Conversations at the Edge at the Gene Siskel Film Center - Thursday 6pm
Presented entirely from Super 8, this is likely the only
opportunity many in Chicago will ever have to see some of the best works
from Argentina's prolific experimental film community. Organized by
filmmaker Pablo Marín, this showcase provides a glimpse into a group of
filmmakers whose work shows a dedication to capturing small gestures,
and a whimsy not always present in the avant-garde. One of the
highlights is Narcisa Hirsch's TESTAMENTO Y VIDA INTERIOR (1976, 11
min), almost a home-movie performance, featuring four other filmmakers
carrying a coffin through the streets of Buenos Aires. Amateur, but not
comical, these elegant figures in top hats carry out a jovial wake past
parks and stores, and we're not quite sure how they feel about the
symbolism of what they're doing. Where Hirsch's work (in this case, at
least) owes more to the lyrical vein of the Experimental tradition, both
Claudio Caldini's GAMELAN (1981, 12 min) and Gabriel Romano's UNTITLED
(1982, 5 min) are working with the materialism of film and camera.
Caldini's work begins as a frenetic swoosh of vertical lines in the
frame, occasionally curving towards the sides. As this swooshing slows
down, it becomes apparent that the camera is being swung at the end of a
rope, a fitting metaphor for movement in cinema. Romano's film,
discovered after his passing, illuminates the physicality of celluloid,
and is a gorgeous pastiche of color and texture as the image is altered
through melting and scratching. Not to be confused with a summary of
filmmaking from Argentina in the past 35 years, this is a worthy primer,
and it should be a treat to see it projected in its original format.
Also screening: PASSACAGLIA Y FUGA (Jorge Honik and Laura Abel, 1976, 18
min), ESPECTRO (Sergio Subero, 2010, 9 min), EL QUILPO SUEÑA CATARATAS
(Horacio Vallereggio, 2012, 8 min), and TRISTE (Horacio Vallereggio,
1976, Super 8, Sound, 4min). (1976-2013, approx. 75 min total,
Super-8mm) JH
Showing posts with label Super 8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super 8. Show all posts
Friday, October 11, 2013
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Wild Triumphs of Martha Colburn (Experimental Animation)
Conversations at the Edge at the
Gene Siskel Film Center - Thursday, 6pm
For well over a decade, Martha Colburn has been making short anti-establishment works that are political without being statements. Full of chaos and a punk-rock aesthetic, her films critique modern life with cut-out puppets and found-footage but avoid intellectual elitism. If her imagery didn't come at you so fast, her films might be described as fun. Instead, they're cathartic capsules of directed anger. This program packs 15 films into 75 minutes, offering a good overview of the development of Colburn's practice. In the early LIFT OFF (1993) and EVIL OF DRACULA (1997) female sexuality is at the forefront, as images from magazines are manipulated into sexy astronauts and bloodsuckers. The animation is raw, and the low-fi soundtracks are reminiscent of a monster truck show announcer. Colburn also paints over the images, sometimes adding body parts, and often giving us rotating spirals. More sophisticated jointed puppets populate SPIDERS IN LOVE (2000) and CATS AMORE (2002) as arachnids with human heads and erotic dancers with cat heads seduce their targets: boy spiders and dogs. Lust and objectification are projected onto Colburn's humanoid puppets and their animated audience, celebrating red-hot sexual attraction. Her newer work is more overtly topical, covering plastic surgery (COSMETIC EMERGENCY), the "cowboy" military in Iraq (DESTINY MANIFESTO), and methamphetamine addiction (MYTH LABS). This later work is less busy, displacing rapid-fire guitars with piano, strings, and classical vocals on the soundtrack. There is an elegance in form at times, despite the still crude manner of the puppets' movements. Also screening: WHAT'S ON? (1997), MEET ME IN WICHITA (2006), DON'T KILL THE WEATHERMAN (2007), ONE AND ONE IS LIFE (2009), ELECTRIC LITERATURE (2009), JOIN THE FREEDOM FORCE (2009), TRIUMPH OF THE WILD (2009), and DOLLS VS. DICTATORS (2011). Colburn in person. (1993-2011, approx. 75 min, various formats) JH - Cine-File.info
