Crosstown Arts presents an Opening Reception for “Iliumpta” by Michael “Birdcap” Roy in the Galleries at Crosstown Arts.
In honor of the incredible experimental lesbian filmmaker, Barbara Hammer, Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts are excited to bring this Tribute to Barbara Hammer for this month’s MicroCinema. A prolific filmmaker, installation artist, and pioneer of feminist and queer cinema for over 50 years, Hammer’s work consistently and relentlessly explored the intimate experiences of lesbian relationships, the erasure and censorship of queer history, and the relationship between sex, age, and the body.
Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts are honored to present Shifting Lines: New Queer Animation from Frameline Distribution. These six shorts traverse various styles of distinctive animation and live-action to explore relationships, family, and the development of identity in ways that are as thoughtful as they are stunning to watch.
In this one of a kind show at The Green Room, Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra will focus on cinematic set pieces as stand-alone works. Free to stretch out over Greene’s compositions, the band, featuring some of Memphis’ finest players, will bring the music to life as never before, blending jazz rhythms and horns with the haunting tones of the Theremin.
With a sound that can be likened to that of the ’80s and ’90s — smooth, soulful, and memorable — KrisO delivers show-stopping performances with his ‘round-the-way guy charm and notable vocal range. Performing songs from his EP “Love Levels” and notable R&B classics, KrisO is set to croon his way through the ins, outs, and various levels of love with A Night of R&B. With a mood-setting set by DJ IBJOHNDOE and vocals from Memphis natives Doll McCoy and HarleyQuinn, the night will be one to remember.
Saddle Tramp, the newest dance work by choreographer Neile Martin, is inspired by the music of country singer Marty Robbins. Her driving movement style combined with the narrative styles of country music reveal a story of love, jealousy, murder, and redemption. Each performance will open with a unique performance by a Memphis musician. Come witness the wild west that is still deep in our bones.
Graber Gryass is an all-original, acoustic jam-grass band from Memphis, Tennessee. Take an award-winning writer, have him craft songs, and then layer in some of the regions hottest players, including a Winfield-winning banjo champion, the musical director of Public Enemy, members of such bands as Rumpke Mountain Boys, and others—and you have Gryass. This six-piece band can sing harmonies like the Mamas and the Papas, stretch out and jam like the Dead or New Grass Revival all while keeping audiences moving and inspired.
For this month’s MicroCinema, Indie Memphis and Crosstown Arts are ecstatic to have partnered with IF/Then Shorts to present an array of incredible, often touching documentary shorts from filmmakers throughout the South. We’re glad to be able to include in this program a preview screening of Zaire Love’s SLICE, which was a part of the 2021 IF/Then + Hulu Short Documentary Lab and the recipient of the 2020 Black Creators Forum Short Film Grant!
As a singer/songwriter, Rachel Maxann describes her style as vintage indie-rock and post-modern folklore. Originally from Ohio, Rachel has been deeply influenced by the music culture of every area where she has lived — North Carolina; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Memphis.
“In the same show, you’ll hear country influences, blues influences, rock and pop influences, and maybe even some musical theater,” she says.
Crosstown Arts announces its spring 2023 arts programming — “Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Seas” by McLean Fahnestock, “Edgewise: Exploring Pattern and Rhythm with Line” by Khara Woods, “Entrances, Exits and the Spaces Betwixt” by Tangela Mathis, and “Color Thread” by Carl Fox.
The opening reception is scheduled for Friday, April 21, 6-8 p.m. The exhibitions run from Saturday, April 22, through Sunday, August 6.
Directed by Brian De Palma, Phantom of the Paradise satirizes both horror films and rock groups in the story of a composer of a rock cantata on the theme of Faust, who sells his soul for rock ’n’ roll. Oscar-winner Paul Williams stars and composed the superb rock musical score.
Suture is one of the most outstanding neo-noirs of the 1990s. The wealthy and self-assured Vincent (Michael Harris) meets his blue-collar half-brother Clay (Dennis Haysbert) at their father’s funeral, and is struck by their similarity. He decides to murder Clay and take his identity — only Clay survives the assassination attempt with no memory and is mistaken for Vincent.
Serial Mom is a 1994 American black comedy written and directed by John Waters. Happy housewife Beverly Sutphin has a charmed life — a beautiful suburban home, a successful dentist husband, and two normal teenagers. However, when one of her son’s teachers speaks disparagingly of the boy at a parent-teacher conference, Bev runs the instructor over in the school parking lot.
A girl on the verge of womanhood finds herself in a sensual fantasyland of vampires, witchcraft, and other threats in this eerie and mystical movie daydream. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders serves up an endlessly looping, nonlinear fairy tale, set in a quasi-medieval landscape.
John Cassavetes’ hymn to that berserk business of performing, Opening Night is enhanced by its intense “old Hollywood” pedigree as Ben Gazzara, John Blondell, Paul Stewart and Cassavetes himself are the backing band for Rowlands’ knife-edged soloing.
Like a quasar burning past the gaslight, director Lisa Cortés’ eye-opening documentary explodes the whitewashed canon of American pop music. Little Richard: I Am Everything shines a clarifying light on the Black, queer origins of rock ’n’ roll, and establishes the genre’s big bang: Richard Wayne Penniman.
