From: Adam Hyman (email suppressed)
Date: Fri Mar 09 2007 - 11:24:55 PST
Hi all,
Thought I'd announce this, and you can also find details on the Anthology
web site. Rani Singh (director) and I will both be there.
Best regards,
Adam Hyman
"The Old, Weird America: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music"
will have its New York premiere on Thursday, March 15th, 8:00 p.m. at
Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave (@ 2nd St). We will have a reception
in the Anthology lobby immediately afterwards.
The film will also screen Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm and Sunday
at 5:00. This is part of a larger series of Harry Smith's complete oeuvre
taking place March 14 - 18th at Anthology Film Archives. Here's the full
schedule, trimmed a bit.
MAGIC IN MUSIC AND MOTION:
THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF HARRY SMITH
All screenings at Anthology Film Archives, New York
http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org
Artist, Animator, Ethnographer, Alchemist Harry Smith (1923-1991) was all
this and much more. An utterly remarkable character who produced an
eccentric, electrifying body of work, Smithıs legacy and influence continue
to be felt across a wide spectrum. Anthology and Harry go way back (he was
our Artist-In-Residence) and it has been our mission over the years to
promote and preserve his myriad achievements and undertakings in film and
beyond.
At the heart of this series is a one-week run of our brand new preservation
of Smithıs most fully realized work, FILM NO. 12: HEAVEN AND EARTH MAGIC.
Rani Singh, Director of the Harry Smith Archives, will be on hand to present
her recently completed documentary THE OLD, WEIRD AMERICA: HARRY SMITHıS
ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC. In addition, we are presenting 2
screenings of Smithıs epic, the incomparable MAHAGONNY. And finally, there
will be an Essential Cinema program of Smithıs short film wonders.
To learn more about Harry Smith, visit The Harry Smith Archives:
www.harrysmitharchives.com
Thursday, March 15 through Saturday, March 17 at 8:00 nightly and Sunday,
March 18 at 5:00.
NEW YORK PREMIERE! FILMMAKER IN PERSON!
Rani Singh
THE OLD, WEIRD AMERICA: HARRY SMITHıS ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC
2006, 90 minutes, video, color, sound. Produced by Adam Hyman and The Harry
Smith Archives.
Prepare for an eclectic journey through THE OLD, WEIRD AMERICA. Rani Singh's
new documentary film tracks the history of Harry Smith's ANTHOLOGY OF
AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC from its initial compilation of 78rpm records from rural
Americana to its release on Folkways Records in 1952. Instrumental in
helping inspire the urban folk revival of the 1960s, the ANTHOLOGY continues
to influence modern music. An incredible set of interviewees reveal the
lasting impact of the ANTHOLOGY and the remarkable personality of Harry
Smith. After the box-setıs release on CD in 1997, Hal Willnerıs Harry Smith
Project concerts celebrated Smithıs idiosyncratic vision, from Nick Caveıs
cathartic take on spirituals to Lou Reedıs mesmerizing evocation of Blind
Lemon Jefferson. The film includes rare archival footage, performances, and
interviews with Elvis Costello, Beck, Sonic Youth, Beth Orton, Philip Glass,
David Johansen, John Cohen, Geoff Muldaur, Van Dyke Parks, Roswell Rudd,
Petra Haden, Greil Marcus, and more. Join us for a wild ride through a
remarkable musical landscape!
Wednesday, March 14 at 7:30.
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
HEAVEN AND EARTH MAGIC WITH LIVE SLIDE & GEL PERFORMANCE!
Harry Smith
NO 12: HEAVEN AND EARTH MAGIC
1957-62, 66 minutes, 16mm. Newly preserved with support from the National
Film Preservation Foundation. Preservation work by Cineric, Inc.
For the opening night screening of the preserved print of HEAVEN AND EARTH
MAGIC, The Harry Smith Archives and M. Henry Jones will present a live
performance with specially designed slides, colored gels and maskings. Smith
showed the film with its special projection set-up only once, in the
late-1950s at Carnegie Hall, New York City on a specially built projector.
This show involved the use of colored gels and slide overlays to create a
vividly colored presentation that had the strong feel of a magic lantern
show with an animated shadow play at its center. It is characteristic of
Smith to have created this antiquated form of color presentation, very much
akin to the tinting and toning of silent films, rather than naturalistic
color. With the slides and gels, HEAVEN AND EARTH MAGIC regains its
aboriginal character as an alchemical séance.
Wednesday, March 14 through Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30 nightly. Additional
screenings on Saturday and Sunday at 5:30.
Harry Smith
NO 12: HEAVEN AND EARTH MAGIC
1957-62, 66 minutes, 16mm. Newly preserved with support from the National
Film Preservation Foundation. Preservation work by Cineric, Inc.
Saturday and Sunday, March 17 & 18 at 3:30.
ESSENTIAL CINEMA
Harry Smith
EARLY ABSTRACTIONS (1941-57, 23 minutes)
MIRROR ANIMATIONS (1957, 4 minutes)
LATE SUPERIMPOSITIONS (1964, 28 minutes)
OZ, THE TIN WOODMANıS DREAM (1967, 15 minutes)
All works preserved by Anthology Film Archives.
Saturday, March 17 at 5:00 and Sunday, March 18 at 7:00.
Harry Smith
FILM #18: MAHAGONNY
1970-1980, 141 minutes, 35mm, color, sound. Preservation work undertaken by
Cineric, Inc., with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual
Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the
Arts, Sony Entertainment, the National Film Preservation Foundation, The
Getty Research Institute and The Harry Smith Archives. This restoration has
been a joint project of Anthology Film Archives and the Harry Smith
Archives.
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For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.