It’s been an interesting run-up to the Toronto International Film Festival, and in terms of the survival of the species, the good ol’ U.S.A. has been something of a race to the bottom. What would do us in first: violent neo-Nazis whose activities are almost explicitly condoned by the Klansman In Chief? Or a 1,000-year weather event on the Gulf Coast whose magnitude surely owes something to global climate change, and whose aftermath of collapsing dams and exploding chemical factories has everything to do with systematic neglect?Given the state of things down here, who wouldn’t want to repair to Canada for some challenging cinema? As always, the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) is the place to be in September, and Wavelengths once again features the best of the fest. This is because the films selected for Wavelengths are the opposite of escapism. Whether they tackle...
- 9/7/2017
- MUBI
In a festival whose dedication to celluloid is readily apparent, why not declare it directly? And so one of the Vienna International Film Festival's Special Programs this year is a bastion of that most wonderful format, 16mm film. Programmed by Katja Wiederspahn and Haden Guest with an admirably variegated range, the programs were gathered around collective films, war films, sex films, expanded cinema, and more. Key to the section's expanse, which begins in the 1920s and touches every decade between here and there, is also in highlighting new work done in this increasingly outmoded, "out of date," and unprojectionable format. Included amongst these are films every bit as exciting as the history and canon "Revolution in 16mm" touches on: Jodie Mack's Razzle Dazzle (written about here), Richard Touhy's masterpiece of color Ginza Strip, and, most excitingly, a quartet of new films by Nathaniel Dorsky, the film poet who makes...
- 11/3/2014
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
2. Memory Believes Before Knowing Remembers
Weekend 3 - Jan.10-12th
The third Harvard Gulbenkian program showcases the work of three extraordinary artists who emblematize the creative and often radical approaches to non-fiction narrative that have transformed documentary cinema as a practice and realm of inquiry over the last two decades. In keeping with the larger mission of the Harvard-Gulbenkian program to create a new international context and conceptual framework from which to reexamine Portuguese cinema, the celebrated work of Susana de Sousa Dias is offered here in dialogue with the films and presence of two eminent figures of contemporary world cinema- the legendary Chilean documentarian Patricio Guzmán and South Korean experimental filmmaker Soon-Mi Yoo. Guiding the distinct work of each director is a restless searching for an original form adequate and appropriate to the difficult and, indeed, bitterly contested chapters of national history they have bravely chosen to engage. Embracing...
Weekend 3 - Jan.10-12th
The third Harvard Gulbenkian program showcases the work of three extraordinary artists who emblematize the creative and often radical approaches to non-fiction narrative that have transformed documentary cinema as a practice and realm of inquiry over the last two decades. In keeping with the larger mission of the Harvard-Gulbenkian program to create a new international context and conceptual framework from which to reexamine Portuguese cinema, the celebrated work of Susana de Sousa Dias is offered here in dialogue with the films and presence of two eminent figures of contemporary world cinema- the legendary Chilean documentarian Patricio Guzmán and South Korean experimental filmmaker Soon-Mi Yoo. Guiding the distinct work of each director is a restless searching for an original form adequate and appropriate to the difficult and, indeed, bitterly contested chapters of national history they have bravely chosen to engage. Embracing...
- 6/8/2014
- by Cinema Dialogues: Harvard at the Gulbenkian
- MUBI
September is here again, and it's time to delve into the cinematic bounty of the Wavelengths section of the Toronto International Film Festival, that rambunctious and idiosyncratic corner of the Reitman Machine largely cordoned off from commercial concerns and set aside for lovely and sometimes difficult film art. Despite the ever-changing profile of Tiff, stalwart programmer Andréa Picard has [cue needle-scratching-record sound] What? Yes, last year at this time, the avant-garde community thought we were seeing Ms. Picard leaving this position behind. Fortunately for us all, Tiff won her back.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
- 9/11/2012
- MUBI
It’s the 50th anniversary of the Ann Arbor Film Festival and they’re preparing an all-out blowout on March 27 to April 1 to celebrate! The fest is crammed to the gills with the latest and greatest in experimental and avant-garde film, in addition to a celebration of classic work from Ann Arbors past.
