From: 40 Frames (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Aug 20 2005 - 13:40:37 PDT
Roger Beebe wrote:
"So, we do what we can. All we can. And I think it's okay for folks out
there (Dominic, Alain & others) to wring their hands & push us to do more,
but it'd be nice to have a little recognition that we in the academy are
already doing a lot."
I wasn't intending to question your commitment Roger. I think it's best to
say that my comments have more to do with my experience in the NW region
than with all of North America. Please excuse any sweeping
generalizations. I merely feel that Dominic is raising some very interest
points about the choices people are making regarding exhibition and
available formats.
Here in Portland (city of approx 2 million) getting to see 16mm prints is
a rare and welcome treat despite the local history of grassroots-style
advocacy for exhibiting films.
Portland State University once offered film production elective courses,
and the University of Oregon in Eugene had a film department until the
1980s. The Media Project and Northwest Film Center stepped in to fill the
gap when PSU and UO ceased to provide support for public film education
(making and showing 16mm).
In recent years, it has been (once again) small, grassroots
not-for-profit and 501c3 organizations that have stepped in to fulfill the
desire to
present/view 16mm films in a community were institutional support has
declined. Through partnerships with these larger institutions, small
groups have been able to sustain marginal film exhibition programs in a
city where they would have otherwise been left to wither away.
To show 16mm prints, in a place like Portland (or I would imagine other
places of comparable size), one has to remain committed, and those
interested in film programs have become akin to social activists. Working
extremely hard to bring films to town and present 16mm under the best
possible conditions.
I agree with Pip assertion that "the film projection experience is
cherished here [in France], maybe more than in the US. People understand
that
projecting videos of films is like exhibiting photocopies of paintings". I
think the distinction is irrelevant to a large percentage of folks here in
the US, moreso the further outside of NYC, SF and Chicago one gets. The
attitudes and opinions of people in the larger urban areas differ
tremendously in this regard from those in smaller cities. Portland has an
interesting film culture, albeit extremely small, but there's a younger
group of media makers and writers here that feel the format distinction is
trivial.
One of the difficulties of coordinating film exhibition here in Portland
has been trying to convince local writers of the value of attending press
screenings of 16mm prints. This was something I really push for since I
feel the experience is unique and in many ways more rewarding than a
DVD/tape xfer of the film. But in most cases this is like pulling teeth
with writers in Portland as they will almost always opt for the video copy
over attending a press screening of actual prints.
These video press screeners (although perceived as a convenient format to
distribute work) seem to have replaced the culture of going to film press
screenings. Where a writer not only engages with the projected films but
is able to converse with the curators who are presenting films. These
connections and relationships are downplayed with the wide (domestic) use
of video screeners, while bypassing the experience of watching projected
films large scale and uninterrupted. One of the roles of the
exhibitor/curator is bringing more people to the work. This task can be
monumental, even more difficult if there's hardly a relationship with
local writers. I think press screenings work to allow more communication
between those people show work and those writing about that work.
Dominic wrote:
"Although instituions are not supposed to show these works on dvd in
classrooms, or for exhibitions, it has been my experience that this is
being violated on a large scale. Many teachers and instructors are
purchasing tapes and dvds of many experimental filmmakers and showing the
work in this format to classes and often in gallery exhibitions, rock
concerts, theatres, and studio situations. Such acts put in jeopardy
organizations such as Canyon Cinema and the Film-Makers' Cooperative and
also compromises the artistic integrity of the works presented."
In regard to (illegally) presenting video copies over 16mm prints, I don't
honestly know what the practices are at US
colleges/universities/etc, but my guess would be that it's common
practice. The argument being that there's "no money" to show films. I am
happy to report that there are a few instructors at NWFC (in Portland)
that still believe it's important to rent and show 16mm. Yet
it remains that the issue of maintaining projection equipment seems to
plague every organization I've encountered. Perhaps European cities should
be a model example for film presentation given that they appear to be the
arbiter of cultural practices in so many other regards.
Alain
================
40 FRAMES
Alain LeTourneau
Pamela Minty
425 SE 3rd, #400
Portland, OR 97214 USA
+1 503 231 6548
email suppressed
http://www.40frames.org
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For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.