Movie Night
One Night Event: Saturday, August 25, 2018 / 1610 Vermont St, Houston, TX 77006
Featuring the work of Francis Almendárez, Ronald Jones, and Emily Peacock
Hosted by Hallie Gluk & Maggie Nemetz
While the Houston summer continues its relentless assault, FLATS invites you to beat the heat with our very first movie night!
Three Houston-based photographers — Francis Almendárez, Ronald Jones, and Emily Peacock — have extended their photo practice into compelling video works that explore present moments shaped by personal history and the potential futures they represent.
Since the event is outdoors at the end of August, we’re going to need something to beat the heat. That’s why we’re adding another FLATS first to our movie night: a pool party! Be sure to bring your swim trunks, because the backyard will be littered with kiddie pools for everyone to rest in.
ABOUT THE FILMS
Variations on a Theme from Rosa (2012-2013)
By Francis Almendárez
In the style of cinéma vérité, Francis Almendárez documents a pivotal moment of his life prior to departing from his hometown of Los Angeles. From his grandmother’s time as an immigrant farm laborer in the 1970s, his mother’s disability which led to her unemployment and eventual homelessness, the loss of his grandmother’s house in the 2008 financial crisis, to their return to Honduras due to financial instability, Almendárez confronts the reality of the American Dream while shedding light on the resilience and selflessness of motherhood.
In the Streets (2013-2014)
By Ronald L. Jones
Gathered from spontaneous moments when out with friends — having a drink, navigating red tape to get a car boot removed, or simply wandering Downtown Houston — Ronald L. Jones assembles slice of life narratives that are remarkable in their ordinariness. In capturing these everyday moments, Jones breaks down the wall that separates the viewer from the subject to glimpse the universal connection that makes us present in their life experience. Jones reciprocates his friends’ openness as they make themselves available to his lens, calling to mind themes such as the barriers between artists and audiences, individuals and their communities, and the perceived normalcy of everyday life.
August (2016)
By Emily Peacock
Carrying the weight of looming family tragedy and past heartbreaks, young artist August finds herself in limbo as she quietly goes through the motions— at family gatherings, gallery openings, her job at a photo processing business, her own artist presentations, and in awkward relationships. This personal, poetic film portrait conveys the mixed emotions of growing into independent adulthood while celebrating photography and capturing slices of both rural and urban East Texas life. Inspired by director Emily Peacock’s personal experiences during her own mother’s illness and death in 2015, August is ultimately about the need to connect, grow, and find one’s own path.