ARCHIVAL PROGRAMS AT THE 50TH AAFF

The 50th Ann Arbor Film Festival will present rare opportunities to look back at five decades of ground-breaking cinema, with programs featuring Bruce Baillie, Barbara Hammer, Tomonari Nishikawa and Irina Leimbacher.

Academy Film Archivist, Mark Toscano, will present a program of films by Robert Nelson (1930-2012) including his rarely seen 1998 film HAULING TOTO BIG which was awarded Best Film at the 36th AAFF. The 50th AAFF will honor avant-garde filmmaker Bruce Baillie, who will make a rare appearance to present three programs of his work from over the past 50 years. Another trailblazer of avant-garde cinema, Barbara Hammer, will present several of her short works as part of the AAFF's OUT NIGHT on Wednesday, March 28th.

The 50th Ann Arbor Film Festival will present two programs of Japanese avant-garde film from the 70's through the 2000's with special guest curator and 48th Festival jury member, Tomonari Nishikawa. Another 48th AAFF jury member and reknowned scholar, Irina Leimbacher, returns for the 50th to curate two programs of films and videos from the Middle East; one program of recent work from Palestine, Lebanon and Morocco and a program of films by the great Syrian documentary filmmaker Omar Amiralay (1944-2011).

These programs and all other archival films/programs screened during the 50th Festival are supported by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.