ZEITGEIST MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARTS CENTER

Now Showing:

Thursday, July 2:

7:00 p.m. – Film: NOLLYWOOD BABYLON (a Canadian/Nigerian documentary) - Final night
8:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (an existential Zombie movie from Canada)


for film trailers, photos, synapses and upcoming events please scroll down...

Introducing The New

ZEITGEIST ALTERNATIVE DVD &
PALESTINE FAIR TRADE GIFT SHOP

Now in stock: 100s of hard to find DVDs from around the world, Middle East books, kufiyehs from the last factory in Palestine, Rumi Tree and Naboli Tree Palestinian Fair Trade Organic olive oils, olives, hand rolled, sun dried couscous, tahini, zaatar, and gift baskets. Get a FREE PALESTINE bumper sticker with any purchase.


YES WE ARE AIR-CONDITIONED! With lots of Ice cold drinks!

Welcome to our interactive website/blog where you may comment on the films and events you have seen or would like to see at Zeitgeist!



Zeitgeist founder and video artist Rene Broussard
Check out his website at

or to check out Rene's videos go to

www.zeitgeistvideos.org

for the

NEW ORLEANS MIDDLE EASTERN FILM FESTIVAL

http://nolamideastfilmfest.blogspot.com

or for CANADA IS BIGGER THAN THE U.S.

http://canadaisbigger.blogspot.com

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Come join us as we present our 22nd year of programming.

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Please help us spread the word:

Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center's new home is now at
1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd @ Saturn Screen Printing
(between Terpsichore & Euturpe, just one block from the old Zeitgeist)

Zeitgeist Centro Multi-disciplinario de los Artes
1618 bulevar Oretha Castle Haley


Rene Broussard from I-WITNESS CENTRAL CITY on Vimeo.








(504) 827-5858 recording or (504) 352-1150 office www.zeitgeistinc.net rene@zeitgeistinc.net

all events are by donation - $7 general / $6 students & seniors / $5 Zeitgeist members /Patrons & Children 15 and under free (unless otherwise indicted).

PLEASE NOTE: Our block now has 24 hour security from NEW ORLEANS PRIVATE PATROL. So you have no more excuses not to come.


View Larger Map

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SPECIAL THANKS TO THE NEW ORLEANS CONSULATE DE FRANCE for their continued support of Zeitgeist and our programming:


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Zeitgeist –noun German.
The spirit of the times; general trend, mood or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time, especially as it is reflected in the arts, literature, philosophy, etc.


ZEITGEIST MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARTS CENTER
(a.k.a. ZEITGEIST THEATRE EXPERIMENTS, INC or ZEITGEIST INC)
bringing alternative art to New Orleans since November 1986
(over 22 years and still counting. We operate without any paid staff or public funds.

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NOW SHOWING:

Tuesday, June 30:

7:00 p.m. – Film: NOLLYWOOD BABYLON (Canada/Nigeria)
8:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)

Wednesday, July 1:

7:00 p.m. – Film: NOLLYWOOD BABYLON (Canada/Nigeria)
8:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)

Thursday, July 2:

7:00 p.m. – Film: NOLLYWOOD BABYLON (Canada/Nigeria)
8:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)

Friday, July 3:

7:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)
9:30 p.m. - Film: BJORK: VOLTAIC (Iceland)

Saturday, July 4:

7:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)
9:30 p.m. - Film: BJORK: VOLTAIC (Iceland)

Sunday, July 5:

7:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)
9:30 p.m. - Film: BJORK: VOLTAIC (Iceland)

Monday. July 6:

7:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)
9:30 p.m. - Film: SCREAMING MASTERPIECE (Iceland)

Tuesday. July 7:

7:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)
9:30 p.m. - Film: SCREAMING MASTERPIECE (Iceland)

Wednesday, July 8:

7:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)
9:30 p.m. - Film: SIGUR ROS: HEIMA (Iceland)

Thursday, July 9:

7:30 p.m. – Film: PONTYPOOL (from Canada)
9:30 p.m. - Film: SIGUR ROS: HEIMA (Iceland)

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Friday through Thursday, June 26 through July 2 @ 7:00 p.m.
NOLLYWOOD BABYLON by Ben Addelman.



NOLLYWOOD BABYLON chronicles the wild world of “Nollywood,” a term coined in the early ‘90s to describe the world’s fastest-growing national cinema, surpassed only by its Indian counterpart. Nigeria's film industry, is the third-largest in the world--an unstoppable economic and cultural force that has taken the continent by storm and is now bursting beyond the borders of Africa. Propelled by a booming 1970s soundtrack of African underground music, the movie presents an electric vision of a modern African metropolis and a revealing look at the powerhouse that is Nigerian cinema. The film delves first-hand into Nigeria’s explosive homegrown movie industry, where Jesus and voodoo vie for screen time. Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, known in Lagos as “Da Governor,” is one of the most influential men in Nollywood. Undeterred by miniscule budgets, Da Governor is one of a cadre of resourceful filmmakers creating a garish, imaginative, and wildly popular form of B-movie that has frenzied fans begging for more. Among the bustling stalls of Lagos’s Idumato market, films are sold, and budding stars are born. Creating stories that explore the growing battle between traditional mysticism and modern culture, good versus evil, witchcraft and Christianity, Nollywood auteurs have mastered a down-and-dirty, straight-to-video production formula that has become the industry standard in a country plagued by poverty. This burgeoning Nigerian film industry is tapping a national identity where proud Africans are telling their own stories to a public hungry to see their lives on screen. Peppered with outrageously juicy movie clips and buoyed by a rousing score fusing Afropop and traditional sounds, NOLLYWOOD BABYLON celebrates the distinctive power of Nigerian cinema as it marvels in the magic of movies. Featuring Nigerian filmmakers Osita Iheme, Chinedu Ikedieze, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Uche Jumbo, Kenneth Okonkwo, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, etc. Screens as part of our CANADA IS BIGGER series. Co-presented by Ashe African Cultural Center.



Friday through Thursday, June 26 through July 2 @ 8:30 p.m. &
Friday through Thursday, July 3 through 9 @ 7:30 p.m.

PONTYPOOL by Bruce MacDonald.



