The Toronto Animated Image Society co-presents From Ecstacy to Rapture: Sessions 3 & 4 at TIFF Cinematheque's The Free Screen
Wednesday January 19, 7:00 PM & 8:30 PM
FREE
The first installment of The Free Screen at TIFF Cinematheque features From Ecstasy to Rapture: 50 Years of the other Spanish Cinema, an unprecedented retrospective of Spanish experimental cinema of the last half century. Featuring numerous restored prints and preservation video transfers, this important international touring programme provides a rare overview of an alternative national cinema whose contribution to the international avant-garde stretches far beyond the renowned legacy of Dali and Bunuel. Presented in six programs arranged by theme and technique rather than chronology, and including two feature-length cult masterworks, this series was curated by Antoni Pinent for the Contemporary Cultural Centre in Barcelona.
Session 3: ANIMATED EXPERIMENTS: RHYTHM, LIGHT AND COLOUR
Demonstrating affinities with such masters as Norman McLaren and Len Lye, these works by some of Spain’s foremost animators range from stop-motion to collage, sand-on-glass animation, and camera-less cinema. Standouts include Joaquim Puigvert’s Exp. I / II, a dazzling display of film scratching and direct painting with playful, winsome visual rhythms; Ton Sirera’s Pintura 63, a Kandinski-esque figurative painting come to life; and Jordi Artigas’ Ritmes cromàticos, a work of total abstraction made from direct painting on celluloid.
Forma, color y ritmo
Dir. Josep Mestres | Spain 1956 | 35mm |5 min. | Silent
Ballet Burlón
Dir. Fermí Marimón | Spain 1959 | 35mm | 6 min.
Exp. 1 / II
Dir. Joaquim Puigvert | Spain 1958-59 | 35mm | 3 min.
Pregunta por mí
Dir. Begoña Vicario | Spain 1996 | 35mm | 3 min.
Pintura 63
Dir. Ton Sirera | Spain 1963 | 35mm | 5 min.
Hezurbeltzak, una fosa común
Dir. Izebene Oñederra | Spain 2007 | 35mm | 5 min.
Ritmes cromàticos
Dir. Jordi Artigas | Spain 1978 | 35mm | 4 min.
Spain loves you
Dir. Isabel Herguera | Spain 1988 | 35mm | 6 min.
Espectro siete
Dir. Javier Aguirre | Spain 1970 | 35mm | 8 min.
Lluvia
Dir. Eugenio Granell | Spain 1961 | Video | 2 min. | Silent
La 72.024 mil·lèssima part d’un any
Dir. Marcel Pié Barba | Spain 2008 | Video | 5 min.
Danse noire
Dir. Frederic Amat | Spain 2006 | Video | 3 min.
Monos
Dir. Juan Pablo Etcheverry | Spain 1997 | Video | 1 min.
Approx. running time: 58 minutes
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 7:00pm, FREE!
For more info on Session 3, visit: tiff.net
(Intermission)
FOLLOWED BY
Session 4: PAINTING – MOVEMENT: José Antonio Sistiaga’s …ere erera baleibu izik subua aruaren…
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see the 35mm restoration of one of Spain’s most celebrated cinematic works, the only full-length Spanish film created with a camera-less technique. Basque artist José Antonio Sistiaga, now universally recognized as one of the best experimental filmmakers in the world, created his magnum opus by painting each individual frame with homemade inks and leaving the celluloid to dry under the blazing sun of Ibiza, a process that took over seventeen months to complete. Eschewing figurative elements and sound accompaniment, the beautiful, beguiling and grand result transcends categorization; while Stan Brakhage is often evoked, Sistiaga’s approach is vastly different and unique to his own painter’s sensibility. The film’s nonsensical title—a jumble of meaningless, Basque-sounding words—is intended to discourage interpretation of the work (though tempting sci-fi readings have frequently been proffered by critics), and also to appease the Francoist censorship board, which would not allow for an untitled film to be shown. While seventy minutes of silence may be a challenge to some viewers, it is integral to the luminous, visual splendours of this masterfully mythopoetic work.
…ere erera baleibu izik subua aruaren…
Dir. José Antonio Sistiaga | Spain 1968-70 | 35mm | 70 min. | Silent
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 8:30pm, FREE!
For more info on Session 4, visit: tiff.net
Two links to articles written about the show:
The Star
Art Forum