Date: 21 October 2011 | Season: London Film Festival 2011 | Tags: London Film Festival
FREE RADICALS: A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA
Friday 21 October 2011, at 6:30pm
London BFI Southbank NFT3
Pip Chodorov, Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Cinema, France, 2010, 82 min
Free Radicals scratches the surface of the history of avant-garde cinema in Europe and the USA, from early post-war pioneers through to the founding of New York’s Anthology Film Archives, a museum whose screen is the exhibition space. Director Pip Chodorov is well-placed to chronicle the movement – he established the Re:Voir label to distribute tapes and DVDs of artists’ films, and counts many key exponents amongst his friends. In this personal journey through experimental movies, he surveys a generation of artists who pushed the boundaries of the medium. Working without compromise, and without financial rewards, they were forced to create their own support structures in an expression of solidarity. Whilst not claiming to be a definitive documentary, Free Radicals is a discerning introduction to the field, and its informal nature provides a privileged glimpse at the personalities involved. Archival footage of Hans Richter, Nam June Paik and Stan Vanderbeek (drawn from TV programmes made by the filmmaker’s father) supplements new interviews with Chodorov’s distinguished acquaintances (Jonas Mekas, Peter Kubelka, Ken Jacobs, Robert Breer) and generous excerpts from the films themselves. (Mark Webber)
Also Screening: Monday 24 October 2011, at 4:15pm, NFT3
& Monday 24 October 2011, at 7pm, BFI Studio
PROGRAMME NOTES
FREE RADICALS: A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA
Friday 21 October 2011, at 6:30pm
London BFI Southbank NFT3
FREE RADICALS: A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA
Pip Chodorov, France, 2010, video, colour, sound, 82 min
The artists and poets of cinema since before WWI have always been free radicals, crazy about filmmaking and pushing the art form in radical new directions. Trapped in a no man’s land, excluded both from the art world and the film industry, they boldly created a grassroots network for making and showing their films in a spirit of friendship and solidarity. They also created a profound body of work that continues to influence our culture. In this film, I want to share a few of the films I love and introduce you to some of the free, radical artists who made them. (Pip Chodorov)
Paris-based filmmaker and film activist Pip Chodorov offers this affectionate overview of some of the leading figures of, 20th century experimental film. Narrating in a personal and plainspoken manner (‘I’d like you to meet some of my friends and see their films’), Chodorov combines clips and even films in their entirety with conversations with such luminaries as Hans Richter, Robert Breer, Michael Snow, Peter Kubelka, and Stan Brakhage in his final recorded interview. The film takes its title from Len Lye’s direct animation classic. It was up to visionaries like Jonas Mekas and the organizations he founded – Film-Makers’ Cooperative, Anthology Film Archives – to help struggling filmmakers out. (At one point, Ken Jacobs describes dumpster diving for food.) Warm and inspiring, Chodorov’s film is part essay and part loving tribute. (AFI Film Festival)
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