Legendary Canadian actor Stephen McHattie (Watchmen, The Fountain, 300, Poor Boy’s Game, A History of Violence, etc.) with hundreds of film and television appearances to his credits gives the performance of a lifetime in this psychological thriller in which a deadly virus infects a small Ontario town. Shock jock Grant Mazzy has, once again, been kicked-off the Big City airwaves and now the only job he can get is the early morning show at CLSY Radio in the small town of Pontypool which broadcasts from the basement of the small town's only church. What begins as another boring day of school bus cancellations, due to yet another massive snow storm, quickly turns deadly. Bizarre reports start piling in of people developing strange speech patterns and evoking horrendous acts of violence. But there's nothing coming in on the news wires. So... is this really happening? Before long, Grant and the small staff at CLSY find themselves trapped in the radio station as they discover that this insane behavior taking over the town is being caused by a deadly virus being spread through the English language itself. Do they stay on the air in the hopes of being rescued or, are they in fact providing the virus with its ultimate leap over the airwaves and into the world? Another bold, inventive and totally original film from the acclaimed director of Roadkill, Highway 61, Hardcore Logo, Dance Me Outside and The Tracey Fragments. Bruce McDonald stresses the victims of the virus detailed in the film are not “Zombies” calling them "Conversationalists". He describes the stages of the disease: “There are three stages to this virus. The first stage is you might begin to repeat a word. Something gets stuck. And usually it's words that are terms of endearment like sweetheart or honey. The second stage is your language becomes scrambled and you can't express yourself properly. The third stage you become so distraught at your condition that the only way out of the situation you feel, as an infected person, is to try and chew your way through the mouth of another person.” Screens as part of the CANADA IS BIGGER series.



ICELANDIC MUSIC ON FILM:

Friday through Sunday, July 3 through 5 @ 9:30 p.m.
BJORK: VOLTAIC.



In conjunction with Alive Mind Media & Nonesuch Records, Zeitgeist is proud to be one of the few select theatres in the U.S. to screen VOLTAIC a celebration of the past two years of Björk’s Volta activities—her critically praised sixth studio album, which came out in 2007, and the subsequent two-year world tour. The Icelandic concert film includes highlights from the Volta tour, recorded in Paris and Reykjavik, with performances of songs from Volta as well as tracks from previous albums including Hunter, Joga, Army of Me, and Hyperballad. Björk’s band on the Volta tour included Mark Bell (LFO) on computers and keyboards and Damian Taylor on keyboards and programming. Drums and percussion were played by Chris Corsano (Sonic Youth, etc.); Jónas Sen played piano, harpsichord, and church organ; and Björk’s all female Icelandic 10-piece brass section rounded out the group. A dynamic, grand live experience, the Volta tour has been acclaimed around the world. As the Guardian (UK) said in its five-star review, “Björk delivers a performance as visually spectacular as it is musically innovative. Fifteen years into her solo career Björk remains the least compromising and most fantastical pop superstar talent.”



Monday & Tuesday, July 6 & 7 @ 9:30 p.m.

SCREAMING MASTERPIECE



a documentary on the indie music scene in Iceland’s cool capital city of Reykjavik featuring Björk, the Sugarcubes, Sigur Rós, Múm, Bang Gang, Mugison, Minus, Slowblow, etc. At the edge of the inhabitable world, high in the North-Atlantic, the Icelanders have whiled away the long, dark centuries patiently honing their caustic humor, their eccentric melodies and ancient poetry. The old music, handed down from medieval times, is one of the secrets to the Icelanders' unique sound - the howl of the arctic storm and the surf breaking on the rocky coast may be another. Whatever the explanation, the Icelanders have forstered a music scene with a sound and attitude that is all their own, mixing ancient dirges and contemporary electronics, rock, pop and classical influences, to produce their own eclectic style.



Wednesday & Thursday, July 8 & 9 @ 9:30 p.m.

HEIMA by Dean DeBlois.



Heima—which translates as both "at home" and "homeland"— chronicles a series of free concerts Sigur Rós, Iceland's biggest musical export after Björk, played in their native Iceland in the summer of 2006. The film provides unique insights into one of the world's most fascinating and inscrutable bands captured live while exploring their natural habitat—the mysterious, otherworldly landscape of Iceland—like never before. They played in deserted fish factories, outsider art follies, far-flung community halls, sylvan fields, darkened caves, and the huge, horseshoe-shaped Ásbyrgi Canyon (formed, legend has it, by the hoofprint of Odin's six-legged horse Sleipnir). Material from all four of the band's albums is featured, including many rare and notable moments. Among these are a heart-stopping rendition of the previously unreleased "Guitardjamm" filmed inside a derelict herring oil tank in the far West Fjords; a windblown, one-mic recording of Vaka shot at a dam protest camp subsequently drowned by rising water; and first-time acoustic versions of such rare live beauties as "Staralfur," "Agaetis Byrjun," and "Von." Loosely following a documentary format, Heima serves as an alternative primer for Iceland the country, which is revealed as less a stag party destination-du-jour than a desolate, magical place where humans have little right to trespass. The question of the way Sigur Rós's music relates to, and is influenced by, their environment has been reduced to a journalistic cliché about glacial majesty and fire and ice, but there is no doubt that the band is inextricably linked to the land in which they were forged.




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On Exhibition:

FLOODLINES by John Lawson

April 7 through May 31, 2009
on view: One hour prior to first Zeitgeist event nightly.




“My studio in New Orleans was underwater for over 6 weeks, due to the flood from Hurricane Katrina. All my sketches and photographs, taken over the past 25 years, were submerged in the murky underworld. I managed to save a lot of these washed out images by carefully peeling them apart, and air drying them on a friend's back porch. I wanted to create a personal testament relating to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, without the theatrics of mass media, which I often feel only demeans the art work. Finding a way to preserve the rapidly deteriorating photographs became a priority. I started mounting the photographs onto 4 foot long substrate sections, before encasing them in a layer of hot wax. The wax not only preserved the remains of the washed out images, but gave the individual photographs the sense of being "apart" from the present, almost as if they were suspended in time. I then laid a curtain of recycled Mardi Gras beads, also in the flood, over the photographs, creating a sense of intimacy and resembling a Flood Line of water, found on thousands of homes effected by this disaster.” – John Lawson.

