Meshes of the Afternoon
Maya Deren’s groundbreaking experimental short film follows a woman (played by the director) through a menacing, circular dream world in which she repeatedly enters the same house.
16 Worlds on 16: American Experimental
Description
Four experimental classics from the U.S. from the forties and fifties, most projected on 16mm: starting with Deren’s influential classic, via Anger’s debut and Clarke’s choreographed short, the program concludes with Frank and Leslie’s improvised classic.
Composition
Fireworks
“This flick is all I have to say about being 17, the United States Navy, American Christmas and the 4th of July,” said gay underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger about his debut short film from 1947, full of bizarre, disturbing dream images.
A Moment in Love
An elegant pas de deux performed by two young lovers dancing in an ever-changing landscape—from natural idyll to deserted city—which causes the first ripples in their romantic affair. A lyrical and emotionally moving dance film.
Pull My Daisy
A pleasant dinner with a bishop takes a bizarre turn when Allen Ginsberg and friends drop by unannounced. Robert Frank’s debut film was loosely based on a play by Jack Kerouac, who also provides an ironic voice-over and some freewheeling beat poetry.
Focus: 16 Worlds on 16
Reflecting on 100 years of 16mm since Kodak introduced this film format, this focus program explores how the history of documentary film has been influenced as a result. The selection includes classics from cinema verité such as Daguerréotypes by Agnès Varda and Salesman by the Maysels, as well as examples of films that wrap their criticism of authorities in metaphors due to censorship, as in "First Case, Second Case" where Abbas Kiarostami examines revolutionary thought
