Tuesday, September 16, 2008
On Sunday September 21 My Name Is Albert Ayler will be screened as part of the legendary Monterey International Jazz Festival. This is the 51st edition of the festival which is said to be the oldest jazz festival in the world. The Swedish filmmaker and producer Kasper Collin will attend the festival and participate in a post screening Q&A session.
On September 28 there will be an Alberta premiere screening at the Calgary International Film Festival. A My Name Is Albert Ayler After Party & the festival awards presentation will take place later that evening. From the festivals website: My Name Is Albert Ayler After Party & Awards Presentation. Informal CIFF Wrap Party & Awards Announcement at Escoba. Admission: VIPs and Albert Ayler patrons
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Someone forwarded this intriguing quote from an interview with The Minutemen’s and The Stooges’ bass player Mike Watt: “…Iggy just called me on Thanksgiving and wanted to talk about Coltrane because that movie on Albert Ayler was out…” Read the whole article here.
Rock musicians we for sure know have seen the film are among others Tom Verlaine (in New York) and Will Oldham a.k.a. Bonnie Prince Billy (in SF). The films’s director Kasper Collin was approached by a smiling Tom after a screening in New York but never had a chance to speak with Will in SF. Friends reported that Will totally loved the film.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Finally back after summer holiday.
The film’s producer and director Kasper Collin has been in Oulu Finland participating in the Jury for the MusiXine International Music Film Contest. The other members of this years Jury was Ulla Simonen (film producer and former consultant for shorts and documentaries at AVEK) and John Caulkins (founder and director of Music on Film - Film on Music (MOFFOM) festival in Prague).
We missed to post this earlier. NPR aired a piece on Ayler and the film in their Weekend Edition on June 7. The piece, called Albert Ayler’s Fiery Sax, Now on Film, was made by Howard Mandel.
The film is for the moment having a run in Nashville at the Belcourt Theatre. It is shown Tuesday June 24 to Sunday June 29 as part of their Summer Doc Block series. See here for more info on exact showtimes. In todays Nasville Scene’s Critics’ Picks Jim Ridley calls the film a ”must-see”. See under Friday 6/27. And here is a review from the same paper.
There will be a New Zeeland premiere at the Auckland International Film Festival and Wellington Film Festival in July. See here for more info.
The film premiered in Australia last August at Melbourne International Film Festival and is now returning to Australia as part of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival. See here for more info. Both Perth and Auckland have great programmes this year.
In November last year there were premiere screenings in Albert’s hometown Cleveland. The film was then shown at the Cleveland Cinematheque. On July 18 the film is returning for a screening at the Cleveland Art Museum. See more here. Listen to an interview at WCPN, Cleveland’s National Public Radio affiliate, with the films director Kasper Collin.
The film will be released on DVD in the fall of 2008. Release date and other info shortly.
We missed to post this before, Gilles Peterson blogs on the film. “I woke up this morning thinking about this film…” Read more
From Anthology Film Archives website: “Back by popular demand! Anthology heeds the call! Kasper Collin’s invaluable documentary on Albert Ayler was a major success when it had its New York theatrical premiere run here late last year. Now it’s back for five days of encore screenings.”
The New Yorker review by Richard Brody from November last year was published again in their April 16-22 issue. Time Out listed the film as a recommended movie and New York Magazine highlighted it with a picture and review. Richard Brody also wrote about the film in the New Yorker’s Goings On blog on April 17.
LA Weekly selected the film as the weeks GO in their review section and SF Weekly called the film “the quintessential portrait of an artist who was ahead of his time”. San Francisco Bay Guardian had the film as its no 1 pick of the week (of all cultural events!). Sheri Linden wrote a nice review in Los Angeles Times that unfotunately isn’t available online. Detroit’s Metro Times gives an A to the film. And so does Movies.com
Variety’s associate editor Phil Gallo writes: “Ayler, is revealed as an artist of the highest degree, the rare musician whose playing reflected his soul. “My Name is Albert Ayler” reveals the unique manner with which he expressed himself and the humanity that went into his improvisations. It’s a gorgeous portrait” Read more
Monday, February 25, 2008
The film will do a four city screening tour in early March. Starting in Los Angeles on March 5 with a special screening at the HAMMER Museum and the Billy Wilder Theater, followed by a screening at The International House in Philadelphia (March 6), the films theatrical opening at Laemmle’s Grande 4-Plex in Downtown LA (March 7-13), a run at Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco (March 9-11) and two screenings at MOCAD in Detroit (March 14&15). Director and producer Kasper Collin is scheduled to attend the screening at Hammer Museum, the opening night at Laemmle, several of the screenings at Red Vic and both screenings in Detroit. April 18 the film reopens at Anthology Film Archives in New York City.