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PALESTINIAN FAIR TRADE GIFTS















Zeitgeist has partnered with CANAAN FAIR TRADE to become the New Orleans vendor for their exclusive line of Palestinian Fair trade olives, olive oils, and gifts. Based in Jenin, Palestine, Canaan Fair Trade sells olive oil and other delicacies produced by over 1,700 small farmers organized in informal cooperatives and represented by the Palestinian Fair Trade association (PFTA). Canaan Fair Trade uses the fair trade concept to empower marginalized Palestinian rural communities caught in conflict so they can sustain their livelihoods and culture.

$15 - Nabali Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 500 ml

$15 - Rumi Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 500 ml

$6 - Organic Nabali Olives

$8 - Tree Ripened Olives

Palestinian Fair Trade Baskets featuring a 1000ml tin of Nabali olive oil, 250g jar of Green Olives, 250g jar of Tree-Ripened Olives, 350g jar of Tahini, 250g pack of hand-rolled and sun-dried Couscous, 150g of Almonds, and 150g of Za'atar, all in a handwoven basket of olive twigs made in the ancient Palestinian tradition. $100.

All additional proceeds benefit the Third New Orleans Middle East Film Festival – November 12 through 22, 2009.

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SPECIAL OFFER!!! A great deal for you and a fundraiser for Zeitgeist.

Since Katrina it has become virtually impossible to find anywhere to purchase alternative DVDs without having to go to the burbs or on-line.

Just in time for the Patois: 6th New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival, Zeitgeist has expanded to include a new alternative DVD & Book Store. We just got in a massive supply of hard to find titles from FIRST RUN FEATURES and AET/MIDDLE EAST BOOKS. We have more titles coming in from ZEITGEIST FILMS, MICROCINEMA DVD and THE OTHER CINEMA.

In keeping with our mission statement – “Something For and Against Everyone!” these DVDs include a wide assortment of political documentaries and features, African, Asian, Tibetan, Middle Eastern features and docs and queer cinema

So come and check it out. All purchases help benefit Zeitgeist’s on-going programming. 22 years and still going stronger than ever!

Titles currently in stock include:

ZEITGEIST’S ALTERNATIVE DVD / BOOKSHOP:

BOOKS:

VICTIMS OF A MAP: A BILINGUAL ANTHOLOGY OF ARABIC POETRY
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE: A PLAY
UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS PARADISE: SELECTED POEMS
BREAKING POEMS BY SUHEIR HAMMAD
ZAATER DIVA BY SUHEIR HAMMAD
POETS FOR PALESTINE BY REMI KANAZI
THE POETRY OF ARAB WOMEN: A CONTEMPORARY ANTHOLOGY
SHORT ARABIC PLAYS: AN ANTHOLOGY
PALESTINE'S CHILDREN: RETURNING TO HAIFA AND OTHER STORIES
ARAB FOLK TALES FROM PALESTINE AND LEBANON: ABU JAMEEL'S DAUGHTER AND OTHER STORIES
SPEAK PALESTINE, SPEAK AGAIN
GHADDAR THE GHOUL AND OTHER PALESTINIAN STORIES
ORANGES IN NO MAN'S LAND
ARAB IN AMERICA
STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL'S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN
THE STATE OF THE MIDDLE EAST: AN ATLAS OF CONFLICT AND RESOLUTION
SURROUNDED: PALESTINIAN SOLDIERS IN THE ISRAELI MILITARY
THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINE
THE OLIVE GROVE: A PALESTINIAN STORY
INSIGHTS INTO SYRIAN CINEMA
WITNESSING RESISTANCE
HURRICANE HOTEL BY J.K. LAWSON
THE ARAB SUMMIT - FEAR OF AN ARAB PLANET – A PALESTINIAN HIP HOP (CD)

DVDs:

