Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films

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Adam · #276 Post by **Adam** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:03 pm

Given the focus of your Web site I wanted to alert you to the newest addition to the National Film Preservation Foundationâ€™s Treasures from American Film Archives series, Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986. The 2-DVD box set is scheduled for release on March 3, 2009. Weâ€™re announcing the contents tomorrow.

Treasures IV presents works by 27 filmmakers, from Bruce Baillie to Andy Warhol, who changed cinema in the decades following World War II. The line-up reads like a whoâ€™s who of the avant-garde world and includes films by luminaries such as Stan Brakhage, Shirley Clarke, and Harry Smith as well as rediscoveries. Hollis Framptonâ€™s (nostaglia) and Marie Menkenâ€™s Go! Go! Go! are among the films included on the set. Iâ€™ve attached the brochure and press release. An image of the setâ€™s artwork is also available.

Treasures IV features a 70-page book of program notes introduced by Martin Scorsese and new music by John Zorn. The films were selected from the preservation work of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Anthology Film Archives, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Public Library, and the Pacific Film Archive and were expertly transferred. None has been available before in the United States on good quality DVD. Net proceeds will be split with the archives to support film preservation.

I also knew it was in the works, and people working on it. Really looking forward to it.

From what website was the original posting taken? That's the first announcement of it that I've seen.

King Prendergast · #277 Post by **King Prendergast** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:50 pm

Faeton wrote:
King Prendergast wrote:Does anyone know of any freak films which pre-date Browning's?
I think the earliest one would be the short film "Kobelkoff" (1900)

Has there been any scholarship on this? Or would most of it be subsumed under the broader rubric of carnival freakshows and sideshows in general rather than cinematic representations of such?

Faeton · #278 Post by **Faeton** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:59 pm

Adam wrote:From what website was the original posting taken? That's the first announcement of it that I've seen.

That's a direct quote of an email I received from Jeff Lambert, Assistant Director at the National Film Preservation Foundation. the "Given the focus of your Web site" refers to a kind of blog/resource site on experimental cinema I run, www.expcinema.com .

Gregory · #279 Post by **Gregory** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:37 pm

They sent me a similar email and at roughly the same time they posted the pdf of the flyer for the set on their site, which I mentioned in the avant-garde film on DVD thread. It's a nice flyer but most of the information it contains is already here in this thread, with the exception of the price ($45).

Street Dude · #280 Post by **Street Dude** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:33 pm

The Anthology film archive is sending around a new 35mm blow up of Robert Breer films. They are great and look great on 35. Anyone else blessed?

Adam · #281 Post by **Adam** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:52 am

Street Dude wrote:The Anthology film archive is sending around a new 35mm blow up of Robert Breer films. They are great and look great on 35. Anyone else blessed?

Yes, we're having them in Los Angeles in November. One show at REDCAT, one at the UCLA Film & Television Archives, and one at Filmforum - all different shows, the week of Nov 10-16. Breer will be present at all three shows.

Faeton · #283 Post by **Faeton** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:40 am

Re:voir is going to re-release some of its tapes in DVD. They've already announced 'Hans Richter EARLY WORKS', for 24 â‚¬

- RHYTHMUS 21 (1921) silent 4'
- RHYTHMUS 23 (1923) silent 4'
- FILMSTUDIE (1926) 5'
- GHOSTS BEFORE BREAKFAST VORMITTAGSSPUK (1927-28) 7'
- RACE SYMPHONY (1928-29) 7'
- TWO PENCE MAGIC ZWEIGROSCHENZAUBER (1928-29) 2'
- INFLATION (1927-28) 3'
- EVERYTHING TURNS EVERYTHING REVOLVES * ALLES DREHT SICH, ALLES - BEWEGT SICH (1929)

Gregory · #284 Post by **Gregory** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:53 am

They have a handful already available, a few DVD exclusives and a few others that overlap with their VHS releases. These DVDs are something people should do their best to support if they want to see them release Blu-Rays of more contemporary works anytime soon. They've technically been to start releasing the latter for awhile now but haven't had the money to produce them because the cost of doing a Blu-Ray is still so high and because I imagine people haven't exactly been stampeding to buy their VHS tapes in recent years.

Particle Zoo · #285 Post by **Particle Zoo** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:42 am

Hi,
I dont think anyone has mentioned Barbara Meter. I recently bought a DVD 'Zuiver Film' (Pure Film) containing 11 short films. I bought the DVD from the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. Here is a link.

I don't if you can order it online, I bought it on site whilst visiting.
The DVD contains:
1 From the Exterior
2 Song for Four Hands
3 Penelope
4 Sculptures for a Windless Place
5 Convalescing
6 Appearances
7 Quay
8 Ariadne
9 Stretto
10 Portraits
11 A touch
Extra: Interview with Barbara Meter
There is also a dual language 20 page booklet. (English, Dutch)

'Barbara Meter's extreme emphasis on the grain structure of film is often considered to be her trade mark. Yet Meter not only produces a pure material film image; her method of working touches deeper layers of meaning. The effect of memory and the passage of time are the most important subjects of her films.'
This was a blind buy for me and a very pleasant surprise.

