Oddball Films Media
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Aug 30, 2012
Oddball Films and guest curator Hila Abraham bring you Spread Eyes and Fly! Let the everyday unfold before you and reveal the transitory meanings and senses embedded in the shapes and colors of our worldly encounters! Come join us while we thread our way through the aisles of our prosaic existence to a more poetic one. Use your eyes to fly and see from above a world of wonder... Embrace your inner bird with the sweet tale of The Icarus Wish (1972), and learn something you haven’t known about Birds and Their Characteristics (1961). Explore an Unseen World (1970) in the science-film written by science-fiction author Isaac Asimov. From microscopes to slow motion cameras, the film explores the question: What secrets lay beyond our present view of the unseen world? No. 00173(1969), a rare experimental Polish film, features one butterfly in its quest to catch your eye and arouse a touch of beauty at a Metropolis-like factory. Claude Lelouche’s short film Rendezvous (1976) presents a one-shot mesmerizing high-speed-drive through the streets of Paris. Keeping up with the speed, we’ll be moving on to Tom and Jerry: Is There a Doctor in the Mouse? (1964). Jerry discovers a secret potion that turns him into an ultra-fast mouse and Tom goes crazzzzy! Made in the renowned Béla Balázs studios and generally considered the starting point of a fresh visual style in Hungarian filmmaking, Elegy (1968) is a pure and captivating film-poem with a haunting soundtrack and startling beautiful images of wild horses, cracked pavements, circus magicians, naked trees, and more. We will close our night with some words of wisdom by Blind Gary Davis (1964), an inside look into the music and lifestyle of blues guitarist and reverend Gary Davis.
Date: Friday, August 31st, 2012 at 8:00pm
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San FranciscoAdmission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
Featuring:
Signs Symbols and Signals (Color, 1969)
An instructional film with a subtle, poetic quality. Through precise editing, the everyday unfolds before us, revealing the transitory meanings and senses embedded in the shapes and colors of our worldly encounters.
A modern take on the ancient yearning to fly. Local filmmaker Bauer Byron uses multi-screen images to glance upon a child's innocent wishes, fears and fantasies.
Elegy (Color, 1968)
A pure elegy made by major Hungarian film director, screenwriter, visual artist and occasional actor, Zoltan Huszárik. This 20-minute poetic short, made in the renowned Béla Balázs studios, is generally considered the starting point of a fresh visual style in Hungarian filmmaking. It relies primarily on montage, sans narration or dialogue, only a haunting soundtrack and startling, beautiful images of wild horses, cracked pavements, circus magicians, naked trees, and more.
Birds and Their Characteristics (Color, 1961)
What makes one a bird? Come specialize in the feathered creature's indications!
Rare and brilliant, this experimental film by Polish director Jan Habarta portrays a fictional factory with Metropolis-esque workers in radiation suits. In the midst of this grey atmosphere, one butterfly tries to arouse a touch of beauty.
Unseen World (Color, 1970)
From microscopes to slow motion cameras, humankind has learned to overcome physical limitations of the eye by inventing instruments that extend sight into otherwise unseen worlds. “Unseen World” explores a stunning array of matter, forms, colors and movements, reissuing the question: “What secrets lie beyond our present view and understanding of the unseen world?" Written by science-fiction author Isaac Asimov and narrated by actor Eddie Albert, this film invites you to penetrate the every-day.
Jerry has a secret potion that makes turns him into a hyper-fast mouse. In fact, he's so quick Jerry is able to grab food from Tom’s mouth without his noticing! Puzzled and famished, Smart-cat Tom comes up with the idea of filming Jerry and then projecting the film in slow motion...
Rendezvous (Color, 1976)
Hold on to your seat while taking this one-shot-high-speed-mad-dash-drive through the streets of 1970s Paris! Directed by French director Claude (A Man and a Woman) Lelouch.
An inside look into the music and lifestyle of one of music’s lesser-known masters, this short documentary focuses on the great country blues artist and reverend, Blind Gary Davis. Davis first recorded in 1935 and greatly influenced the folk movement of the 1960s. He is featured singing and talking about his career amidst the poverty of his Harlem neighborhood. Intimate and revealing, the film’s rich black and white tones compliment the dark tones and lyrics of Davis’s music. It is a sensitive and moving portrait that succeeds in making both social and personal statements. Directed by Harold Becker.
Curator's Biography
16 mm projector is music to her ears and she once admitted that she would want to die at the Castro theater -- Hila Avraham has been living in the East Bay for the past two years and she's absolutely in love with the place. She holds a Master's degree in Film Studies, interned at the Pacific Film Archive and at Oddball films, co-curated "Always For Pleasure: the Films of Les Blank" at the PFA, and today she works as a High-school film festival mentor. In her spare time she volunteers at the Prelinger Film Archives.