For well over a decade, Martha Colburn has been making short anti-establishment works that are political without being statements. Full of chaos and a punk-rock aesthetic, her films critique modern life with cut-out puppets and found-footage but avoid intellectual elitism. If her imagery didn't come at you so fast, her films might be described as fun. Instead, they're cathartic capsules of directed anger. This program packs 15 films into 75 minutes, offering a good overview of the development of Colburn's practice. In the early LIFT OFF (1993) and EVIL OF DRACULA (1997) female sexuality is at the forefront, as images from magazines are manipulated into sexy astronauts and bloodsuckers. The animation is raw, and the low-fi soundtracks are reminiscent of a monster truck show announcer. Colburn also paints over the images, sometimes adding body parts, and often giving us rotating spirals. More sophisticated jointed puppets populate SPIDERS IN LOVE (2000) and CATS AMORE (2002) as arachnids with human heads and erotic dancers with cat heads seduce their targets: boy spiders and dogs. Lust and objectification are projected onto Colburn's humanoid puppets and their animated audience, celebrating red-hot sexual attraction. Her newer work is more overtly topical, covering plastic surgery (COSMETIC EMERGENCY), the "cowboy" military in Iraq (DESTINY MANIFESTO), and methamphetamine addiction (MYTH LABS). This later work is less busy, displacing rapid-fire guitars with piano, strings, and classical vocals on the soundtrack. There is an elegance in form at times, despite the still crude manner of the puppets' movements. Also screening: WHAT'S ON? (1997), MEET ME IN WICHITA (2006), DON'T KILL THE WEATHERMAN (2007), ONE AND ONE IS LIFE (2009), ELECTRIC LITERATURE (2009), JOIN THE FREEDOM FORCE (2009), TRIUMPH OF THE WILD (2009), and DOLLS VS. DICTATORS (2011). Colburn in person. (1993-2011, approx. 75 min, various formats) JH - Cine-File.info
Friday, December 10, 2010
CFA Road Trip: A North American Travelogue (Special Event)
Gene Siskel Film Center - Sunday, 5:15pm
Watching this collection of amateur and industrial films, one can't help but get nostalgic for a time when "road trip" referred to wholesome family fun, and the cost of gas wasn't an issue. Although most of the pieces included in this archival screening, curated by former Chicagoan KJ Mohr, are technically home movies, they were chosen because they show a love for the landscapes they capture. Of particular note is the excerpt of GLACIER PARK #1, shot in 1954. The mountains, vistas, and fall colors are gorgeous, but the more interesting part is the portraits that visitors to the park take with headdress wearing Indians. As much a piece of history, and with the most charming hand-drawn intertitles this reviewer has ever seen, is GYPSYMANIA. This rambling road movie, shot in both the US and Mexico, catalogs one families' vacation in the early 1940s and, while watching it, you can almost picture the church basement where this adventure was shared with the whole town. The industrials from Ford Motor Company and Castle Films have a sense of purpose that is admirable. They work as the travel shows of their day, selling destinations like Bryce Canyon (along with a shiny new automobile...travel wherever you want..."with reliability, safety, and economy!") and Banff/Lake Louise (apparently a country club in the Canadian Rockies). Watching these commercial productions is a healthy reminder that not all corporate endeavors are bad. The cherry on top of this show is the final amateur film, SUNNY CUBA. In lush color, it depicts the island nation in 1946. In a beautiful night sequence that lasts almost a minute, the neon signs of Havana dissolve from one to the next, almost as if the corporate logos were etched on a black background. Rural life is also shown, with oxen plowing fields and farmers working the land with hand-powered tools. Although most of the films included were originally silent, the screening will be accompanied by a live electronic score by local musician and videomaker Kent Lambert, and selections from the audio archive of LA based filmmaker Timoleon Wilkins. The screening will be hosted by WBEZ's Allison Cuddy and introduced by curator Mohr. (1937-1954, 89 min total, various formats) JH - Cine-File.info
Watching this collection of amateur and industrial films, one can't help but get nostalgic for a time when "road trip" referred to wholesome family fun, and the cost of gas wasn't an issue. Although most of the pieces included in this archival screening, curated by former Chicagoan KJ Mohr, are technically home movies, they were chosen because they show a love for the landscapes they capture. Of particular note is the excerpt of GLACIER PARK #1, shot in 1954. The mountains, vistas, and fall colors are gorgeous, but the more interesting part is the portraits that visitors to the park take with headdress wearing Indians. As much a piece of history, and with the most charming hand-drawn intertitles this reviewer has ever seen, is GYPSYMANIA. This rambling road movie, shot in both the US and Mexico, catalogs one families' vacation in the early 1940s and, while watching it, you can almost picture the church basement where this adventure was shared with the whole town. The industrials from Ford Motor Company and Castle Films have a sense of purpose that is admirable. They work as the travel shows of their day, selling destinations like Bryce Canyon (along with a shiny new automobile...travel wherever you want..."with reliability, safety, and economy!") and Banff/Lake Louise (apparently a country club in the Canadian Rockies). Watching these commercial productions is a healthy reminder that not all corporate endeavors are bad. The cherry on top of this show is the final amateur film, SUNNY CUBA. In lush color, it depicts the island nation in 1946. In a beautiful night sequence that lasts almost a minute, the neon signs of Havana dissolve from one to the next, almost as if the corporate logos were etched on a black background. Rural life is also shown, with oxen plowing fields and farmers working the land with hand-powered tools. Although most of the films included were originally silent, the screening will be accompanied by a live electronic score by local musician and videomaker Kent Lambert, and selections from the audio archive of LA based filmmaker Timoleon Wilkins. The screening will be hosted by WBEZ's Allison Cuddy and introduced by curator Mohr. (1937-1954, 89 min total, various formats) JH - Cine-File.info
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Voyagers - A Double Feature: Works by Penny Lane and Brian Frye (Experimental)
The Voyagers: Part One - Video Inquiry: Work by Penny Lane
The Nightingale - Saturday, 7pm
There are some auteurs that use a distinctive camera style or work with the same themes over and over. And then there are those like Penny Lane who jump around visually and thematically, but whose work is united through a distinctive voice. In pieces such as WE ARE THE LITTLETONS (2004) this voice is literal, as Lane narrates. It is in an investigation into the whereabouts of an adopted child cast out of the family, but it may as well be about any black sheep. As the camera wanders throughout the now empty home, drawers are opened revealing memories both happy and sad, but as correspondence between the filmmaker and the matron unfold on the soundtrack Lane suggests that black sheep, like the rest of us, are shaped by their environment. The way digital environments shape their users is explored in both MEN SEEKING WOMEN (2007) and SOMETIMES I GET LOSSY (2008), as Lane checks in on both the personals section of Craigslist and her own screen induced boredom/psychedelic daydream. Time is the place that defines THE VOYAGERS (2010). Using the Golden Record that was placed aboard the Voyager spacecraft as a jumping off point, Lane frames this particular NASA project as a love-letter to the chance happening that is the existence of the human race. A launching into the unknown, a wonderment at the beauty of existence, and a touching piece involving both Carl Sagan and Coney Island, it is her wedding present to her husband, Brian Frye. ALSO SCREENING: HOW TO MAKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (2010), FAMOUS LUNCH 03.25.05 (2009), SHE USED TO SEE HIM MOST WEEKENDS (2007), and THE COMMONERS (2009). Penny Lane in person. (2004-10, approx. 53 min total, video)
---
The Voyagers: Part Two - The Anatomy of Cinema: Films by Brian Frye
White Light Cinema at The Nightingale- Saturday, 9pm
