Little Stabs at Happiness

Date: 13 December 1997 | Season: Little Stabs at Happiness

LITTLE STABS AT HAPPINESS
December 1997 – November 2000
London ICA

Music and film club presented by Mark Webber, Gregory Kurcewicz, Zoë Miller and BR Wallers.

Saturday 13 December 1997
The Beast (Walerian Borowcyk, 1975)
Plus three short films (no record of titles survives)

Saturday 10 January 1998
Deep End (Jerzy Skolimowsky, 1970)
Plus: St Therese (Piero Heliczer, 1970); Fuzz Against Junk (Rubington, 1960s); Straight and Narrow (Tony & Beverly Conrad, 1970)

Friday 6 February 1998
Vampyres (Jose Ramon Larraz, 1974)
Plus: Legend at Big Sur (Walter Chappell, 1974); That’s All (Simon Hartog, 1965); The Trag-Comedy of Marriage (Robert Pike, 1957)

Saturday 21 March 1998
Putney Swope (Robert Downey, 1969)
Plus: Winter (David Brooks, 1964-66); T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G, (Paul Sharits, 1968); Science Fiction (Stan Vanderbeek, 1959)

Saturday 18 April 1998
Two Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman, 1972)
Plus: Peaches and Cream (Charles Levine, 1969); Circles of Confusion (Bill Brand, 1974); Duo Concertantes (Larry Jordan, 1962-64)

Saturday 9 May 1998
Andy Warhol’s Bad (Jed Johnston, 1976)
Plus: Ai (Love) (Taka Iimura, 1962); Synchromy (Norman McLaren, 1979); Grey Butterfat Rainbow (Bill Cote, 1967)
*** Bad replaced the advertised film Twisted Nerve (Roy Boulting, 1969), which was unavailable

Saturday 6 June 1998
Blue Sunshine (Jeff Lieberman, 1978)
Plus: — —- (Thom Anderson & Malcom Brodwick, 1966); Plumb Line (Carolee Schneeman, 1970’s); A Lion’s Tale (Walter Ungerer, 1968)

Saturday 11 July 1998
The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976)
Plus: Little Stabs at Happiness (Ken Jacobs, 1959-63); Award Presentation to Andy Warhol (Jonas Mekas, 1964); An Experiment in Meditation (Storm De Hirsch, 1971)

Saturday 5 September 1998
Myra Breckinridge (Michael Sarne, 1974)
Plus: Now (Dennis Irving, 1969); Unsere Afrikareise (Peter Kubelka, 1966); The Girl Chewing Gum (John Smith, 1976)

Saturday 14 November 1998
Greetings (Brian De Palma, 1968)
Plus: Perfect Film (Ken Jacobs, 1986); Uptight … LA Is Burning … Shit (Ben Van Meter, 1969); New Improved Institutional Quality (Owen Land, 1976)

Saturday 23 January 1999
Electra Glide in Blue (James William Guercio, 1973)
Plus: Meatdaze (Jeff Keen, 1968); The Itch-Scratch-Itch-Cycle (Manuel De Landa, 1977); Incontinence (Manuel De Landa, 1978); A Report (Bruce Connor, 1963-67)

Saturday 27 February 1999
Secrets of Sex (Anthony Balch, 1970))
Plus: The Serpent (Scott Bartlett, 1971); The Petrified Dog (Sidney Peterson, 1948); Desistfilm (Stan Brakhage, 1954)

Saturday 13 March 1999
The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)
Plus: Fog Line (Larry Gottheim, 1970); Rubber Cement (Robert Breer, 1975); On the Marriage Broker Joke (Owen Land, 1980)

Saturday 17 April 1999
Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)
Plus: Defense D’Afficher (Hy Hirsch, 1955); Raw Nerves (Manuel De Landa, 1979); Lapis (James Whitney, 1963-66)
*** This event took place at The Scala ***

Saturday 15 May 1999
The Hardcore Life (Paul Schrader, 1978)
Plus: Versailles (Chris Garratt, 1976); Standard Time (Michael Snow, 1967); The Candidates (Richard Preston, 1964)