AMERICA BETRAYED BY LESLIE CARDE – (KATRINA DOC)
OCCUPATION 101: VOICES OF THE SILENCED MAJORITY - (PALESTINE)
GAZA STRIP - (PALESTINE)
CHRONICLES OF A REFUGEE (A THREE DISC BOX SET OF PALESTINIAN DOCS)
BAM 6.6: HUMANITY HAS NO BORDERS – (IRAN)
DISPATCHES - BIG NOISE MEDIA COLLECTIVE - 1, 2, 3, & 4 - (IRAQ & MIDDLE EAST)
THE WAR OF 33: LETTERS FROM BEIRUT - (LEBANON)
THE FOURTH WORLD WAR - (PALESTINE & MIDDLE EAST)
DESERTER - (IRAQ)
SCAREDSACRED - (PALESTINE)
HAMOUN - (IRAN)
OF LOVE AND EGGS - (INDONESIA)
OPERA JAWA – (INDONESIA)
BORDER CAFE - (IRAN)
LEILA - (IRAN)
WOMEN'S PRISON - (IRAN)
DESERTED STATION - DVD (IRAN)
THE SUITORS - DVD (IRAN)
WAR PHOTOGRAPHER - (MIDDLE EAST)
THE KITE - (LEBANON)
DANGEROUS LIVING: COMING OUT IN A DEVELOPING WORLD - (MIDDLE EAST)
MEETING RESISTANCE - (IRAQ)
KILOMETRE ZERO - (IRAQ/IRAN)
TEN / TEN ON TEN BY ABBAS KIAROSTAMI - (IRAN)
CLIMATES - (TURKEY)
SOUND OF THE SOUL: THE FEZ MUSIC FESTIVAL - (MOROCCO)
LE GRAND VOYAGE - (MIDDLE EAST)
I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE - (PALESTINE)
THE BOY WHO PLAYS ON THE BUDDHA'S OH BAMIYAN - (AFGHANISTAN)
CRIMSON GOLD - (IRAN)
ABSOLUTELY SAFE – (DOC)
ATHEISM TAPES – (DOC)
BEYOND BELIEF - (AFGHANISTAN)
FLICKER – (DOC)
FOREGIVENESS – (DOC)
HIPPIE MASALA - (DOC)
KIKI + HERB: LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY – (PERF. DOC)
HOFFMANN’S POTION – (DOC)
LIVING GODDESS – (NEPAL)
PROTAGONIST – (DOC)
SACRED LOVE MAKING – (DOC)
THE KINSEY SICKS – (PERF. DOC)
TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD - (DOC)
WOMEN & SPIRITUALITY – (BOX SET – 3 DOCS)
WORKINGMAN’S DEATH – (DOC)
BRAKHAGE – (EXPERIMENTAL DOC)
CARAVAGGIO BY DEREK JARMAN – (U.K.)
CHRIS & DON – (GAY DOC)
COWARDS BEND THE KNEE BY GUY MADDIN – (CANADA)
CAREFUL BY GUY MADDIN (CANADA)
DRACULA: PAGES FROM THE VIRGIN’S DIARY BY GUY MADDIN (CANADA)
GUY MADDIN COLLECTION: ARCHANGEL/TWILIGHT – (CANADA)
LUNACY BY JAN SVANMAJER - (CZECH)
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES – (CANADIAN DOC)
PIANO TUNER OF EARTHQUAKES BY THE BROTHERS QUAY – (U.K. EXPERI-ANIMATION)
A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS – (DOC – MEXICO)
SCARED SACRED BY VELCROW RIPPER – (CANADIAN DOC)
SHORT FILMS OF THE BROTHERS QUAY – (U.K. EXPERIMENTAL ANIMATION)
UP THE YANGTZE – (CANADIAN DOC – CHINA)
HE WHO HITS FIRST, HITS TWICE BY SANTIAGO ALVAREZ - (CUBAN BOX SET)
OUR FAVORITE THINGS – (CULTURE JAMMING MUSIC VIDEOS)
EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR – (SHORTS)
EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR TWO – (SHORTS)
EXPERIMENTS IN EROS – (EROTIC SHORTS)
TRIBULATION 99 – (CONSPIRACY THEORIES AMOK)
ANXIOUS ANIMATION – (ANIMATED SHORTS)
SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS – (EXPERIMENTAL CULT FILM)
SONIC OUTLAWS – (CULTURE JAM DOC – U2 vs. NEGATIVLAND)
NOMADS AND NO-ZONES - (SHORTS BY GRETA SNYDER & VANESSA RENWICK)
SPECTRES OF THE SPECTRUM BY CRAIG BALDWIN (SCI-FI CULTURE JAM FILM)
DECASIA – (EXPERIMENTAL FOUND FILM OPERA)
PRAYER FOR LIOR – (JEWISH DOC ABOUT BOY WITH DOWNS’ SYNDROME)
CONSTANTINE’S SWORD – (DOC ABOUT RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE)
ALICE IN WONDERTOWN – (CUBA)
ANOTHER MAN’S GARDEN – (MOZAMBIQUE)
EARLY WORKS OF CHERYL DUNYE – (LESBIAN SHORTS)
ON EACH SIDE – (ARGENTINA)
PASSION AND POWER – (FEMALE ORGASM DOC)
SAVE ME – (GAY FEATURE)
CAMDEN 28 – (POLITICAL DOC)
CHE GUEVARA: WHERE YOU’D NEVER IMAGINE HIM – (POLITICAL DOC)
COCALERO – (POLITICAL DOC FROM
COMMUNE – (HIPPIE DOC)
LA COMMUNE – (POLITICAL MINI-SERIES BY PETER WATKINS)
DEATH BY DESIGN – (MICRO-BIOLOGY MUSICAL/DOC)
FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO – (GAYS VS. THE CHURCH)
GENDERNAUTS – (TRANS-GENDER PIONEERS)
A HOLE IN THE FENCE – (SOCIO-POLITICAL DOC)
HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN’T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN – (POLITICAL DOC)
DREAMING LLASA – (TIBETAN/NEPALESE DOC)
THE INTERNATIONALE – (DOC)
LENNY BRUCE: WITHOUT TEARS – (DOC)
MAKING GRACE – (LESBIAN DOC)
METHADONIA – (DOC)
MOMENTS WITH FIDEL – (CUBA)
ON THE RHUMBA RIVER – (CONGO – FRANCE)
OUR HOUSE – (GAY FAMILY DOC)
PLEASE VOTE FOR ME – (CHINA)
SERGIO VIERRA DE MELLO – (IRAQ – POLITICAL DOC)
THE TAKE – (CANADA / ARGENTINA)
UNBORN IN THE USA – (ABORTION DOC)
VENUS BOYZ – (TRANSGENDER – DRAG KING DOC)
WETLANDS PRESERVED – (MUSIC DOC)
BUFFALO BOY – (VIETNAM)
CINEMA, ASPIRIN AND VULTURES – (BRAZIL)
DAM STREET – (CHINA)
DON’T LET ME DIE ON A SUNDAY – (FRANCE)
ELECTRIC SHADOWS – (CHINA)
ENOUGH – (ALGERIA)
FINE DEAD GIRLS – (CROATIA)
FIRST LOVE AND OTHER PAINS – (GAY SHORTS)
FUSE – (BOSNIA & HERZEGONIVA)
HALFMOON – (GERMANY – MORROCCO)
HOLLOW CITY – (ANGOLA)
I, WORST OF ALL – (ARGENTINA)
THE ISLE – (SOUTH KOREA)
KIRA’S REASON – (CANADA)
L’ICEBERG – (BELGIUM)
LA PETITE LILI – (FRANCE)
LA VIE PROMISE – (FRANCE)
MONGOLIAN PING PONG – (MONGOLIA / CHINA)
NIGHT OF TRUTH – (BURKINO FASO)
THE PERSONALS – (CHINA)
PETIT FRERES – (FRANCE)
THE SACRED FAMILY – (CHILE)
SECRET THINGS – (LESBIAN – FRANCE)
SILENT WATERS – (PAKISTAN)
SO CLOSE TO PARADISE – (CHINA)
TUVALU – (RUSSIA – FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ABSURDISTAN)
TWILIGHT SAMARAI – (JAPAN)
UNIFORM – (CHINA)
WHISKY – (URUGUAY)
A WONDERFUL NIGHT IN SPLIT – (CROATIA)
BORN IN FLAMES – (RADICAL LESBIAN/ SCI-FI CULT CLASSIC)
WATERMEOLON WOMEN – (BLACK, LESBIAN COMEDY)
PROTEUS – (MICRO BIOLOGY DOC)
ALICE – (SURREAL ANIMATION BY JAN SVANKMAJER)
THE KNOWLEDGE OF HEALING – (TIBETAN HERBAL MEDICINES)
SECRET SOCIETY – (UNDERGROUND WOMEN’S SUMO WRESTLING)
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE - (BIG NOISE COLLECTIVE DOC)
THE JENA SIX - (SOCIAL JUSTICE DOC – BIG NOISE COLLECTIVE)
BLACK AND GOLD: THE STORY OF THE ALMIGHTY LATIN KING & QUEEN NATION – (DOC)
TAARE ZAMEEN PAR (EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL) – (INDIA – MUSICAL)
AFTER THIS OUR EXILE – (CHINA)
THE GLAMOROUS LIFE OF SACHIKO HANAI – (KOREAN CULT FILM)
B.I.K.E. – (RADICAL BIKE CULTURE DOC)
INLAND EMPIRE BY DAVID LYNCH – (CULT FILM)
MEDIA THAT MATTERS FILM FESTIVAL – (SOCIO-POLITICAL SHORTS COMPILATION)
SNOW ANGELS BY DAVID GORDON GREEN (FEATURE FILM BY NEW ORLEANS OWN)
CHICAGO 10 – (POLITICAL – ANIMATED DOC)
THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS BY BRUCE MACDONALD – (CANADA – EXPERIMENTAL FILM)
OASIS – (SOUTH KOREA)
DARFUR NOW – (POLITICAL DOC)
WITHOUT CONSCIENCE – (ITALY – GAY FILM)
SORRY FOR KUNG FU - (CROATIA)
ENERGY WAR – (DOC)
VIVA CUBA – (CUBAN FEATURE FILM)
RAZZLE DAZZLE – (MUSICAL DOC)
NAGAS OF THE KUMBHA MELA – (INDIA – HINDI DOC)
JIMMY CARTER – THE MAN FROM PLAINS – (JONATHAN DEMME DOC)
THE GREAT MATCH – (GLOBAL SOCCER FILM)
STOKED: THE RISE AND FALL OF GATOR (DOC)
MARION BRIDGE – (CANADA)
LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY – (CANADA)
GOD’S CARTOONIST: THE COMIC CRUSADE OF JACK CHICK – (RELIGIOUS/ART DOC)
LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE – (JAPAN)
MOTHER OF MINE – (SWEDEN)
IN SEARCH OF MOZART –(MUSICAL DOC)
THE REFLECTING POOL – (9-11 CONSPIRACY FILM)
HOMELAND INSECURITY: SHORTS FILMS BY BILL BROWN
THINK OF ME FIRST AS A PERSON – (N.O. SHORT DOC)
RAJA – (INDIA)
SUMMER CAMP – (DOC)
MADEINUSA – (PERU)
HE DIED WITH A FELAFEL IN HIS HAND – (AUSTRALIA)
ALEXANDRA’S PROJECT – (AUSTRALIA)
D.I.Y. OR DIE: BURN THIS DVD – (ARTS DOC)
LIGHT OF MY EYES – (ITALY)
THE MISSION BY JOHNNIE TO – (HONG KONG ACTION)
PTU BY JOHNNIE TO – (HONG KONG ACTION)
THE REPUBLIC OF LOVE – (CANADA)
WOLVES IN THE SNOW – (FRANCE)
OT: OUR TOWN – (DOC)
FALLING ANGELS – (CANADA)
RAGE IN PLACID LAKE – (AUSTRALIA)
DANCER UPSTAIRS BY JOHN MALKOVICH – (SPAIN)
NOTES ON MARIE MENKEN – (ARTIST DOC)
SOCCER STORIES – (SHORTS COMPILATION)
THE FERNANDO ARRABAL COLLECTION – (3 DVD BOX SET – SPAIN)
RACHEL: AN AMERICAN CONSCIENCE – (ACTIVIST DOC)

