Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
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#101 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:46 pm

vogler wrote:[url=http://www.lux.org.uk/shop/video.htm]
These films are very important and I've been waiting a long time for this. It would be wonderful if they followed it up with more in-depth collections of some of the film-makers involved, particularly Le Grice and Gidal, two of the most important British avant-garde film-makers and theorists ever.
Coincidentally I was ordering the Margaret Tait dvd from Lux and they mentioned that a Le Grice collection would be issued on dvd next spring.

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vogler
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:42 am
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#102 Post by vogler » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:16 pm

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:Coincidentally I was ordering the Margaret Tait dvd from Lux and they mentioned that a Le Grice collection would be issued on dvd next spring.
Thanks very much for the information - that is now one of my most anticipated dvd releases ever.
Have you received the Margaret Tait dvd yet? Any thoughts on it? I have been considering buying it for a while.

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toiletduck!
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#103 Post by toiletduck! » Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:41 pm

Back on the Vienna Actionists... I just discovered that Atlas Press, a vanguard favorite of mine, is responsible for what is probably the definitive collection of written work on the group. It's also available in a special edition signed by Muehl, Brus, and Nitsch with images censored by the printers.

And the whittling away of X-mas money begins.

-Toilet Dcuk

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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#104 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:30 am

vogler wrote:Have you received the Margaret Tait dvd yet? Any thoughts on it? I have been considering buying it for a while.
Ok I got the Margaret Tait dvd. I think a lot depends on how you approach her work. Apart from being attracted to its ‘Scottishness' I noticed that a touring exhibition lumped her in with Dulac and Deren. Two particular favourites of mine. So I was at first somewhat dismayed by the lack of Surrealist flourishes that I had expected and put it down to a curator's convenience of gender assignment rather than them being style sisters.

So working through the collection I initially found them to be rather endearing ‘diarist' type little films. A sort of leisurely paced variant of some of Mekas' or Brakhage's personal projects. Maybe a dotty old Auntie that Jarman might have had cranking away with a super 8 up there in Scotland.

But as so often happens you find yourself flashing on certain images that come back and trip you up, that have little to do with nostalgic enjoyment or easy charm. So I got the Margaret Tait reader book also from Lux, which is a beautifully produced little number, and read about her. About her early influences and study with the Italian neo-realist school and early shorts that had definite Surreal motifs and intent. (Unfortunately these are not in the collection as it only holds those available to Lux for their touring exhibition). There are some little nods to McLaren et al in the use of stop frame animation and painting direct onto film stock but fundamentally it was her insistence on her film work being an adjunct of her written poetry that proves how invaluable the reader is, as it contains many of her out of print poems that contextualise the films. As she says herself in ‘Seeing's believing and believing's seeing'-“It's the looking that mattersâ€

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sevenarts
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#105 Post by sevenarts » Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:50 pm

Has anyone bought any dvds from re:voir?

I'd be very interested in Philippe Garrel's Le Revelateur and Isidore Isou's Traite de Bave et d'Eternite, but I don't see any information about how English-friendly the releases and booklets are, and I'm curious about the quality. Are their releases generally English subbed at all? That wouldn't matter on the silent Garrel, of course, but what about the Isou film?

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Cobalt60
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 8:39 pm

#106 Post by Cobalt60 » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:21 pm

Carsten Czarnecki wrote:Jonas Mekas really must rank among art history's major visionaries. What he does right now with his 365 diary-films reinvents cinema once again, and almost no one notices it. I am passionately following these films and am downloading them regularly. As today's film (Jan. 5th) proves once again, Mekas may be one of the last true beat poets that made Downtown Manhattan so famous in the 60s. For me, this man really represents life, living it in a way that we all should aspire to.
I just wanted to thank you for posting that link, I have never checked out his site but it has some amazing content.

David Ehrenstein
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#107 Post by David Ehrenstein » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:35 pm

Jonas tells me he's planning to put a new movie each day on his site.

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sevenarts
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#108 Post by sevenarts » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:40 pm

Tonight I watched four short films by Hilary Harris, from the Mystic Fire DVD. Definitely a very interesting set, from a filmmaker who I previously knew nothing about. I'm not even sure if this is a definitive picture of a small ouevre, or just a sampling of a larger one, since there doesn't even appear to be much info around online. From the little I can find, in addition to the 4 films here he apparently directed an anti-war short in 1966 called The Draft Card Burner, two other shorts called Polaris Action and Generation, a feature about Sudan called The Nuer (only $225 here!), and handled the camera on some films by Amy Greenberg. It's a bit disappointing that the 3 additional shorts aren't included, since the disc isn't too long as is, but the 4 films that are here are worthwhile on their own.

