Nathaniel Dorsky European Tour

Date: 13 October 2004 | Season: Nathaniel Dorsky | Tags:

Dorsky-by-Hiler

NATHANIEL DORSKY EUROPEAN TOUR
13 October—15 November 2004
European Tour

As an antidote to the frenetic pace and complexity of modern life, Nathaniel Dorsky’s films invite an an audience to connect at a precious level of intimacy, nourishing the mind and spirit. With films assembled in an almost selfless way, the viewer is given the freedom to express oneself more fully, rather than be consciously absorbed in the projections of another person. ‘In these films the audience is the central character and, hopefully, the screen your best friend.’

The films are photographed, non-narrative and have none of the visual trickery we might associate with the ‘avant-garde’. Dorsky’s camera is drawn towards those transient moments of wonder that often pass unnoticed in daily life: the jewelled refraction of sunlight on water, reflections from windows and dappled shadows cast along the ground. His iridescent cinematography is arranged in carefully montaged phrases that remain entirely open to the viewer’s personal interpretation; no heavily coded meanings and subtexts are imposed through associations in the editing. The world floods through the lens, onto the screen and into our minds.

Dorsky approaches each film as though it is a song, weaving together lyrical statements in a rhythmic cadence. His work achieves a sensitive balance between humanity, nature and the ethereal, creating space for private reflection. The screenings in Autumn 2004 showcase his new film Threnody, ‘an offering to a friend who has died’, and will include readings from his recently published book Devotional Cinema (Tuumba Press, 2003).

Nathaniel Dorsky lives in San Francisco, where he makes a living as a professional ‘film doctor’, editing documentaries that often appear on American public television and the festival circuit. In 1967 he won an Emmy award for his photographic work on the CBS production Gaugin in Tahiti: Search for Paradise. He has been making personal films since 1964, and his works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Pacific Film Archives (Berkeley), Image Forum (Tokyo) and Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris). It is widely acknowledged that the ‘most beautiful image’ sequence – a plastic bag floating in the wind – from the Oscar winning feature American Beauty was directly inspired by a similar shot from Dorsky’s film Variations.

Mark Webber

Nathaniel Dorsky: European Tour

13 October 2004, 8pm
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
THRENODY, 2004, colour, silent, 20 mins
ALAYA, 1976-87, colour, silent, 28 mins
THE VISITATION, 2002, colour, silent, 18 mins

15 October 2004, 8pm
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
VARIATIONS , 1992-98, colour, silent, 24 mins
ARBOR VITAE, 1999-2000, colour, silent, 28 mins
LOVE’S REFRAIN, 2000-01, colour, silent, 23 mins

21 October 2004, 6pm
Filmpodium, Zurich, Switzerland
THRENODY, 2004, colour, silent, 20 mins
ALAYA, 1976-87, colour, silent, 28 mins
THE VISITATION, 2002, colour, silent, 18 mins

31 October 2004, 4pm
London Film Festival, NFT, London, England
Devotional Cinema: A Lecture Screening
THRENODY, 2004, colour, silent, 20 mins
VARIATIONS , 1992-98, colour, silent, 24 mins
+ lecture and reading

SPECIAL EVENT: JEROME HILER
8 November 2004, 7pm
Lux Salon, London, England
An extremely rare screening of films presented by Jerome Hiler, including new and previously unseen works. 

9 November 2004, 6:30pm
Tate Modern, London, England
THE VISITATION, 2002, colour, silent, 18 mins
ALAYA, 1976-87, colour, silent, 28 mins
ARBOR VITAE, 1999-2000, colour, silent, 28 mins

11-15 November 2004
OpFilm, de Balie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
THRENODY, 2004, colour, silent, 20 mins
ALAYA, 1976-87, colour, silent, 28 mins
THE VISITATION, 2002, colour, silent, 18 mins

European tour co-ordinated by Mark Webber. With thanks to the London Film Festival, Philippe-Alain Michaud, Christophe Bichon, Stuart Comer, Hannes Schupbach, Erwin van ‘t Hart, Ben Cook, Josh Siegel, Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler.