APRIL
6 THUR 7PM
Whitsell Auditorium
TARANTELLA (1940), IMAGINATION (1958),
NEW SENSATIONS IN SOUND (1959)
MARY ELLEN BUTTE A pioneer in abstract animation
in the 1930s and electronic imagery in the 1950s, Butte anticipated
the kind of music and visual mixtures seen in Disney’s
FANTASIA and in today’s music videos. (9 mins.)
NATURAL FEATURES
US 1990
GUNVOR NELSON An excerpt from NATURAL FEATURES,
in which Nelson layers and mingles stills of people, mementos,
and text with footage of homey objects and lavish painting
on glass. (12 mins.)
THE WOMEN’S FILM
US 1971
LOUISE AMATO, JUDY SMITH, ELLEN SORIN Made
by an all woman production collective part of San Francisco
Newsreel, this striking example of feminist activism mixes
interviews with diverse voices with montages of contemporary
media images to comment on the struggle for social justice.
(40 mins.)
THE RETICULE OF LOVE ARISTOTLE
US MID 1960S
STORM DE HIRSCH These restored, Super-8mm
“cine-poems” reveal de Hirsch’s innovative
techniques of etched and painted images blended with natural
landscapes and experiments with the cinematic process. (7
mins.)
DIVINE HORSEMEN:THE LIVING GODS OF HAITI
US 1947-1951
MAYA DEREN Considered the “Mother”
of the American avant-garde, Deren spent many years of her
short life researching Haitian voodoo religion, the subject
of her last film, which has finally been restore and completed
by her heirs Teiji and Cherel Ito. (60 mins.)
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Program
II
APRIL 8 SAT 7PM
Whitsell Auditorium
MATRIMONY’S SPEED
LIMIT
US 1913
ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ Alice Guy-Blaché,
arguably the first female director of a narrative film, is
credited with directing, producing or supervising more than
300 works. Exploring cinematic technique through masking,
double exposure and running the film backwards, she exhibited
a naturalism atypical of silent films, humor and rare independent-minded
female characters. (14 mins.)
UNMASKED
US 1917
GRACE CUNARD Known as the “Queen of
the Serials,” Cunard wrote, directed and starred dozens
of films over her 35-year career. In UNMASKED, she teamed
with long-time acting partner, Francis Ford (brother to John
Ford) to portray two jewel thieves competing for the same
necklace. (11 mins.) Courtesy: George Eastman House
ELLIS ISLAND
US 1979
MEREDITH MONK Composer, choreographer, filmmaker
and theatrical innovator, Monk’s spare, somber and exquisite
ELLIS ISLAND evokes the haunting, anonymous documentary films
of newly arrived immigrants in the early twentieth century.
(28 mins.)
DIRTY GERTIE FROM HARLEM
US 1946
SPENCER WILLIAMS This African-American independent
feature, loosely based on Somerset Maugham’s “Rain,”
stars Francine Everett, a pioneering actor in African-American
films who refused to play stereotypic roles. Spencer Williams,
best known as Andy Brown on television’s “Amos
and Andy,” followed pioneers Oscar Micheaux and Noble
Johnson, producing, directing and acting in many “race
films” in the 1940’s. (65 mins.)
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