Shorts 5: Experimental: Looking Glass

Description

San Francisco International Film Festival @ BAM/PFA

Presented in association with San Francisco Cinematheque

In ways quietly observant and intensely expressive, these eleven experimental films take us on a journey through the looking glass—reflecting on the past, illuminating the present, and imagining the future. A story is told backward, a girl is magically transformed, and everyday objects aren’t what they seem. Two lost films are found; two others alchemically altered.

—Kathy Geritz, Vanessa O’Neill

Notes below are adapted from comments by the filmmakers.

Queen Takes Pawn (Su Friedrich, U.S., 2013). A journey through an old house by way of a mirror, a child’s storybook, and some images from days gone by. (7 mins, Color)

Metamorfoza (Martha Colburn, The Netherlands, 2013). During wartime, a girl magically transforms. (7 mins, Color)

Little Girl (Bruce Baillie, U.S., 1966). Prune Blossoms, Healdsburg; Little Girl Outside Sebastopol; Two Waterbugs, Graton. (10 mins, Color/B&W, Restored in 2013 by the Academy Film Archive)

Dad’s Stick (John Smith, U.K., 2012). Three objects my father showed me shortly before he died. (5 mins, Color)

66, Episode 1: ICHOR (Lewis Klahr, U.S., 2013). My personal version of utopia. (5:30 mins, Color)

De Luce 2: Architectura (Janis Crystal Lipzin, U.S., 2013). Light and photochemistry collide and conspire against different architectural backdrops. (8:30 mins, Color)

Farther than the eye can see (Basma Alsharif, Jordan/United Arab Emirates, 2012). Traces an experience to a place that no longer exists. (13 mins, Color)

Lost and Found (Jim Jennings, U.S., 1988/2013). Filmed 20 or so years ago on an excursion back and forth from Manhattan to Staten Island. Later I arranged the shots and hid it in a box for a long time. (5 mins, Silent, B&W)

Entr’Acte (Lawrence Jordan, U.S., 2013). A series of vaudeville acts inserted between the lines of reality. (3 mins, Color)

A Study in Natural Magic (Charlotte Pryce, U.S., 2013). An alchemist’s spell. (3 mins, Silent, Color)

Bright Mirror (Paul Clipson, U.S., 2013). A figure, a landscape, and a camera blur into something between dance and drawing. (9 mins, Color/B&W)

• Total running time: 80 mins