AIGA Arizona Teams Up with FilmBar for a Monthly Movie Series

By Jessica Testa Thu., Jan. 12 2012 at 9:00 AM

Categories: Architecture and Design, Film

Good news for film nerds, design nerds and the Venn-diagram circle of people in between: AIGA Arizona is teaming up with FilmBar for a monthly movie series.

The first film is The Visual Language of Herbert Matter, showing at FilmBar at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30.

The 2010 documentary follows Swiss graphic designer Herbert Matter, the Mid-century modern master who shaped a generation of designers by bridging fine arts and applied arts, bringing photography into design.

Reto Caduff, who also directed 2006's A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash, provides rare footage of Matter and his work, as well as interviews with industry luminaries including Robert Frank, Massimo Vignelli, Alvin Eisenman, Steven Heller, and Elaine Lustig Cohen.

AIGA Arizona plans to host screenings at FilmBar the last Monday of every month. And while February's film has yet to be decided, AIGA Arizona spokeswoman Niki Blaker says the film themes will vary from street art to architecture, industrial, and graphic design. On her wish list? Typeface and origami documentary Between the Folds.

"The series came out of wanting to support FilmBar," she says. "But we also wanted to provide an event that was more than just networking."

AIGA and FilmBar have teamed up in the past, hosting screenings of The Universe of Keith Haring, a film about the renowned muralist, and The Vinyl Frontier, about vinyl toys. Tickets are $5 at the door. FilmBar is located at 815 N. Second St. in downtown Phoenix.

Here's a clip from the film's opening credits, by design and motion studio leftchannel: