International House

International House

The Ibrahim Theater @ International House Philadelphia is pleased to present a series of film and video screenings in conjunction with Philagrafika 2010.  Each screening will explore the ways printmaking and the printed image can intersect with film and the moving image.  The Ibrahim Theater @ International House is nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing innovative arts programs that represent a wide variety of cultural perspectives to the Philadelphia area.

Friday, April 2nd at 7pm

Graphically Illuminated

Using printed graphics as a visual language, these films offer an excellent example of the imaginative powers of some of the most highly regarded experimental filmmakers of the 20th century. Found and re-appropriated images mingle onscreen, energized by the kinetic energy of the cinema. Though their methods vary, each filmmaker imbues their work with a unique sense of whimsy balanced by a rigorous approach to structure. Viewed separately, each of these films is a world unto itself. Collected in this series they demonstrate the possibilities of using printed images for a decidedly unconventional approach to animated storytelling.

Heaven an Earth Magic
dir. Harry Smith, US, 1962, 16mm, 66 mins, color
Arguably Smith’s most important work, Heaven and Earth Magic is a landmark in avant-garde filmmaking.

Science Friction
dir. Stan Vanderbeek, US, 1959, 16 mm, 9 mins, color
"A social satire aimed at the rockets, scientists, and competitive mania of our time."- S.V

 Recreation
dir. Robert Breer, US, 1956, 16mm, 1.5 mins, color
Featuring a commentary by Noel Burch (in nonsense French), Recreation's rapid-fire montage of incredibly dense and vivid single-frame images has been compared to contemporary Beat poetry.

 48 Kopfe aus dem Szondi Test (48 Heads from the Szondi Test)
dir. Kurt Kren, Austria, 1960, 16mm, 5 mins, b&w
Kren's second film and the first he cut according to a strictly serial sequence technique: In various frame sizes, the 48 portraits from the Szondi Test for "experimental diagnosis of human impulses" are shown in pre-specified lengths (between one and eight frames). (Peter Tscherkassky)

 Tanka
dir. David Lebrun, US, 1976, 16mm, 9 mins, color
Tanka means, literally, a thing rolled up. The film, photographed from Tibetan scroll paintings of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, is a cyclical vision of ancient gods and demons, an animated journey through the imagery of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

 Duo Concertantes
dir. Lawrence Jordan, US, 1964, 16mm, 9 mins, b&w
"Jordan's imagery is exquisite and eloquent, concentrating on simple, repeated use of particularly poetic symbols and figures, a conglomerative effect of old Gustave Dore drawings, 19th century whatnot memorabilia, all fused to a totally aware perception." - Lita Eliseu, East Village Other