An informative and lovely little film by Ben Hillman for all the nitwits out there who think the earth is only around 5,000 years old.
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Nightlife in a Puddle – A Film by Fabio Scacchioli
Fabio Scacchioli is an Italian filmmaker who turns ordinary shots on Super 8 film and video into magical and mystical pieces about memory and all that it does for us. I am always impressed by his work and how he finds the perfect moments to let glimmer through the haze to catch us unaware. I maintain that as we move further into the 21st century, we are developing a new cinema completely removed from the theatrical aspects of the last century’s cinema. It is filmmakers who do not try to make films that look like American features who will make the new cinema. Filmmakers making films that look like American features are looking at forms as outmoded as 19th century theatrical works were during the age of the early silents. The new cinema is as natural and immediate a form of expression as writing or painting.
I know that Scacchioli is currently working on something new and I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’ve posted about Scacchioli’s work before.
Tribune-American Dream Picture – 1924 Surrealist Film Contest Winner
In 1924, the Oakland Tribune and American Theatre held a contest in which people submitted their dreams. The winning dreams got made into films and the dreamers won $25. This surreal piece came from a dream submitted by Mrs. L.L. Nicholson. It more closely resembles a dream than many films since then, including Hitchcock’s Spellbound. It involves a couple on a trip and a missing baby.
Poet Richard Brautigan Reading Aloud
Richard Brautigan was one of America’s best poets. Here he is reading poems from his collection called The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster.
I found this via Marc Campbell at Dangerous Minds. He has some fascinating posts about how this poet was a major influence on his own life and work.
Horse Glue – A Film by Stephen Irwin
Stephen Irwin is the animator behind this horrifically beautiful and mysterious film. Its heart is located right in the deep dark forests of fairytales, but its story is a conflagration that puzzles even while it astounds. Irwin slyly weaves two films together inside an old cathode ray TV tube to create his fascinating hybrid horror.
I posted about this filmmaker’s previous film, The Black Dog’s Progress.
You can visit the filmmaker’s site at SmallTimeInc.com.