On June 29th, 2011 Filmdrome hosted a sold out audience for the premiere of Alexandra Pelosi's new documentary, "Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip".

A special thank you to Alexandra, for taking the time to visit with us here in Sioux Falls. What an honor, to have her showcase her cinema to the people of South Dakota.

Alexandra Pelosi's new documentary, "Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip", which will premiere here in Sioux Falls, SD at the Washington Pavilion, on June 29th at 7pm, now has a trailer.

If you're interested in attending this free event, which is open to the public, please RSVP, as seating is limited. We sincerely hope to see you then!

Filmdrome Presents,

The Baan Dek Children's Film Festival

Dive into Summer, and join us, as we showcase twelve of the best children's short films, in this enjoyable and exciting series. We're pleased to introduce NYICFF, a 'kaleidoscopic showcase of the best short film and animation from around the world.'

Please note, this special event is free and open to the public, so mark your calendars, bring your family, and tell your next door neighbor. For further information, please visit Baan Dek.

Where: The Belbas Theater, Washington Pavilion.

When: Wednesday, June 29th. 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Please RSVP for special prizes. Tickets are free.

You are invited to attend: Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip.

Wednesday, June 29th, at 6:00 p.m in the Belbas Theater of the Washington Pavilion.

Join us for this unique opportunity to meet Emmy-award winning documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, as she showcases the premiere of her film, "Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip". South Dakota naturalized over 90 citizens last year, several of whom are featured in this documentary.

Following the showing of "Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip", a short Question and Answer session with Alexandra Pelosi will be conducted by Hugh Weber, of OTA. It'll be your chance to engage with this renown documentary filmmaker.

In the HBO documentary, "Citizen USA", acclaimed filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi sets out on a road trip across America to attend naturalization ceremonies in all fifty states to meet brand-new citizens and find out why they chose America as their home.

Whether these new Americans arrived here through online dating, adoption, political asylum, student and work visas, or by swimming the Rio Grande River (and remained long enough to be granted amnesty) they all came here to live the "American Dream."

Sponsored by:

Alain Resnais, perhaps best known for Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961), created a short about the nature of time, called Je t'aime, je' taime in 1968.

Here's the film, in French, with Spanish subtitles. 

The basic outline of the story is extremely simple: a man is chosen to participate in a time travel experiment, but when the time machine malfunctions, he begins to experience moments of his past in non-sequential order.

Highly important to a number of original thinkers on time, this film pushes the boundaries of what the cinema can afford: a greater appreciation of the nature of memory, thought and time.

If you haven't already seen the film, perhaps in one of those late night graduate school classes, in which somehow, from somewhere, someone managed to find a crackling old VHS, it's worth a watch.

You'll also notice that Source Code, directed by Duncan Jones, is directly inspired by this brilliant little film.

"I found Following Sean the way I find most films these days – a cold, algorithmic recommendation from iTunes. As often as not, I cast my $4.99 into this cinematic slot machine and I rarely last beyond the thin exposition. There is something about the theme of this documentary sequel – compulsion, obsession, family legacies and cultural evolution - that captured my attention and two weeks later still hasn’t let go."

"Ralph Arlyck, a filmmaker chasing unrealized potential, revisits his breakthrough subject, Sean Farrell. The pot-eating, controversy-causing Haight Ashbury four-year-old is now thirty years older and still attempting to reconcile his childhood contradictions with the realities of his present as a frustrated, disappointed electrician."

"In the end, I find it easier and more troubling to place myself in the well worn shoes of Ralph. The passage of life reflects itself both in Sean, an embodiment of the murkiness of utopian ideals, and in Ralph’s own marriage and children, a living confession of the downside of passion-driven obsession. It’s clear that the choices we make, philosophies we embrace, and legacies we pass on have implications and repercussions that we can’t control."

Post by Hugh Weber:

Hugh Weber is discovering stories (@weheartstories) and transitioning from Dude to Dad (@dudetodad) all with a mantra of Work.Play.Do Good. 

You can follow Hugh on Twitter: @hughweber

First things first. "The American" movie poster should win an award for the best graphic of the year. It's reminiscent of early hollywood and a certain innocence and seriousness that seems to be lost. 

Directed by Anton Corbijn, "The American" is wrought with tension from the start. It tells the story of an assassin who, after one more job, wants to get out of the business.

The opening sequence, with its profusion of intimacy and darkness, tied so profoundly to the brisk and stark sunrise, entices the viewer to engage on the tautness of the film. 

Based on Martin Booth's novel, A Very Private Gentleman, "The American" is existentially thrilling, riveted with prolonged silences and expressions that owe much to the cinema of Sergio Leone.

The vast, restless landscapes, leave the viewer on the edge, trying to anticipate what comes next, as the scenes summon a sense of unease and mystery. The use of close-ups are effective and warranted. 

Riddled throughout the film is a conception of desire as contradictory and deliberate: desire as suspension, rather than execution. There is nothing prescriptive about the cinema of Anton Corbijn.

The film ends as it begins, forcing the viewer to make a choice, to follow the tightrope of life, or to step aside and let someone else engage in the adventure. 

Brad Anderson has built a reputation for creating films on the edge of drama and horror, touching upon the supernatural, leaning towards a cinema of metaphysics. His latest film, Vanishing on 7th Street, is no exception.

Caught somewhere between the vision of M. Night Shyamalan and someone like Darren Aronofksy, Brad Anderson offers a unique cinema, oscillating in a genre of his own deviation.  

Catfish has caused quite a splash this year. Documentary, or something else? "Is Catfish Just a Tale Tall?", writes Wired Magazine, in their inquisitive and expository account.

For those not familiar with Catfish, it tells a story in "documentary" format, of a guy named Nev who basically falls in love with a family on Facebook - and, subsequently, the family falls in love with him. 

Whilst the relationships are developing, they don't actually meet in person, only occasionally talking on the phone, or exchanging Facebook messages. That is, until Neve has the courage to seek them out.

From that moment on, everything unfolds...as in "I'm Still Here", Catfish complicates the successes of the documentary style, in interesting ways.