Local screenings
sTwo of Buffalo's primary media arts centers — Squeaky Wheel and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center — will host important screenings this weekend. Unfortunately, they're on the same night at the same time, but both warrant a look.
At Squeaky Wheel—or rather, outside of Squeaky Wheel (712 Main St., Lower)—there will be a screening of D.W. Griffith's seminal work "Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages," a 1916 silent film dealing with the resurgence of prejudice through time. David Kane, of Them Jazzbeards and several other local musical outfits, will perform an original score along with the film, which runs about two hours and 40 minutes. The screening starts at 8 p.m. Saturday.
A still from "Intolerance":
Not far away, Hallwalls (341 Delaware Ave.) will host a benefit screening of the documentary "Strange Culture" at 7 p.m. Saturday. The film, by Lynn Hershman Leeson, is a look into the prosecution of Buffalo artist Steve Kurtz, who was charged in 2004 with bioterrorism charges related to his work with the Critical Art Ensemble. The screening is a fund raiser for the Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund, which is helping Kurtz to fight his case.
In this still, actors Thomas Jay Ryan and Tilda Swinton star as Hope and Steve Kurtz:
-Colin Dabkowski
