Daniel Boone Regional Library

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 • 6:30 p.m.
Columbia Public Library, Friends Room

“The Queen of Versailles” (100 min.) is a character-driven documentary about a billionaire family and their financial challenges in the wake of the economic crisis. The film begins with the family triumphantly constructing the biggest house in America, a 90,000 sq. ft. palace. Over the next two years, their sprawling empire, fueled by the real estate bubble and cheap money, falters due to the economic crisis. Major changes in lifestyle and character ensue within the cross-cultural household of family members and domestic staff. This documentary by director Lauren Greenfield was shown at the True/False Film Fest in 2012. Greenfield also directed the film “Thin“ in 2006. Check out the trailer for the film below.

February 21: “Hip-Hip: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” 7:00 pm at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, free. Panel discussion to follow. (via)

Thanks to everyone who came to the “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” showing at the Columbia Public Library. Here are some questions about the film that you can respond to in the comments section of this blog post:

1. Did you relate to the personal stories in the film?
2. What do you think about the architecture of the projects?
3. What lessons can city planners take away from this film?

We recently added “Searching for Sugar Man” to the DBRL collection. The film played at the True/False Film Festival in 2012, and currently has a rating of 96% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from our catalog:

In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez was a Detroit folksinger who had a short-lived recording career. Unknown to him, his musical story continued in South Africa where he became a pop music icon. Long rumored there to be dead, two fans, record store owner Stephen Segerman and journalist Craig Bartholomew-Strydom, decided to seek out the truth of his fate.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info. DBRL also has the film soundtrack as well as the Rodriguez albums Cold Fact and Coming from Reality.

February 10: “Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival” 2:00 pm at the Blue Note. (via)
February 11:  “How to Survive a Plague” 5:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. Forum 8. (via)
February 13: “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” 6:30 p.m. at Columbia Public Library, free. (via)
February 13: “Deep Green” 7:00 p.m. at MU’s Stewart Hall, free. (via)

We recently added “The Endless Summer” to the DBRL collection. The film is a classic documentary from 1966 that made it into the national film registry and currently has a rating of 100% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from our catalog:

They call it The endless summer, the ultimate surfing adventure, crossing the globe in search of the perfect wave. From the uncharted waters of West Africa, to the shark-filled seas of Australia, to the tropical paradise of Tahiti and beyond, two California surfers, Robert August and Mike Hynson, accomplish in a few months what most people never get to do in a lifetime: they live their dream.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info.

We recently added “Pina” to the DBRL collection. The award winning film played last year at Ragtag and currently has a rating of 95% from audiences at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from the official website:

PINA is a feature-length dance film in 3D with the ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, featuring the unique and inspiring art of the great German choreographer, who died in the summer of 2009. PINA is a film for Pina Bausch by Wim Wenders. He takes the audience on a sensual, visually stunning journey of discovery into a new dimension: straight onto the stage with the legendary Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch ensemble, he follows the dancers out of the theatre into the city and the surrounding areas of Wuppertal – the place, which for 35 years was the home and centre for Pina Bausch’s creativity.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info. For another documentary featuring choreographer Pina Bausch you can check out Dancing dreams.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 • 6:30 p.m.
Columbia Public Library, Friends Room
Director Chad Freidrichs in attendance!

Destroyed in a dramatic and highly-publicized implosion, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex has become a widespread symbol of failure amongst architects, politicians and policy makers. “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” (84 min.) explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in America, and the city centers in which they were built, while tracing the personal and poignant narratives of several of the residents of the notorious Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex in St. Louis. Director Chad Freidrichs will lead a Q&A afterwards. Freidrichs teaches film and video courses in the Digital Filmmaking program at Stephens College and has also directed the film Jandek on Corwood.

February 2: How to True/False 11 a.m. at Columbia Public Library, free. (via)
February 2:  Third Goal International Film Festival at the MU Student Center, free.  Program features “Kinyarwanda,” “Feast & Sacrifice,” “My Village, My Lobster,” “Hijos de Kennedy,” and “Last Train Home.” Kinyarwanda director Alrick Brown in attendance. (via)
February 5:  ”Battle: Change from Within,” 5:30 p.m. at Ragtag, free. (via)

We recently added “The Boy Mir” to the DBRL collection. The film has played at various film festivals and currently has a rating of 100% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from our catalog:

Tracks the irrepressible and lovable Mir from a naive eight-year-old to a fully grown adult. Over the decade, it not only is a journey that follows Mir as he journeys into early adulthood in one of the toughest places on earth, but it’s a film that is unmatched in mirroring and revealing the vitally important story of modern Afghanistan.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info.

We recently added “Detropia” to the DBRL collection. The film played at the True/False Film Festival in 2012, and currently has a rating of 84% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a synopsis from our catalog:

Detroit’s story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century: the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now, the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos. With its vivid, painterly palette and haunting score, sculpts a dreamlike collage of a grand city teetering on the brink of dissolution.

Check out the film trailer or the official film site for more info.