Absences and (Im)possibilities.
Traces of an experimental cinema in Ireland
This programme is curated by the Experimental Film Club and commissioned by Irish Film Institute International. An amazing selection of work, from the very earliest footage shot in Dublin via Beckett’s famous Film (starring Buster Keaton) to the proto Riot Grrrls classic by Viviene Dick and on to contemporary work, we get an insight into the creation of Irish alternative film making. Total running time 93 minutes.
SACKVILLE STREET (1897, 50secs, b&w, 35mm), Alexandre Promio, Lumière Brothers
BY ACCIDENT (extract) (1930, 3 mins 40 seconds, b&w, 16mm), Norris Davidson A fragment from a pioneering filmmaker of the silent years.
FILM (1964, 21mins, b&w, 16mm), Samuel Beckett/Alan Schneider In which the main character, Buster Keaton, carefully blots out all external reality according to a prevailing philosophical principle: George Berkeley’s “Esse est percipi” (to be is to be perceived).
GUERRILLÉRE TALKS (1978, 24mins, Super 8), Vivienne Dick. A Super 8, No Wave classic. The film depicts a series of portraits and encounters with women in Lower Manhattan, performing to a camera characterized by its handheld anarchic style.
HERE AFTER (2004, 13mins, b/w, 16mm), Paddy Jolley, Rebecca Trost / Inger Lise Hansen. An atmospheric study of a decaying and crumbling flat complex in Ballymun, Hereafter emerges from the residue of unknown events
LATE ARRIVAL (2006, 2mins, MiniDV), Barry Ronan. Late Arrival relies entirely on its jittery and accelerated camera movement and overlapping imagery to create a kinetic and charged perception of its subject.
WITH WIND & WHITE CLOUD (2005, 5mins, Super8), Dónal Ó Céilleachair. A Super 8 ,single frame journey from Istanbul to Berlin.
HORSES (2011, b&w, silent, 16mm on video, 2mins), Esperanza Collado. A triple exposure film shot at different speeds and home-processed using an extreme, unorthodox procedure.
04:59 (2013, 6min, PXL2000 Tape Cassette), Michael Higgins
MONGOLIAN BARBECUE (2009, 11mins, video), Maximilian Le Cain
THE PREDICAMENT OF MAN (3 mins, 16mm and Digital Mixed Media, 2010), Jesse Jones
Greg Pope. 