From: Scott Stark (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Jan 10 2004 - 16:28:59 PST
This week [January 11 - 18, 2004] in avant garde cinema
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Also available online at Flicker: http://www.hi-beam.net
This week's programs (summary):
* Rooftop Animation At Makor [January 11, New York, New York]
* Pretend (Mediascope's An Evening With Julie Talen) [January 12, New York, New York]
* Dirk De Bruyn: Ancient Damage [January 14, London, England]
* Approche D'un CinéMa Alternatif 4/9 : Stan Brakhage [January 14, Nantes, France]
* Newfilmmakers Presents the Fighting Irish: Newfilmmakers Early Short
Program [January 14, New York, New York]
* New Filmmakers Short Program [January 14, New York, New York]
* Nick Bohn Memorial Program [January 15, New York, New York]
* Obsessive Absence: Ellen Lake and Catherine Ross [January 15, San Francisco, California]
* A Time For Drunken Horses Presented By the International Answer [January 15, San Francisco, California]
* The Independents [January 15, Toronto, Ontario, Canada]
* Equilibrium [January 16, New York, New York]
* Essential Cinema: Kenneth Anger [January 16, New York, New York]
* Indymedia Screening [January 16, San Francisco, California]
* Psychic Disturbances: New Experimental Film and video [January 17, Chicago, Illinois]
* Essential Cinema: Belson/Baillie/Crockwell [January 17, New York, New York]
* Fail Better [January 18, Brooklyn, New York]
* Essential Cinema: Stan Brakhage [January 18, New York, New York]
Events are sorted by CITY within each DATE.
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2004
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1/11
New York, New York: Rooftop Films
http://www.rooftopfilms.com
Art from Noon-6pm, Rooftop Film screenings at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 & 4:30, Makor Center, at 35 West 67th Street
ROOFTOP ANIMATION AT MAKOR
Visit website for full details.
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MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2004
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1/12
New York, New York: Museum of Modern Art/Mediascope
http://www.moma.org/visit_moma/momafilm/
8:00 pm, 127 East 23 Street at Lexington Avenue
PRETEND (MEDIASCOPE'S AN EVENING WITH JULIE TALEN)
An Evening with Julie Talen (New York) In Pretend (2003), Julie Talen
explores the possibilities of multichannel storytelling, using the split
screen format as a way of integrating points of view or as a kind of
visual stream of consciousness. She spins a contemporary fairy tale out
of a fascinating multilayered narrative about two sisters, a family in
trouble, a possible kidnapping, and the veracity of what ones sees (or
tells). Program approx. 100 min. Monday, January 12, 8:00 Dedicated to
experimentation with cinematic form and content, MediaScope presents
emerging and recognized artists who discuss their work with the
audience. The program explores filmmaking and videomaking, as well as
Web-based, installation, and digital art practices. Organized by Sally
Berger, Assistant Curator; Jytte Jensen, Curator; Laurence Kardish,
Senior Curator; Barbara London, Associate Curator; and Joshua Siegel,
Assistant Curator, Department of Film and Media. Reviews of Pretend:
From A.O. Scott, The New York Times "...a harrowing, dazzling feature...
The divided screen has occasionally been deployed by filmmakers to show
events unfolding simultaneously... Ms. Talen goes further; the collage
of images evokes the memories, fantasies and fears of the characters,
bridging the distance between the objective reality of what the camera
sees and the inner worlds that are ordinarily left to actors to convey."
