The Other Side

press release:

FRI., 11/4, 7 p.m. THE OTHER SIDE: France, Italy | 2015 | DCP | 92 min.

Director: Roberto Minervini

Cameras are everywhere, yet many pockets of our country still rarely make it to our screens.  Acclaimed Italian documentarian Roberto Minervini explores the far margins of American society, here a Louisiana backwoods populated by junkies and militiamen. The central focus is on Mark, a small-time dealer who hopes his upcoming prison sentence will force him to get clean. Working in collaboration, director and subject combine fiction and biography to arrive at a character who exists well beyond the limits of either. The lyrical cinematography unflinchingly bears witness to complete lives, including explicit drug use, sex, and disturbing tirades. Seen in such intimacy, the effect is less to shock than to immerse us in this world, and destabilize our preconceptions about our fellow Americans.

Premiere Showcase is the Cinematheque’s effort to bring the boldest and most exciting new cinema back to the big screen. Crafted with the same curat­orial acuity we bring to our repertory series, Premiere Showcase presents exciting new work by contem­porary directors that would otherwise have no theatrical venue in the area. Our selections for Fall 2016 begin with two highly acclaimed indies that made their debuts at the Sundance Film Festival in January: the political documentary Weiner and Todd Solondz’ latest, Wiener-Dog. You’ll also see Brady Corbet’s Venice prize-winner The Childhood of a Leader and edgier fare like Roberto Minervini’s exploration of the Louisiana backwoods, The Other Side, and master collagist Lewis Klahr’s acclaimed compilation movie, Sixty Six.