Filmmaker Bruce Baillie was there at the first Aaff — and numerous times since. He’s back this year with a major retrospective of his entire career that spans three separate programs. Baillie, who’ll be in attendance of course, will present a brand-new restored version of his epic pseudo-Western Quick Billy, plus screenings of his classic short movies such as Castro Street, Yellow Horse, Quixote, To Parsifal and more.
There’s also a program dedicated to the films of the late Robert Nelson, including Bleu Shut and Special Warning, as well as sprinklings of underground classics throughout...
Filmmaker Bruce Baillie was there at the first Aaff — and numerous times since. He’s back this year with a major retrospective of his entire career that spans three separate programs. Baillie, who’ll be in attendance of course, will present a brand-new restored version of his epic pseudo-Western Quick Billy, plus screenings of his classic short movies such as Castro Street, Yellow Horse, Quixote, To Parsifal and more.
There’s also a program dedicated to the films of the late Robert Nelson, including Bleu Shut and Special Warning, as well as sprinklings of underground classics throughout...
- 3/7/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
As has been noted many times before, by me and others, the Wavelengths series of the Toronto International Film Festival is like a festival unto itself. So far removed from the red carpet nonsense, the deal-making, and the me-firstism of web journalists hoping to hit the Web with their initial impressions of some new Bryce Dallas Howard vehicle, Wavelengths affords breathing room to cinema and video at its most formally adventurous and, yes, uncommercial. We come here to look and listen, not to look “at” or listen “to,” and if that sounds hopelessly pretentious, come on down to the Jackman Hall and see for yourself. It’s actually quite cleansing, often funny, and a guaranteed good time, at least in part. (Short films are like the weather in my hometown of Houston, Texas. Don’t like it? Wait a moment. It’ll change.)
Sadly, Wavelengths 2011 will be the final year for series curator Andréa Picard.
Sadly, Wavelengths 2011 will be the final year for series curator Andréa Picard.
- 9/8/2011
- MUBI
Outsider Films On India, London
This fascinating series offers rarely seen artist eye views of India, revealing much about both the country and the people doing the looking. Roberto Rossellini's semi-documentary India Matri Bhumi, from 1958, captures the contrasts of the modernising nation in mystical imagery, just as Alain Tanner's 1966 documentary Chandigarh looks beyond Le Corbusier's architecture at the everyday humanity, while Marguerite Duras's avant-garde drama India Song comes on like a Calcutta-set answer to Last Year At Marienbad. On the other hand, Fritz Lang's European-made epic The Tiger Of Eschnapur is a campy slice of 1950s exotica. More up to date are Mark Lapore's 1990s experiments in "visual anthropology".
Tate Modern, SE1, Sat to Mon, tate.org.uk/modern
Starlite Urban Drive-In, London
There were good reasons why the drive-in cinema never caught on in Britain – limited space, limited car ownership, unlimited rain – but that...
This fascinating series offers rarely seen artist eye views of India, revealing much about both the country and the people doing the looking. Roberto Rossellini's semi-documentary India Matri Bhumi, from 1958, captures the contrasts of the modernising nation in mystical imagery, just as Alain Tanner's 1966 documentary Chandigarh looks beyond Le Corbusier's architecture at the everyday humanity, while Marguerite Duras's avant-garde drama India Song comes on like a Calcutta-set answer to Last Year At Marienbad. On the other hand, Fritz Lang's European-made epic The Tiger Of Eschnapur is a campy slice of 1950s exotica. More up to date are Mark Lapore's 1990s experiments in "visual anthropology".
Tate Modern, SE1, Sat to Mon, tate.org.uk/modern
Starlite Urban Drive-In, London
There were good reasons why the drive-in cinema never caught on in Britain – limited space, limited car ownership, unlimited rain – but that...
- 6/25/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Along with An Affair at Akitsu, time was also the subject of David Gatten’s terrific new film, commissioned by Mark McElhatten for a shop window themed program of experimental shorts in honor of filmmaker Mark Lapore. So Sure of Nowhere Buying Times to Come begins with a quote from Thomas Browne’s Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, or a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk that notes, essentially, how whatever objects we are aware of, there have existed infinitely more in the past, and that whatever we see in the light there exists much more in the darkness. From this quote what follows is a visual record and appreciation of “The Red Shop,” a small store in Colorado that appears to sell antiques—old stamps, knives, watches, and similar objects. We see a limited set of goods held in praise for their past-ness, and in their individualness, and...
- 2/4/2010
- MUBI
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