From Ed Halter, The Village Voice "...a remarkable achievement in
editing... Talen edits a dizzying storm of screens within screens,
creating a new graphic vocabulary of flashbacks, flash-forwards, fantasy
sequences, and parallel actions. She showcases the best possibilities of
experimenting with video." From Dennis Harvey, Daily Variety "...a
notable directorial debut... with unusual narrative heft... As many as
50 multichannel images (shot by up to nine simultaneous cameras) are on
screen at once... For once, such technical gimmickry really does evoke
by sheer accumulation the ultimate instability of subjective truth,
lending pic a resonant dimensionality." From Moira MacDonald, The
Seattle Times, "Sometimes a movie comes along that's so dazzlingly
different from anything else you've seen, all you can do is watch,
mesmerized. "Pretend," from director Julie Talen, is just such a
movie... Talen gives her story added dimension by dividing the screen
into multiple frames - some grid-like, sometimes a stray rectangle
floating within the main image, taking us out of one character's story
and into another, dividing our loyalties and our attention, taking our
breath away." From Steven Shaviro, Prof. Of Film, Univ. of Washington,
shaviro.com "No narrative film (and probably no avant-garde film either)
has ever done anything on the order of what Talen accomplishes in
Pretend... The result of all this is extraordinary: at times, while I
was watching Pretend, I felt that I was perceiving things in an entirely
new way, as if the very process of vision had been reinvented."
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2004
---------------------------
1/14
London, England: Lux Salon
http://www.lux.org.uk
7.00 pm, LUX, 18 Shacklewell Lane, London, E8 2EZ.
DIRK DE BRUYN: ANCIENT DAMAGE
Running (1976, 30 mins, 16mm, Optical Sound) Boerdery (1985, 11 mins,
16mm, Optical Sound, Music by Chris Knowles) Rote Movie (1994, 12 mins,
16mm, Optical Sound) Analog Stress (2004 14 mins, 16mm Optical Sound)
1/14
Nantes, France: Le Cinématographe
http://www.lecinematographe.com
20 h30, 12bis rue des Carmélites
APPROCHE D'UN CINéMA ALTERNATIF 4/9 : STAN BRAKHAGE
Window Water Baby Moving (Canada, 1959, 12', 16mm, silencieux) Dog Star
Man (Canada, 1961-64, 1h 15, 16mm, silencieux) Stan Brakhage est mort le
9 mars 2003. Cinéaste et théoricien du cinéma, il fait partie des
grandes figures du cinéma expérimental américain. Brakhage a filmé la
vie et la mort. Il nous aide à affronter l'une et l'autre. À l'heure du
cinéma jetable, et de la superficialité ambiante, la sincérité de
l'oeuvre d'un Brakhage ne peut être que salvatrice. Il nous reste son
oeuvre à (re)découvrir. Il nous reste la vie à parcourir. Et vice-versa.
en savoir plus :
http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/cinema/030101/dossier-brakhage.html
1/14
New York, New York: Anthology Film Archives
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
6pm, 32 Second Avenue
NEWFILMMAKERS PRESENTS THE FIGHTING IRISH: NEWFILMMAKERS EARLY SHORT
PROGRAM
Michael Tagilio UNTITLED (2003, 12 minutes, video) ; Chris Ohlson THE
MEAT MARKET (2003, 22 minutes, video) ; Danny Perez I WAS A TEENAGE GANG
MEMBER'S INITIATION (2003, 10 minutes, video)
1/14
New York, New York: Anthology Film Archives
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
7pm, 32 Second Avenue
NEW FILMMAKERS SHORT PROGRAM
Claude Reid DYSFUNCTIONAL (2003, 15 minutes, video) ; Michael Stone THE
MAN WHO KILLED AND ATE THE THING (2003, 17 minutes, 16mm) ; Robert &
Philip Synder PAPERMAN (2002, 8 minutes, video) ; Chelsea Krebbers
SPOONING WITH SIN (2003, 15 minutes, 16mm) ; Victoria Larimore ROOM 32
(2003, 10 minutes, video) ; Alejandro Rodriguez BIRTHDAY GIFT (2003, 11
minutes, 16mm)
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2004
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1/15
New York, New York: Anthology Film Archives
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
7:30pm, 32 Second Avenue
NICK BOHN MEMORIAL PROGRAM
This memorial program will feature documentations of the artist Nick
Bohn's live performance pieces. "Nick Bohn reached completely unexpected
