Jon Jost - Encore Maverick Spirit Award Winner with a Special Screening of London Brief

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As part of its tenth anniversary celebration, Cinequest is very proud to present an Encore Maverick Spirit Award Winner. Perhaps the most popular aspect of Cinequest's program has been its annual Maverick Spirit Tribute section wherein the following artists have visited Cinequest to be honored for their personal and visionary work: Jon Jost, Michael Pilz, Lena Stolze, Paul Bartel, Peter McCarthy, Werner Herzog, Russ Meyer, John Waters, Gus Van Sant, Michael Radford, Robert Wise, Luis Valdez, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jackie Chan, Kevin Spacey, John Schlesinger, Walter Murch, Gabriel Byrne, Vilmos Zsigmod, Jennifer Beals, and Rod Steiger. This year, Cinequest is honored to present the encore engagement of its first Maverick Spirit Tribute, Jon Jost. "In his commitment to maintain artistic control and identity despite the financial and emotional hardships this often entails, in finding a way to realize his dreams regardless of obstacles and minimalistic resources, and in the provocative results of these dreams, namely his films, Jon Jost exemplifies the spirit of the maverick." These words were written in Cinequest's first program guide and ring even more true today as Jost has continued the work that he began in the early 70's, continuing to find ways to make some of the most original and personal films in the history of the medium. Since the early 70's, Jost has made over twenty evocative features without the luxuries or distribution deals enjoyed by most other prolific filmmakers. The process of finding ways to make his movies has been as maverick as their content and form. Jost is the real deal. Born in Chicago to a WWII military family, Jost grew up in Georgia, Kansas, Japan, Italy, Germany, and Virginia. He is a self-taught filmmaker, equally adept at both directing and cinematography, with a history of rebellion and autonomy. His people are not those populating TV or Hollywood, but complex and typically alienated individuals, many times inarticulate, but always searching nonetheless. His story telling does not follow Syd Field's three-act structure but follows the innovative bent of each individual film. His camera is not used to manipulate and race around for the sake of racing around but to create and capture images of power and beauty. To explore a Jost film (such as Last Chants for a Slow Dance, Frame Up, Sure Fire, All the Vermeers in New York, Slow Moves, Rembrandt Laughing, The Bed You Sleep In) is to enter another world, a world that does require a patience and focus largely foreign to our society, but one that rewards that patience with significant experiences. As its encore celebration of Jost's amazing maverick career, Cinequest is proud to present London Brief, a film in which Jost utilizes new digital technologies to create a film of stunning imagery and narrative innovation. "Jon Jost is not a traitor to the movies. He makes them move." - Jean-Luc Godard. Jon Jost's Encore Presentation has been made possible in part by the generous donations of the following lovers of film: Gold Level: Jay & Sharon McCuley; David & Shirley Mathiasmeier. Silver Level: Larry Douglas, Bernie & Elaine Turgeon, Evelyn Delgado, Greg Larson, Carol & Michael Pliner, Tom Moore, Genevieve Torresola, Dr. Marvin Sommer, Randy Cross, Steve Hyland.