Field & Screen Returns by Popular Demand

December 3, 2012—Columbus, OH—Field & Screen, a film series now in its fourth year at the Wexner Center, returns with a full slate of films and other events to shed light on issues surrounding food and the environment, as well as the pleasures that can be had from both. This year, the monthlong series in February features a history of the environmental movement, a look at the radioactive aftermath following the 2011 tsunami in Japan, the story of two foragers, a panel discussion about our relationship to the animal world, and much more. 

Notes Dave Filipi, Wexner Center Film/Video Director and organizer of the series, “As we become more aware of our changing environment and the food we eat, film becomes an ever more important medium for sparking discussion about these issues. Importantly, these movies can also remind us of the essential joys to be experienced in the land and on the plate. We are thrilled to bring Field & Screen back again by popular demand.”

Tickets for all screenings are $8 for the general public and $6 for members, senior citizens, students, and children under 12, unless otherwise indicated. The films will be screened in the Wexner Center’s Film/Video Theater, 1871 N. High St. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at tickets.wexarts.org.  

Schedule

Bestiaire (Dennis Côté, 2012)
Friday, February 1 | 7 pm
Preceded by Don’t Break Down (Matt Meindl, 2012)
Introduced by Matt Meindl

In this visual essay, a tourist-jammed Québec safari park is the setting for an almost surrealist meditation on the relationship between nature and humanity. Through a series of stark tableaus, Bestiare explores the deep human desire to observe our fellow creatures and how that desire is often at odds with the best interests of the creatures we’re observing. (72 mins., 2K DCP)

In addition to the February 1 screening, Don’t Break Down also will show in The Box, the Wexner Center’s free exhibition space for video located in the lower lobby, through the month of February. Find additional details at the bottom of this release.

Now, Forager (Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin, 2012)
Saturday, February 2 | 4:30 pm & 8:30 pm

Described by the Los Angeles Times as “an appealing off-menu slice for hungry indie admirers,” Now, Forager follows a young, fringe-dwelling couple as they attempt to eke out a living by foraging wild fungi and selling it to New York City restaurants. When one seeks out the stability of a restaurant job, however, the relationship goes from delicious to distant faster than one can say chanterelle. (93 mins., 2K DCP) 

Sushi: The Global Catch (Mark Hall, 2012)

Saturday, February 2 | 7 pm
Sunday, February 3 | 2 pm

What happens when a once-simple Japanese street food becomes a worldwide phenomenon? This award-winning documentary, shot in five countries, examines the global history, traditions, and growth of the beautiful and iconic sushi dish and whether the oceans can continue to support our ever-increasing hunger for it. (75 mins., HDCAM)

 

Nuclear Nation (Atsushi Funahashi, 2012)
Tuesday, February 5 | 7 pm

Filmed in the wake of Japan’s catastrophic tsunami and subsequent Fukushima reactor disaster, Nuclear Nation follows exiled residents of the small Tokyo suburb Futaba as they attempt to resettle. But what starts as resiliency and determination quickly turns to frustration and rage as governmental and corporate indifference, as well as a troubled nuclear policy, contributes to the displaced citizens’ plight. (145 mins., HDCAM)

Covenant (Michael Mercil, 2012) 
Film and Panel Discussion
Thursday, February 7 | 7 pm

A captivating extension of Michael Mercil’s 2008-2011 Wexner Center installation The Virtual Pasture, Covenant reflects on the economy of keeping livestock, while exploring the rewards, challenges and anxieties of the human to farm animal bond. Following the premiere, we’ll feature a panel discussion organized by Ohio State’s Department of Art’s Living Culture Initiative and cosponsored by the Humanities Institute. (43 mins., HD Video)

 

Step Up to the Plate (Paul Lacoste, 2012)
Thursday, February 14 | 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 16 | 4:30 pm

Can’t make the pilgrimage to the famed Bras eatery this Valentine’s Day? We’ve got the next best thing: Step Up to the Plate, Paul Lacoste’s behind-the-scenes look at this 3-star Michelin restaurant in the southern French countryside. Meet Michel and Sebastian Bras, the father and son team who laboriously maintain the quality of their culinary creations while simultaneously preparing for the inevitable passing of the whisk from one generation to the next. (87 mins., 2K DCP)

Heirloom is featuring a special menu on Valentine’s Day to delight the palate before the film. For more information, visit wexarts.org/info/cafe or call (614) 292-2233. 

 

A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet (Mark Kitchell, 2012) 
Saturday, February 16 | 7 pm
Sunday, February 17 | 2 pm

Environmentalism may be the largest global movement, and A Fierce Green Fire examines how that movement came to be. Oscar-nominated documentarian Mark Kitchell (Berkeley in the Sixties) traces environmentalism’s compelling history from the Sierra Club and Greenpeace to new organizations currently leading the struggle to keep the planet clean, safe, and sustainable. Narrated by Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Ashley Judd. (110 mins., HD Video)

 

It’s the Earth Not the Moon (Gonçalo Tocha, 2012)
Thursday, February 21 | 7 pm

Director Gonçalo Tocha begins this film with a self-directed challenge: to document every square inch of Corvo, the barely accessible Azorean island at the westernmost edge of Europe. Using a handheld technique to absorbing effect, Tocha balances Corvo’s otherworldly landscapes with the everyday activity of its inhabitants, creating a part-anthropological, part-aesthetic conversation about the collision of traditional life with the growing presence of modernity. (183 mins., 2K DCP)

 

True Wolf (Rob Whitehair, 2011)
Saturday, February 23 | 4 pm

How exactly do you walk a wolf? This is just one of many questions Montana wildlife experts Pat Tucker and Bruce Weide contemplate when they find themselves responsible for Koani, a wolf pup born in captivity. True Wolf follows the couple’s 16-year journey with Koani as they raise her, fall in love with her, and eventually introduce her to the world as an ambassador for the oft-misunderstood creature. (76 mins., 2K DCP)

 

Wild Bill’s Run (Mike Scholtz, 2012)
Introduced by Mike Scholtz
Thursday, February 28 | 7 pm
Preceded by Inside the Whale (Mike Scholtz & Greg Carlson, 2012)

Equal parts documentary, crime caper, and tall tale, Wild Bill’s Run tells the story of Wild Bill Cooper, the adventuresome outlaw who in 1972 led a ragtag team of mechanics, ranchers, and photographers on a quest to snowmobile the 5,000 miles from Minnesota to Moscow. The mission may have met with icy failure (and Bill, eventually, with most-wanted fugitive status), but it produced one of the greatest adventure stories in modern history. (60 mins., Digibeta) 

The night starts with a screening of Inside the Whale, a portrait of Columbus artist Matt Kish and the creation of his lush book Moby Dick in Pictures, in which he illustrates each page of the fabled novel. (10 mins., HD Video)

 

THE BOX
Don’t Break Down (Matt Meindl, 2012)
February (FREE)

Tying into our annual Field & Screen film series, through the month of February, the Wexner Center will screen Don’t Break Down in The Box, the center’s exhibition space for video. This latest work from Columbus filmmaker Matt Meindl playfully imagines an afterlife for the ever-present garbage in our urban environments. Meindl shot the film entirely on Super-8mm with stop-motion animated sequences and produced it with support from a 2011-12 Wexner Center Film/Video Residency Award and the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s 2011 Media Arts Fellowship Award. The Box is located in the center’s lower lobby, just across from the Wexner Center Store. Screenings are free and run continuously seven days a week, the same hours as the Wexner Center ticket office. (7 mins., video)