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Rize

South Central's latest dance/cultural phenomenon; no footage was artificially sped up

Rize
Renowned fashion photographer David LaChapelle's documentary is about South Central L.A.'s coolest new cultural phenomenon.

Sort of a hyperspeed hip-hop (the movie opens with a disclaimer that no footage was artificially time-lapsed), clowning is the brainchild of one Tommy Johnson. An ex-con who wanted to get his life in order, Johnson became the children's party entertainer Tommy the Clown. As some members of his delighted audience grew older, they wanted to learn how to dance in clown face like that. Johnson opened a clown dancing school as an alternative to gangs, drugs and other neighborhood despairs.

Krumping channeled the same wild moves into more conscious expressions/releases of anger. The different crews are immensely proud and compete ferociously with one another, but always maintain respectful and friendly relations when they're not hurling themselves at each other in violent choreography.

Just because these kids keep their aggression to the fantasy dance ground doesn't mean they're invulnerable to tragedy. Death, crime and indignity stalk their streets, and even the beloved Tommy is not immune. Still, rarely has a film about the underprivileged felt as positive, in a completely un-Pollyanna-ish way, as "Rize" does.

And I don't recall ever having seen one that was so musically, muscularly watchable. (B. Strauss, L.A. Daily News)

Rize

Sat October 22, 2005, 7:00 & 9:00, Muenzinger Auditorium

86min, USA, 2005, English, PG-13, Color • official site

recommend

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

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