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 Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating
RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
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.
The Icarus Wish (Color, 1972)
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!
No. 00173 (Color,
1969)
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.
Tom and Jerry: Is There a
Doctor in the Mouse? (Color, 1964)
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.
Blind Gary Davis (B+W, 1964)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.