Film Screening: Why Marmath

Posted By Laura on July 9, 2009

When the Ritz was built (way back in the 20s), it was originally a movie house.  In August, it’ll return to form with a one-time screening of a new film by local filmmaker Digger Kohler.  Why Marmarth is the veteran director’s most recent film, will be showing on Sunday, August 23 at 5PM.  The film co-stars the beautiful and rugged North Dakota Badlands, its Enchanted Highway, the town of Marmarth (pop. 140), and legendary musician Willie Murphy (featuring his trio, Cockroach Park, pictured).  It captures Mr. Murphy as he plays in Marmarth, ND, at its Mystic Theater; a theater constructed in 1914 and designed for vaudeville audiences of the early 1900’s.  The film uniquely blends the beatific allure of Mr. Murphy’s music with the haunting landscape of the sparsely populated North Dakota Badlands.  In rejoinder to the rapid development of a homogeneous America, Mr. Kohler has actualized a set and setting of organic authenticity and cultivated a film utterly without pretense.  Why Marmarth is a Dux n’ Geez presentation. (General Admission: $8)