Send your special requests for future titles to Rene at rene@zeitgeistinc.net

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Come back baby!

New Orleans loves and misses you!

www.helenhill.org


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ZEITGEIST IS NOW 21 YEARS OLD!

Founded in 1986 by Rene Broussard when he was a BFA student in the Drama & Communications Department at the University of New Orleans. Zeitgeist was initiated as an experimental theater troupe and derives its name from The Adventures of Phoebe Zeitgeist, a comic series which ran in Evergreen Review in the 1970's. Phoebe was the lead character in Zeitgeist's first theatrical production, Blood on the Cat's Neck by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The word Zeitgeist, is a German noun meaning "the spirit of the times". When Zeitgeist was incorporated as a non-profit organization with the sate of Louisiana, there mission statement simply became “something for and against everyone!”

Zeitgeist went on to produce several other successful plays including Shakespeare the Sadist by Wolfgang Bauer, Rocking Back and Forth by Gunter Grass, Let’s Eat Hair by Karl Lazlo and an environmental theatre piece/musical about the Manson Family entitled Commune. The emphasis of the organization changed to that of the city of New Orleans' leading exhibitor of alternative cinema with series and originally curated programs of experimental and underground films being presented in various locations.

In June of 1990, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, one of the top 10 alternative arts centers in the U.S. offered Rene Broussard the position of Film Curator. In the three years Broussard was in Buffalo, N.Y. (1990-1993), Zeitgeist continued to do sporadic programming. Broussard served as a the co-director of the WAYS IN BEING GAY FESTIVAL and the director of the OUTRAGE GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL.

In June of 1993, Broussard returned to New Orleans to establish Zeitgeist as a full-time alternative cinema doing regular programming at the Masonic Temple, The Latin American Bar, Muddy Waters and Pussycat Caverns eventually establishing their own screening room at the late Movie Pitchers. After three more address changes on O’keefe Ave (where we were partnered with Clinton Peltier’s x art gallery) and Magazine Street, Zeitgeist found it's current home, located at 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., which Zeitgeist has shared with Barrister's Gallery for seven years.

Zeitgeist is an entirely volunteer, artist run organization that does not receive grants or public funds, who presents film, video, performance art, visual art and literary events six nights a week, year-round and is considered one of the premiere alternative arts center in the South. Zeitgeist was awarded the Mayor's Arts Award by the Arts Council of New Orleans and is the main venue for the NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL (April 12 – 22, 2007), the NEW ORLEANS BOOK FAIR (every October) and the NEW ORLEANS MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL (December 5 – 17, 2006).

