SUNDAY 28TH MARCH
THE SOUNDS OF SCIENCE The films of Jean Painlevé set to a soundtrack by Yo La Tengo
Before David Attenborough and Jacques Cousteau - there was Jean Painlevé (1902-89). Poetic pioneer of science films, Painlevé explored a twilight realm of vampire bats, seahorses, octopi, and liquid crystals. In collaboration with his life-partner, Genevieve Hamon, Painlevé made more than 200 science and nature films and was an early champion of the genre. He was also one of the first filmmakers to take his camera underwater. Surreal, otherworldly documents of marine life, these films transformed sea horses and mollusks into delicate dancers in their own floating ballets.
Possessing a remarkable eye for life's eerie curiosities, Painleve's art pivots on the premise that 'science is fiction'. He created a landscape of bug-eyed wonderment marked by a playful sense of nature's hidden poetry and scandalized the scientific world with a cinema designed to entertain as well as edify. In the process he won over the circle of Surrealists and avant-gardists and counted amongst his friends Antonin Artaud, Sergei Eisenstein, Jean Vigo, and Luis Bunuel. Painlev's astonishing documentaries witness a genuinely 'magic realism', which continues to enchant audiences around the world.
The Sounds of Science pairs eight of his films with an alternative soundtrack by US art-rock band Yo La Tengo. Yo La Tengo's place in rock history is unique - few bands in memory dare to experiment quite so widely with such casual audacity. From screeching art-rock and jangling pop songs to electronic soundscapes and hushed lullabies, their music explores the range of musical history without ever sounding less than modern. In 2001 the band was selected by the San Francisco International Film Festival committee to compose new music for the films of Jean Painlevé. Their alternately sombre and joyously moody music seemed like a natural fit for Painleve's dramatic underwater studies.
A selection from The Sounds of Science will screen before Last Hope on Sunday 28th March. Tickets here or at the door.
With BIG thanks to Jim Knox!
SUNDAY 28TH MARCH
SIXTEEN ORIGINAL SHORT FILMS INSPIRED BY THE SEA.
Set to music from the Spunk catalogue & a live score by The Windy Hills
Set to music from the Spunk catalogue & a live score by The Windy Hills
TUESDAY 2ND FEBRUARY
TUESDAY 22ND DECEMBER
VBS.TV find dirt, dry-zones and Slayer in...
HEAVY METAL GANGS OF WADEYE
VICE Magazine's television network, VBS.TV, travel north to investigate a remote Aboriginal township
with a heavy metal gang problem.
with a heavy metal gang problem.
LAUNCH SCREENING
SATURDAY 30TH OCTOBER / SATURDAY 6TH NOVEMBER
SATURDAY 30TH OCTOBER / SATURDAY 6TH NOVEMBER
‘The “beautiful losers” of this documentary film are self-described former nerds, freaks and outsiders
who turned to skate and graffiti-inspired art, and become … successes.’
~ The Moment / The New York Times blog.
A film by Aaron Rose (Alleged Gallery, NYC) & Thomas Campbell, Shepard Fairey, Jo Jackson,
Chris Johanson, Margaret Kilgallen, Harmony Korine, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee, Mike Mills,
Stephen Powers & Ed Templeton. With music by Money Mark
.
who turned to skate and graffiti-inspired art, and become … successes.’
~ The Moment / The New York Times blog.
A film by Aaron Rose (Alleged Gallery, NYC) & Thomas Campbell, Shepard Fairey, Jo Jackson,
Chris Johanson, Margaret Kilgallen, Harmony Korine, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee, Mike Mills,
Stephen Powers & Ed Templeton. With music by Money Mark
.