Carrie Brownstein Goes Hollywood...Theatre, That Is.

Monday, 09 May 2011 12:26 | Written by Byron

Carrie Brownstein photo courtesy of Pitchfork.com

SOUND WOMAN: This weekend BridgePort Brewing Company presents the “Sound and Vision Fest” to benefit Portland's legendary Hollywood Theatre.

And who better to help the restoration efforts of the 85 year-old Portland landmark?

Carrie Brownstein, of course. And a few other cool people too.

The S&V fest was created to showcase new or existing collaborations between musicians and filmmakers, exploring how the moving image informs musical performance and vice versa. Each night of the festival will be curated by a different local artist and will feature a mixture of film screenings and live music from favorite local bands.

Joining Brownstein, who curates Friday nights offerings, will be award winning filmmaker Matt McCormick (Brownstein stars in his current release "Some Days are Better than Others") who will offer up YACHT with electronic musician Eluvium on a new film project to be screened on Thursday. Saturday night indie film icon Lance Bangs will be screening a work in progress of his own to be announced, as well as "Animated Conversation with Noam Chomsky" (work in progress) directed by Michel Gondry, and "Mourir Auprès de Toi" (To Die by Your Side) directed by Spike Jonze & Simon Cahn. The Corin Tucker Band will close out the night.

But Friday night is all about Carrie. Perhaps best known for her contributions to the legendary Sleater-Kinney as well as soon-to-be-legend IFC-TV's Portlandia, Carrie’s most recent project includes Wild Flag, formed with former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss, former Helium guitarist and singer Mary Timony, and Rebecca Cole of The Minders. Carrie will screen the Portland premiere of “Who Took the Bomp: Le Tigre on Tour,” which has as of yet only played SXSW and MoMA. A special surprise band will close out the night.

Recently I had a chance to ask Carrie a few questions prior to this weekend's fest and here is what she had to say:
What is your favorite Portland theater to go and watch movies?
Carrie Brownstein: The Hollywood Theatre. I'm not just pandering, it's in my neighborhood and it's fun to be able to walk to the movies. I won't lie, I haven't always been a loyal patron of the Hollywood. But when I moved back from NYC a year ago, I had a new-found affection for the neighborhood theatres; I like how the Hollywood Theatre is a cultural and historical focal point in Northeast Portland. Plus, they have really upped their community outreach and their calendar is full of special events, limited-run screenings of indie and foreign films, and visiting directors.

What are your concerns about the future of this historic establishment or others like it?
I suppose my concern is that they won't always be there. Not only do these establishments provide Portlanders with a sense of history and continuity but architecturally they are both irreplaceable and inimitable. What would go up in their absence is sure to be worse, or at the very least benign and boring.

How do you see your role as a curator for this benefit?
I just want to help out the theatre.

Do you like being a curator or would you rather stick to performing?
I prefer performing but I'm always willing to contribute to a worthy cause.

Of the three mediums—film, television and music—which do you get the
biggest kick out of?
That's a hard one to answer. I wouldn't be doing music and television if I didn't love both of them.

What do you think of all the attention that is being heaped on to the city of Portland via music, food, film and now, Portlandia? How do you think it will change us?
Most of us don't live our daily lives here in Portland thinking about how we as a city are cultural or culinary influencers, progenitors, or that we exist inside of a tourist attraction. We just enjoy what we have. That insularity or insular mindset is what makes Portland unique. If anything, the attention heaped on Portland (which most of us know is temporary, like anything else), will create a contrarian urge and we'll all just work to make the city weirder and less accessible to outsiders. Or, we'll secede from the Union.

What are you most excited about in regards to the "Sound and Vision Fest" ?
The chance to watch movies and music for three nights in a row, to see friends, and hopefully to glean some inspiration from what we witness.