Saturday 19 June 1999
The Last Detail (Hal Ashby, 1973)
Plus: Ciao Bella (Betzy Bromberg, 1978); A History of Motion In Motion (Stan Vanderbeek, 1966); 24 Frames per Second (Taka Iimura, 1975-78)

Saturday 24 July 1999
Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
Plus: Film No. 7 (Harry Smith, 1951); Nitsch (Irm & Ed Sommer, 1969); Valse Triste (Bruce Conner, 1977)

Saturday 14 August 1999
Out of the Blue (Dennis Hopper, 1980)
Plus: San Francisco (Anthony Stern, 1968); Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1963); Oblivion (Tom Chomont, 1969-70)

Saturday 18 September 1999
Fahrenheit 451 (Francois Truffaut, 1966)
Plus: Speak (John Latham, 1968-69); The Autumn Feast (Piero Heliczer, 1967); Remedial Reading Comprehension (George Landow, 1970)

Saturday 16 October 1999
The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971)
Plus: Threshold (Malcolm Le Grice, 1972); Film Form 1 (Stan Vanderbeek, 1970); We Shall March Again, (Lenny Lipton, 1965)

Saturday 20 November 1999
Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
Plus: Surfacing the Thames (David Rimmer, 1970); In Quest of Meat Joy (Carolee Schneeman, 1968-69); Visions of a City (Larry Jordan, 1957)

Saturday 18 December 1999
Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
Plus short films and videos by Webber, Wallers and Kurcewicz.

Saturday 18 January 2000
Silent Running (USA, 1968)
 *** screened as part of an ICA event, not a regular Little Stabs At Happiness event

Saturday 19 February 2000
The Parallax View (Alan J Pakula, 1974)
Plus: Shower Proof (Fred Drummond, 1968); Serious Remembered (Stan Brakhage, 1959); The Film that Rises to the Surface of Clarified Butter (Owen Land, 1968)

Saturday 18 March 2000
Star 80 (Bob Fosse, 1983)
Plus: La Premiere Nuit (Georges Franju, 1957); Gyromorphosis (Hy Hirsch, 1955); I, an Actress (George Kuchar, 1977)

Saturday 22 April 2000
Kid Blue (James Frawley, 1973)
Plus: River of Stars (Bruce Wood, 1975,) Little Dog for Roger (Malcolm Le Grice, 1968); Valentin De Las Sierras (Bruce Baillie, 1967)

Saturday 20 May 2000
Taking Off (Milos Foreman, 1971)
Plus: Globe (Ken Jacobs, 1973); Tantra 1 (Gordon Payne, 1969); High Stepping (Roger Hammond, 1974)

Saturday 10 June 2000
Mickey One (Arthur Penn, USA, 1965)
Plus: A & B in Ontario (Joyce Wieland, 1984); What’s Wrong with this Picture? (Owen Land (formerly known as George Landow), 1972); Pièce Touchée (Martin Arnold, 1989)

Saturday 15 July 2000
Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
Plus: Migration (David Rimmer, 1969); Barn Rushes (Larry Gottheim, 1971); 3/60: Baum in Herbst (Kurt Kren, 1960)

Saturday 12 August 2000
Theorem (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1969)
Plus: Shutter (Taka Iimura, 1971); X (Vincent Grenier, 1976); Tung (Bruce Baillie, 1966)

Saturday 9 September 2000
Christiane F. (Ulrich Edel, 1981)
Plus: Kino Da! (Henry Hills, 1981); Epileptic Seizure Comparison (Paul Sharits, 1976); An Aesthetic Quality (Vaughn Obern, 1967)

Saturday 21 October 2000
Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves, 1968)
Plus: Le Sexe Enrage (Roland Lethem, 1970); The Visible Compendium (Larry Jordan, 1991); The Dead (Stan Brakhage, 1960)

Thursday 2 November 2000
A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, UK, 1971)
Plus: Boobs a Lot (Aggy Read, 1968); Marilyn Times Five (Bruce Conner, 1968-73); Flak (Graeme Ewens, 1970)


Little Stabs at Happiness

Date: 10 October 2000 | Season: Leeds Film Festival 2000, Little Stabs at Happiness

LITTLE STABS AT HAPPINESS
Tuesday 10 October 2000, at 8:30pm
Leeds The Hi-Fi

“Why do they do it Montag ? It’s sheer perversion”.

