Michael Madsen's INTO ETERNITY (New Danish Documentary)

Chicago Filmmakers - Friday, 8pm
Can you imagine what the human race will be doing in 100,000 years? Will there be war and struggle? Will there be literature and art? What will they know about us? About our intelligence, our technology, our hubris? And how can we protect them, and their world, from our nuclear waste? These are the existential questions that the scientists and engineers who are building Onkalo, a massive underground fortress cum disposal facility in western Finland, are forced to confront on a daily basis. Shot and edited to feel like science fiction, Danish director Michael Madsen interviews many of the minds behind the worlds first full-scale structure designed to last 100,000 years. Descending over 500m down to the bedrock of the European continent, the series of tunnels are scheduled to start taking on waste about 2020, and to be completely filled and sealed off about a hundred years after that. It is a massive undertaking, with a planned lifespan that cannot really be conceived of in any sort of human terms. The talking heads that populate the film speculate on the best way to ensure that this storage is "permanent." Emphasizing the gravity of these decisions are digitally crisp, high-contrast, slow-motion shots of the workers who drill the tunnels, set the charges, and spend countless hours in the darkness of the tunnel. True to the sci-fi genre, their world is void of definition, and full of shadow and mystery, and is sharp, vast, and eerie. The soundtrack contains constant ominous tones, and the intertitles that separate the chapters of the story look like flashing warning signals, more ALIENS than STAR TREK. As a framing device, the director appears in a dark tunnel, lights a match near his face, and addresses questions to the future visitors who will uncover this curse. It is clear that Madsen is skeptical that the technology of the tunnel will last without repairs, and that future generations can be trusted to preserve the knowledge of what lies beneath the surface, or leave it alone if they did. (2010, 75 min, video) JH - Cine-File.info

The Wild Triumphs of Martha Colburn (Experimental Animation)

Conversations at the Edge at the Gene Siskel Film Center - Thursday, 6pm
For well over a decade, Martha Colburn has been making short anti-establishment works that are political without being statements. Full of chaos and a punk-rock aesthetic, her films critique modern life with cut-out puppets and found-footage but avoid intellectual elitism. If her imagery didn't come at you so fast, her films might be described as fun. Instead, they're cathartic capsules of directed anger. This program packs 15 films into 75 minutes, offering a good overview of the development of Colburn's practice. In the early LIFT OFF (1993) and EVIL OF DRACULA (1997) female sexuality is at the forefront, as images from magazines are manipulated into sexy astronauts and bloodsuckers. The animation is raw, and the low-fi soundtracks are reminiscent of a monster truck show announcer. Colburn also paints over the images, sometimes adding body parts, and often giving us rotating spirals. More sophisticated jointed puppets populate SPIDERS IN LOVE (2000) and CATS AMORE (2002) as arachnids with human heads and erotic dancers with cat heads seduce their targets: boy spiders and dogs. Lust and objectification are projected onto Colburn's humanoid puppets and their animated audience, celebrating red-hot sexual attraction. Her newer work is more overtly topical, covering plastic surgery (COSMETIC EMERGENCY), the "cowboy" military in Iraq (DESTINY MANIFESTO), and methamphetamine addiction (MYTH LABS). This later work is less busy, displacing rapid-fire guitars with piano, strings, and classical vocals on the soundtrack. There is an elegance in form at times, despite the still crude manner of the puppets' movements. Also screening: WHAT'S ON? (1997), MEET ME IN WICHITA (2006), DON'T KILL THE WEATHERMAN (2007), ONE AND ONE IS LIFE (2009), ELECTRIC LITERATURE (2009), JOIN THE FREEDOM FORCE (2009), TRIUMPH OF THE WILD (2009), and DOLLS VS. DICTATORS (2011). Colburn in person. (1993-2011, approx. 75 min, various formats) JH - Cine-File.info