A special screening featuring two rarely seen historical works that respond to idea of the award show: TVTV Looks at the Oscars (1976) by pioneering guerrilla television collective TVTV, and Award Presentation to Andy Warhol (1964) by legendary experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas.
TVTV (Top Value Television) defined the guerrilla TV documentary movement of the 1970s with its alternative journalistic techniques and use of portable, low-tech video equipment. TVTV Looks at the Oscars mixes irreverent documentary with deadpan comedy. Lily Tomlin stars as a fictional character watching the televised Oscar ceremony at home. Tomlin, nominated for best supporting actress in Robert Altman's Nashville in 1975, is also seen as she attends the actual awards ceremony. With Tomlin serving as a fulcrum between Hollywood insiders including Michael Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Milos Forman, Lee Grant, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg and many others and outsiders, TVTV records the lead up to and letdown after the ceremony, revealing the vagaries of fame and stardom.
The screening will begin with Award Presentation to Andy Warhol. Mekas is a major figure in American avant-garde cinema from the 1950s through the present. When Warhol decided not to accept Film Culture magazine's annual Independent Film award in person, Mekas decided to present the award at Warhol's Factory and make a film of the occasion to show at the Award Presentation show. Warhol gathered some of his Superstars for the shoot and Ivy Nicholson's young son presented the award, a basket of mixed fruit, to Warhol. Among those present were Baby Jane Holzer, Gerard Malanga, Ivy Nicholson, Naomi Levine and Gregory Battcock.
New York City, NY; NYC