BAUHAUS DESAU
COMPILATION, EDITION BAUHAUS - MEDIEN-KUNST / MEDIA ART
"Edition Bauhaus: Media Art. PAL DVD. The DVD features media art and animation films planned or produced in the 1920s at the Bauhaus school. Some of these experiments were never realized, others were not filmed at the time they were performed. In the 1960s and 1970s, some of the artists began to recreate their ideas. The DVD "Medien-Art" brings together the most important of these reconstructions. Werner Graeff, student at the Bauhaus in 1922, published the same year two scores for abstract films that he only realised in 1958/59 and 1977: KOMPOSITION I/1922 and KOMPOSITION II/1922. lso in 1922, Bauhaus student Kurt Schwerdtfeger developed his REFLEKTORISCHE LICHTSPIELE. fter the war, he reconstructed his scores and staged them together with students. [NOTE: only a partial version, 17 minutes, of the resconstruction film is included here]. Heinrich Brocksieper, a Bauhaus student from 1919 on, turned to photography in the late 1920s and shot some abstract animation home movies. Most of them were destroyed during the war, only three fascinating fragments FLÄCHEN, PERPELLERISTISCH; ENTE and NÄHERIN survived. Kurt Kranz studied at the Bauhaus from 1930 to 1933. In 1972, he filmed some of his paintings and concepts for animation films: ZWANZIG BILDER AUS DEM LEBEN EINER KOMPOSITION, SCHWARZ:WEISS / WEISS:SCHWARZ, DER HEROISCHE PFEIL, LEPORELLO ENTWURF FÜR EINEN FARBFILM and VARIATIONEN ÜBER EIN GEOMETRISCHES THEMA. As a bonus, the DVD brings early films by Hans Richter (RHYTHMUS 21, RHYTHMUS 23) as well as Eggeling's SYMPHONIE DIAGONALE obviously by mistake, this film is presented here, without an explanation, in a cut-down version of 2 minutes only, made by Hans Richter in the early 1950s. The main advantage of the DVD is the discovery of the abstract animation films of Brocksieper and the bundling of reconstructions of media art and animation. --Film Historian Jean-Paul Goergen. Includes booklet, in German. PAL. Approx 76 mins. Image from Kranz's 'Project for an abstract color film,' 1930."
Bestnr450
DVD
Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
- NABOB OF NOWHERE
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
- Location: Brandywine River
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
DVD
- denti alligator
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
- Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Anyone have anything to say about this Bill Morrison film.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
(Cross-posting from the BFI subforum)
I just watched the recent Flipside release of Requiem for a Village and made a wonderful discovery in the form of David Gladwell's 1964 An Untitled Film.
It's an incredibly great experimental film, predicated on virtuoso slow motion effects and a superb electronic score by the memorably named Ernest Berk (possibly the most appropriate name ever for an experimental composer!), and its nine minutes fully justified my purchase - a cascade of unforgettable images. I expect this film will appear on my 60s list next time around. As a bonus, it boasts an absolutely stunning HD transfer, direct from the original 35mm camera negative (and it shows).
I just watched the recent Flipside release of Requiem for a Village and made a wonderful discovery in the form of David Gladwell's 1964 An Untitled Film.
It's an incredibly great experimental film, predicated on virtuoso slow motion effects and a superb electronic score by the memorably named Ernest Berk (possibly the most appropriate name ever for an experimental composer!), and its nine minutes fully justified my purchase - a cascade of unforgettable images. I expect this film will appear on my 60s list next time around. As a bonus, it boasts an absolutely stunning HD transfer, direct from the original 35mm camera negative (and it shows).
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
I know it's bad and wrong to mock people's names and I apologise most sincerely, but that really did make me laugh out loud.a superb electronic score by the memorably named Ernest Berk (possibly the most appropriate name ever for an experimental composer!)
And I fully second the recommendation for An Untitled Film - if nothing else, it's black-and-white 1080p demonstration material.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Yes, the evidence is really piling up that good black-and-white transfers are the real stunners on BluRay, and this film is seriously one of the best B&W transfers I've ever seen. Definitely demo material.
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
The Digital Fixdenti alligator wrote:Anyone have anything to say about this Bill Morrison film.
