Date: Friday, December 2, 2011 at
8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street,
San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 - Limited Seating RSVP to 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com
Program Features:
Liquid Air (1950, B+W)
Fifteen
minutes of fun used to be the norm with shows like John Kieran’s
Kaleidoscope (1949-1952). With episodes that focused on
unraveling the mysteries of earth in sizable chunks of time, Kieran, a quiz
show panelist and noted intellectual was our guide to the unknown. This particular short explores the
magic of gas and liquid with on screen experiments and candid conversations.
Arctic Mirror (1979, color)
Jay
Coggeshall and his female friend take their camera on a six-month trip into the
Arctic Circle to meet the people who live there. Walking and kayaking across hundreds of miles, the couple
learns about the land and the cultures that coexist on the top of the
world. Filled with serenity and
unusual imagery, this documentary is a unique transcript of life above the
line.
The Green Sea Turtle
with Jacques Cousteau (1970, color)
Jacques Cousteau is a
force of nature, a patron of the seas and an honorary amphibian. Filmmaker, scientist, inventor,
innovator, activist, scholar, diver and father, Cousteau is responsible for
much of what we know about the liquid world that covers most of our earth. This piece, part of The Undersea
World of Jacques Cousteau, follows a lone 400 lb turtle as she treks across
the ocean migrating one thousand miles.
Cousteau, known widely as “le Commandant” or “the Captain”, won a
Palm d’Or at Cannes Film Festival for his work on The Silent World with Louis Malles in 1956.
Geysers, Lava and
Hotspots (1961, color)
Beautiful
live action meshes with hand drawn renderings of how these natural explosions
take place. Geological and
geographical, this short by Journal Films Inc. gradually unveils it grand
drawing as it takes on the amazing science of these flaming hot liquids that
can’t help but eject from the earth.
Deconstructing the process from ground up, this is an informative look
at how this simple earth science works with an artistic reward at the end.
Aqua Frolics (1950, B+W)
This wet and wild
compilation is full of fun and strange water activities. A newsreel style staging of clowning
around in a world where most people need gills, these vignettes are silly and
somewhat surreal. All things once
thought normal go berserk when you add a little agua. This film is a fun respite from regular news footage and
sends a great message about imagination and the joy of performance art.
Living Things in a
Drop of Water (color)
Produced by Encyclopedia
Britannica Films, this educational documentary magnifies all things small and
un-seeable by the naked eye.
Travel deep inside a single drop of water to meet the thousands of
things that thrive within it.
Taking things down to the cellular level, this documentary ponders the
community of living organisms having a ball and procreating in something so
small we can’t even hold in our hands.
Water (1961, color)
Animator Phillip Stapp
delivers with this piece commissioned by the United Nations and approved by the
World Health Organization. Another
Journal Films Inc production, this documentary highlights Stapp’s interesting
animation style combining and contrasting live-action footage and photographs
with pointillist inspired drawing.
These airy images depict the problem of water rights, water shortage,
and the needs of our ever-growing world with snappy style. Stapp is well known for his work in
animation with films like Boundary Lines (1946) which introduced his ‘evolving scroll’ efforts
and work with music and lines. Water is a retro reminder of our problem with life’s
juice that has not yet subsided.
In a new world with 7 billion people, this film’s relevance is very contemporary
to our time.
Curator Biography
Soumyaa Kapil Behrens is a
filmmaker based in San Francisco.
Behrens is currently directing MY GARBAGE, MY NEIGHBORHOOD, a documentary film on the eviction and transformation of one of the
oldest recycling centers in San Francisco located in Golden Gate Park. She is also producing the feature film,
BEYOND REDEMPTION, an
anti-conventional western with women as unlikely heroes. Behrens teaches film locally and has an
MFA in Cinema Production from San Francisco State University.