In preparation for this 20 year celebration I decided to make a list of

My 20 Favorite Films of the Last 20 Years

My goal was to screen all twenty of them, but there simply wasn’t enough time and money to do so. Plus in a couple of cases, (All About Lilly Chou Chou and Why Is Yellow The Middle Of The Rainbow?) the films were simply no longer in theatrical distribution in the U.S., but I did manage to program 13 of them now, the others I hope to find a way to bring them over the course of the upcoming year.

My 20 Favorite Films of the last 20 years, That Played @ Zeitgeist.

ARCHANGEL by Guy Maddin
WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOME? by Abbas Kiarostami
SCARED SACRED by Velcrow Ripper
BESHKEMPIR: THE ADOPTED SON by Aktan Abdykalykov
THREE ROOMS OF MELANCHOLIA by Pirjo Honkasalo
HOLLYWOOD, HONG KONG by Fruit Chan
TALES OF THE GIMLI HOSPITAL by Guy Maddin
ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU CHOU by Shunji Iwai
GAZA STRIP by James Longley
KAIRAT by Darezhan Omirbaev
FREEDOM IS PARADISE by Sergei Bodrov
ABANDONED by Arpad Sopsits
THE GARDEN by Derek Jarman
PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky
TRIBULATION 99 by Craig Baldwin
WHY IS YELLOW THE MIDDLE OF THE RAINBOW? by Kidlat Tahimik
FIREWORKS (HANA-BI) by Takeshi Kitano
SMOKE by Mark D’Auria
LILIES by John Greyson
IN A GLASS CAGE by Augustin Villaronga

and

My Favorite Films Of The Last 20 Years That should have played At Zeitgeist:

REFLECTING SKIN by Philip Ridley
LES DIABLES by Christoph Ruggia (never released in the U.S., but I am working with the French Consulate to get it)
LEOLO by Jean-Claude Lauzon
THIS IS ENGLAND by Shane Meadows (So good, I saw it twice at the Toronto Film Fest, yet to premiere in the U.S.)
HAPPINESS by Todd Solandz
POISON by Todd Haynes
MYSTERIOUS SKIN by Gregg Araki
A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS by Shane Meadows


If you support what we are doing you should join us by getting a membership or signing up as a volunteer.


Highlights from Zeitgeist’s 21 years include:

visiting filmmakers:

Legendary lesbian/experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer, Mark Pauline (Survival Research Laboratories), Francis James (Moon Blue Traces), transgressive filmmaker Alan Sondheim, Leslie Thornton (Peggy and Fred In Hell), animator/screenwriter Tom Zummer, lesbian video artist Julie Zando, Janet Wondra & Jeff Walker (Uncool Orbit), Tom Richards & Marta (pixel-vision/video artists), drag/activist video artistsBrenda Sexual & Glennda Orgasm, documentary filmmaker Harrod Blank, New York gay filmmakerMark D’Aria, lesbian video artist Sadie Benning, hip hop video artist and media assassin Art Jones, Anne Craig & Maia Harris (Storyville: The Naked Dance), documentarian Paul Stekler, Isaac Webb (The Wedding), underground filmmaker Jeri Cain Rossi, Rene Broussard (The Fatboy Chronicles), German filmmaker/curator Ingo Petzke, Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov, San Francisco filmmaker Eric Saks, transgressive filmmaker Joe Christ, Craig Baldwin (Sonic Outlaws), lesbian filmmaker/curator Jenny Olsen, New York experimental animator Donna Cameron, experimental & documentary filmmaker Lynne Sachs, experimental filmmaker Mark Street, legendary German gay filmmaker Rosa Von Praunheim, gay experimental filmmaker from Berlin Michael Brynntrup, gay filmmaker/producer from Berlin Jurgen Bruning, gay Canadian filmmaker Bruce La Bruce, Wash Westmoreland Squishy Does Porno and later Quincinera), documentary filmmaker from Bombay Anand Patwardhan, legendary British filmmakers Isaac Julien & Mark Nash, documentarian Les Blank, documentarian Robert Mugge, Peter George (Surf Nazis Must Die), the legendary late Austrian experimental filmmaker Kurt Kren, lesbian experimental filmmaker Jennifer Reeves, legendary German experimental filmmaker Wilhelm Hein & photographer Annette Frick, German filmmaker Stephan Sachs, Will Frank, Mike Lyddon & Karl DeMolay (Zombie vs. Mardi Gras), black independent New Orleans video artists King Jeff & El Timo, documentary filmmaker Rick Delaup, screenwriter/filmmaker Henry Griffin, Cheryl Dunye (Watermelon Woman), Douglas Langway (Raising Heroes) , video artist/curator Courtney Egan, experimental animator/curator Helen Hill, experimental filmmaker Betsy Weiss, documentarian Neil Alexander, San Francisco experimental filmmaker Alfonso Alvarez, New York experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison, Chicago filmmakers Jim Finn & Dean Rank, cult filmmaker John Michael McCarthy, Shreveport filmmaker/curator David Nelson, experimental animator Devon Damonte, cult filmmaker/prankster Igor Vamos, Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Laura Dunn (Green), Diane Zander (Girl Wrestler), documentary filmmakers Louis Alvarez & Andrew Kolker, San Francisco filmmaker/curator Melinda Stone, cut-up animator Martha Colburn, DIY-punk filmmaker James Schneider, documentary filmmaker/curator Matt McCormick, documentary filmmaker/sex worker Scarlet Harlot, legendary concert filmmaker Steve Gebhardt, inter-active computer/video installation artist Paul Vanouse, inter-active computer/video artist/curator Patrick Lichty, installation artist Andrew Wade Smith, legendary pranksters RTmark, film/music performers Wet Gate, legendary filmmaker/video artist/composer/musician Tony Conrad, New York underground filmmaker Rachel Amadeo, documentary filmmakers Jane C. Wagner & Tina Tina Di Feliciantonio, Academy Award nominated Cuban/American filmmaker Juan Carlos Zaldivar (90 Miles, Soldiers Pay), comedian/filmmaker/actor/writer Harry Shearer, Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker Sam Green (The Weather Underground), Two time Academy Award nominated editor/filmmaker Dawn Logsdon (The Weather Underground, Paragraph 174), human rights activists/filmmakers Big Noise Tactical Media, Termite T.V., local activist turned filmmaker who went to Palestine with the New Orleans Human Rights Delegation Rebecca Rapp, German experimental filmmaker Caspar Stracke, filmmaker/hobo Bill Daniel, Academy Award Winning Documentary Filmmaker Barbara Trent (The Panama Deception), New York filmmaker Michelle Stephenson (Faces Of Change), Leonard Abrams (Quilombo Country), New York activist/filmmaker Peter Kinoy, Mayorial candidate turned filmmaker Manny Chevrolet, concert filmmaker Michael Murphy, activist filmmaker Mary Beth Black, filmmaker/professor Mark Morris, computer animator David Sullivan, documentary filmmaker Royce Osborn, documentary filmmaker Jeremy Campbell, documentary filmmaker William Sabourin O'Reilly, Texas filmmaker Nick Cooper, New Orleans filmmaker Jason Vowell (Aperture), filmmaker/organizer Christopher C. Brown, video artist Tim Best, Gordon Soderberg (Walkin To New Orleans), Palestinian filmmakers from The Balata Film Collective, corporate pranksters The Yes Men, legendary feminist filmmaker Julie Gustafson, Canadian Filmmaker Velcrow Ripper, Canadian filmmakers Simon reynolds & Indrid Veninger, Barry Jenkins (Medicine For Melancholy), James Spooner (Afro Punk), Big Noise Media Collective, Author Naomi Klein, Berlin filmmakers Wilhelm Hein & Annette Frick, etc.

