Experimental film curator Hannah Piper Burns has curated a terrific collection of films from three years of the Experimental Film Festival in Portland which she will introduce and answer questions.
When my co-director Ben Popp and I put together each year’s “Best Of” program, it is simply a way for us to indicate our favourites: the films that resonated with us the most. All of the films we screened each year were wonderful (or horrifying) in their own ways. In making this list I tried to show a range of forms, from dance film to documentary and portrait of place to glitch art, as well as create a tempo in viewing that can connect the pieces across their disparate origins. It’s my sincere hope that you can find something new here to love as much as I do.
– Hannah Piper Burns
Where She Stood in the First Place / Dir. Lindsay McIntyre, 2010, Canada, 10 min
Situated at the geographic centre of Canada, Baker Lake, Nunavut is the only inland settlement in the Canadian Arctic. Fixing its gaze on this stark landscape, McIntyre’s haunting and sparse film uses hand wrought black and white 16mm film in a meditation on place and personal histories.
Remote / Dir. Jesse McLean, 2011, USA, 11 min
There is a presence lingering in the dark woods, just under the surface of a placid lake and at the end of dreary basement corridor. It’s not easy to locate because it’s outside but also inside. It doesn’t just crawl in on your wires because it’s not a thing. It’s a shocking eruption of electrical energy.
Digital Decay / Dir. Tyler Lynch, 2012, USA, 2:30 min
Through the decay existing within the cellulose world of his mother’s 8mm home movies and the decay existing in the binary of his niece’s digital home movies, the creator explores the temporality of memories and existence.
Agnus Dei / Dir. Réka Szűcs, 2013, Hungary, 10:36 min
“Those who move away from God get closer to him as well, only they have taken the longer way” – Ervin Lázár
Up Ended / Dir. Brenda L. Burmeister, 2012, USA, 14:23 min
A film about what you lose when you gain something and what you gain when you lose something. It is a fluxus inspired video about change, a textured exploration of family, and ultimately a performance piece.
Pittsburgh 8/5/68 / Dir. Ted Kennedy, 2013, USA, 2:31 min
Raid at Erectors Club (Pittsburgh 8/5/68)
Former Models / Dir. Benjamin Pearson, 2011, USA, 20 min
The tragic story of Milli Vanilli member Rob Pilatus’ transition from embodied subject into pure image. A public and private history undo themselves as a body desires its other, a simulation is transgressed and the ultimate price is paid.
Pain So Light That Appears As Tickle / Dir. Dalibor Barić, 2010, Croatia, 4 min
Pain is slowed down in slow motion up to the sensitivity threshold and is sold as an everyday anesthetic. We browse through ready-made catalogues of horror, instructions for use, we order attractive ideas-images; we wish to leave our bodies and become that image for a change. Watching a film, we forget about ourselves pretending not to be interested in the content; in fact, we are interested in the hypnotising, pulsating light, which is when we discover our magical and tribal conscience and repressed fear of life.
Little Block of Cement with Disheveled Hair Containing the Sea: Dir. Jorge Lopez Navarette, 2013, Spain, 15:32 min
A dog and a mare embark upon a voyage together. With every step they take, the differences between them become inevitably clearer, and yet the profound mutual knowledge they develop over time shows the potential to suddenly produce a luminous moment between the two.
A Special Presentation of Open City Cinema and Cinematheque