“Little Stabs At Happiness”, a nightclub hosted by Mark Webber of the pop group Pulp, has been taking place at the ICA in London since December 1997. The club, named after a Ken Jacobs short, presents films and music seldom seen or heard in public. Early in the evening there will be screenings of three short underground films by Manuel De Landa, Charles Levine and Owen Land, interspersed with experimental music or middle-of-the-road classics played at a low volume so you can sit around and talk. The music stops to make way for Francois Truffaut’s oddball feature Fahrenheit 451, a glimpse of a future where books are burned and big brother is always watching. When the credits roll, the volume rises and the dancing begins. DJ’s Gregory Kurcewicz, BR Wallers and Mark Webber play real songs with a beat you dance to. Reacquaint yourself with records you’d forgot as we roll out the disco classic, new wave big beats and chart toppers of yesteryear. This ain’t no arty poseur nonsense or kitsch school disco trip down memory lane.

Fahrenheit 451 (François Truffaut, 1966)
Plus: Wide Angle Saxon (Owen Land, 1974); Peaches and Cream (Charles Levine, 1969); The Itch-Scratch-Itch Cycle (Manuel De Landa, 1977)


Little Stabs at Happiness

Date: 24 May 2012 | Season: Little Stabs at Happiness

LITTLE STABS AT HAPPINESS
LUX/ICA BIENNIAL OF MOVING IMAGES
Thursday 24 May 2012, at 8pm
London ICA Theatre

A revival of Little Stabs at Happiness, the music and film club presented by Mark Webber at the ICA from 1997 to 2000. Early evening experimental films and contemporary music will be followed by a rare screening of Roberto Rossellini’s The Machine that Kills Bad People (La Macchina ammazzacattivi). When the credits roll, the volume rises, as original Little Stabs DJs and special guests spin disco anthems, new wave big beats and smash hits of yesteryear.  

8pm: Quiet Music & Underground Films
Irm & Ed Sommer, Nitsch, 1969, 16mm, 14 min
Tony & Beverly Conrad, Straight and Narrow, 1970, 16mm, 10 min
Manuel De Landa, Incontinence: A Diarrhetic Flow of Mismatches, 1978, 16mm, 18 min

9.30pm: Feature Film
Roberto Rossellini, The Machine that Kills Bad People (La Macchina ammazzacattivi), 1952, 16mm, 83 min
In Rossellini’s satirical comedy, a photographer uses a magic camera to avenge corruption and greed. 

11pm: Music & Dancing
Real songs with a beat you can dance to. 

1am: Close


Little Stabs at Happiness

Date: 15 January 2016 | Season: Little Stabs at Happiness

LITTLE STABS AT HAPPINESS
Friday 15 January 2016, at 8pm
London Short Film Festival at the ICA Theatre

A revival of Little Stabs at Happiness, the legendary music and film club presented by Mark Webber at the ICA from 1997 to 2000. Early evening experimental films and contemporary music will be followed by a rare screening of The Savage Eye, all shown on 16mm film, just the way it should be. When the credits roll, the volume rises, as original Little Stabs DJs and special guests spin disco anthems, new wave big beats and smash hits of yesteryear.

8pm: Quiet Music & Underground Movies
Thom Andersen, Olivia’s Place, 1966, 16mm, 6 min
Lewis Klahr, Pony Glass, 1998, 16mm, 15 min
Laida Lertxundi, My Tears Are Dry, 2009, 16mm, 4 min

9.30pm: Feature Film
Ben Maddow, Sydney Meyers & Joseph Strick, The Savage Eye, 1960, 68 min
A single woman tours the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, searching for hope but seeing only despair.

11pm: Music & Dancing
Real songs with a beat you can dance to.