BLOWING THE TRUMPET TO THE TULIPS
Film + Video Series

Tuesday, October 9, 7pm
Ontario Hall

Are you waiting for a sign?

Heart of the World by Guy Maddin, Canada, 2000, 5 minutes
Luminous by Alexi Manis, Canada, 2001, 16mm 2.5 minutes
Big Show by Mike Hoolboom, Canada, 1984, 16mm, 8 minutes
Mayhem by Abigail Child, USA, 1987, 16mm, 20 minutes
West Coast Reduction by John Price, Canada, 2000, 16mm 4 minutes
Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper by David Rimmer, Canada, 1970, 16mm, 8 minutes
A Movie by Bruce Conner, USA, 1957, 16mm, 12 minutes
Imitations of Life by Mike Hoolboom, Canada, 2001, video, 21 minutes

Programme running time: 81 minutes

Experimental filmmakers often enjoy a love/hate relationship with dominant cinema. From the pure distillation of melodrama found in Guy Maddin's Heart of the World to the biting critique of the 1950's put forth by Bruce Conner in A Movie, this programme explores the breadth of this conflicted affinity.

In Luminous, a glimpse into the secret world of the projectionist is elaborated through a formal study of light refracted against the walls of the projection booth during a screening. Similarly, West Coast Reduction and Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper also offer a celebratory consideration of the medium of film, while in these two instances the interest is focussed on the manipulation of the surface of the film afforded through optical printing and handprocessing. Bridging structuralist concerns with social critique, Abigail Child weaves together a montage of pop culture gender roles to produce Mayhem.

Finally, in what may perhaps be considered an homage to Conner's reliance on the refuse containers of Hollywood for the visual landscape of his films, Hoolboom's Imitations of Life uses an assemblage of images gleaned from the video store to question the possibility of a future in the age of image overload.

Follow all the instructions on the screen and the night should go well.

See more details on Blowing the Trumpet to the Tulips, an exchange on experimental media, October 19 - 21, 2001.

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