From: 40 Frames (email suppressed)
Date: Tue Sep 28 2010 - 09:26:21 PDT
Thanks for the report back Steve.
Sounds like a fun event. If only Chick could have been there!
Best,
Alain
On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:50 PM, jason livingston <
email suppressed> wrote:
> Steve
> Thanks for sharing a report for those of us who couldn't be there -- sounds
> great.
> JL
>
>
>
>
>
> Ithaca, NY
>
> http://jasontlivingston.com/
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:31:01 -0700
> From: email suppressed
> To: email suppressed
> Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Any report from Return to Canyon program (SF
> Cinematheque)?
>
>
> To elaborate on this, for any on the list who may desire more information,
> these two "Return to Canyon" events took place last Thursday and Friday
> (9/23 & 9/24) and celebrated the "early days" ('60s for the most part) of
> the screening and organizing events which evolved into Canyon Cinema, the
> film distributor, and San Francisco Cinematheque, the
> exhibitor/archive/advocate (with whom I have worked, doin' this 'n' that,
> for nearly twelve years). Short story is that "it all began" with a
> more-or-less spontaneous film screening shown on a sheet (or was it a
> blanket?) in the front yard (or was in back yard?) of Bruce Baillie's home
> (or his mother's home) in Canyon CA (that's a location, an unincorporated
> cluster of homes, a small one-room (more or less) school, post office and
> nothin' else), located in the wilds over the hills from Oakland CA (near
> Moraga, and actually surprisingly close—googlemaps showed it a 35 minute
> drive from San Francisco, but of course, getting lost is half the fun). This
> primal screening actually happened in 1961 so we jumped the gun for the 50th
> anniversary celebration but the occasion of PFA's publication of RADICAL
> LIGHT and the associated exhibitions made it all come together. (Note: the
> first of the two screenings to which I allude took place at SFMOMA on
> Thursday and is not the subject of this report).
>
> So anyway, and first of all, this event was largely conceived of and
> organized by Melinda Stone of the University of San Francisco and Liz Keim
> of the Exploratorium, and produced by a class they teach at USF with a lot
> of support and collaboration from the Middle School classes in Canyon. I
> want to give these people a ton of credit because they deserve it and it
> really was a great event.
>
> As far as the event itself, the thing was very fun, very festive and very
> much seemed some kind of throwback or shift into some kind of idyllic '60s
> fantasy world that also seemed largely like some sort of outdoor
> mid-summer's eve celebration in the Elven lands of LORD OF THE RINGS (or
> something). Party/dining area near the school, potluck with great food, kids
> from the school selling stuff as a fundraiser even. Local filmmaker's jug
> band The Goat Family (featuring filmmakers Rock Ross, Thad Povey and others)
> played for like an hour and even sang happy birthday to Bruce Baillie (and
> it really was—coincidentally—his birthday). Totally good, relaxed, summer
> evening picnic vibe. Maybe 100–150 people, lots of kids and families, kids
> running around and dancing. Very festive. Screening itself was in "the
> grove," a cluster of awesome redwood trees—the kinds that are like fifteen
> feet in diameter and hundreds of feet high. Folks laying on blankets, very
> nice night, moon rose during screening, during silent films cricket chirping
> loudly was amazing. Wandering the site, the films really held the screen,
> looked magical from a distance, the bright colors in the dark night (and it
> *was* really dark). Short docs by Canyon school kids on their school and
> community brought the community into it, but really the whole event was
> about this location, and the people who lived out there loved it; apparently
> there had been rumors about some things that had happened there in the '60s
> so many were fascinated by the whole thing. Filmwise, you can read the
> (partial) film list in Alain's link; largely Northern California films and
> filmmakers—Baillie, G. Nelson, Strand, Angerame—good show largely about
> NorCal light and landscape and the counter-cultural vibe that has permeated
> the scene out here (for better or worse, right East Coasters?). Deer on the
> roads on the way back to "civilization."
>
> I hope this is an interesting report. Again, this was largely the project
> of Melinda Stone and Liz Keim. Stone in particular is, IMO, a really
> wonderful artist whose work really is the organization of such large scale
> public events (including the San Francisco Market Street event of 2006; The
> California Tour of defunct drive-ins; 2001's "Sink or Swim" event with
> Cinematheque; etc). Her events bring people together in magical ways, often
> incorporating filmmakers and a-g film, and open up locations to communities,
> encouraging the creative consideration of geography and history like nothing
> else I really know. Despite the scale of some of her events, I'm not sure
> she receives meaningful recognition for this (which may be as she wants it,
> I dunno). But let's give her (and Liz, and the kids) credit.
>
> So there you go. I'd be interested to hear others' reactions...
>
> Steve Polta
> reporting from Mudrakers' Cafe in Berkeley CA
>
>
>
> --- On *Sat, 9/25/10, 40 Frames <email suppressed>* wrote:
>
>
> From: 40 Frames <email suppressed>
> Subject: [Frameworks] Any report from Return to Canyon program (SF
> Cinematheque)?
> To: "Experimental Film Discussion List" <email suppressed>
> Date: Saturday, September 25, 2010, 6:14 AM
>
> http://www.sfcinematheque.org/#/archive/201009240/
>
> The *Return to Canyon* program series looks wonderful. Any reports from
> the field? I'm particularly interested to
> hear any anecdotes from the program that took place in Canyon, CA.
>
> Best,
> Alain
>
>
> --
> 40 FRAMES
> Alain LeTourneau
> Pam Minty
>
> 40 FRAMES
> Attention: Pam Minty
> PO Box 15207
> Portland, OR 97293
> USA
>
> +1 503 231 6548
> 40frames.org
> 16mmdirectory.org
>
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-- 40 FRAMES Alain LeTourneau Pam Minty 40 FRAMES Attention: Pam Minty PO Box 15207 Portland, OR 97293 USA +1 503 231 6548 40frames.org 16mmdirectory.org
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