Faeton · #286 Post by **Faeton** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:38 am

Particle Zoo wrote:Hi,
I dont think anyone has mentioned Barbara Meter. I recently bought a DVD 'Zuiver Film' (Pure Film) containing 11 short films. I bought the DVD from the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. Here is a link.

I don't if you can order it online, I bought it on site whilst visiting.

You can order it online from Moskwood. Great DVD. btw

Particle Zoo · #287 Post by **Particle Zoo** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:02 am

Yes it is indeed a great DVD!

I particularly like 'Quay', the forshortened perspective is simultaniously disconcerting and exhilarating. Its most impressive viewed through a projector.

yoshimori · #288 Post by **yoshimori** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:20 am

Caught the new Pat O'Neill (Horizontal Boundaries) and Bruce Conner (Easter Morning) at the London Film Festival last night. Both are worth seeking out. The O'Neill is 23 minutes the first five and last 10 of which superimpose heavily manipulated images (mostly of LA) in four horizontal slices of the screen, jerking them from area(s) to area(s). Much more frantic than his (amazing) Trouble in the Image. The middle (less "horizontal", less frenetic) section of the movie was less successful despite the Irish (?) folk music.

The posthumous Conner was a delight. The saturated greens and yellows and reds of flowers - in the Conner signature step-frame - were "explored" by little, superimposed but perfectly natural, orange and blue phantom lights. The hokey, Christmasy music was perfect.

Also, for those in LA, be sure to catch "Observando in cielo" in one of the shorts programs at the AFI Fest. Saw it last year in Hong Kong. Amazingly beautiful time-lapse shots of the rotation of the earth seen from locations around the world. Great soundtrack.

#289 Post by **zedz** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:03 pm

A heads up that the price of the Raro Video Warhol 6 DVD box-set has been temporarily reduced to 65 Euro. Whatever the murky rights situation, it's an essential set and this is a steal, and the films don't look like they'll be available anywhere else for some time, if ever.

The special lasts until the end of the year, apparently.

carax09 · #290 Post by **carax09** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:55 pm

Speaking of Warhol, I just saw 13 Most Beautiful, which is 13 of his early screen tests (Nico, Lou Reed, Dennis Hopper, Edie Sedgwick, et al.) with live band accompaniment provided by Dean and Britta from Luna. By my count, 10 out of the 13 compositions were originals, and I have to say that I found the whole thing really enjoyable. If it comes to your town, I highly recommend checking it out.

Apparently, the dvd is coming out via Plexifilm early next year.

Adam · #291 Post by **Adam** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:09 pm

Do you have notes for it, with any information of who organizes it? I'd like to program that in Los Angeles.

EDIT: I just looked it up on line myself. Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh...
let's see what can be done. The films of course are no problem.

carax09 · #292 Post by **carax09** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:55 pm

Good luck, Adam. It looks to be jointly commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Adam · #293 Post by **Adam** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 2:29 am

carax09 wrote:Good luck, Adam. It looks to be jointly commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Thank you. The issue will really just be cost & scheduling for Dean & Britta. It woudl appear that they might cost enough to require both of those organizations, which might be too much for us, but we shall see.

Cinephrenic · #294 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:07 am

More Stan Brakhage coming! - via Criterion Collection

planetjake · #295 Post by **planetjake** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:41 am

Astonishing news if true.

The first set literally and completely changed my life.

Gregory · #296 Post by **Gregory** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:50 pm

The tip says they're focusing mainly on longer films, and there are enough of those to keep us guessing. Something tells me they'll want to include The Text of Light.
Seems safe to assume this will be on Blu-Ray. Unless someone is yanking our chain again, that is.

Adam · #297 Post by **Adam** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:49 pm

I can confirm that it's true, although you didn't hear it from me.

Faux Hulot · #298 Post by **Faux Hulot** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:49 pm

carax09 wrote:Speaking of Warhol, I just saw 13 Most Beautiful, which is 13 of his early screen tests (Nico, Lou Reed, Dennis Hopper, Edie Sedgwick, et al.) [...] Apparently, the dvd is coming out via Plexifilm early next year.

Indeed

planetjake · #299 Post by **planetjake** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:13 pm

Adam wrote:I can confirm that it's true, although you didn't hear it from me.

While you're not confirming anything, would mind not confirming what's going to be on the three discs?

Adam · #300 Post by **Adam** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:44 pm

I was told that it will be a 2 disc Eclipse, by the by.
But I'll have to inquire further about the specific titles.