Dr Damian Peter Sutton
Lecturer
Department of Historical and Critical Studies
Glasgow School of Art
167 Renfrew Street
Glasgow
G3 6RQ
 
Tel: 0141 353 4560
Fax: 0141 353 4557
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: Secret Cinema [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 25 October 2004 09:44
To: Secret Cinema
Subject: [secretcinema] LFF: Avant-Garde Weekend, 31 October 2004
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THE TIMES bfi 48th LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

AVANT-GARDE WEEKEND
30-31 October 2004

DAY TWO


Sun 31 Oct 12:00 ­ NFT 3
[also Thu 28 Oct 20:15 ­ NFT 1]

LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF
Dir Thom Andersen/USA 2003/169 mins

A remarkable documentary about cinema, an endlessly fascinating visual
lecture and an important social commentary, Thom Andersen's love letter to
Los Angeles explores the city's representation on film. With its relentless,
mesmerising montage of clips and archive footage, the film explores how the
Western centre of the film industry is actually portrayed on-screen. Divided
into chapters that treat Los Angeles as - amongst other things - background,
character and subject, the film revisits crucial landmarks (the steps up
which Laurel & Hardy attempted to manoeuvre a piano in The Music Box,
explores famous buildings (the Spanish Revival house in Double Indemnity,
the cavernous Bradbury Building made famous by Blade Runner), and charts the
city's 'secret' history through such films as Chinatown, L.A. Confidential
and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. As comfortable with softcore exploitation as it
is with the avant-garde, Los Angeles Plays Itself is a cinematic treasure
trove that makes one think again about a city that - as a movie location -
has never seemed quite as romantic or exciting as New York. Indeed, the
world around you may seem more mysterious and compelling after almost three
hours well spent in Andersen's company. And you'll definitely never refer to
Los Angeles as 'L.A.' again. (David Cox)

S

Sun 31 Oct 16:00 ­ NFT 3
NATHANIEL DORSKY: DEVOTIONAL CINEMA
A LECTURE SCREENING

As an antidote to the frenetic pace and complexity of modern life, Nathaniel
Dorsky¹s films invite an audience to connect at a precious level of
intimacy, nourishing both mind and spirit. His camera is drawn towards those
transient moments of wonder that often pass unnoticed in daily life:
jewelled refractions of sunlight on water, dappled shadows cast along the
ground. The films are photographed, non-narrative and have none of the
visual trickery we might associate with the avant-garde. Dorsky¹s work
achieves a sensitive balance between humanity, nature and the ethereal,
weaving together lyrical statements in a rhythmic cadence that creates space
for private reflection. The world floods through the lens, onto the screen
and into our minds. In this lecture-screening of Variations (which provided
the inspiration for the OEmost beautiful image¹ sequence of American Beauty)
and his new film Threnody, Dorsky discusses the qualities of cinema that
attracted him to use the medium in such a poetic way, and will read from his
recently published book OEDevotional Cinema¹. This is his first public
appearance in the UK.

VARIATIONS
Dir Nathaniel Dorsky/USA 1992-98/24 mins
'What tender chaos, what current of luminous rhymes might cinema reveal
unbridled from the daytime word? During the Bronze Age a variety of
sanctuaries were built for curative purposes. One of the principal
activities was transformative sleep. This montage speaks to that tradition.'

THRENODY
Dir Nathaniel Dorsky/USA 2004/20 mins
'Threnody is the second of two devotional songs, the first being The
Visitation. It is an offering to a friend who has died.'

Total running time c.75 mins

S

Sun 31 Oct 19.00 ­ NFT 3
[also Sat 30 Oct 12.00 ­ NFT 3]

TIRA TU RELOJ AL AGUA [THROW YOUR WATCH TO THE WATER]
Dir Eugeni Bonet/Spain 2004/91 mins

José Val del Omar (1904-82), one of the pioneers of European avant-garde
film, remains virtually unknown outside of Spain. His visionary Triptico
Elemental de España (1953-61) embodies the soul, landscape and diverse
cultural mix of his Andalucian homeland, connecting life on our planet with
the elementary forces of the universe. Using material shot by the film-maker
between 1968-82, Eugeni Bonet has assembled Throw Your Watch to the Water,
whose images, ranging from documentary to complete abstraction, mark the
passage from the earthly world to a transcendental plane. The film opens in
the Alhambra, detailing the intricate Moorish architecture, pulsing
fountains and activities of the local people. The ancient citadel, at first
serene and regal, is overrun by the transparent bodies of tourists, whilst
the OEvideoterrorifico mirror¹ of television reflects the frenzy of modern
media. Val del Omar envisaged a OEcinematic vibration¹ that would be the
vertex of his life¹s work, and this film, in which images and thoughts flow
free of time, is a meta-mystical allegory that seeks a unity between the
spiritual realm, the ancient world and contemporary life.

S

Sun 31 Oct 21:00 ­ NFT 3
DRIFT STUDIES

WATER, WATER
Dir Nicky Hamlyn/UK 2004/11 mins
Reflections and refractions of light, alternated in hard, optical flicker
and gliding dissolves.

ASPECT
Dir Emily Richardson/UK 2004/9 mins
A time-lapse chronicle of the modulation of natural light, from high above
the canopy of trees to the filtered rays on the forest floor.

SKAGAFJÖRDUR
Dir Peter Hutton/USA 2004/35 mins
Photographic study of the mists, clouds and extraordinary landscapes of the
mysterious land of the sagas. Peter Hutton has fixed his camera on the
awesome panoramas of Iceland and created a monumental film, which records
the subtle luminosity of the region and its dramatic atmospheric conditions.

FLOWER
Dir Yuiko Matsuyama/Japan 2004/6 mins
The meandering flow of china ink, suspended in water, opens up a microcosmic
world of Brownian motion.

ZWERK
Dir Bart Vegter/Netherlands 2004/8 mins
An abstract, computer-generated work produced by using mathematical formulae
to create complex interference patterns in colour tinted layers.

ARKTIS - ZWISCHEN LICHT UND DUNKEL
Dir Jürgen Reble/Germany 2003/32 mins
This new video is a surprising departure for Reble, who is best known for
his alchemical treatment of celluloid. Digitally processed, it transforms
shots of the arctic landscape, drawn from education films and travelogues,
into a virtual fantasy world illuminated by the hallucinatory half-light of
evening.

Total running time c100 mins


S


THE TIMES bfi 48th LONDON FILM FESTIVAL
20 October ­ 4 November 2004
www.lff.org.uk 
Box office 020 7928 3232 or in person at the NFT

If all advance tickets for films are sold out, queue for late ticket
releases and returns. It is usually possible to get tickets at the last
minute.


 

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