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REST IN PIECES: A PORTRAIT OF JOE COLEMAN
SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER AT 10:15PM UGC SHAFTESBURY AVE SCREEN 2
Country USA/Austria Running Time 94 mins Format 35mm Director Robert Pejo Producer
Florian Michel Exec Prods Heinz Stussack, Michael Seeber Screenplay Walt Michelson
DoP Wolfgang Lehner Featuring Joe Coleman, Jim Jarmusch, Hasil Adkins Print
Source Gary Baddeley T +1 212 691 1605 F +1 212 473 8096
Joe Coleman's artwork runs the marathon between grotesquely disturbing and
horrifyingly detailed and as the film RIP: Rest In Pieces depicts, so does his
life. The documentary, directed by Romanian filmmaker Robert Pejo contains anecdotes
ranging from the absurd, to the shocking to the essentially unbelievable. He
captures in real time the inspirations behind Coleman's macabre masterpieces
only delved into elsewhere in books such as Original Sin and most recently The
Book of Joe. Coleman's life is a vaudevillian drama filled with a bizarre cast
of characters including his 'adopted son' Junior: a pickled baby in a jar. RIP
takes us through Coleman's early days of blowing himself up on stage for performance
art to the quieter hours of his life as a well respected painter. His works
have been compared by many to Hieronymus Bosch and even Salvador Dali. The surreal
aspects of his artwork translate almost fully to the stories of his bizarre
or if nothing else eccentric lifestyle. RIP plays out like more of a Todd Browning
1930s horror film than it does a documentary and, in the end, Coleman is both
the brooding, disfigured monster and the classic bitter-sweet hero. RR
Director Robert Pejo was born in Arad, Romania and made his directorial debut
at 22 in 1986 with Crescendo. He has directed over 15 films and is currently
shooting his latest project in Hungary.
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