Of the four, Organism is the top-billed, and it's definitely a major work (although I personally prefer 9 Variations to it). It was recorded in New York between 1959 and 1974, using time-lapse photography, and edited together into 20 compact, powerful minutes. Harris presents the city as a living thing, changing and evolving through time, and his footage is incredibly compelling. As a portrayal of modern urbanity, it's probably unrivalled, capturing the rhythms and continual motion of city life from a distanced perspective that places the film outside of individual concerns. At times, it verges on academic documentary, but it has too much of a strong aesthetic and visual sense to venture too far in that direction. Definitely worth seeing for fans of experimental film or city symphonies.

Two of the other films, 9 Variations on a Dance Theme and Longhorns, focus entirely on Harris' interest in motion. The latter film is the earliest here, from 1951, and was strangely hypnotic and compelling despite its utter simplicity. It consists of a pair of long disembodied bull horns by a lakeside, and apparently attached to an apparatus that makes them rotate. Harris caressingly films the rotating horns, which at times look like a dancer's legs thrust into the air, gracefully intertwining and turning. It's a wonderful minimalist exploration of movement and abstraction.

9 Variations (1966) incorporates dance even more explicitly -- as the title implies, it features 9 takes of a dancer performing a series of simple motions, starting and ending with her on the floor. But the title is also misleading, since the "variations" are not in the dance itself, which remains basically the same with each iteration, but with the method of filming. Harris' first take is a slowly revolving single shot which circles patiently around the dancer as she completes her cycle. The next take is composed of a series of slow zooms in and out, while other takes chop the movements up into quick cuts and fragments, or break the timeline by repeating certain motions. On one take, the camera simply caresses the dancer's body in extreme eroticized close-up, while another distances her by shooting from below, making her stately dance look like the the movements of a giant. The film is simultaneously a meditation on human movement and on the ways in which filming itself alters perception. Each of the 9 takes included in the film serves to alter the viewer's perspective on the dance, often to completely contrary effect -- some emphasize the grace and beauty of the dance, while others draw attention to the tremendous strain and exertion behind the seemingly effortless movements. It's a lovely and affecting film, definitely my favorite here -- and this from someone who usually doesn't even like dance films much.

The final film in the set, Highway, was the only one I found unsatisfying -- trite shots of roadways and street signs set to a bouncy jazz score. The only thing I can think of, given its time, is that this short provided much of the territory for Hollywood films to mine for cliches in the time since, but even if that's the case it doesn't really redeem the film.

Anyway, other than Highway these are three very interesting shorts, and I'm certainly glad Mystic Fire gave me the chance to see them. As with their Maya Deren DVD, the presentation leaves a bit to be desired, but you have to take into account the age and obscurity of the films, which would otherwise probably not be out at all. The prints are OK, considering their age, but nothing spectacular. Organism, which is in color, looks fantastic -- the other b&w films have some speckling and damage but it didn't detract at all from the experience. There's a half-hour interview with Harris on the discs also, but I haven't watched that yet. This is a very nice set of little-known films that definitely deserve some revisiting. I know I'll be going back to 9 Variations almost right away, at the very least.

acquarello
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#109 Post by acquarello » Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:58 am

sevenarts wrote:Has anyone bought any dvds from re:voir?
I've only ordered PAL tapes from Re:Voir, and as far as the booklets go though, they're pretty good at having bilingual texts, although not every essay in the booklet written in French is translated (they'll often substitute a different English-language essay with "similar" content). The best thing to do is contact them through the info@revoir email, they're pretty good about responding. I usually email them first to make sure that the films are in stock before I place the order, otherwise, they just cancel what's not in stock and ship the remaining order.

Incidentally, my DVD of Garrel's Le Révélateur isn't from Re:Voir but I think they're the DVD authors anyway. It came as part of the Les voyages du spectateur book. It's available from Amazon.fr. All the text/menus are French only. Not sure if the one available directly from them has a booklet.

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sevenarts
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#110 Post by sevenarts » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:37 am

Regarding the Garrel and Isou, I contacted Re:Voir. They didn't answer my question about booklets, but they did say that the Isou film will be out in "some months" and WILL have English subtitles. So that's good news! In the meantime I think I'll get the Garrel from them.

Anonymous

#111 Post by Anonymous » Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm

Does anyone know a program with which one can transform .avi files into .vob files, that is DVDs? Because that way one could make DVD-Rs out of the .avi files from UBU WEB.