results in his performances. Aside from being physically irresistible –
his sleek, dancer's body was undeniably sexy to men and women alike, and
his sweet face could look like a million different people over the
course of an hour – he delighted in freaking people out and pushed the
tolerance of any scene he was in. He presented himself as the least
attractive addition to whatever venue it was – whether it was a hipster
club or a bodega – and then deconstructed the atmosphere with fire and
choreographed lewdness, leaving everyone stunned as if struck by
lightning. When he was performing it was like watching a
terrible/beautiful spectacle that you couldn't take your eyes off of and
then you could talk to him afterwards and he would just make fun of
himself and plan the next gag or tell you about a good new band he was
listening to. He was a natural!" –Marian St. Laurent
1/15
San Francisco, California: New Langton Arts
http://www.newlangton.org
8 pm, 1246 Folsom Street
OBSESSIVE ABSENCE: ELLEN LAKE AND CATHERINE ROSS
****** VIDEO SCREENING AT NEW LANGTON ARTS Obsessive Absence Ellen Lake
and Catherine Ross Thursday, January 15, 8 pm Tickets $8/$6 members,
students, seniors Eccentricity and normality entwine in the works of two
video artists fascinated with the unconsidered. Ellen Lake films the
rubber band balls, macaroni boxes and sand grains whose beauty lies
solely in the eyes of their collectors. Catherine Ross documents people
moving in public spaces, exposing an expressive choreography in everyday
physical gestures. ****** New Langton Arts is located at 1246 Folsom
Street, between 8th and 9th streets. Gallery hours are noon to 6 pm,
Tuesday through Saturday, and by appointment. The box office is open
from noon to 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and one hour before
performances. For tickets, reservations or group discounts call 415 626
5416. More info:
http://www.newlangtonarts.org/view_event.php?category=Downstairs&archive
=&&eventId=94
1/15
San Francisco, California: Artists Television Access
http://www.atasite.org/
8pm, 992 Valencia Street
A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES PRESENTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ANSWER
"This is a very remarkable film: a blazingly passionate, spiritual
bulletin from a contemporary front-line of almost unimaginable hardship.
Bahman Ghobadi's movie is about a group of orphaned Kurdish children who
live on the poverty line in a village near the Iran-Iraq border.
Periodically, the children scramble aboard a truck to take them to Iraq
to work in the market, or as foot- soldiers in various smuggling scams.
That, or they transport heavy tryes in the snow and terrible cold -
backbreaking work for which they are routinely cheated of their pay, and
for which the conditions are so appalling that the mules and horses have
to be fed whisky to get them to work. ...a film with its own unflinching
gaze, a film that makes children bear the burden of an existence too
much for any adult. This is a film with a fierce, spare, beautiful
cinematic language, a movie with a steely clarity that does not diminish
its compassion and spiritual generosity."- The Guardian. 2000, 80m,
Farsi and Kurdish with English subtitles.
1/15
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Cinematheque Ontario
http://www.bell.ca/filmfest/cinematheque/
7:00 p.m., Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas St. West
THE INDEPENDENTS
THE INDEPENDENTS launches this season with an exciting roundup of
experimental works by local and international artists. Montréal-based
filmmaker Steven Woloshen is represented by a pair of 35mm animated
films: CAMERAS TAKE FIVE (2003, 3 minutes) and TWO EASTERN HAIR LINES
(2003, 4 minutes). Woloshen's intuitive approach, wonderfully expressive
use of line drawings, and keen sense of rhythmic timing bring energy to
these abstract films. 4x8x3 (2004, 2.5 minutes, 16mm), by Toronto
filmmaker Chris Kennedy, is a structural film which plays with the
spatial relationships of four image quadrants, created by shooting
regular 8mm stock and not slitting the filmstrip after processing.
