had a great reaction for April, and that’s why we brought
back the top four,” says Cleveland Cinemas’ Director of Marketing
David Huffman. “So it’s no big surprise that more people came to
see Psycho than Topaz. But overall, we were very pleased
with the attendance.” The theater is hoping to bring in more old movies
restored to high-definition quality. “When you play an older print, you
just don’t know how many splices have been in it and if it has
scratches,” says Huffman. “These had that digital clarity to them and
looked really, really good.” You can catch Psycho at 7:15 p.m.
Thursday, May 7.
Registration is now open for the 48 Hour Film Project, which
gives filmmaking teams in 70 different cities 48 hours to create a
short film. The films will show on August 5 and 6 at the Cedar Lee
Theatre. Go to 48hourfilm.com/cleveland for more
information on how to sign up.
In honor of the film’s 55th anniversary, the Cedar Lee Theatre will
screen a hi-definition print of Akira Kurosawa’s Samurai
Seven. The film opens Friday, May 8, for an exclusive one-week
run.
This article appears in May 6-12, 2009.
