Rare film, related book event is Friday at bookstore

MARFA – Marfa Book Co. and CineMarfa are proud to present a very rare screening of a film made by the San Francisco Diggers called “Nowsreal” on Friday.

Members of the San Francisco mime troupe. The Diggers were originally a part of the troupe.

The screening marks the release of the book, “Notes From A Revolution: The Diggers, Com/Co, and the Haight,” edited by CineMarfa founder David Hollander and Kristine McKenna, newly published by Foggy Notion Books and Richard Prince’s Fulton Ryder.

The free event begins at 7pm at the bookstore. The film will be screened at 8pm.

The San Francisco Diggers were true anarchists, with roots in the Theater of the Absurd, Existentialism, and strategies of direct action. Assembled in 1966 in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, under the leadership of Peter Berg, Emmett Grogan, Peter Coyote, and Billy Murcott, they coined slogans designed to prod people into participating, and staged art happenings, public interventions, and street theater infused with wicked humor.

A poster, their most famous image, the Diggers put around San Francisco. The poster was left unexplained and remains a mystery.

An important part of their methodology were the broadsides they produced and distributed throughout the Haight, printed by the Communication Company, a short-lived publishing outfit founded by Chester Anderson and Claude Hayward. A selection of these graphically inventive, lacerating broadsides are gathered together for the first time in Notes From a Revolution, which offers a fascinating look at the counterculture in its early bloom.

“Nowsreal” is a lyrical verite documentary short film that looks at the Diggers scene in the Haight circa 1967.  It was made by Kelly Hart and Digger founder Peter Berg, with help from celebrated cinematographer Haskell Wexler.  It has only been screened publicly a handful of times since it was made.

A very special thanks to Kelly Hart and Judy Goldhaft for allowing us to show this archival gem.

Hollander will introduce the film and be on hand to sign copies of the book.

Information: foggynotionbooks.com and cinemarfa.org.