Major Film series & Events:



The Performance Group on Film; Neue Deutche Kino; The World Made Flesh: American Experiments In Marginality; Beuys And Beyond: Contemporary German Artists On Film; Louisianalysis & Texastentialism; Kino Der Obsessionen; Avant-garde Cinema; Female Ejaculation Night!; Fluxus & Situationist Cinema; German Film in the Experimental Feature & Short; Contemporary Silent Classics; The Visual Politics of Hip Hop; Films In The Hood; Dissident Films; Recent African Cinema; Queerly Canadian; The Films of Kidlat Tahimik: A Third Wold Projector; Beckett on Film; Inspired by Bach; A Young Boy's Dreams Are Often Wet: Appropriated Images of Youth; The Films of Pier Paolo Passolini; The Films of Atom Egoyan; The Early Films of Peter Greenaway; The Surreal Animations of The Brothers Quay; The Films of Jan Svankmajer; The Films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder; The Films of Danny Lyons; Northern Exposures; Tales from the Winnipeg Film Group; 50 Years of Perversion: The Films of Rosa Von Praunheim; The Films of Isaac Julien; The Films of Marlin Riggs; The Films of Kenneth Anger; The Films of Stan Brakhage; The Films of Derek Jarman; The Films of Andy Warhol; The Films of Fernando Arrabal; Mondo Manitoba Marathon; Movie Days: International Children's Film Series; Zelten verboten! (No camping!): New Queer Cinema from Germany; Laurels For The Stans: Films from the Silk Road; 15 Years/15 Films; Film Movement Presents; Why They Hate U.S.: Thirty documentaries depicting U.S. Acts of Terror and Foreign Policy Run Amok; The Silent Films of Stan Brakhage (as interpreted by the Improvisational Arts Council); Super Super 8 Film Festival Tour; Lenin Busted; Rural Route Film Festival Tour; Madcat Women's Film Festival Tour; Gadabout Film Festival Tour; Clermont-Ferrad Short Film Festival Tour; Rooftop Films; Iranian Films; Arab Cinema Celebration; Juvenile In-Justices; NOVAC Retrospective; Classic and Contemporary Japanese Cinema; The New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival (I, II & III); Beyond the Veil; Global Film Initiative Tour; Soccer Cinema/Football Films; Zeitgeist Finds Religion; Tibetan Buddhism: A Film Survey; White Fluffy Duckies; Mao Now; Masculine/Feminine; Africa on Film; Europe Watches America; The Films of Michael Haneke; Free Cinema Retrospective; New Orleans Filmmakers Present; Banned Book Week Film Series; The Films of Pierre Coulibeuf; Zeitgeist's 20th Anniversary Retrospective; A YOKO ONO/FLUXUS CELEBRATION, The Art of Activism on Film, The desert trilogy, BEUR IS BEAUTIFUL: A FRENCH/ARAB FILM RETROSPECTIVE, LAS AMERICAS FILM SERIES, CANADA IS BIGGER THAN THE U.S., The Third New Orleans Middle East Film Festival (NOVEMBER 12 THROUGH 22, 2009), etc.

Performances by:



Richard Schechner, Kathy Randels, Vanessa Skantze, Lisa D’Amour, Anne-Liese Juge, Lucas Cox, J. Hammons, Tamer, Jose Torres Tama, Audrey Elizabeth, Nick Faust, Brenda Sexual & Glennda Orgasm, Penny Arcade, Moving Humans, ArtSpot Productions, Dennis Formento, John Sinclair, Caged, The Death Posture, Joe Goodrich, Brother Clit, Crescent City Puppetry Festival, Ronald Ehmke, Greg Walloch, Alan Reade, Wet Gate, Happensdance Modern Dance Company, Queerly Canadian Performance Festival, David Bateman, David Roche, Michael Achtman, ComedySportz, State Of The Nation: Third Annual Performance Festival, the Annual Sex Workers Art Show Tour, etc.

