still from Ball In The House

2001 / 95 min
Director: Tanya Wexler / Screenwriter: Matthew Swan
Cast:  Jonathan Tucker, David Straithairn, Jennifer Tilly, Dan Moran, Ethan Embry
35mm | Courtesy of Ira Deutchman
Film introduced by the director, Tanya Wexler.

17-year-old J.J. (Jonathan Tucker) is home after doing six months in rehab. But now he’s afraid that his family and friends might not want him to get sober… and some might not even want him to be alive. Never theatrically released in the US, the darkly comic Ball in the House (retitled Relative Evil for DVD) is what director Tanya Wexler ’95, a graduate of the Columbia University film program, called “the ultimate tough love movie.” The cast includes David Straithairn, Jennifer Tilly, and Ethan Embry. (Ira Deutchman produced the movie.)

This screening is part of NY Indie Guy: Ira Deutchman and the Rise of Independent Film

On September 14-16 and September 20-23, 2018, Columbia University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts will host a retrospective exhibit honoring the career of Film Professor and Producing Concentration Supervisor Ira Deutchman. Since 1975, Deutchman has been a leader in distributing, marketing, and producing American independent films, international films, and arthouse films. He is perhaps best known for founding and running the distribution companies Cinecom, Fine Line Features, and Emerging Pictures. Deutchman has taught at Columbia since 1987.  

This retrospective will screen essential motion pictures from various points in Deutchman’s career, such as The Brother From Another Planet; Diva; Harlan County USA; sex, lies, & videotape; Swoon; and A Woman Under the Influence. Many showings will feature Q&A talkbacks with filmmakers or performers. The celebration will also include panel discussions and an extensive exhibit covering Deutchman’s impact on cinema.  

Sponsors

The Art House Convergence
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard
Film and Media Studies, Columbia University School of the Arts
The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University
The Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Columbia University
The University of Michigan Library