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MichaelB
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#112 Post by MichaelB » Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:19 pm

Carsten Czarnecki wrote:Does anyone know a program with which one can transform .avi files into .vob files, that is DVDs? Because that way one could make DVD-Rs out of the .avi files from UBU WEB.
I haven't tried it myself, but I don't see why this wouldn't work with MPEG Streamclip (converting .avi files to Quicktime or DV) which could then be assembled and encoded by DVD Studio Pro.

But only the first of those programs is free, and they're Mac-only.

fred
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:28 pm

#113 Post by fred » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:15 am

There are also dvd players which will pay divx files directly, from cd or dvd.

Greathinker

#114 Post by Greathinker » Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:25 pm

Are there certain DVDs one would recommend for a newcomer? I just acquired a netflix account and haven't been interested enough to blind buy the unseen cinema or american film archives boxes.

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sevenarts
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#115 Post by sevenarts » Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:43 pm

Greathinker wrote:Are there certain DVDs one would recommend for a newcomer? I just acquired a netflix account and haven't been interested enough to blind buy the unseen cinema or american film archives boxes.
Depends what you want to explore... The Kino Experimental Films of the 20s & 30s is great for classic, early experiments, some early surrealist films, etc. Unseen Cinema covers some of the same ground but is probably a bit too broad and far-ranging to really serve as an avant-garde primer.

If it's just experimental film in general that you want to get into, By Brakhage and the disc of Maya Deren's experimental films will introduce you to two of the masters.

Anonymous

#116 Post by Anonymous » Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:44 pm

davidhare wrote:Carsten if you google divx (avi) to DVD (Vob) you'll come up with several programs that can do it but they all charge an online fee. Apparently you can do it with vlc but that's beyond me Im afraid.
I did google that, but all of the programs are shareware that leave watermarks in the frame.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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#117 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:06 pm


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Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
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#118 Post by Cold Bishop » Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:09 pm

Carsten Czarnecki wrote:Does anyone know a program with which one can transform .avi files into .vob files, that is DVDs? Because that way one could make DVD-Rs out of the .avi files from UBU WEB.
I would always recommend VideoHelp.com which has lots of information on these kinds of things.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

#119 Post by Gregory » Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:37 pm

sevenarts wrote:Has anyone bought any dvds from re:voir?
This announcement by Pip Chodorov from last year may be of interest to some:
We have successfully avoided DVD for the past 8 years. Now we are having trouble avoiding, but we are only planning to release on DVD films composed of natural and predictable movements: the Zanzibar films, David Perlov's Diary, Steve Dwoskin's Dyn Amo, Adolfas Mekas's Hallelujah the Hills, Isidore Isou's Traité de Bave et d'éternité, portraits of filmmakers... As soon as we can feasibly produce and distribute Blu-Ray discs we will start converting our complete VHS line to disc.

I guess they're going with Blu-Ray rather than HD-DVD for the slight technical superiority, but this seems a shame because from what little I know things aren't looking very good for Blu-Ray's potential to get a real foothold as a format. Nonetheless, these planned releases from Re:Voir, especially of Harry Smith films, will be enough to persuade me to get a Blu-Ray player if/when they come down enough in price.

Zillertal
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:48 am

#120 Post by Zillertal » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:21 am

hi!

Finally I was able register in this fine forum.

I've purchased a lot of things from re:voir and they have a fast and reliable service.

They have released so far on DVD a DVD portrait of Stéphane Marti, Jackie Reynal 'Deux Fois' and Garrel's Le révélateur. I have both editions of Révélateur, and this one is by far superior, the contrast is completely different and gives the film a much more somber tone.

They are planning to release shortly, Garrel's Le lit de La Vierge, and also the following:

David perlov Diary
Gunvor Nelson
isidore Isou Traité de bave et d'éternité
Dwoskin's Dyn Amo
Guy Sherwin's Short films Series
Some other films by Patrick Bokanowski

And a few things more, most of these will be on DVD, Pip Chodorov will also release this year their first blu-ray editions of Brakhage, Mekas and Kenneth Anger. All of their DVDs include english subtitles.

Le Mouvement des Images, includes several wonderfull films, including Rose Hobart with a different tinting, a rose one, that gives the film a little more of a sexier tone. And also is Gnir Rednow the twin work to Brakhage's Wonder Ring.

