Thursday, October 7, 2010

Chick Strand - Senses and Sensibilities



The Festival du nouveau cinéma and the Double Negative Collective present the work of Chick Strand.

Chick Strand, who died at 77 in 2009, is one of the most important figures in U.S. experimental and poetic filmmaking. Strand co-founded Canyon Cinema in northern California in the early 1960s, made almost twenty films and nurtured a generation of experimental filmmakers through her teaching. Her intimate, sensual camerawork and profound exploration of women’s personal and domestic worlds make her approach to poetic documentary absolutely unique. Filmed in both the United States and Latin America, these works are provocative and lyrical explorations of what it means to be a woman, a worker, a wife and, most of all, a human being.


Our first series includes the sensual shorts Waterfall (1967), Kristallnacht (1979), Fever Dream (1979) and the extraordinary, controversial Soft Fiction (1979), in which five women recount intense experiences of pleasure and/or pain from their pasts, ranging from sexual urges to incest and heroin addiction.

The second series includes Strand’s first released film, Angel Blue Sweet Wings (1966), as well as her first documentary, Mosori Monika (1970), in which she examines the relationship between an indigenous woman and a “civilizing” nun in Venezuela, and several powerful films shot in Mexico (1967-1986) that explore creative and domestic lives, mainly of women. - Irina Leimbacher

Irina Leimbacher will present the screening. She is a curator and film scholar of experimental and nonfiction film. She teaches at Keene StateCollege in New Hampshire, USA.

Screenings: 

October 15 at 21H00 / October 16 at 19H15 
Cinéma Paralèlle, 3536, boul. St.-Laurent, Montreal


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Chick Strand, décédée l’an dernier à l’âge de 77 ans, fut l’une des plus importantes figures ducinéma expérimental et poétique aux États-Unis. Cofondatrice de Canyon Cinema au début des années 60, elle réalisa près de 20 films et son enseignement fut une source d’inspiration pour toute une génération de cinéastes expérimentaux. Il est peu de dire que ses documentaires poétiques sont absolument uniques, tant par l’approche sensuelle, intime qu’elle adopta, que par l’exploration approfondie des univers féminins qu’elle privilégia. Filmés aux États-Unis et en Amérique latine, elle a su mieux que tout autre, à sa façon provocante et lyrique, définir une femme, un travailleur, une épouse et par-dessus, tout un être humain.

Le premier programme inclut les sensuels Waterfall (1967), Kristallnacht (1979), Fever Dream (1979) et l’extraordinaire et controversé Soft Fiction (1979) dans lequel cinq femmes racontent leurs expériences les plus intenses de plaisir et/ou de souffrance, expériences allant de pulsions sexuelles impérieuses à la dépendance à l’héroïne en passant par l’inceste.

Dans le second programme, on retrouve son premier film, Angel Blue Sweet Wings (1966), son premier documentaire Mosori Monika (1970), sur la relation entre une femme autochtone et une religieuse missionnaire au Vénézuéla, ainsi que plusieurs films tournés au Mexique (1967-1986) qui sont autant de portraits au quotidien, principalement de femmes. - Irina Leimbacher

Irina Leimbacher, programmatrice invitée, présentera la séance. Spécialiste du cinéma expérimental et du documentaire, elle enseigne au Keene State College dans le New Hampshire.

Projections: 

le 15 octobre 21H00 / le 16 octobre 19H15 
Cinéma Paralèlle3536, boul. St.-Laurent, Montreal

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Light Light / Sound Sound


Constellation Records and the Double Negative Collective are presenting a free outdoor screening / live music performance in the parking lot of the Constellation Records office this Sunday, August 29th, 2010.  There will be live performances by Brendan Reed, Xarah Dion, Ariel Engle and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and projected films and videos by Richard Kerr, Eduardo Menz, Mike Rollo, Malena Szlam, Daichi Saito, and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. The event is free and the screening starts at 20H30.  The address is 110 Van Horne, Montreal, Quebec.

For more information:

Friday, June 11, 2010

“Melancholia” by James Elaine & William Basinski, Short Films 1997-2007


  • Monday, June 14, 1pm at La Sala Rossa - Free Entrance
  • Followed by a Q & A with William Basinski
  • Co-presented by Double Negative Collective as a part of the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival
"In Melancholia, one is immediately transfixed by the lilting, repetitive piano melody of Basinski’s 'The Saddest Melody Ever Heard'. Drawn slowly through the dark veil of a lonely tunnel of trees, eventually the world is revealed, shining deceptively. Immediately one begins a bumpy journey around a dull and hollow shell, before being drawn back, away through the encroaching black veil that cloaks and colors all perception. Shot in Super-8 at the World’s Fairgrounds in Flushing Meadows, Queens, NY, Elaine & Basinski’s Melancholia is a concise, darkly romantic psalm, an elegy, a love letter to a broken world."

Friday, June 4, 2010

Double Negative Collective and Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival present: FOSTERING THE LIGHT, MASTERING THE NIGHT

The Double Negative Collective presents a program showcasing their recent works as well as works by artists associated with Double Negative. Films and video by Christopher Becks, Lucia Fezzuoglio, Amber Goodwyn, Karl Lemieux, Lindsay McIntyre, Eduardo Menz, Mike Rollo, Daïchi Saïto, and Malena Szlam. Special guest: Sebastjan Henrickson of Niagara Custom Lab in Toronto, with his new 35mm film. Artists in attendance.

Friday, April 23, 2010

The Films of Robert Beavers


The Double Negative Collective is honored to present the films of Robert Beavers with a rare screening of his work.  The lifetime partner of fellow filmmaker Gregory Markopoulos, Beavers began making films in the 1960s and thus marked his place within the history of the American avant-garde. Senior curator Susan Oxtoby of the Pacific Film Archive has written: "The films of Robert Beavers are exceptional for their visual beauty, aural texture, and depth of emotional expression.”  Beavers’ film oeuvre, not widely shown, has seen a revival in recent years with retrospectives at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley and San Francisco Cinematheque. Feature analysis of his films and writings can be found in the Millennium Film Journal and Artforum.  We would like to thank the following people for their assistance with this screening:  the organizers of the "Early Monthly Segments" film screening series in Toronto (Kate MacKay, Scott Miller Berry, and Chris Kennedy) and Robert Beavers for allowing us to screen his 16mm prints.


The films featured in the program include:

Early Monthly Segments (1968-2002, 16mm, color, silent, 33min.)
The Painting (1972/1999, 16mm, color, sound, 13min.)
Pitcher of Colored Light (2007, 16mm, color, sound, 23min.)

The screening will take place on Sunday May 2nd, 2010 at da time machine located at 155 Van Horne (between Waverly and De l’Esplanade) at 9:00pm (Door opens at 8:30pm).  There is a suggested five dollar entrance fee.

Further reading of Robert Beavers’ work: