Experimental

  • Henry Hills – arcana (2011)

    2011-2020ExperimentalHenry HillsUSA
    arcana (2011)
    arcana (2011)

    Quote:
    This project began with an invitation from composer John Zorn to make a short film based on a text he wrote in the 80’s (“Treatment for a Film in Fifteen Scenes,” ARCANA. New York: Granary Books/Hips Road, 2000). Lewis Klahr, as well as several younger filmmakers, are also making versions of this ‘treatment’. Zorn and I have worked together frequently over the years (he starred in my film MONEY and suggested the musicians for the soundtrack of SSS; I made 3 music videos for his band Naked City, and worked closely with his arrangement score & his suggested visualizations of several sections in making the storyboard for LITTLE LIEUTENANT; he wrote a special soundtrack, released as a Tzadik CD, for MECHANICS OF THE BRAIN; and I recently made a 60 min. direct-to-DVD documentary/translation of his “opera” collaboration with playwright Richard Foreman, ASTRONOME; plus he wrote soundtracks, also Tzadik CD releases, for two Martina Kudláček documentary features which I edited). Read More »

  • Susan Shapiro, Esther Ronay, Francine Winham – Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair (1978)

    Susan Shapiro1971-1980Esther RonayExperimentalFrancine WinhamUnited Kingdom
    Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair (1978)
    Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair (1978)

    Quote:
    A private detective (Fairport Convention musician Dave Swarbrick) investigates the case of a young woman held captive by her drug-addict mother. This is just one of many witty, imaginative reframings of the Brothers Grimm fairytale in this beguiling feminist film. The wildly diverse episodes show how the story’s characterisation and political morality pervade graphics, adverts, films and TV. This rarely-seen film is unavailable on DVD.Read More »

  • Usama Alshaibi – Profane (2011)

    2011-2020ExperimentalUSAUsama Alshaibi
    Profane (2011)
    Profane (2011)

    Synopsis
    Torn between ecstasy and submission, Muna takes an unorthodox path to enlightenment, one that Profane dramatizes with documentary methods and psychedelic imagery. Alshaibi demonstrates that true reverence sometimes requires transgression.Read More »

  • Peter Roberts – The Jellyfish (1974)

    1971-1980AnimationExperimentalPeter RobertsUnited Kingdom
    The Jellyfish (1974)
    The Jellyfish (1974)

    Quote:
    This experimental animation from the Amber Film Collective stands apart from the documentaries and social realist films, mostly concerned with life and work in the North East, that would become the collective’s usual stock in trade. It was the third release to appear under the Amber banner, and the second of only two animations (the other being 1969’s A Film).Read More »

  • Joseph Cornell – Jack’s Dream (1938)

    1931-1940ExperimentalFantasyJoseph CornellUSA
    Jack's Dream (1938)
    Jack’s Dream (1938)

    Quote:
    Jack’s Dream sees a frightful outside force enter and threaten the domestic space. Jack, the faithful dog, attempts to protect it and its inhabitants by chasing away the intruder. But his progress is blocked or retarded at several points (he views the scene through a window, a treacherous chair falls over) – evoking the familiar dream sensation of impossibly heavy feet, and suddenly multiplying obstructions. – Michael PigottRead More »

  • Ahmed Bouanani – Tarfaya, ou La marche d’un poète AKA Tarfaya, or a poet’s walk AKA Tarfaya Aw Masseerat Sha’er (1966)

    Ahmed Bouanani1961-1970DocumentaryExperimentalMorocco
    Tarfaya, ou La marche d’un poète (1966)
    Tarfaya, ou La marche d’un poète (1966)

    Bouanani’s first short film—adapted from a 16th century poem by a legendary Moroccan bard—tells the story of a man from Tarfaya who, from his early childhood, penetrated by the grandeur of his country, the power of its beauty and the normal life of his ancestors, set off for the looking for a great folk poet whom he had been told about, and who would be able to teach him wisdom, music, and the wonderful art of song and poetry.Read More »

  • Bruce Conner – Ten Second Film (1965)

    USA1961-1970Bruce ConnerExperimental
    Ten Second Film (1965)
    Ten Second Film (1965)

    Quote:
    When Conner was commissioned to design the poster for the 1965 New York Film Festival he constructed TEN SECOND FILM, which he intended to act as its television commercial and to precede the film programs in the theater. It was a public ‘Leader’ in that it was composed, like the poster, of a series of ten strips of film (each 24 frames long) of count-down leader, seen as fundamental heraldry of motion picture exhibition. The leaders of the Festival, however, felt it was too risky to submit the public to this secret image of their heritage.” – Anthony ReveauxRead More »

  • Jerome Hill – La cartomancienne AKA The Fortune Teller (1932)

    1931-1940ExperimentalJerome HillUSA
    La cartomancienne (1932)
    La cartomancienne (1932)

    Quote:
    In a European seaside village, a maiden takes clean sheets down from the clothesline. Carrying her basket of linens home, she stops to consult a fortune teller, whose been napping the the sun. The cartomancienne sees love in the cards. The young woman pauses to reflect. We then see water, swirling, and into view swims a man, as if just appearing on earth. He arrives on shore – is he just in her mind’s eye, or is he real? She weaves a garland of for her hair. Will they meet?Read More »

  • Karim Hussain – Ascension (2002)

    Karim Hussain2001-2010CanadaExperimentalHorror
    Ascension (2002)
    Ascension (2002)

    Quote:
    An unknown creature has murdered the Creator of Universe and unleashed the ability to produce miracles. This ability is now in the hands of human beings who have driven themselves into destructive envy and the horrible chaos of suddenly becoming Gods themselves.Read More »

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