Neo-Benshi: Live Film Narration

Thu, Jul 7
7:30pm & 9:30pm (same show)
$7 general $4 reduced

NEO-BENSHI: The Latter Day Art of Live Film Narration

A "benshi" was a film-teller, someone who wrote a script
to narrate and act out from the stage what's happening on
the movie screen. This was a major profession in Korea
and Japan in the silent film era. Sometimes the benshi
ventriloquized the characters in the movie, sometimes just
narrated the action, sometimes remained silent.

They always wrote their own scripts.

Neo-benshi warps that format to a modern entertainment-art
of taking back the movies. In this festival of alternate readings,
six scenes from major films are wrested from the studios
by turning the sound off, and re-telling them in real time.

Six writer/performers from the Bay Area will re-present
the following genres:

Brandon Brown 1930s Serial Western
Roxi Hamilton 1950s Hollywood Melodrama
Rodney Koeneke 1950s Bollywood Melodrama
Norma Cole
& Mac McGinnes 1960s Crime Drama
Stephanie Young 1980s Sci-Fi Horror
David Larsen 2000s Historical Epic

For advance tickets call 415.978.2787

"Neo-benshi is the karaoke of cinema" - Konrad Steiner.

Venue:

San Francisco Cinematheque at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission St. at Third St.
San Francisco
415-978-ARTS (2787)
http://www.yerbabuenaarts.org/

Additional Info:

415-978-ARTS (2787)
http://www.sfcinematheque.org/