From: Nellie Killian (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Mar 25 2009 - 11:54:25 PDT
Hi everyone,
The full line-up for the inaugural Migrating Forms festival (the new
incarnation of the NY Underground Film Festival, taking place at Anthology
Film Archives April 15–19) has been announced. All is below, or you can
download a pdf at migratingforms.org
--Nellie
For more information, contact Kevin McGarry or Nellie Killian at
email suppressed
MIGRATING FORMS 2009: COMPLETE PROGRAM ANNOUNCED
New experimental film and video lives on at Anthology Film Archives
NEW YORK, NY (March 25, 2009)—Migrating Forms, the organization that has
grown out of the New York Underground Film Festival (NYUFF) (1993–2008), has
announced the full program for its inaugural festival of film and video, to
be held at Anthology Film Archives, April 15–19, 2009. Under its new
moniker, the festival will focus on presenting new experimental film and
video work from around the world. Under the aegis of Nellie Killian and
Kevin McGarry, former directors of the NYUFF, Migrating Forms will present
14 features and more than 50 shorts. Additionally, the festival will feature
screenings arranged by 16beaver, Bidoun Magazine, e-flux, Bradley Eros and
special events co-presented with MonkeyTown and Printed Matter. A jury
comprised of Redmond Entwistle (artist, New York), Jacob Korczynski (Images
Festival, Toronto), and Astria Suparak (Carnegie Mellon University’s Miller
Gallery, Pittsburgh) will determine special distinctions for outstanding
work exhibited throughout the week.
“Working under the new identity of Migrating Forms,” said McGarry “has given
the organization freedom to explore and exhibit work without situating it in
terms of notions of “underground.” Though we are presenting a lot of
familiar faces, we are also drawing from new areas including filmmakers who
primarily work in a visuals arts context.” Killian agreed, “While we have
broadened our scope this year and included more international work, we are
happy to continue to provide a potential venue for many of the artists who
had come to rely on the New York Underground Film Festival.”
Opening and Closing Nights
Migrating Forms will open on Wednesday, April 15 at 8:00pm with Dialogues
(2009), a new work by one of the early masters of the structuralist
avant-garde, Owen Land (formerly George Landow). Incorporating humor, tropes
of television and advertising, word play, and structural manipulation to
create a completely unique body of work, Dialogues is Land’s first film in a
decade, and in his words,
"On one level, Dialogues is a parody of Scorpio Rising, using era-specific
hit records to locate scenes in time and mood; on another level, it's an
interpretation of Plato's dialogue 'Phaedo,' in which Socrates proves the
doctrine of re-incarnation; on still another level, it is a polemic for the
Tantric belief in the sacredness of male-female polarity. With music by
Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, Joan Baez, Patti Smith, The Byrds, Phil
Collins, Alice Cooper, Genesis, The Human League, et. al. Rated R:
Restricted to audiences with a knowledge of Art History."
Michael Gitlin’s new film The Earth Is Young (2009) will close the festival
on Sunday, April 19 at 8:00pm. Gitlin’s work (The Birdpeople, Berenice) has
been shown internationally at museums, biennials and film festivals. In The
Earth Is Young, Gitlin explores the relationship between science and faith,
and writes:
"The Earth Is Young takes as its starting point a series of interviews
conducted with Young Earth Creationists, who find evidence of a six-day,
six-thousand-year old creation in their reading of the fossil and geological
record. Bordering on a kind of science-fiction film, The Earth Is Young is
an essay about the nature of science, and about the tools, both physical and
ideological, with which one builds a model of the world."
Feature Films
In addition to Opening Night and Closing Nights, Migrating Forms will
present feature length works by 14 filmmakers during the 2009 festival:
Alejandro Adams (Canary, 2008)
Oksana Bulgakowa (The Factory of Gestures, 2008)
Erin Cosgrove (What Manner of Person Art Thou?, 2008)
Barry Doupé (Ponytail, 2008)
Nikolaus Geyrhalter (7915 KM, 2008)
Laurent Gutierrez & Valérie Portefaix (The City of Production, 2008)
Sharon Lockhart (Goshogaoka, 1998)
Jessica Oreck (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, 2009)
(continued)
(features continued)
Alex Ross Perry (Impolex, 2009)
Lucy Raven (China Town, 2008)
Steve Reinke (Final Thoughts, Series One, 2007)
Lee Anne Schmitt (California Company Town, 2008)
Amie Siegel (DDR/DDR, 2008)
John Smith (Hotel Diaries 1–8, 2002–2007)
Shorts Programs
Works by an additional 52 artists will be shown during nine shorts programs,
listed below, plus many more in non-competition screenings.
