Producer/Director Walter Haussner is presenting three films about resistance at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12, 2025.
The venue is Gypsy Road Studio, 369 E. Main St., Ashland, Oregon.
“Dulce et Decorum Est” (5 minutes), a dramatization of Wilfred Owen’s classic World War I poem starring Steven Oliver, starts the evening out. Elizabeth Owen, niece of the poet and president of The Wilfred Owen Association, said this about Oliver’s performance: “What a wonderful rendering of Dulce. I think that it is the best I have ever heard. I feel that Steven must have experienced dreadful things. I hope I am wrong and that he is just an amazing actor. The way it comes from him is from his heart and soul. He is not just reciting it”.
The evening’s next film, also starring Steven Oliver, is “The Partisan” (4 minutes), a dramatization of an anti-fascist anthem about the French Resistance in World War II. The song was composed in 1943 by Russian-born Anna Marly, with lyrics by French Resistance leader Emmanuel d’Astier de La Vigerie. Hy Zaret later adapted it for English and it is this version that was popularized by singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen.
The evening concludes with a screening of “Xpendable” (30 minutes), which takes the evening’s theme into the realm of Film Noir. Inspired by Evan Hunter’s (The Birds, High and Low) early short story “The Last Spin,” “Xpendable” tells the story of a dispute between two crime organizations and the decision to settle matters with a representative from each “club”. Whereas the original story dealt with juvenile males from rival gangs, “Xpendable” shifts the focus to age and gender, along with a dose of dark humor. Featuring actors Preston Mead, Annette MacGregor, Adam Lewis, Jeffrey Hunter, and Johnny Whelchel, “Xpendable” is the director’s love letter to Film Noir and David Mamet’s view that “Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance”.
The three films have been featured in over 75 festivals worldwide and have won over 25 awards. Walter Haussner will introduce the films and will be available for questions and answers.
Admission is free.
