Demythifying Los Angeles’ Final Screening!
Staccato Purr of the Exhaust by Luis Meza (1996)
@ Tierra de la Culebra Park – 240 S. Ave 57, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Sunday September 18 @ 7:00 pm. Free!
Come join us for our final event in the Demythifying Los Angeles series with a special screening of Luis Meza’s Staccato Purr of the Exhaust! You won’t want to miss this rarely seen gem of a film.
Free! Sunday September 18. Doors at 7:00, film at 7:30 pm. BYO chairs, blankets and snacks. This event will be outdoors at Tierra de la Culebra Park. Limited street parking by the park. Please consider taking the Metro gold line or be prepared to park a few blocks away from the event.
Staccato Purr of the Exhaust has been called a “Chicano slacker film” and a “road movie without a road”. It is both those things, and so much more. Set in the mid ‘90s in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park, the film follows Leonard who is a 20-something year old preparing for a road trip to Texas that might offer him a much needed change of pace. He goes stenciling with his girlfriend Lily, fixes up his car, listens to vinyls with his music snob friend and tries to avoid his parents disappointing glances. Before Leonard can hit the road, his car vanishes. We stick with Leonard as he roams the streets of Highland Park looking for his ride and listening to ‘90s post punk bands all along the way.
About Luis Meza: Filmmaker Luis Meza grew up in Highland Park. Staccato Purr of the Exhaust was his first feature-length film and it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1996. It had a short theatrical run in Los Angeles in 1997.
Special thanks to:
The Chicano Studies Research Center where the Luis M. Meza papers are held.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive for providing a digital file of the film.
Tierra de la Culebra Park and the Arroyo Arts Collective for hosting the event. http://www.latierradelaculebra.com/
Special support provided for this program from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.