Alternative Visions
September 4, 2007 - October 30, 2007
The latest installment in our ongoing Tuesday-night avant-garde showcase features such greats as Bruce Conner, Maya Deren, Nathaniel Dorsky, George Kuchar, Len Lye, Marie Menken, Jack Smith, and Michael Snow, among others.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
7:30 p.m. Devotional Cinema: Films by Dorsky and Ozu
Nathaniel Dorsky in Person. Dorsky is an eloquent writer as well as a filmmaker; his book Devotional Cinema discusses the work of Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson, and Michelangelo Antonioni, among others. Tonight he presents two of his recent works, Threnody and Song and Solitude, along with Ozu's Late Spring.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
7:30 p.m. Notes on Marie Menken
Martina Kudlacek's recent documentary explores the work and life of Marie Menken, maker of intimate, gestural films that inspired Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, and others to pursue a poetic and personal approach to cinema. With a selection of shorts by Menken.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
7:30 p.m. It’s a Funny, Mad, Sad World: The Movies of George Kuchar
George Kuchar in Person. Celebrating the wonderfully exaggerated world of this master of no-budget camp, who has been conjuring melodrama from unlikely materials for over 40 years.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
7:30 p.m. Home Movies: Autobiographical Films by Women
Introduced by Marilyn Fabe. Three works by women present varied approaches to the personal: Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren, founding mother of the American avant-garde; Carolee Schneeman's erotic Fuses; and Sink or Swim, Su Friedrich's exploration of her relationship with her father.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
7:30 p.m. Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
A vibrant tribute to the famously flamboyant maker of Flaming Creatures, and to the '60s New York underground. "Mary Jordan's terrific documentary unfolds with the same . . . passion found in one of Smith's fever dreams."—Time Out N.Y.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
7:30 p.m. The Zoom: Wavelength and Serene Velocity
Two classic films explore the properties and effects of the zoom: Michael Snow's Wavelength, "the most consequential zoom shot in the history of cinema" (Jonathan Rosenbaum); and Ernie Gehr's Serene Velocity, an utterly simple yet transfixing exploration of cinematic space.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
7:30 p.m. Films by Bruce Conner
Beginning with A Movie in 1958, Bruce Conner defined the genre of the found-footage film. We survey his brilliantly edited collage films, from blistering critiques of contemporary American society to dreamlike forays into childhood and mesmerizing meditations on altered states.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
7:30 p.m. Free Radical: The Films of Len Lye
Introduced by Mark Williams. New Zealand–born Len Lye was a pioneer of direct animation, scratching and painting directly on the filmstrip, ingeniously creating vibrant and dazzling handmade films that pulsate with energy and rhythmic vitality.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
7:30 p.m. Alternative Requirements 2007: Bay Area Student Experimental Film Festival
Artists in Person. Through the expansive genre of experimental film, local college students render the interior visible and imbue the exterior world with psychological meaning.
Curated by Kathy Geritz.
Tuesday programs during the fall semester are presented in conjunction with the UC Berkeley course Avant-Garde Film, taught by Marilyn Fabe.
