SECOND LOOK
-a-
HYPERREAL FILM CLUB series
-at-
the MUSEUM OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT
-presents-

EVOLUTION
Directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović
2015

7pm – doors // live DJ set – Mother Terena
8pm – "Pins and Needles" and a teaser for "I AM TX" with writer/director Ryan Darbonne
815pm – EVOLUTION

Suggested $5 donation at the door
Screenings every other Thursday (mostly) all winter long
PART ~ONE~ of ~SEVEN~

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The opening shots of “Evolution,” the long-awaited new feature from Lucile Hadžihalilović, show a sumptuous underwater environment. (Her last full-length film, the eerie and provocative “Innocence,” came out in 2004.) The sea is so clear one might be tempted to breathe it in; the colors of the undulating forms of plant and animal life are psychedelic and virtually tactile. A young boy swimming in these waters is startled by the sight of another boy, drowned, a garishly red starfish covering his navel.

The swimmer, Nicholas (Max Brebant), walks from a rocky shore to his home in a picturesque seaside village of white houses. There, his mother, a slim woman with light-colored eyebrows, cooks something unappetizing-looking in a saucepan. His house has no modern conveniences, and the clinic he soon goes to, staffed by slim women with light-colored eyebrows, is similarly ascetic. Nicholas keeps a sketchbook, in which he draws things that are completely absent in his own environment: Ferris wheels, Christmas presents, and so on. Stella (Roxane Duran), one of the nurses or doctors at the clinic — there are no titles as such, and all the staff members appear to be women — looks through that sketchbook and takes pity on him. Although by this time it may be too late — the operation that, it seems, all the young boys who populate the village are required to endure has already been performed on Nicholas.

Spooky, tantalizing and beautifully shot and designed, “Evolution” creates a cinematic world that’s utterly sui generis, but which also resonates with recognizable echoes of “The Lottery,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and, believe it or not, “The Little Mermaid.” It’s an impeccable, creepy and genuinely transporting movie.

-New York Times

take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cmrW-Ej84

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About the short:

I AM TX is a narrative short film about a black hardcore punk band, comprised of members Charlie, Sonny and Otis, on their last leg of tour. Told over the course of one day, we follow the group from the desert roads of El Paso, TX to a popular music venue in Austin. Throughout the film, each character is forced to contend with cops, insufferable fans, and an ever persistent "woke" music blogger who all serve to reinforce the band's position as outsiders in a mad, mad world. 

Director's Note: Growing up alternative in Austin, I was always (with very few exceptions) the only person of color in my social circles. I was a kid with an affinity for Slipknot and Blackstreet; I was Afro-punk before I knew the word existed. As I got older, I begin to feel increasingly more alienated because I could never just be one of the cool kids. I always had to be the cool “black kid". And there could be only one. Telling this story is important to me because I want to give a glimpse into what it’s like living two lives; to straddle both sides of the track and never truly feel accepted by either one. 

Ryan Darbonne is a filmmaker based out of Austin, TX. He is the founder of Cinema41, former Film Department Director at Austin Film festival and one of three unconventionally attractive men in the fiscally conservative, overrated and, quite frankly, mediocre hip hop group, SPACE CAMP Death Squad.

https://spacecampdthsqd.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXUm_EgZw23pGPjwp_kaUhw

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hyperreal film club is a time and a place for new friends, old friends, freaks, geeks, enemies, lovers, and ghosts to come watch some neat flicks.

SECOND LOOK, a bi-weekly series running from December – March, brings back to the big screen seven films by women, all released in the past five years, all featuring diverse perspectives on both sides of the camera. With this series, we want to progress as an advocate for the current work of adventurous, diverse filmmakers and as a community film hub for Austin.