Chicago filmmaker Rebecca Meyers' GLOW IN THE DARK (JANUARY-JUNE) (2002,
6 minutes, 16mm) is a journey through the luminescence of night. Eve
Heller's GLINT (work-in-progress, 5 minutes, 16mm) makes striking use of
underwater cinematography. Heller's metaphoric images – an outstretched
hand, flowers floating in the water, an iron bridge – gracefully connote
a sense of passage. Gail Mentlik's MY MOTHER AT THE CONSULATE (2003, 1.5
minutes, Betacam) is a recent addition to a series of personal pieces
about the filmmaker's mother, Hilda Mentlik (1919-2001), who was a
Holocaust survivor. Susan Turcot's AMOR DE LOHN (2002, 20 minutes,
miniDV) derives its subject from thirteenth-century mystics, Begines,
who challenged the church and found their own direct line to
inspiration. STRUCTURAL FILMWASTE, DISSOLUTION 1 (2003, 4 minutes,
Betacam), by Austrian filmmaker Siegfried Fruhauf, is a formal
examination of celluloid images digitally transformed into a minimalist
study of black and white frames. SHARP PROOFING (2002, 8 minutes,
Betacam), by Chicago-based filmmaker Pearce Williams, is an entertaining
treatment of a patient/psychologist session which uses puppet animation
techniques and witty dialogue. The programme concludes with Barbara
Sternberg's BURNING (2002, 7 minutes, 16mm), which speaks to the energy
and brevity of life.
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2004
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1/16
New York, New York: Anthology Film Archives
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
6-9pm, 32 Second Avenue
EQUILIBRIUM
OPENING IN THE COURTHOUSE GALLERY : Susan Munoz and Grace Summanen :
EQUILIBRIUM is a dialogue between two artists pursuing related visions,
each with a unique vocabulary. Munoz combines oil- and water-based media
on non-porous surfaces, and fractal patterns resembling cellular biology
or planetary topography emerge where the materials come to rest.
Summanen employs a process of alternately random and purposeful
layering, making marks in a variety of media that evoke a world seen
through microscope or telescope. Exhibition will run through Sunday,
January 25.
1/16
New York, New York: Anthology Film Archives
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
8pm, 32 Second Avenue
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: KENNETH ANGER
FIREWORKS (1947); PUCE MOMENT (1949-70); RABBIT'S MOON (1950-70); EAUX
D'ARTIFICE (1953); INAUGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME (1954-66). Total
running time: 90 minutes. Poetry, psychodrama and the occult meet in
these timeless works by one of the pioneers of the American avant-garde
film.
1/16
San Francisco, California: Artists Television Access
http://www.atasite.org/
8pm, 992 Valencia Street
INDYMEDIA SCREENING
SF Indymedia presents: 1. "Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers", dir. by
Anonymous Running time: 12 min. The long-awaited sequel to the popular
"Fellowship of the Ring of Free Trade" has finally arrived! Twin Towers
explores the unfolding story Bush Administration after Sept. 11th and
its the so-called "War on Terrorism" that followed. 2. "Workers of
Argentina", by the Argentina Indymedia Center Running time: 19 min.
Chronicles the working class struggle of Argentina after the economy
crash. 3. "Untitled", dir. by Samuel Nesbitt Running time: 52 min.
Samuel Nesbitt chronicles the pre-invasion Iraq in the months leading up
to the war that changed the face of the Middle East forever. With live
footage and interviews, the audience is exposed to an Iraq waiting in
the shadow of war. This is a picture of Iraq before the present-day
occupation and "liberation".
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2004
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1/17
Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Filmmakers
http://www.chicagofilmmakers.org/
7:00 pm, Chicago Filmmakers (5243 N. Clark St.)
PSYCHIC DISTURBANCES: NEW EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO
These three magnificently odd works raise a lot of issues and ask a lot
of questions, then, teasingly, don't necessarily provide easy answers;
they are open-ended revels in uncertainty. Rolled Eyes (2nd Version)
(2002, 12 mins., 16mm, Austria), by Dietmar Brehm, is a found-footage
psycho-sexual drama which confounds traditional gender power
relationships, but with Brehm's usual creepy ambiguities still present.
