The festival will screen:
Born To Lose (the last rock and roll movie)
D.O.A.
Hey Is Dee Dee Home
Lech will also premiere two new shorts films that are part of the dvd release of
Born To Lose (the last rock and roll movie)
planned for 2008 :
What Happened in New Orleans
"In 1991 Johnny Thunders went to New Orleans. It's not sure why. Did he plan to move there? Was he interested in recording new music? Did he want to write new material? Was he planning to meet friends who live there? Before he left for New Orleans, Thunders listened to songs recorded by Willy DeVille. He checked into a hotel in the French Quarter located right next to where DeVille lived. Less than 24 hours later he was found dead in his hotel room and to this day the police have not solved the mystery of his death. But many characters from the French Quarter have something to say about what happened to Thunders on June 21, 1991."
Lech Kowalski
Born To Lose (the last rock and roll movie)
planned for 2008 :
What Happened in New Orleans
"In 1991 Johnny Thunders went to New Orleans. It's not sure why. Did he plan to move there? Was he interested in recording new music? Did he want to write new material? Was he planning to meet friends who live there? Before he left for New Orleans, Thunders listened to songs recorded by Willy DeVille. He checked into a hotel in the French Quarter located right next to where DeVille lived. Less than 24 hours later he was found dead in his hotel room and to this day the police have not solved the mystery of his death. But many characters from the French Quarter have something to say about what happened to Thunders on June 21, 1991."Lech Kowalski
and
Unfinished
"I started to make this film with Johnny Thunders in 1982. The first scene we filmed was inspired by a picture of Christ on his way to be crucified. We used passages from the bible as the script and filmed Thunders in the basement of a dingy transient hotel on East 22 Second Street. Later, I filmed Thunders performing at the Mudd club in downtown New York. After filming several more scenes, Thunders and his manager had to suddenly flee the city. His manager was somehow implicated in someone's death and Thunders moved to Europe. The film footage was stored in a laboratory vault. Many years later most of the labs in New York closed and some of the material was lost. Stations of the Cross Unfinished film was finally completed with the material I managed to save. "
Lech Kowalski
Chronique d'une mort annoncée : les films rock de Lech KowalskiUnfinished
"I started to make this film with Johnny Thunders in 1982. The first scene we filmed was inspired by a picture of Christ on his way to be crucified. We used passages from the bible as the script and filmed Thunders in the basement of a dingy transient hotel on East 22 Second Street. Later, I filmed Thunders performing at the Mudd club in downtown New York. After filming several more scenes, Thunders and his manager had to suddenly flee the city. His manager was somehow implicated in someone's death and Thunders moved to Europe. The film footage was stored in a laboratory vault. Many years later most of the labs in New York closed and some of the material was lost. Stations of the Cross Unfinished film was finally completed with the material I managed to save. "
Lech Kowalski
Automne 1977. New York ne s'émeut guère du raz-de-marée punk qui affole
l'Angleterre. Parce que c'est ici qu'il est né en tant que musique - New York Dolls en 1972, Ramones en 1974 -, parce que la charge politique n'y prend pas la forme d'une violence médiatique, mais structure l'existence et l'art d'un monde souterrain autonome. Né à Londres de parents polonais, installé à New York en 1971, Lech Kowalski est en 1977 un acteur et témoin important de l'underground new-yorkais. Sous l'influence de Shirley Clarke et Tom Reichman, il a réalisé une série de films dans et sur l'industrie du porno, que vient de Clore son premier long métrage, Sex Stars. Lorsqu'il part à l'hiver 1977 sur les traces des Sex Pistols en tournée américaine, Kowalski ne fait que prolonger son immersion dans un milieu qu'il a fait sien depuis son adolescence : une sous culture où se mêlent le rock, la drogue et le sexe.
Dead On Arrival: en 1981, le punk est mort depuis longtemps, mais c'est manquer la beauté singulière du film que de n'y voir que la chronique d'une désintégration. Après vingt ans de liquidation via Thatcher et Blair, il apparaît comme l'émouvante élégie d'une certaine Angleterre. Les Sex Pistols ne sont que le symptôme spectaculaire d'une ultime décharge d'énergie populaire, dont D.O.A. compose un tableau éclaté et précis. Comme dans tous ses films, Kowalski néglige le bon goût et les prescriptions esthético-morales du documentaire pour sculpter sa matière hétérogène avec un génie musical du montage. Il ne craint pas le clip et prouve que cette forme peut atteindre à la plus haute efficacité descriptive - Breakdance Test. Parmi les nombreux clips enchaînés dans D.O.A. au son des Pistols, The Clash, Sham 69 ou des merveilleux X-ray Spex, celui de God Save the Queen condense en deux minutes le présent et l'avenir de l'Angleterre : claire promesse et sombre prophétie d'une foule d'enfants blancs et noirs sautillant et riant sur le "no future" des Pistols.
Loin de se limiter au genre "documentaire musical ", la série des films rock de Lech Kowalski compose la précieuse archive d'un monde disparu : l'underground new-yorkais. C'est avant tout sur les visages, que Kowalski saisit l'éclat et l'ombre d'un présent promis au néant. Visages anonymes qui gravitent autour de celui de Johnny Thunders et des autres stars underground de Born to Lose (2001). The Last Rock and Roll Movie : le film porte bien son sous-titre. Parce que le leader des Heartbreakers reste l'ultime icône rock, petite frappe flamboyante et junkie suicidaire, parce que le montage de Kowalski chauffe d'une même flamme ses captations des Heartbreakers en concert, des interviews des proches de Thunders et les archives vidéo des New York Dolls par Bob Gruen. Parmi les interviews, celle de Dee Dee Ramone se distingue par la générosité de la parole et celle de sa mise en scène : le visage marqué, l'œil brillant et les tatouages du bassiste des Ramones découpés dans le noir. Kowalski n'arrache pas au gentil junkie de piquants secrets, il rend hommage à un héros, un survivant, sculpte son monument. Douze ans plus tard, lorsque Dee Dee meurt à son tour d'une overdose, l'interview fournit la trame d'un affectueux portrait, Hey is Dee Dee Home. Autant que les derniers feux du rock, la vie avec la dope est l'autre sujet des films jumeaux que sont Born to Lose et Hey is... On pense à The Daik Stuff, le livre de Nick Kent sur le sinistre "envers du rock" rongé par la drogue. Mais quand la chronique de Kent tourne parfois à la facile démythification, Kowalski ne distingue jamais l'envers de l'endroit. Il ne sépare pas les lâchetés des héroïsmes, ne juge personne, mais restitue comme personne l'énergie aujourd'hui éteinte, la vérité fiévreuse d'un monde perdu.
Cyril Neyrat
He will be in Saint Denis to introduce and discuss his films on both days.
The detailed program :
You can find more information and check out the festival at:
http://www.combatrock.fr
Hors circuits will held a temporary library there with some of lech's films already available on dvd.
more at :
http://www.horscircuits.com
DOA:
