BIFF Year ‘Round 2019-20
Wed January 15th, 2019 – 6:30 pm | Hendricks Center for the Arts
Tickets at the Door
Tue Feb 25, 2020 – 5:30 pm | Hendricks Arts Center
Sat Feb 29, 2020 – 5:00 pm | Bushel & Peck’s
Sat Feb 29, 2020 – 5:00 pm | Bushel & Peck’s
——-ADDED SCREENING———-
Sun Mar 1, 2020 – 5:00 pm | Bushel & Peck’sSex, Drugs & Bicycles
Directed by Jonathan Blank
Documentary Feature
USA | 86 min | 2019
‘Sex, Drugs & Bicycles’ takes a look at Dutch social democracy and answers the question: is having month-long double paid vacations, no fear of homelessness, and universal healthcare the nightmare we’ve been warned about?
Director Statement
My dear friend and creative partner-in-crime, Jess Weixler, was pregnant with her first child last year. I’d recently become a father myself, and we were both asking ourselves the big questions: “What does it mean to be a parent?” “How will this new responsibility affect us as artists?” “Are we going to make ALL the same mistakes our parents did?” And most significantly… “Are we fuckin’ ready to become adults?”
So we decided to take all this existential exploration and head back to our indie roots to make a movie about it. We assembled a team of rock-star friends and collaborators and shot the film in 8 days (with an 8-month pregnant co-star) on a shoestring budget. The resulting movie is one that we are very proud of — a scrappy, punk rock comedy that serves as both an immediate and true (if somewhat hyperbolized) snapshot of a potent turning point in our lives.
Jonathan Blank
Director
Jonathan Blank makes movies, writes, and teaches kids to read.
His latest film (writer/producer/director) is “Sex, Drugs & Bicycles,” a feature-length documentary that journeys into Dutch social democracy to discover how people manage to live with month-long double-paid vacations, no fear of homelessness, and universal healthcare. What he found will surprise you. Then again it may not — it really depends on a lot of factors outside his control.
Jonathan is currently producing two new projects “Talking to Animals,” a documentary about animal consciousness, and “How’s Your Democracy,” a TV series based on his film “Sex, Drugs & Bicycles.” He has also written, produced and directed a number of films including “Sex, Drugs & Democracy” (“A seductive argument” –Roger Ebert), “Anarchy TV” (“A wild, crazy and twisted comedy!” –Jan Wahl, KRON-TV), and “Collecting America” (“Fascinating!” –Joseph Gelmis, NY Newsday) as well as the screenplays for two new fiction films: “Shaolin Kid,” an action oriented, family film and “Zentropy,” a comedy.
Jonathan is the co-author of “Secrets of Dragon Gate,” published by Penguin, and “Still as a Mountain, Powerful as Thunder,” published by Shambhala. He is currently writing a new book “Psychedelic Sailor,” about record setting endurance sailor and international marijuana smuggler, Reid Stowe, who shattered previous records by spending 1,152 days continuously at sea without resupply. And he is also working on a book, “Reinventing Reading,” about the need to fundamentally change the way people are taught to read.
Jonathan loves teaching kids to read. That’s why he created Reading Kingdom, an educational software company that has developed a series of online programs that use new, fun, and revolutionary ways to teach literacy.
Jonathan has also spent over 25 years studying high-level martial arts, meditation, Eastern philosophy and esoteric metaphysical practices with many remarkable teachers in the US and Asia. For several years, Jonathan served as the Western Liaison for the Shaolin Temple in Los Angeles (the Shaolin Temple is the birthplace of both Zen Buddhism and Chinese Kung Fu).
Jonathan has a BA and an MFA from Columbia University in New York.
Film Information
Director: Jonathan Blank
Country: USA
Year: 2019
Language: English,
Runtime: 86 min.
Rated: R
Credits
Producer: Jonathan Blank
Writer: Jonathan Blank
