(Brad Anderson, US 2001, 97 min., 35mm)
Facing his company’s financial ruin, hazmat expert Gordo (Peter Mullan) agrees to take on a rush job stripping asbestos from the decaying walls of a condemned mental health facility. While the ever-professional Gordo fights to get the work done on time, personal grievances and clashing personalities threaten the cohesion and sanity of the members of his ragtag cleanup crew (David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Josh Lucas, Brendan Sexton III). Meanwhile, the disturbing history of the hospital, its patients, and its brutal treatment methods lie waiting in the ruins of the building itself and in left-behind audio tapes of patient interviews. Part of the trend of shot-on-video horror films that came in the wake of 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, Session 9 was shot on location at the real-life abandoned Danvers State Mental Hospital. With lingering cinematography from director of photography Uta Briesewitz, this surreal and dread-inducing cult classic explores what happens when a person or place loses its identity – and what happens afterwards.
Introduction by and post-screening discussion with Selznick student Casey August.
Upcoming Events in this Series
Film Screenings | Legend of the Mountain (DCP)
Lose Yourself Few directors in the history of world cinema have so masterfully bridged the gap between the visceral energy of the action genre and the contemplative depth of classical art as King Hu. A multifaceted director who frequently produced, edited, and designed his own sets and costumes, Hu transformed the wuxia (martial arts) film from a studio-bound commodity into a vehicle for existential inquiry and Buddhist transcendence.
Film Screenings | The Face Behind the Mask (DCP)
Lose Yourself Peter Lorre stars in this cult noir as a Hungarian who takes the slow boat to Manhattan in search of a better life, only to almost immediately have his face horribly disfigured in a tenement fire.