Mysteries of the Mind - Past Lives, Psi Phenomena and Telekinesis

Oddball Films Media • Aug 23, 2015

Oddball Films presents Mysteries of the Mind - Past Lives, Psi Phenomena and Telekinesis, a thought-provoking program of exceptionally rare films that seek to shed light on these extra-sensory and seemingly otherworldly phenomena. Whether fraud or bonafide supernatural events, these compelling documentaries offer a glimpse into another world beyond the normal reach of the human brain. Go under hypnosis and seek out your past lives with The Bloxham Tapes (1978). These actual recordings (and the reimagined reenactments) of the hypnosis sessions of Arnall Bloxham reveal the kind of uncanny details that lend to the belief in reincarnation. Felix the Cat uses hypnotism to lure a runaway beast for its reward in the silent cartoon Felix Hyps the Hippo (1924). Discover the fascinating world of telekinesis, automatic writing and the other secrets of Britain's own "Poltergeist Boy" in Matthew Manning: Study of a Psychic (1974). Find out if you have ESP (or if that's even a thing at all) in the campy mini doc Psi: Boundaries of the Mind (1976). And pry open the human brain with the leading neuroscientists of the 1950s in an excerpt of New Frontiers of the Brain (1959). All films screened from 16mm prints from the archive.

Date: Thursday, August 27th, 2015 at 8:00pm

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco

Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com

Featuring:

The Bloxham Tapes (Color, 1978)
A fascinating British documentary focusing on the tape recordings of eminent hypnotherapist Arnall Bloxham who, over the course of more than 20 years, has hypnotized 400 people, recording what appear to be uncannily detailed descriptions of previous lives. The film considers the question of whether or not the Bloxham tapes can be taken as proof of reincarnation or the possibility of the hoax of implanted memories. The film features real participants and re-imagined reenactments of the detailed stories that come out of their sessions.

Matthew Manning: Study of a Psychic (Color, 1974)

Discover the secrets of Britain's own "Poltergeist Boy". Based on the teen psychic's bestselling book "The Link", this film covers Manning's first psychic experiences and how his powers developed, from the terrifying outbursts of poltergeist activity at school and the hysteria it produced, through his discovery and use of automatic writing to channel his energies to more creative work. Also, it covers the medical diagnoses, his metal-bending, remarkable pictures, and his collaboration with many of the world's leading scientists, from a Nobel Prizewinner in physics to major figures in the field of parapsychology.

Felix Hyps the Hippo (B+W, 1924)

Felix the Cat gets into the mind-control racket! He gets duped by a hypnotist, but snags the man's "How to be a Hypnotist" book and declares "Hooray! I have the world in my power!" When he sees a sign for a reward for a lost hippo (who from some reason has a horn), he tries to put his mind-control powers to work in order to cash in.

New Frontiers of the Brain (B+W, 1959)

1950s neuro-pseudoscience! An excerpt from the CBS documentary about experiments in understanding how the brain works includes testing theories on cats and mice as well as human minds. Is motor function connected to actual feelings of need? See these investigators pry open the actual brain and poke at it to see what is really capable of. This is a somewhat disturbing but also spellbinding film to watch as the brain becomes broken down into a tool of nuanced functions.

Psi: Boundaries of the Mind (Color, 1976)

This fairly campy mini doc explores the possibilities of a sixth sense through cheesy reenactments, interviews with proponents and critics, and actual footage of ESP experiments. Watch as they blindfold and wire up a woman to test her perceptibility.

About Oddball Films
Oddball films is a stock footage company providing offbeat and unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Silicon Valley, Kurt Cobain: The Montage of Heck, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web projects around the world.
Our screenings are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educational films, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.