Programmed by Steve Anker of the San Francisco Cinematheque.
“Years after Cornell, Bruce Conner, and Ken Jacobs pioneered in incorporating ‘found-film' material (i.e. footage taken from other sources) into their own highly personal visions, filmmakers continue to be fascinated by the expressive potential of old films they have stumbled upon. Part of this attraction is financial--discarded films provide huge amounts of material cheaply--but there is also a natural affinity the artists have for their own medium's history and a sensitivity to the cultural attitudes which films so effectively capture.
“Tonight's program is comprised mostly of works by younger filmmakers that have made an impact around the country during the last few years. They differ greatly, ranging from Eisenberg's Displaced Person, in which WWII newsreel footage is hauntingly rephotographed, through Shatavsky's Bedtime Story, a metaphor for female angst constructed from a frame-by-frame collage technique, to Berliner's City Edition, a wry commentary on documentary editing and sound montage. Also included is Conner's most recent film, America Is Waiting, a powerful indictment of American values, and Brakhage's Murder Psalm, one of his strongest films in years and evidence that in an artist's hands even the most dissimilar and lifeless material can be synthesized into an intensely personal experience.” Steve Anker
• Bedtime Story by Esther Shatavsky (1981, 5 mins, Silent, Color); Displaced Person by Dan Eisenberg (1981, 11 mins, Music by Beethoven, text read by Levi-Strauss); Scratch Man II by Heather MacAdams (1982, 6 mins, Color); Murder Psalm by Stan Brakhage (1980, 16 mins, Silent, Color, Print from Canyon Cinema Coop.); Valse Triste by Bruce Conner (1978, 4 mins, Music by Patrick Gleeson, Print from Serious Business); America Is Waiting by Bruce Conner (1981, 3 mins, Color, Music by David Byrne and Brian Eno, Print from Serious Business); City Edition by Alan Berliner (1980, 9 mins); Framed by Jim Hoberman (1979, 4 mins, Color); Triumph of Man by Dean Snider (1983, 6 mins, Color, Print from Canyon Cinema Coop.).