- matrixschmatrix
- Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
I emailed the Center for Visual Music about the possibility of a second volume of Fischinger films, and this was the response I got:
So, nothing in stone, but I'd say this is pretty exciting news nonetheless.Well, a lot...we are working on DVD #2 now though, trying to raise enough $ to finish and release in 2012. We still need to preserve Muratti Greift Ein, though we may have half of the funding for that coming in, tentative. And looks like we have funding for Study nr 5. We're in the middle of preserving a few other titles for it; and the extra bonus features are preserved but not digitized.
Then we need a few thousand for HD transfers & audio, and a few thousand for design/packaging/authoring and replication.
We have a funding project set up, where people can donate either towards their favorite film, or digitization or the next DVD project...
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
This one's been out for a few months, but I've only just gotten around to watching it...
Lux's Jo Ann Kaplan set, Body of Work contains four of her short films and her hour-long documentary Invocation: Maya Deren which screened on Channel 4 back in 1988. The documentary alone justifies a purchase: a personal and analytical take on Deren and her body of work with contributions from Jonas Mekas, Amos Vogel, Stan Brakhage and others. (Helen Mirren narrates.) There's also plenty of enticing clips, not only of Deren's famed works but also the later, comparatively minor films and the unfinished projects. Kaplan's own films are an intriguing mixture of animation, dance and VALIE EXPORT-isms, but the doc is the key work here.
(I've linked to the Lux site, but the disc can also be purchased through MovieMail.)
Lux's Jo Ann Kaplan set, Body of Work contains four of her short films and her hour-long documentary Invocation: Maya Deren which screened on Channel 4 back in 1988. The documentary alone justifies a purchase: a personal and analytical take on Deren and her body of work with contributions from Jonas Mekas, Amos Vogel, Stan Brakhage and others. (Helen Mirren narrates.) There's also plenty of enticing clips, not only of Deren's famed works but also the later, comparatively minor films and the unfinished projects. Kaplan's own films are an intriguing mixture of animation, dance and VALIE EXPORT-isms, but the doc is the key work here.
(I've linked to the Lux site, but the disc can also be purchased through MovieMail.)
- rockysds
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:25 am
- Location: Denmark
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Microcinema is releasing a three-disc dvd collection of Rudy Burckhardt's films April 24th.
This just shot up alongside the Frampton and Epstein sets as one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
This just shot up alongside the Frampton and Epstein sets as one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
- rockysds
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:25 am
- Location: Denmark
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Re-voir recently upgraded their release of Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen, so there's a dvd now! Still priced at 69 euro, but it does contain two discs and a book.
- rockysds
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:25 am
- Location: Denmark
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
There's a dvd box release of three films by Ken Jacobs: "RAZZLE DAZZLE The Lost World", "Return to the Scene of the Crime" and "Anaglyph Tom (Tom with Puffy Cheeks)" available through Electronic Arts Intermix priced at $75. I haven't found any reviews of the discs and I'm curious if anyone on the board has purchased the set/has thoughts on it.
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- Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:29 pm
- Location: Los Angeles CA
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Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
It's a 3-D set - Razzle Dazzle & Anaglyph Tom, both of which we've screened at Filmforum, are anaglyph 3-D. Haven't seen the third one.
- Gregory
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
I just received this set and was a little sad to see that it's 3 DVD-Rs. I did notice that the retail price of this one is only $50, compared to $60 for their 3-disc Joel Schlemowitz set (on pressed discs) from a few years back.rockysds wrote:Microcinema is releasing a three-disc dvd collection of Rudy Burckhardt's films April 24th. This just shot up alongside the Frampton and Epstein sets as one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
The transfers look about what I'd expected so far. The prevalence of digital artifacts, compression flaws, and haloing is distracting at times, but most of the time the transfers seem serviceable, especially on smaller displays. It's nice just to have these available to watch at home for the first time. There are sides to Burckhardt I'd never seen here. In his more familiar modes, his views of city life are by turns beautiful, wistful, funny, dramatic, frightening, and a lot more.
It would have been great if they could have included the little-seen documentary on Burckhardt, Not Nude Though.
- htshell
- Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:15 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
http://www.badlit.com/?p=23565" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Following rampant Internet speculation, Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film has received official confirmation and lots more detailed information regarding the films of Jonas Mekas that will be released on DVD in 2012.
Mekas’ films will indeed be released by a trio of Paris-based organizations — fashion icon agnes b., DVD distributor Potemkine and avant-garde film distributor Re:Voir — and are scheduled to come out in November. A box set collection, pictured above, will only contain a selection of Mekas films: Lost, Lost, Lost; The Brig; Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania; Walden; As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty; and a DVD of Mekas’ shorter films.