Concerts:



Multiple Places, Shot Down In Equator, Jr., The Royal Pendletons, Lump, Patsy Cline and the Memphis G-Spots, The Gas Tank Orchestra, Androo Cahill, James Singleton, Dave Easley, Charlie Miller, 3NOW3, 3NOW4, 3NOW4KESTRA, Wendy Mae Chambers, Glen Styler, Tony Green and Gypsy Jazz, The Violent Prawns, Tribe 8, Bonfire Madigan, Improvisational Arts Council, Hot Club of New Orleans, Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Peter Brotzmann, Frank Zappatistas, john Sinclair and his Blues Scholars, Quintron, Liquidrome, Bones, New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, Jonathon Freilich, Naked On The Floor, The Naked Orchestra, Kevin O’Day, Live Animals, Peter Kowald, Heartifacts, Rick Trolson, Nick Sanzenbach, Unit One, Children of the Sun, Michael Ray and the Kosmic Krewe, Carl Leblanc, Mikiel Williams, Raymond Williams, Shiek Rashied, Jimbo Walsh, Jana Saslaw, Jeanne Hubert, Blake Amos & Saudade, Patrice Fisher, Arpa Latina, Duo Calibri, Chiko & Rogerio, JAC3, Rob Cambre, Endres Landsnes, Tim Green, Contra Contra Bass, Cambre/Copello, Dry Bones Trio, The Death Posture, Donald Miller, Quintology, The Silent Films of Stan Brakhage (as interpreted by the Improvisational Arts Council), LA Monster, Afroskull, Dan Sumner, Antijazz, Andrew McLean & Priyo Mujumdar, Tabla For 4, Henry Butler, Chris Alexander, Kelcy Mae Band, Dirtfoot, Jeff Albert, Albert/Ankrum Project, Roshibobo, Jeff Zielinsky & Ed Miles Duo, Mahfouz, Ear Floss Ensemble, Johnny Vidacovich, Jason Marsalis, Ken Vandermark, Vandermark 5, William Parker, Alvin Fielder, Mats Gustafsson, Harriet Tubman, Konk Pack, The New Thing, Joe Cabral, Egg Yolk Jubilee, Muvovum, Morning 40 Federation, Andrew Cyrell, Fred Van Hove, Dennis Gonzales, Dennis Gonzales Yells At Eels, Mark Fowler, Earl Tubinton, Rob Wagner, Rob Wagner Trio, James Alsanders, Melt Banana, Tony Conrad, Cluster (featuring Mobius & Rodelius), Melomane, Vic Thrill, Bond Bergland, The Brain, Blacklight Confessions of Pantopan Rose, Potpie, Ed Porter, Martin Krusche, The Rishis, Sean Johnson, Zeitgeist Creative Music Festival (I, II, & III), etc.


Theatrical productions:



Blood On The Cat’s Neck, Shakespeare The Sadist, Commune, Let’s Eat Hair with Rocking Back and Fourth, Eye Of The Beholder, The Elephant Man starring Mark Krasnoff; Rage Within/Without, Fields of Gold, The End and Back Again, Casino America, We Are Patriots With Dark Faces, In Exile Close to The Equator, Jackie O: The Show She Never Gave, What Dreadful Tings To Say About Someone Who Just Bought Me Lunch, Medea Mix, Ego Rites, Into the O, Salad Days, Boy With A Bugle, My Friend; Semen, Dah Teater, Nita & Zita, The Desperate Hours, Steaknife Bacchai, Xmas X; Venus, Vulcan, Mars and the Dancing Dwarf; Lucifer, Brecht On Brecht, The Music of Erich Zann, Dis+Graced, etc.

Visual arts:



Gary Oaks, Mary Jane Parker, Michael Landry, James Tancill, Paul Vanouse, Clinton Peltier, Eli Langer, John Lawson, Chuck Aswell, Annette Frick, Matthew Nesbit, Bonita Zielinski, Seth Boonchai, Ann Schwab, Jose Torres Tama, David Bateman, Ralph McGuiness, Hugo Montero, Spencer Livingston, Joe Knight, New Orleans Noir (I & II), The Unbearable Beuys Scouts of America, Framed, Feminine Products, Saints and Sinners, 10 For 10, etc.

I defy you to find or name another organization who has consistently done so much with so little. This is one hell of an accomplishment. Please come help us celebrate. And if you support what we are doing, please join us becoming a volunteer or a paid member. We can’t continue without your support. Please Join or Renew Today!

Thanks,


Rene Broussard
Founder/Executive Director
Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center
(504 827-5858

www.zeitgeistinc.net
www.zeitgeistvideos.org
www.nolahumanrights.org

rene@zeitgeistinc.net

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THE ZEITGEIST STORY:

Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center (a.k.a. Zeitgeist Theatre Experiments, inc.) was founded in 1986 by Rene Broussard when he was a BFA student in the Drama & Communications Department at the University of New Orleans. It was initiated as an experimental theater troupe and derives its name from The Adventures of Phoebe Zeitgeist, a comic series which ran in Evergreen Review in the 1970's. Phoebe was the lead character, a vampire from outer space. Phoebe was also the lead character in Zeitgeist's first theatrical production, Blood on the Cat's Neck by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The word Zeitgeist, is a german noun meaning "the spirit of the times".

Zeitgeist went on to produce several other successful plays including Shakespeare the Sadist by Wolfgang Bauer, Rocking Back and Forth by Gunter Grass, Let’s Eat Hair by Karl Lazlo and an environmental theatre piece/musical about the Manson Family entitled Commune. The emphasis of the organization changed to that of the city of New Orleans' leading exhibitor of alternative cinema with series and originally curated programs of experimental and underground films being presented in various locations.

In June of 1990, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, one of the top 10 alternative arts centers in the U.S. offered Rene Broussard the position of Film Curator. In the three years Broussard was in Buffalo, N.Y. (1990-1993), Zeitgeist continued to do sporadic programming. Broussard served as a the co-director of the WAYS IN BEING GAY FESTIVAL and the director of the OUTRAGE GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL.

In June of 1993, Broussard returned to New Orleans to establish Zeitgeist as a full-time alternative cinema doing regular programming at the Masonic Temple, Muddy Waters and Pussycat Caverns eventually establishing their own screening room at the late Movie Pitchers. After three more address changes on O’keefe Ave and Magazine Street, Zeitgeist found it's recent home, located at 1724 Oretha Castle Haley, which Zeitgeist has shared with Barrister's Gallery for eight years. On November 19, 2005, Zeitgeist celebrated it’s 19th Birthday in New Orleans. Zeitgeist moves to Mid-City this Summer!

Zeitgeist is an entirely volunteer, artist run organization that does not receive grants or public funds, who presents film, video, performance art, visual art and literary events six nights a week, year-round and is considered one of the premiere alternative arts center in the South. Zeitgeist was awarded the Mayor's Arts Award by the Arts Council of New Orleans and is the main venue for the NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL which is held every March/April and the NEW ORLEANS BOOK FAIR held every October.

If you support what we are doing you should join us by getting a membership or signing up as a volunteer.

Please renew your membership today!