A Self-Portrait in Ten Films

1.  Le Berceau de cristal (Philippe Garrel, 1976)
2.  India Song (Marguerite Duras, 1975)
3.  Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1974)
4.  L'Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
5.  The Black Cat (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1936)
6.  Deux (Werner Schroeter, 2002)
7.  Spectator(Frans Zwartjes, 1970)
8.  Morocco (Josef von Sternberg, 1930)
9.  Nostra Signora dei Turchi (Carmelo Bene, 1968)
10.  T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G (Paul Sharits, 1968) 

September BLACK SUN CINEMA

Cork Film Centre presents 

Black Sun Cinema:

'White Noise'

a film programme curated by Florian Wüst

in association with Sirius ArtsCentre, Cobh, and Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, Berlin

Saturday 22 September 2012, 7pm, €8
TDC, Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin St., Cork

Black Sun Cinema is partnering with Cork Film Centre this September 22nd to present a very special evening of experimental films from Berlin’s famous Arsenal archive. We are delighted to welcome Florian Wüst, Berlin-based artist and film curator, currently on residency at Cobh's Sirius Arts Centre, who programmed and will present this selection of works with the theme ‘White Noise’.

‘White Noise’ centres on legendary German underground film icons Wilhelm and Birgit Hein and gives Cork audiences the rare opportunity of seeing four of their films.

The programme as a whole reflects the deconstruction of cinema and television not only as a monolithic system of representation and a dream factory, but also as an instrument of corporate power and social control. Images of (human) disfigurement and the mysteries of childhood mix with the penetration of the senses on different levels. The combination of poetic collage, critical analysis, and radical abstraction intends to challenge the emotional as well as physical capacities of the audience.

‘White Noise’ also features works by internationally acclaimed artists and filmmakers: Thorsten Fleisch, Christoph Girardet & Matthias Müller, Sharon Lockhart, Gunvor Nelson, Richard Serra & Carlota Fay Schoolman, and Wolf Vostell.

Where possible, films in this programme will be projected from 16mm prints.




Programme:

My Name is Oona, Gunvor Nelson, USA 1969, 10'
Rohfilm, Wilhelm & Birgit Hein, West Germany 1968, 22'
Sun in Your Head, Wolf Vostell, West Germany 1963, 7'
Khalil, Shaun, A Woman under the Influence, Sharon Lockhart, USA 1994, 16'
Charles Manson, Wilhelm & Birgit Hein, West Germany 1970, 5'

--- interval ---

Television Delivers People, Richard Serra & Carlota Fay Schoolman, USA 1973, 6'
625, Wilhelm & Birgit Hein, West Germany 1969, 34'
Energie!, Thorsten Fleisch, Germany 2007, 5'
Contre-Jour, Christoph Girardet & Matthias Müller, Germany 2009, 11'
Weissfilm, Wilhelm & Birgit Hein, West Germany 1977, 5'

www.maximilianlecain.com

I've got a new website! It's basically a simple introduction to my various creative activities:

http://maximilianlecain.com/

It won't be taking over from this blog, which I will continue to update regularly.

(NO)te to Self

A wonderful interview with Klaus Wyborny was posted a couple of days ago, in which the great German filmmaker states:

"Film has no language. It doesn't have an equivalent for 'no'. There is no negation."

I can't help feeling that much of my work in recent years is somehow concerned with researching this impossible (??) negation.

Help Donal Foreman Make It: OUT OF HERE...

Something exciting is afoot in Irish filmmaking: (An)Other Irish Cinema comrade, frequent Experimental Conversations contributor, old and dear friend, and, not least, excellent filmmaker Donal Foreman is in pre-production on his first feature, Out of Here.

If you aren't familiar with his work, watch his short film Pull:  

https://vimeo.com/14751067

Pull is evidence enough that when Donal promises that Out of Here will present Dublin youth culture 'in a light not previously seen or explored', he is not exaggerating. Having had the privilege of reading a draft treatment for this project, I have no doubt that something very special will emerge.

Stalker Films, the producers behind Out of Here, are running a crowd-funding investment scheme to finance the film. With nearly half of the €30,000 budget already raised, donating towards or investing in Out of Here is well worth eviscerating the piggy bank for.

For full details of the film, including details on how to invest in it, see:

http://www.outofherefilm.com/     

Don't Forget!

Black Sun Cinema tomorrow (Sunday August 12th) afternoon @ Triskel Christchurch Cinema, Cork!

http://triskelartscentre.ie/events/2158/black-sun-cinema/

Listed on the Cork Independent newspaper's 'To Do' list as 'Film Of The Week'!

http://corkindependent.com/stories/item/10876/2012-32/To-do-list

Astonishing Humphrey Esterhase Revelation!

Many readers of this blog will be aware of the sad and frustrating phenomenon of the late Humphrey Esterhase, the noted 1960s underground filmmaker whose entire filmography was destroyed in a tragic accident in the late '60s and who vowed never to work again. A couple of years back, he seemed to change his mind. He collaborated with me in making Ten Minutes Isn't Worth a Dream in 2010 and seemed ready to start working on a comeback of his own. Unfortuately, he sank back into alcoholic depression and passed away last year. In tribute, I put together a small film from some Super-8 tests he shot in his last years and sound from his often harrowing taped diaries to form The Last Films of Humphrey Esterhase. And I really thought that would be the last of him.

(You get a good sense of the man from this interview I did with him: http://lecain.blogspot.ie/2010/08/conversation-with-humphrey-esterhase.html)

But now, out of nowhere, a black-and-white 26-minute video has appeared on Youtube called Habits of a Lifetime (Notes Towards a Dream Diary by Humphrey Esterhase). It is undoubtedly Esterhase's work. I've been in touch with Nigel Naniwa, the person who uploaded it, and it seems he found a VHS tape with this work on it by chance in a skip he was going through whilst on holidays in Switzerland. The only other items in the skip were toys and furniture. He uploaded it simply because some of the images appealed to him. By his own admission, he knows nothing about Esterhase or experimental film in general. I've arranged to buy the VHS from him with a view to doing whatever restoration work I can on it, although he warns me that it already contains mould. 

What is this rediscovered work?! For a start, proof that Esterhase attempted at least one moving image project between 1970 and 2010. The title- 'Notes Towards...'- indicates that it might have been a sketch for a more elaborate project that was never accomplished. Is this a finished piece or a rough cut? A statement or an experiment? Abandoned? Very possibly honestly forgotten by its author in his tragic final years. He certainly never mentioned it to me.

Anyway, my head's too dizzy with the implications of all this to write more. To see the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQKt92KNfmo&feature=youtu.be

Gianluca Pulsoni on PERSISTENCIES OF SADNESS & STILL DAYS

Italian writer Gianluca Pulsoni has written an insightful review of Persistencies of Sadness & Still Days, the four-hour feature film I made in collaboration with Rouzbeh Rashidi. So far, it's for Italian readers only, but an English translation will follow.

Two Films at Hunter's Moon

Two of my collaborations with Vicky Langan, Dirt and Lullaby, will play throughout the Hunters Moon Festival, a wonderful experimental music festival taking place in Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim on the 26th, 27th and 28th of October 2012. Films by Vivienne Dick, Rouzbeh Rashidi and Michael Higgins are also being screened.

Black Sun Cinema: The Poster!

Superb poster for next week's event designed by Rouzbeh Rashidi.