Animal Charm Sabine Gruffat Karthik Pandian
Stephanie Barber Barbara Hammer Steve Reinke
Angelika Brudniak Susan Hiller Ben Rivers
& Cynthia Madansky Jesse Hulcher Michael Robinson
Yin-Ju Chen Kent Lambert Nina Schwanse
& James T. Hong Oliver Laric John Smith
Jacob Ciocci Eva Linder Stom Sogo
Steve Claydon Jeanne Liotta Jackie Sumell
Phil Collins Johann Lurf & Herman Wallace
Cecelia Condit Darrin Martin Leslie Thornton
Karel De Cock & Torsten Zenas Burns Robert Todd
Bradley Eros Eileen Maxson Naomi Uman
EMR Jesse McLean Aaron Valdez
Kevin Everson Josephine Meckseper Erika Vogt
Jim Finn Pavel Medvedev JD Walsh
Phillip Gerson Shana Moulton Carlo Zanni
Grey Gersten Takeshi Murata
Beatrice Gibson Pat O’Neil
Festival Schedule and Descriptions
Wednesday, April 15
8:00pm Dialogues Owen Land
Thursday, April 16
6:30pm The City of Production Dir. Laurent Gutierrez & Valérie Portefaix
Environmental engineering and burgeoning capitalism in a factory town in
China’s Pearl River Delta.
6:45pm Only You (shorts progam)
The Citizens Kevin Jerome Everson, Eros c’est Lamour Bradley Eros, All
Through The Night Michael Robinson, Annie Lloyd Cecelia Condit, Telethon
Kevin Jerome Everson, Passing Robert Todd
7:45pm Impolex Alex Ross Perry
"An unjustifiable blend of the bare-bones realism of John Ford's WWII
documentaries and the glorious stupidity of Abbot and Costello." (ARP)
8:00pm DDR/DDR Amie Siegel
"Siegel’s concern with cultural memory, identity, and the cinematic
portrayal of place centers on the former East German state, investigating
Stasi surveillance, filmmaking, collective therapy, and 'Indian hobbyists.'"
(Jason Edward Kaufman)
9:30pm Canary Alejandro Adams
Darkly comic sci-fi centered on the employees and corporate culture of a
Silicon Valley organ redistribution company.
10:30pm & 11:30pm MonkeyTown presents Darkroom Karthik Pandian
An hour-long psychedelic soundscape scored with minimal techno by composer
Eric D. Clark.
(continued)
Friday, April 17
6:30pm China Town Lucy Raven
An experimental photographic animation detailing the globalized production
and trade of copper wire.
6:45pm Living Large (shorts program)
Developer Karthik Pandian, Resonance Karel De Cock, 12 Explosions Johann
Lurf, Dogs of Straw Yin-Ju Chen & James T. Hong, Great Man and Cinema Jim
Finn, The Unseen Pavel Medvedev
7:45pm Goshogaoka Sharon Lockhart
A structural recording of exercises performed by a middle school girls’
basketball team in suburban Japan (1998)
8:00pm Land and Sea (shorts program)
The Diving Women of Jeju-do Barbara Hammer, Unnamed Film (from Ukrainian
Time Machine series) Naomi Uman
9:00pm 7915 KM Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Examining the physical and cultural landscape left in the wake of the
world's longest drag race, 7915km up Africa.
9:45pm VOID for FILM
programmed by Bradley Eros
A 7-hour marathon of imageless cinema and performance. "A range of works
beyond abstraction, from the filmless to the projectorless, all without
images. Zero degree cinema, past and present." (BE) Ten new, live or rare
works by: Baker, Brand, Eros, Fitzgibbon, Gibson/Recoder, Jacobs, McCall,
Perkins, Sanborn, Seven. Plus ten classics.
Saturday, April 18
12:30pm The Factory of Gestures Dir. Oksana Bulgakowa
A detailed study of the effect of media imagery on the 20th century
transformation of body language in Russian cinema.
3:15pm e-flux video rental
introduced by Anton Vidokle
Video art by Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Michel Auder, Wilson
Diaz, Jakup Ferri, Jorge Macchi, Diego Perrone, Jozef Robakowski, Corinna
Schnitt, Superflex
3:30pm California Company Town Lee Anne Schmitt
A series of portraits juxtaposing the histories and mythologies California
towns with their deteriorating present state.
