I Walked with a Zombie USA/1943/69mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Jacques Tourneur. An ambiguous combination of horror fantasy and psychological thriller, the film blurs the distinction between good and evil, poetically depicting tribal customs without stereotyping.
White Zombie USA/1932/67mins//B&W/16mm Dir: Victor Halperin. Bela Lugosi is at his malevolent best as plantation owner and voodoo priest, Murder Legendre, in this atmospheric creeper.
Sat 4/11 & Mon 6/11 FILMS OF SAUL AND ELAINE BASS
Sat 4/11 & Mon 6/11 FILMS OF SAUL AND ELAINE BASS
This program celebrates the vision of Hollywood’s greatest graphic designer, Saul Bass, creator of many memorable short films, title sequences and poster designs for Hitchcock, Scorsese and others.
Bass on Titles USA/1977/35mins/Colour/16mm. Bass discusses the development of his titles designed for feature films. The film features ten of the more than forty film titles Bass has created including, 'Man with the Golden Arm', 'Seconds', and 'Walk on the Wild Side'.
Why Man Creates USA/1968/24mins/Colour/16mm. Using a variety of film techniques, Bass examines the nature of the creative process. Won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary of 1969.
“This is a really powerful documentary.” imdb.com
“I saw it twice in high school. My teacher was Eliza Stone. She was strange and tough- a frail old bird whose class is one of the few I would not cut.” imdb.com
“This is a really powerful documentary.” imdb.com
“I saw it twice in high school. My teacher was Eliza Stone. She was strange and tough- a frail old bird whose class is one of the few I would not cut.” imdb.com
The Searching Eye USA/1964/16mins/Colour/16mm. A cinemato-graphic treat in which ordinary objects reveal unexpected worlds of visual experience.
Psycho (Trailer) USA/1960/7mins/B&W/16mm. Bass & Hitchcock collaborated on this revolutionary promotional trailer for 'Psycho'.
Notes on the Popular Arts USA/1977/20mins/Colour/16mm. Uses live action, animation, and special effects to show how the popular arts in America serve as means of self-projection and fantasy fulfilment. Nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar of 1978.
Quest USA/1983/30mins/Colour/16mm. A race of people are trapped on a strange planet where lack of sunlight and vegetation has reduced the life to 8 short days. Based on a story by Ray Bradbury.
Sat 11/11 & Mon 13/11 dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (Sat. starts 2:30pm)
USA/1998/68mins/Colour/Digital Dir: Johan Grimonprez.Buckle up for this acclaimed hijacking documentary that eerily foreshadowed 9-11. Blends archival footage of hijackings with surreal and banal themes, including fast food, pet statistics, disco, and quirky home movies. David Shea composed the superb soundtrack to this free fall through history. The theme of hijacking planes can be read as a metaphor for the hijacking of images out of their context.
"An eccentric, roller coaster ride through history." Time Out
Sat 18/11 & Mon 20/11 OFF THE CHARTS
USA/2003/58mins/Colour/Digital Dir: Jamie Meltzer. This fascinating, at times unsettling, documentary exposes the strange underworld of the song-poem industry. In this little known subculture, "ordinary people" respond to come-on ads in the back pages of magazines, mailing in their heartfelt but often bizarre poems to "music industry" companies that, for a fee, turn those poems into real recordings. OTC explores a unique, never-before-seen slice of Gothic Americana through interviews with song-poem writers, the jaded producers and musicians who set their words to music, and a few of the growing number of zealous song-poem connoisseurs.
“Probably the best movie you've never seen.” imdb.com
Screens with short 16mm musical films: Let’s Sing with Popeye,
Autobahn, Braverman’s Condensed History of the Beatles,
Fish Heads, Mongoloid, and The Three Little Bops.
Sat 25/11 & Mon 27/11 PARODIES
There are chuckles aplenty with this gaggle of zany send-ups.
Hardware Wars USA/1977/13min/Colour/16mm Dir: Ernie Fosselius. Silly and amateurish, but hilarious nonetheless, this ‘Star Wars’ spoof was the first fan film and still the best.
