05/14 @ 8:00pm - Mary Jordan Presents “Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis”

JACK SMITH & THE DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS

“…an extraordinary job…”
                Variety

“A real triumph…something of an aesthetic manifesto”
                Filmmaker Magazine

“Superb…a fascinating portrait…a glorious visual achievement”
                TIMEOUT London

“Irresistible…” 
                Time Magazine

For Jack Smith (1932-1989), Atlantis was both the idea of a fantastical utopia and the reality of the Lower East Side apartment in which this prophetic artist staged baroque, improvisational multi-hour one-man theatrical productions, often with a cast of stuffed animals and dolls. An avant-garde photographer, filmmaker, actor, performance artist, and all around “flaming creature,” Smith has been credited as a major influence by Fellini, Godard and Jarmusch. In Mary Jordan’s mesmerizing portrait, he fairly jumps off the screen: a combination mystic, comedian and madman, a protean artist whose vast energy and creativity were undermined (or perversely fed?) by the poverty of his day-to-day life and his paranoid misgivings about just about everything. If there is a heaven for the wonderfully bizarre, Jack Smith resides there, accompanied by his patron saint, Maria Montez.

myspace.com/destructionofatlantis

Mary Jordan – Director/Producer
 
Mary Jordan grew up traveling between Toronto and the Bronx. She began working in production at the age of 16, after attending the Norman Jewison
film school. By the age of 20, she was producing for Canada¹s top new directors, such as Steve Chase, Marco Brambilla, and Curtis Wehrfritz, and
for leading production companies like Revolver, The Partners, Alliance, and Nitrate Films. During this time, she traveled across North Africa to shoot
her first documentaries and short pieces on female circumcision rituals and the cultural modernization of women in the area, which would later be
acquired by the BBC.
 
 After extensive travels, Jordan settled in Sydney, Australia where she continued her documentary work on projects such as ABC¹s Tribal Music of
Tonga and was awarded by ABC News for her bravery while documenting refugee camp conditions on the Thai-Burmese border for Médecins Sans Frontières. While in Sydney, Mary worked as a talent scout as well as founded, and later sold, the production Indigo Blue within which she produced and directed commercials and music videos.
 
 In 2005, Mary Jordan was featured as one of Filmmaker Magazine¹s 25 New Faces. Shortly thereafter, she premiered her first feature length
documentary entitled Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis which has garnished many awards. In addition to her work in film, Mary is also involved in photography, performance art, and music.