(continued)
(Saturday, April 18 continued)
4:30pm Temporary Positions (shorts program)
sutro Jeanne Liotta, Riverbed Robert Todd, Jerk Stom Sogo, My Temporary
Visiting Position from the Sunset Terrace Bar Carlo Zanni, Horizontal
Boundaries Pat O’Neil
5:00pm e-flux presents Khiam Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
introduced by Anton Vidokle
A metaphysical reflection on the persistence of humanity in a cruel South
Lebanese detention camp (2000).
5:45pm Silent Traditions (shorts program)
The Last Silent Movie Susan Hiller, Without Books Life Would Have Been Very
Poor Eva Linder, zasto ne govorim srpski (na srpskom) Phil Collins
6:15pm What Manner of Person Art Thou? Erin Cosgrove
"The twisted tale of Elijah Yoder and Enoch Troyer; two anachronistic
believers who dispense violent justice on those they deem to be evildoers."
(EC)
7:15pm Mixed and Maxed (shorts pfrogram)
The Peace Tape Jacob Ciocci, Edge TV with Animal Charm Animal Charm,
Condensed Movie #2 Kent Lambert, Oh, That’s Wonderful Aaron Valdez, Motor
Post Motor Band Disband Erika Vogt, Still Untitled Oliver Laric, 0% Down
Josephine Meckseper, False Adaptation Phillip Gerson
8:00pm Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo Jessica Oreck
A lyrical, anthropological look at the historical and cultural basis for
Japan's love of insects.
8:30pm Conjurer Visit (shorts program)
Sand Saga Shana Moulton, the visit and the play Stephanie Barber, Somethings
Gonna Soon EMR, Black Oval White Sabine Gruffat, Transmissions Grey Gersten,
The Ancient Set Steve Claydon, Untitled RPG JD Walsh, What If? Darrin Martin
and Torsten Zenas Burns, Untitled (super-8s) Jacob Ciocci & Shana Moulton
10:00 Tube Time!
Annual web found footage tournament. Teams headed by Michelle Collins (Best
Week Ever!), Ben Coonley (artist), Ed Halter (Light Industry), and Joe Mande
(comedian) square off with the freakiest videos as decided by audience
applause. Hosted by Gabe Liedman.
(continued)
Sunday, April 19
1:15pm Hotel Diaries 1–8 John Smith
Shot over six years, John Smith documents global turmoil from a series of
sterile, comfortable hotel rooms.
2:30pm 16beaver presents an open screening
Organized by 16beaver, the collective—and audience members—show films
related to topic of occupation. Free admission.
3:00pm Final Thoughts, Series One Steve Reinke
A series of nine episodes, covering everything from the pain of Susan Sontag
to the life of a teen PA.
4:00pm Bidoun presents Moghollha (The Mongols) Parviz Kimiavi
A leftfield satire and sharp commentary on the expanding presence of cinema
and television in Iran (1973).
4:45pm Mature Audiences (shorts program)
My Happy Family Nina Schwanse, Carol Anne is Dead Michael Robinson,
Boy/Analysis Steve Reinke, Infinite Doors Takeshi Murata, The House That
Herman Built Jackie Sumell and Herman Wallace, Somewhere only we know Jesse
McLean, Court TV Unknown Eileen Maxson, Silverplay Stom Sogo, Novel City
Leslie Thornton, Crazy and Freaky Jesse Hulcher, Carol Anne is Dead Michael
Robinson, Boy/Analysis Steve Reinke
6:00pm Ponytail Barry Doupé
"A series of entropic scenarios held together by an attraction to failure
and its spectacle." (BD)
6:15pm Day by Day (shorts program)
Origin of the Species Ben Rivers, A Necessary Music Beatrice Gibson, Minot,
North Dakota Angelika Brudniak,& Cynthia Madansky, Kalendar Naomi Uman
8:00pm The Earth is Young Michael Gitlin
OFFSCREEN: Printed Matter
Throughout the festival, Printed Matter will offer a selection of
publications, book projects, dvds and multiples chosen to compliment the
2009 film program. Wares by participating filmmakers will also be on sale.
# # #
Image Credits
First: Oliver Laric; Owen Land; Michael Gitlin; Nina Schwanse
Second: Carlo Zanni; Sharon Lockhart (courtesy Gladstone Gallery); Jessica
Oreck; Shana Moulton
Third: Erin Cosgrove; Jim Finn; Barry Doupé; Johann Lurf
-- Nellie Killian __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.