The Dove USA/1968/15mins/B&W/16mm Dir: George Coe & Anthony Lover. Madeline Kahn stars in this Oscar nominated Bergman parody that captures the tone of the Swedish master.
Porklips Now USA/1980/22 minutes/Colour/16mm Dir: Ernie Fosselius. A parody of 'Apocalypse Now' featuring Martin Sheen look-alike William Gray as "Dullard".
Blaze Glory USA/1969/8mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Lee Janson & Chuck Menville. Ingeniously filmed Western satire.
Dream Doll UK-Yugoslavia/1979/12mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Bob Godfrey & Zlatko Grgic. A lonely man falls in love with a life-size, inflatable doll in this Oscar nominated animation based on "The Red Balloon". “Twelve minutes of heaven.” imdb.com
Song of the Prairie Czechoslovakia/1949/22mins/Colour/16mm. Dir: Jiri Trnka An operatic parody of American westerns by the virtuoso Czech puppeteer.
Massingham Trailers UK/1949/9mins/B&W16mm. Dir: Richard Massingham. A set of trailers from the films of Richard Massingham, who specialised in making satires of educational films. Henri Langlois once mentioned the director in the same breath as Jean Vigo, Luis Buñuel and Mack Sennett. An antecedent of The Goon Show, Richard Lester and Monty Python, he mined a manic and uniquely British strand of comedy.
Kama Sutra Rides Again UK/1970/9mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Bob Godfrey. This parody of sex manuals by Australian born animator Godfrey was shown before A Clockwork Orange in the UK.
Java Junkie USA/1979/5mins/Colour/35mm Dir: Tom Schiller. A witty film noir send-up about a caffeine addict.
Sat 2/12 & Mon 4/12 AFRO PROMO
Australian Premiere. USA/1997/91mins/Colour & B&W/Digital. Curated by Jenni Olson and Karl Knapper. Filled with insights on race and social dynamics, this fascinating compendium of Coming Attractions explores an extensive range of stylistic approaches – Blaxploitation, Comedy, Music Bio, Plantation Drama, and more – all smartly organized by genre, or viewable as one outrageous joyride through motion picture history.
“A sometimes funny, sometimes frightening look at Tinseltown’s presentation of Blacks.” – Edward Marguiles, Movieline
“Offers considerable fun, and food for thought.” Variety
“Less a history of Hollywood racism than a chilling testament to the capacity of marketing to co-opt social change.” Village Voice
“Less a history of Hollywood racism than a chilling testament to the capacity of marketing to co-opt social change.” Village Voice
Sat 9/12 & Mon 11/12 Short Film Smorgasbord
A gourmet selection of the finest in short filmmaking.
Les Astronautes France/1960/B&W/13mins /16mm Dir: Walerian Borowczyk. Assistant Dir: Chris Marker . A satirical look at competitive space travel using collage and pixilation techniques
Street of Crocodiles UK/21mins/1986 This animated puppet film is adapted from the short stories of the Polish writer and artist Bruno Schulz published in the thirties. The Street of Crocodiles is part of an eerie, derelict town where strange but recognisably human figures engage in an endless round of apparently meaningless activity.
Very Nice Very Nice Canada/1961/7mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Arthur Lipsett. Impressions of the absurdity and triviality of everyday life, described by Kubrick “one of the most imaginative and brilliant uses of the movie screen and soundtrack that I have ever seen.”
Television Land USA/1971/12mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Charles Braverman. A montage of images of television that indicates the profound effect television is having upon society.
Outer Space Austria/1999/10mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Peter Tscherkassky. Prolific Austrian avant-garde filmmaker and theorist, Tscherkassky. reinvents a 1981 Barbara Hershey horror vehicle in this bravura experimental film. Gavin Smith's Films Of The Year, Film Comment.
The Sandman USA/1981/4mins/Colour/35mm Dir: Elliot Noyes Jr. An animated film made entirely from sand. More titles to come.
Sat 16/12 & Mon 18/12 ROGER CORMAN: KING OF THE B’S
Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel USA/1978/57mins/ Colour/16mm Dir: Christian Blackwood. Corman made his reputation as a director in the ‘50's with films like 'Little Shop of Horrors' and 'Bucket of Blood' then acted as a godfather to a generation of American filmmaking by producing the first films of Scorsese, Coppola, Demme, Bogdanovich, Dante, and many others.
Rock All Night USA/1958/60mins/B&W/16mm. Dir: Roger Corman. This 'fairly deranged rock and roll suspense picture' is a personal favourite of Corman's: 'One of the strangest movies I ever made'. It was shot on one set in a fortnight.
Sat 23/12 Only SATANIC HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD
For years religious groups have claimed Hollywood a dark satanic mill, hell-bent on perverting the minds of impressionable youth. Now, for the first time, you’ll learn the shocking truth behind the Satanic influence in Hollywood in a special multimedia presentation on Hollywood’s satanic underground presented before tonight’s films by Cinematheque curator Brett Garten. Xmas parties welcome.
All Eyes on Sharon UK/1969/12mins/B&W/16mm. Production Featurette about the making of eye of the Devil starring Sharon Tate.
Lucifer Rising USA/1972-1981/27mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. An intricate tapestry of images that is about as pure as cinema gets. 'Lucifer Rising' is given dramatic emphasis by Bobby Beausoleil's psychedelic rock score, recorded while he was serving time in prison for his involvement with the Manson Family Murders.
Invocation of My Demon Brother USA/1969/11mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. Mick Jagger created the droning Moog soundtrack to this fast moving collage of Magick elements.
“Anger’s short films - and especially this one - have probably been more important in shaping pop and art culture than any other single short film. For that he deserves credit and recognition.” imdb.com
“Anger’s short films - and especially this one - have probably been more important in shaping pop and art culture than any other single short film. For that he deserves credit and recognition.” imdb.com
Seventh Victim USA/1943/71mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Mark Robson Regarded as the most personal of producer Val Lewton's productions, and until Rosemary’s Baby, the benchmark for occult horror in Hollywood, this story, about a society of devil-worshippers in Greenwich Village and their attempt to silence one of their members when she endangers their secrecy, is rich in detail; but it is also the oppressive mood, the romantic obsession with death-in-life, which dominates the film.
Sat 30/12 & Mon 1/1 WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER
Australian Premiere. USA/2001/97mins/Colour/35mm Dir: David Wain. Janeane Garofolo and Paul Rudd star in this witty parody of coming-of-age teen movies of the 70s & 80s. Laugh away your NYE hang-over with this over-looked comic gem, never released in Australia, and presented here for the first time in a brilliant 35mm print.
“ A delectable parody of dawn-of-the Reagan-era teen flicks.” David Ansen, Newsweek
“The funniest movie I’ve seen all year.” Ain’t it Cool News
“The funniest movie I’ve seen all year.” Ain’t it Cool News
Sat 6/1 & Mon 8/1 RAINBOW MAN
Australian Premiere USA/1997/48mins/Colour/Digital Dir: Sam Green. From the makers of the Academy Award nominated doco, ‘The Weathermen’ comes ‘Rainbow Man’ - one of the most bizarre cases in the annals of American true crime. Rollen Frederick Stewart, a.k.a. ‘Rainbow Man’, achieved notoriety during the late 70's by appearing in the crowd at thousands of televised sporting events wearing his trademark rainbow-coloured afro wig. Later - after he became a born-again Christian - he added a sign reading "John 3:16". Over the years, grabbing the attention of the media became an obsession for Stewart. He abandoned his home and marriage to roam the country living out of his car, studying TV Guide each week in a never-ending quest to stay televised... with tragic consequences.
"More than an exploration one life, The Rainbow Man is a parable about alienation, the media, and the meaninglessness that often defines American life." Trevor Groth, Sundance Film Festival
Sat 13/1 & Mon 15/1 Films of LEN LYE
New Zealand born painter, filmmaker, sculptor, writer and teacher, Len Lye, was an artist’s artist and pioneer of “direct” cinema, or making films without a camera. Lye was also a member of Britain’s Realist Film Unit and made documentaries, commercials, and propaganda, or “morale-booster” films. The diverse talents of this eccentric and under-rated artist will be presented tonight with this extensive retrospective of his work. Monday’s screening will be accompanied by a talk by producer John Maynard, former director of the Len Lye Foundation.
