The Chapel Show IV
1/18/20
Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St
Yawar Mallku (Blood of the Condor)
Dir. Jorge Sanjinés
Bolivia, 1969, 70 min, 16mm
Quechua & Spanish + English subtitles
“Blood of the Condor” is the second film by Bolivian director Jorge
Sanjinés. The film tells the story of an indigenous Andean community
subjected to forced sterilization by a US aid agency meant to resemble
the Peace Corps. The film is a politically charged work with an
anti-imperialist bent that focuses on the often overlooked oppression
faced by indigenous communities at the hands of foreign and domestic
governments. Salinas was a Marxist who believed in the didactic power of
film to educate and elevate the populace and reinforce class
consciousness. “Blood of the Condor” is an unflinchingly political film
that demonstrates the filmmakers dedication to cinema as a vehicle for
revolutionary thought.
/
“Sangre de cóndor” o Yawar Mallku es la segunda película del director
boliviano Jorge Sanjinés. La película es la historia de una comunidad
Andina sometida a una esterilización forzada por parte de los Estados
Unidos. Es una película políticamente radical con fuertes sentimientos
antiimperialistas. Se centra en la opresión que enfrentan las
comunidades indígenas a manos de gobiernos extranjeros y nacionales. El
director era un marxista que creía en el cine para educar y elevar la
conciencia del proletariado. “Sangre de cóndor”
es una película política sin apología que demuestra la dedicación del
director al cine como vehículo para el pensamiento revolucionario.
Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo
Dir. Susana Blaustein Muñoz & Lourdes Portillo
Argentina, 1985, 64 min., 16mm
Spanish + English subtitles
“Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo” is a 1985 documentary by director
Susana Blaustein Muñoz that chronicles the development of the titular
political movement in the years following the Argentinian military
dictatorship. Las Madres was a grassroots organization of Argentinian
mothers whose children had been disappeared during the military junta’s
campaign of US-backed, state-sanctioned terror known as the Dirty War.
This violent repression at the hands of the state was carried out with
the full knowledge and support of the US government as part of Operation
Condor, and was implemented as a means of suppressing left-wing,
populist sentiments that ran counter to the ideology of the junta or the
goals of the US government in the region. This resulted in between
9,000 to 30,000 “dissapearances,” and was the catalyst for the Madres de
la Plaza de Mayo movement.
/
“Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo” es un documental de 1985 de la
directora Susana Blaustein Muñoz que narra el desarrollo del movimiento
político titular en los años posteriores de el dictador en Argentina.
Las Madres era una organización de base de madres Argentinas cuyos hijos
habían desaparecido durante la campaña de terror de la junta militar
respaldada por Estados Unidos y conocida como “The Dirty War”. Este
gobierno violento ordenó la represión y fue ejecutada con el apoyo total
del gobierno de los Estados Unidos como parte de la Operación Cóndo.
Fue implementado para suprimir ideologías populistas y radicales que se
oponían a la Junta o los objetivos del gobierno de los Estados Unidos
en la región. Esta guerra resultó en entre 9,000 y 30,000
“desapariciones”, y fue el catalizador del movimiento Madres de la Plaza
de Mayo.
The Chapel Show III
5/23/19
Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St.
Mothlight – Stan Brakhage 1963 4 min
Brakhage made mothlight in 1963 by pressing collected moth wings and other natural debris between two strips of 16mm splicing tape. The assemblage was then contact printed onto film.
“Here is a film that I made out of a deep grief. The grief is my business in a way, but the grief was helpful in squeezing the little film out of me, that I said “these crazy moths are flying into the candlelight, and burning themselves to death, and that’s what’s happening to me. I don’t have enough money to make these films, and … I’m not feeding my children properly, because of these damn films, you know. And I’m burning up here … What can I do?” I’m feeling the full horror of some kind of immolation, in a way.’
“Over the lightbulbs there’s all these dead moth wings, and I … hate that. Such a sadness; there must surely be something to do with that. I tenderly picked them out and start pasting them onto a strip of film, to try to … give them life again, to animate them again, to try to put them into some sort of life through the motion picture machine.”
**Mothlight is one of the most incredible example of cameraless filmmaking, so tonight’s print has significant wear and tear. Cross your fingers as we blast past the many dubious splices holding this thing together!
Two space1979 8 min Larry Cuba
Along with former Chapel Show greats Lillian Schwartz and Stan Vanderbeek, Larry Cuba is known for his early innovations in computer art and animation.
He made the Death Star animations shown during the briefing scene near the end of the Star Wars, 1977 (for this he used a Vector General 3Dconnected to a PDP-11/45computer.) He is currently the director of the Iotacenter in LA.
Cuba created Two Space at the Los Angeles firm Information International Inc. (III) using the programming language RAP. Using RAP, Cuba systematically explored 17 classic symmetry groups found in Islamic art and architecture. These geometric patterns were generated by performing a set of symmetry operations (translations, rotations, and reflections) off of a single tile pattern. Two Space consists of twelve such patterns produced using nine different animating figures (12 × 9 = 108 total).