It is hard to describe the work of Brian Frye as anything other than distant. Distant serendipity (THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY, 1999). Distant sublime (THE LETTER, 2001). Distant absurdity (ACROSS THE RAPPANHANNOCK, 2002). Time and again Frye's camera (or that of the original shooter) finds the poetry in a situation by keeping away from the human subjects. This contextualization lends an air of analysis to what are quite lyrical films of memory, history, sorrow, and Civil War reenactment. All the while, as these ghosts haunt the screen, one gets the impression that it is not the misery of the human experience that excites the filmmaker, but rather the hope and joy of those who lives are imperfect. When they are projected through that mystic machine, stiff actors become icons, archetypes for all that is important. The reels contain not stories, but messages from the creator, ciphered by the artist into almost understandable visions that seem to come from the early part of the industrial age. Frye gives these important ideas the space to resonate with the viewer, but also doesn't smother our minds with structure and order. There is not chaos, but a gentle observation of the profound, taken from a safe spot across the river from the real battle. Also Screening: 6.95 STRIPTEASE (1995), 9.95: THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENT IN MY LIFE (INFINITE SET) (1995), MEETING WITH KHRUSCHEV (1997), and KADDISH (2002). (1995-2002, approx. 85 min, 16mm) JH - Cine-File.info
The Nightingale - Saturday, 7pm
There are some auteurs that use a distinctive camera style or work with the same themes over and over. And then there are those like Penny Lane who jump around visually and thematically, but whose work is united through a distinctive voice. In pieces such as WE ARE THE LITTLETONS (2004) this voice is literal, as Lane narrates. It is in an investigation into the whereabouts of an adopted child cast out of the family, but it may as well be about any black sheep. As the camera wanders throughout the now empty home, drawers are opened revealing memories both happy and sad, but as correspondence between the filmmaker and the matron unfold on the soundtrack Lane suggests that black sheep, like the rest of us, are shaped by their environment. The way digital environments shape their users is explored in both MEN SEEKING WOMEN (2007) and SOMETIMES I GET LOSSY (2008), as Lane checks in on both the personals section of Craigslist and her own screen induced boredom/psychedelic daydream. Time is the place that defines THE VOYAGERS (2010). Using the Golden Record that was placed aboard the Voyager spacecraft as a jumping off point, Lane frames this particular NASA project as a love-letter to the chance happening that is the existence of the human race. A launching into the unknown, a wonderment at the beauty of existence, and a touching piece involving both Carl Sagan and Coney Island, it is her wedding present to her husband, Brian Frye. ALSO SCREENING: HOW TO MAKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (2010), FAMOUS LUNCH 03.25.05 (2009), SHE USED TO SEE HIM MOST WEEKENDS (2007), and THE COMMONERS (2009). Penny Lane in person. (2004-10, approx. 53 min total, video)
---
The Voyagers: Part Two - The Anatomy of Cinema: Films by Brian Frye
White Light Cinema at The Nightingale- Saturday, 9pm
It is hard to describe the work of Brian Frye as anything other than distant. Distant serendipity (THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY, 1999). Distant sublime (THE LETTER, 2001). Distant absurdity (ACROSS THE RAPPANHANNOCK, 2002). Time and again Frye's camera (or that of the original shooter) finds the poetry in a situation by keeping away from the human subjects. This contextualization lends an air of analysis to what are quite lyrical films of memory, history, sorrow, and Civil War reenactment. All the while, as these ghosts haunt the screen, one gets the impression that it is not the misery of the human experience that excites the filmmaker, but rather the hope and joy of those who lives are imperfect. When they are projected through that mystic machine, stiff actors become icons, archetypes for all that is important. The reels contain not stories, but messages from the creator, ciphered by the artist into almost understandable visions that seem to come from the early part of the industrial age. Frye gives these important ideas the space to resonate with the viewer, but also doesn't smother our minds with structure and order. There is not chaos, but a gentle observation of the profound, taken from a safe spot across the river from the real battle. Also Screening: 6.95 STRIPTEASE (1995), 9.95: THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENT IN MY LIFE (INFINITE SET) (1995), MEETING WITH KHRUSCHEV (1997), and KADDISH (2002). (1995-2002, approx. 85 min, 16mm) JH - Cine-File.info
Friday, October 15, 2010
Restoring Appearances To Order: Rare Films by Coleen Fitzgibbon (Experimental)
White Light Cinema at The Nightingale - Friday, 7:30pm