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sevenarts
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#121 Post by sevenarts » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:28 am

I wanted to post about the films of Paolo Gioli, since I just received the Raro double-disc set last night and had an opportunity to watch a handful of the films. This is AMAZING stuff, and it's really a shame that he seems to be so obscure -- even by experimental film standards -- outside of his native country. These films grapple with the very nature of film itself, subverting its norms to an extent that I haven't seen in any other filmmaker. A large theme in this work is the concept of framing, and permutations on this idea are played out in virtually any way conceivable. The black leader between film frames is exposed and played with in Gioli's films, with decentralize the image itself so that the frame is often dominated by the physical presence of the film rather than the image contained on the film. It's not just that the film jitters around to reveal the black space around the image, but that often Gioli actually shows a filmstrip progressing in front of the camera, or allows the screen to be completely dominated by totally abstract compositions.

Gioli also plays with the frame in the sense that he's constantly dividing and subdividing the screen rather than simply presenting a single image. In Secondo il mio occhio di vetro, a crude split screen displays two faces, one in negative of the other, progressing through an impressively broad range of human emotional expression at a very rapid rate -- apparently accomplished with a dizzying mix of stop-motion, sped-up photography, and superimpositions. Gioli then further divides the screen into sub-frames by pasting in more superimpositions on top of the split divide. It's incredibly complex and visually almost overpowering, akin to the strobing effect of Brakhage's 24-paintings-per-second later works.

But Gioli's preoccupation with deconstructing the fundaments of film is not just an empty formal exercise; his formal innovations are always used to some purpose. In Filmarilyn, he deconstructs rolls of fashion film featuring Marilyn Monroe, revealing the black frame around the image in order to highlight the artificiality inherent in such constructions of sexual desire. In Gioli's film, Monroe's inherent desirability and appeal is obvious, but also obvious is the way in which the film frame further constructs her, creating a sexual icon distanced from the sexuality of the woman.

This is consistent with another of Gioli's preoccupations, which is the division of the human body -- an obvious parallel to the division of the film frame. Body parts often appear in detached close-up in Gioli's work, with the focus on one part of the body in isolation from the whole. In Filmarilyn, this appears in a stunning rhythmic sequence where a series of shots of Monroe in motion are punctuated by freeze-frames that focus in, unexpectedly, on a random outjutting elbow or the curve of her hip. The rhythm of the scene intentionally brings to mind a photo-shoot, with each freeze-frame as the picture being taken -- but the unusual choice of images to freeze at creates a fetishization of the body that both parodies and subverts glamorous depictions of female sexuality.

Another film, Quando l'occhio trema, uses imagery from Bunuel's L'age d'or and Un chien andalou as a starting point for a meditation on the eye and vision. In numerous disorienting closeups on the eye, Gioli's jittery aesthetic focuses attention on the eye's (sped-up) movements, while superimpositions link the eyes to both the object being seen and to the other senses. It's a fascinating and memorable film, in effect extending the eye-slicing scene from Bunuel's first film into 10+ minutes, where the close-up examination of the eye and ideas about vision are explored in depth rather than in the visceral seconds dedicated to it in Bunuel's film.

In short, Gioli clearly seems to be a major talent with a very coherent and interesting body of work. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the films in this set tonight, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in experimental film.

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gubbelsj
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#122 Post by gubbelsj » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:31 am

I know Tribulation 99 was recently released on DVD, but does anybody know of other, perhaps earlier, Craig Baldwin work available for home viewing? I'm particularly interested in things like Stolen Movie and Wild Gunman. But any additional releases of his work would also be welcome.

Zillertal
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:48 am

#123 Post by Zillertal » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:01 am

Wild Gunman is available as extra in the Tribulation 99 dvd released by othercinema. Never heard of Stolen Movie before, I thought Wild Gunman was his first work.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

#124 Post by Gregory » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:47 pm

Stolen Movie was Baldwin's mixture of footage surreptitiously shot in various movie theaters with Super 8. I would guess that it won't be released. It hasn't been in distribution as have his other films, and Tim Maloney in a Senses of Cinema article last year said that Baldwin considers the film "a kind of prank -- interesting for the implications and the direction of his development more so than as a film in and of itself."
As for the other two, RocketKitKongoKit and O No Coronado!, one could email Baldwin via Other Cinema and ask if there are any plans to release them on DVD and if so I'd bet he'd respond with a straightforward answer. They'd make a nice 2-films-on-1 DVD.

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gubbelsj
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#125 Post by gubbelsj » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:16 pm

Thanks Gregory & Zillertal.
I had pretty much assumed Stolen Movie was more of a theoretical experiment than an aesthetically enjoyable film, but I'm quite drawn to pranks of that kind. It would be nice to see it pop up as an extra for us lo-fi types. The Rocket... / O No Coronado pairing is a good idea, and I just might fire off that email. These are good times for avant-garde film, at least in the digital format (filmstrip rentals are definitely going down, which is not good), and it seems like every month or so something exciting is finding a release.

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