Borom Sarret– Ousmane Sembène20 min 1963
Borom Sarret or The Wagoner(French: Le Charretier) is Ousmane Sembène’s first film (first full directorial control.) It is widely considered to be the first Sub-Saharan African film made by an African. Three years after Borom Sarret, he makes Black Girl (La noire de) 1966 his first feature for which he receives international attention. In 1968 he makes Mandabi, the first film produced in his native language of Wolof. He goes on to make Xala(1975) Ceddo(1977) Camp de Thiaroye(1987), and Guelwaar(1992) also all in Wolof.
Borom Sarret was filmed and recorded in Wolof, but a french language soundtrack was superimposed without full synchronization.
Sembene, “the father of African film” began making films at 40. Having been a prominent novelist (God’s Bits of Wood, Tribal Scars, Black Docker,later Xala) he turned his attentions to filmmaking as a means of reaching people beyond boundaries of literacy and language. In 1962 he traveled to Moscow to study filmmaking at Gorky Film Studio, returning to Senegal in ‘63 to shoot Borom Sarret in Dakar.
Spider – Gary Anderson 7 min 1972
A short film by Gary Anderson following Spider, a highly-animated line cook and former boxer. There is very little information available online about Anderson or this film. Anderson shot Spider in New Hampshire (possibly Manchester) 3 years after graduating from UNH.
So, call me up………..(***) ***-5900 ………..We’ll talk – Gary Anderson
**Tonight’s print is moderately color faded.
abt: color emulsion on film is comprised of three layers: cyan, yellow and blue. The familiar pink look of many old films (color fading) is caused by the more unstable yellow and cyan dyes deteriorating, leaving the magenta as the boldest most prominent layer of color.
Nexus –Rose Bond 1984 6 min
Nexus is another example of direct or cameraless filmmaking. Bond created this film by drawing and painting, frame by frame, directly onto 35mm leader. Nexusexplores patterns and symbols associated with matricentric cultures, nature and art. Marimba music performed by Sukutai accompanies the animation. This film was funded by Western States Regional Media Arts Grant
Rose bond is a Canadian born animator, filmmaker and installation artist.
Elasticity – Chick Strand 1972 22 min
Bookended by two quick glimpses of the filmmaker herself, Elasticity is an autobiographical collage film of sorts. Surrealist and experimental, this film combines many methods of storytelling used by Strand throughout her prolific career. We bear witness to beautiful verite footage shot in Mexico and California, narrative and documentary found footage, animation, and optical effects such as solarization and double exposures.
This film was funded by the American Film Institute. It is one of her less available films and we are extremely proud to be showing it tonight, acquired at no cost (thank you again Enoch Pratt Free Library)
One of the biggest voices in experimental film over the last century, Chick Strand has made
Chick Strand also co-founded Canyon Cinema with Bruce Baillie in a backyard.
“There are three mental states that are interesting: amnesia, euphoria and ecstasy. Amnesia is not knowing who you are and wanting desperately to know. I call this the White Night. Euphoria is not knowing who you are and not caring. This is the Dream of Meditation. Ecstasy is knowing exactly who you are and still not caring. I call this the Memory of the Future.” – Chick Strand
The Chapel Show II
3/1/19
Fleisher Art Memorial Chapel, 719 Catharine St.
Featuring:
“UFOs” by Lillian Schwartz, 1971
“Black TV” by Aldo Tambellini, 1969
“La Jetée” by Chris Marker, 1962
“Ghosts Before Breakfast” by Hans Richter, 1928
Our second all-16mm screening at the Fleisher chapel. This time, we anchored the program around a longer work, namely Chris Marker’s “La Jetée.” We bookended the ~30 minute piece with several shorter works, including a silent copy of Hans Richter’s “Ghosts Before Breakfast,” which was scored live by Lino Kino member Sam Irwin.
Lino Kino Presents: The Chapel Show
12/13/18
Fleisher Art Memorial Chapel, 719 Catharine St.
Featuring:
“Powers of Ten” by Charles & Ray Eames, 1978
“LMNO” by Robert Breer, 1978
“Mirrored Reason” by Stan van der Beek, 1983
“Genesis” by Jana Merglova, 1966
“Meshes of the Afternoon” by Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid, 1943
“OffOn” by Scott Bartlett, 1967
The genesis of the Chapel Show was our collective discovery of the 16mm archives of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. The library has an amazing collection of classic experimental films on 16mm freely available for anyone with a library card to check out. With this in mind, we set about creating a program of classic and lesser known experimental works. The idea was to present the kind of broad, historical survey screening one usually encounters only in specialty cinemas or academic institutions in a friendly, accessible, and community-oriented space.