When structuralist filmmaking works, its like watching performance art. You are often intrigued and confused, unsure of whether or not you liked it, only able to intelligently speculate on the artists' intentions at a later date. The work of Coleen Fitzgibbon does that too, but in a warmer way. Where Vito Acconci's video work makes you anxious, Fitzgibbon's RESTORING APPEARANCES TO ORDER IN 12 MINUTES (1975, 12 min, 16mm) delivers calm like a cup of chamomile. The camera holds a static close up as Fitzgibbon scrubs a well-used utility sink throughout, clearing up every drop of paint from the labor of art making. More ambitious and more uneven is L.E.S. (1976, 30 min, S8mm on video), a neighborhood portrait cum mockumentary about the residents of Manhattan's Lower East Side. The narrator vacillates between speaking as a news reporter and an anthropologist, and when the film works, spins tales about the native dwellers of the apocalyptic landscape. An indictment of capitalism and its headquarters just to the south, the film also serves as an excellent document of urban decay before gentrification was part of our vernacular. It is political in its very existence, and is a welcome counterbalance to Fitzgibbon's more formal work. ALSO SCREENING: GYM (1973, 4 min, S8mm on video), TIME (1975, 8 min, 16mm), TRIP TO CAROLEE'S (1973, 6 min, S8mm on video), MARGIES HOUSE (1973, 6 min, S8mm on video). JH - Cine-File.info
When structuralist filmmaking works, its like watching performance art. You are often intrigued and confused, unsure of whether or not you liked it, only able to intelligently speculate on the artists' intentions at a later date. The work of Coleen Fitzgibbon does that too, but in a warmer way. Where Vito Acconci's video work makes you anxious, Fitzgibbon's RESTORING APPEARANCES TO ORDER IN 12 MINUTES (1975, 12 min, 16mm) delivers calm like a cup of chamomile. The camera holds a static close up as Fitzgibbon scrubs a well-used utility sink throughout, clearing up every drop of paint from the labor of art making. More ambitious and more uneven is L.E.S. (1976, 30 min, S8mm on video), a neighborhood portrait cum mockumentary about the residents of Manhattan's Lower East Side. The narrator vacillates between speaking as a news reporter and an anthropologist, and when the film works, spins tales about the native dwellers of the apocalyptic landscape. An indictment of capitalism and its headquarters just to the south, the film also serves as an excellent document of urban decay before gentrification was part of our vernacular. It is political in its very existence, and is a welcome counterbalance to Fitzgibbon's more formal work. ALSO SCREENING: GYM (1973, 4 min, S8mm on video), TIME (1975, 8 min, 16mm), TRIP TO CAROLEE'S (1973, 6 min, S8mm on video), MARGIES HOUSE (1973, 6 min, S8mm on video). JH - Cine-File.info
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Super-8 Rides Again (Special Event)
Chicago Filmmakers - Friday, 8pm
In the vernacular of cinema nothing says nostalgia and family quite like Super-8mm. With its simple light-tight cartridge and auto-exposure cameras it really was the format that gave the everyman a chance to capture memories when it was introduced in 1965. By reducing the technical skill required for filmmaking down to simply pointing and shooting it exponentially increased the number of home-movie makers and foreshadowed the era of video and the widespread documentation of weddings, school plays, and the oh-so-common Christmas mornings. While the amateur aesthetic this would suggest is not to be ignored during the unique show at Chicago Filmmakers tonight, nostalgia takes a back seat to a celebration of community. Twenty local filmmakers have each been given a single roll of film to shoot and no one, not even the filmmakers, gets a chance to see the results before they screen.* The format inspires introspection and familiarity, and it is sure to be central to a number of the films. For my contribution I walked around the Damen blue line stop early on a weekday morning and took ten-second portraits of people in my neighborhood. Both an experiment and a chance to talk to strangers on the street (I probably asked 75 people before I had enough willing participants), to me the film was a fitting reflection of the show. Being a part of an artistic community like that in Chicago is much like the city we call home: friendly, under the radar, formally challenging, and happy to take a risk. Many of the filmmakers will be in person. (2010, approx. 70 min, Super-8mm) JH - Cine-File.info