Learning Stalls: modular syllabi and organic exchange (2003, 23 mins.,
video) by Darrin Martin and Torsten Z. Burns: Psychic surgery meets
physical therapy as matter and anti-matter merge under the choreographed
supervision of other worldly beings. In the search for new mind/body
experiences, Burns, Martin and other workshop participants humorously
enact paranormal interactions, intersexual dynamics, pseudo-testing
methods, and staged quasi-therapy sessions. Anti-Dialectic: The Letter
to Nietzsche and Merleau-Ponty in Form of Density (2001, 55 mins.,
video, South Korea) by Kim Gok and Kim Sun: "Anti-Dialectic (based on a
painting by Magritte?) centres on Hyo-Sik...The world's laziest artist,
he is hung up on the problem of representing an apple. He's also hung up
on a devoutly Christian MTV vee-jay called Mina, but studiously
indifferent to Kyung-Sook, the long-suffering librarian who adores him.
Through jump-cuts and patterns of variation, the film celebrates
differences and ridicules attempts to resolve them." (Tony Rayns)
1/17
New York, New York: Anthology Film Archives
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
6pm, 32 Second Avenue
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: BELSON/BAILLIE/CROCKWELL
Jordan Belson: ALLURES (1961); RE-ENTRY (1964); PHENOMENA (1965);
SAMADHI (1967); COSMOS (1969). "Our greatest abstract film poet: he has
found how to combine the vision of the outer and the inner eye." – Gene
Youngblood Bruce Baillie: CASTRO STREET (1966); ALL MY LIFE (1966);
VALENTIN DE LAS SIERRAS (1968). Songs and poems of everyday reality.
Douglass Crockwell: GLENS FALLS SEQUENCE (1946); THE LONG BODIES (1949).
Fluid abstract forms. Total running time: 70 minutes.
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2004
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1/18
Brooklyn, New York: Ocularis
http://www.billburg.com/ocularis/
7pm, 70 North 6th ST.
FAIL BETTER
Sometimes failure is a better outcome than success. Accidents, crisis
and rejection come easy and often serve as catalysts for artistic,
political or personal production. The short works in this program offer
different expressions of failure: Its an engine, a constant and maybe
its not our fault anyway. Fail, fail again, fail better… Hand Catching
Lead, Richard Serra, 1968, 3min., MOMA Screen Test, Reel 21 – Test #7,
Andy Warhol, 1966, 4min., Winner, Harry Dodge and Stanya Kahn, 2002,
16min., Principal's Office, CELLmedia, 2001, 5min., Room Service, Tony
Labat, 8min., 1980, Unused or Rejected Pieces, Arranged in Order For
Lauren, Seth Price, 2003, 10min., Atlanta, Miranda July, 1996, 10min.,
Shadowplay, Vito Acconci, 1970, 4min.
1/18
New York, New York: Anthology Film Archives
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
6:30 & 8pm, 32 Second Avenue
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: STAN BRAKHAGE
DESISTFILM (1954); REFLECTIONS ON BLACK (1955); THE WONDER RING (1955);
FLESH OF MORNING (1956); DAYBREAK AND WHITEYE (1957); WINDOW WATER BABY
MOVING (1959). 65 minutes. Films made during the early, psychodramatic
period of one of modern cinema's greatest innovators. 8pm: DOG STAR MAN
(1961-64). 75 minutes. A masterwork in which all of Brakhage's
techniques achieve a complex synthesis to produce one of cinema's
supreme epic poems.
Enter your event announcements by going to the Flicker Weekly Listing Form
at http://www.hi-beam.net/cgi-bin/thisweek.pl
The weekly listing is also available online at Flicker:
http://www.hi-beam.net
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