Psycho-Sexual Animation (Animation/Experimental)

Chicago Filmmakers – Saturday, 8pm
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "Psycho-Sexual?" If you think "Norman Bates loves his mama," then you're accidentally on the right track for this show. From 1970 to 1974 Victor Faccinto created a series of nightmarish and grotesque cut-out films starring his alter ego, Video Vic, a voyeuristic, neurotic figure dressed in a black leather jacket and executioner’s mask who is compelled by his own feelings of sexual inadequacy and perversion. Almost forty years after their creation, the films are still subversive and uncomfortable to sit through and their deliberately crude style are partly responsible. Perhaps the strangest of the series, the silent WHERE DID IT ALL COME FROM? WHERE IS IT GOING?, establishes the themes of a sadistic God, an overt masculinity that is essentially impotent, a fusion of predators and genitalia and characters who gain pleasure from watching others suffer. In THE SECRETE OF LIFE the mumbled speech of the protagonist Chico and the sound effects are heavy on the reverb as he spies on and engages in often-violent sexual encounters. FILET OF SOUL expands the character base to include Vic and his counterculture companions. The sophistication of the production increases to include shots that collage animation with still images, mood music made with whistling and kazoos, and dialogue from multiple characters. In the final film, SHAMELESS, Faccinto's techniques become more complex and include manipulated found footage, stop-motion sequences with actors, and shots that feature both cut-out characters and real humans. Faccinto's films are honest and intensely personal, like a drunken secret that a new acquaintance has whispered in your ear: you didn't ask to hear it, but the outburst explains their personality in a way that only years of intimacy could. This show is billed as Adult Animation, and may not be suitable for all audiences. Also showing are three recent animated video works: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD (Joe Tucker, UK), A LETTER TO COLLEEN (Andy London and Carolyn London, US), CHAINSAW (Dennis Tupicoff, Australia). (1970-2008, 97 min total, 16mm and Video) JH - Cine-File.info