In the vernacular of cinema nothing says nostalgia and family quite like Super-8mm. With its simple light-tight cartridge and auto-exposure cameras it really was the format that gave the everyman a chance to capture memories when it was introduced in 1965. By reducing the technical skill required for filmmaking down to simply pointing and shooting it exponentially increased the number of home-movie makers and foreshadowed the era of video and the widespread documentation of weddings, school plays, and the oh-so-common Christmas mornings. While the amateur aesthetic this would suggest is not to be ignored during the unique show at Chicago Filmmakers tonight, nostalgia takes a back seat to a celebration of community. Twenty local filmmakers have each been given a single roll of film to shoot and no one, not even the filmmakers, gets a chance to see the results before they screen.* The format inspires introspection and familiarity, and it is sure to be central to a number of the films. For my contribution I walked around the Damen blue line stop early on a weekday morning and took ten-second portraits of people in my neighborhood. Both an experiment and a chance to talk to strangers on the street (I probably asked 75 people before I had enough willing participants), to me the film was a fitting reflection of the show. Being a part of an artistic community like that in Chicago is much like the city we call home: friendly, under the radar, formally challenging, and happy to take a risk. Many of the filmmakers will be in person. (2010, approx. 70 min, Super-8mm) JH - Cine-File.info
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Lewis Klahr's TALES OF THE FORGOTTEN FUTURE (Experimental)
White Light Cinema at The Nightingale - Friday, Dec 18th, 8pm
Without question the most ambitious undertaking of his ongoing career, Klahr's 12 film series has never before screened in its entirety in Chicago. Trafficking in the noir that has is now the familiar backward looking lens at the Eisenhower-Kennedy era, Klahr has a genuine affection for the collection of visual elements that populate his fragmented narratives. Produced over four years, from 1988-1991, these films whisper the claustrophobic outcomes of a childhood shaped by shopping malls and two car garages, and shout the angst of Nicholas Ray's best characters. More than this they are about the unfulfilled dreams of an exuberant nation, fueled by cheap gasoline and atomic energy, ready to change the world through technology and righteousness. Through the domesticity of the Super-8mm medium Klahr's cutout animation is made personal through delicate juxtaposition and detail, and his careful camerawork leads us through the often-convoluted logic of his symbols. Incorporating both original and found music, short clips of dialog and authentic ambient noise, he is able to immerse the viewer in a mood-colored world of simultaneous possibility and failure. Rarely is the intellectual exercise of evaluating one's society so effortless. (1988-1991, 131 mins total, Super-8mm on video) JH - Cine-File.info
Without question the most ambitious undertaking of his ongoing career, Klahr's 12 film series has never before screened in its entirety in Chicago. Trafficking in the noir that has is now the familiar backward looking lens at the Eisenhower-Kennedy era, Klahr has a genuine affection for the collection of visual elements that populate his fragmented narratives. Produced over four years, from 1988-1991, these films whisper the claustrophobic outcomes of a childhood shaped by shopping malls and two car garages, and shout the angst of Nicholas Ray's best characters. More than this they are about the unfulfilled dreams of an exuberant nation, fueled by cheap gasoline and atomic energy, ready to change the world through technology and righteousness. Through the domesticity of the Super-8mm medium Klahr's cutout animation is made personal through delicate juxtaposition and detail, and his careful camerawork leads us through the often-convoluted logic of his symbols. Incorporating both original and found music, short clips of dialog and authentic ambient noise, he is able to immerse the viewer in a mood-colored world of simultaneous possibility and failure. Rarely is the intellectual exercise of evaluating one's society so effortless. (1988-1991, 131 mins total, Super-8mm on video) JH - Cine-File.info
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)