Tusalava UK/1929/B&W/7mins/Digital. Lye's first film concerns Aboriginal myths about the witchetty grub.
Rainbow dance UK/1930/4mins/Colour/16mm. An ingenious animated advertisement for the British Post Office.
Experimental Animation UK/1933/2mins/B&W/16mm Fragment of unfinished film by Len Lye using puppet-animation.
Kaleidoscope UK/1935/Colour/4mins/16mm. An abstract film, made as a cigarette commercial using stencilling and hand painting.
Birth of a Robot UK/1936/7mins/Colour/16mm. Puppet film produced for the Shell Oil Company.
Trade Tattoo: The Rhythm of Work-a-Day Britain UK/1937/6mins/Colour/16mm Black and white documentary footage is fed through the Technicolor separation system so that it gains some of the complexities of modern painting.
Colour Flight UK/1938/5mins/Colour/Digital. A mainly abstract film, ostensibly an airline commercial, painted directly onto celluloid and synchronised to 'Honolulu Blues'.
Kill or be Killed UK/1939/18mins/B&W/16mm. Army training film showing how a British soldier stalks and kills a German sniper.
Swinging the Lambeth Walk UK/1939/4mins/Colour/Digital
Abstract animation is synchronised to music.
Abstract animation is synchronised to music.
Newspaper Train UK/1939/6mins/B&W/16mm This wartime morale-booster displays Lye's eccentric sense of humour and his ingenuity in using simple film tricks to achieve complex effects.
N or NW UK/1940/8mins/16mm Slightly surreal tale of a couple sorting out their differences by letter.
Musical Poster No. 1 UK/1940/2mins/Colour/16mm. This hand- painted film warns the public against the danger of talking too much.
When the Pie Was Opened UK/1941/B&W/8mins/16mm. Lively war-time propaganda film giving a recipe for a vegetable pie.
Cameramen at War UK/1941/15mins/B&W/16mm. Documentary on the task of the newsreel cameramen.
Color Cry UK/4mins/1952/Digital. An innovative direct film.
Rhythm UK/1957/B&W/5mins/Digital. The process of assembling a car is cut to match the rhythms of African drum music.
Free Radicals USA/1958-1979/4mins/B&W/16mm. A primitive kinetic dance of white lines and angles meticulously scratched onto black and white film over an 8-month period.
Particles in Space USA/1979/4mins/B&W/Digital. Simple scratches on black leader film take on profound qualities when synchronised to tribal drumming.
Tal Farlow USA/1980/B&W/3 minutes/Digital. Black scratch designs accompany a piece of jazz guitar music.
Sat 20/1 & Mon 22/1 BEST AND WORST ADS
USA-UK-Australia-France-Germany/120mins/B&W & Colour/ 16mm & 35mm. Two hours of the best and worst cinema and TV ads spanning the twenties to the naughties. From the first cinema advertisements produced by German avant-garde artist, Oscar Fischinger, through the incredible advertising films of Len Lye, to the latest high tech ads – this is a vast collection of hucksters and hacks, snake-oil salesmen and visionaries.
Saturday 27/1 BLACKTOP DREAMS
UK author Jack Sargeant will discuss the road movie genre in a guest lecture / Q&A - part of the Chauvel’s road movie season.
Two-Lane Blacktop USA/1971/102mins/Colour/16mm. Dir: Monte Hellman. This existential road movie is an under-rated cult classic and stars Warren Oates, James Taylor, and the Beach Boys Denis Wilson as rev-heads racing because there's nothing else to do.
Sunday 28/1 BLACKTOP DREAMS DOUBLE
Gun Crazy USA/1949/87mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Joseph H. Lewis A sexed-up film-noir couple-on-the-lam road movie described by the Surrealists as a film-noir version of L’age D’or.
They Live By Night USA/1948/95mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Nicholas Ray. A bleak tale of young love on the run from the law and heading nowhere. A classic.
The Chauvel Cinematheque acknowledges the assistance of the National film and Video Lending Service, the National Film & Sound Archive and the Australian Film Commission in the creation of this program.
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