However, the DVDs will also be sold separately and several other films will also be made available through Re:Voir, including Guns of the Trees, Mekas’ first film.
Most exciting, though, is that all the DVDs will be released as Region 0, meaning that they will be playable on devices all over the world.
To coincide with this momentous release of the films of arguably the most significant figure in underground film history, there are several retrospectives and an exhibition being planned as well. In November, there will be a Mekas retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, followed in December by an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London and a retrospective at the British Film Institute (BFI).
Stay tuned for even more details in the coming weeks! And special thanks to Mekas’ son Sebastian for providing Bad Lit with this information.
- Gregory
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Great. I hadn't heard that was coming and just a few days ago purchased an expensive copy of Walden. I expect the box will be the most economical way to get all the rest. Anyway, it'll be great to see the rest (again). I found Lost, Lost, Lost and Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania wonderful and moving, for example.
- SpiderBaby
- Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:34 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Can't wait for this. Thanks for the news.
- Matt
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Except not because they will most likely be PAL and unplayable on most players sold in the US. But still, great news.Most exciting, though, is that all the DVDs will be released as Region 0, meaning that they will be playable on devices all over the world.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Re:Voir's release of Walden is essential. I hope they'll be retaining the massive book. The Brig is also already available, but I'll be happy to double dip on those if the box option is economical.
-
- Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:35 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Anyone familiar with the works of Lawrence Jordan or James Broughton? Amazon's offering a 2-pack of FACETS releases.. I haven't seen them mentioned on this thread before.
- Gregory
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
They've been talked about a little in other threads, such as this one (Jordan set discussed in that link), which is an earlier thread on "avant-garde/experimental" that has long run concurrently with this one.
Anyway, I've never enjoyed Broughton that much, myself. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from checking out that set but I'd recommend sampling his work through the films of his included on Kino's Avant-Garde 2 and 3 sets (which everyone who doesn't have should probably be picking up soon due to rumors of them going OOP).
I love Larry Jordan's work but was disappointed in how it was presented in the Facets set. From what I know of some of Jordan's compositions, the transfers seemed highly cropped/zoomed-in, not to mention rife with artifacts from compression or bad conversions or who knows what. The films still look decent and it'll probably be the only chance to have them, so I still recommend the set if it can be found discounted.
On that score, ImportCDs.com has a much better price on the 2-pack (and on either set by itself) than Amazon.
Anyway, I've never enjoyed Broughton that much, myself. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from checking out that set but I'd recommend sampling his work through the films of his included on Kino's Avant-Garde 2 and 3 sets (which everyone who doesn't have should probably be picking up soon due to rumors of them going OOP).
I love Larry Jordan's work but was disappointed in how it was presented in the Facets set. From what I know of some of Jordan's compositions, the transfers seemed highly cropped/zoomed-in, not to mention rife with artifacts from compression or bad conversions or who knows what. The films still look decent and it'll probably be the only chance to have them, so I still recommend the set if it can be found discounted.
On that score, ImportCDs.com has a much better price on the 2-pack (and on either set by itself) than Amazon.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
They're both great sets, even though neither Broughton nor Jordan are among my favourite experimental filmmakers. Major retrospective sets like this are rare as hen's teeth, and probably getting rarer, so they're well worth supporting, and chances are there will be a handful of films on each that you'll like, plus lots that will provide context for the work of experimental filmmakers of the period in general.
With the Broughton set, for example, I think there's only one film on there that I absolutely love (Devotions), but it was great for providing a survey of the times and tides of American experimental filmmaking from the surrealistic sketches and psychodramas of the 40s and 50s to the more personal and idiosyncratic explorations of the 70s and 80s, with Broughton bouncing off the various filmmaking trends he passed through or passed by. It's also a fascinating survey of social attitudes in general, with Broughton using his films to explore and express his own sexuality, and obviously the ways he could do that changed radically over four decades.
With the Broughton set, for example, I think there's only one film on there that I absolutely love (Devotions), but it was great for providing a survey of the times and tides of American experimental filmmaking from the surrealistic sketches and psychodramas of the 40s and 50s to the more personal and idiosyncratic explorations of the 70s and 80s, with Broughton bouncing off the various filmmaking trends he passed through or passed by. It's also a fascinating survey of social attitudes in general, with Broughton using his films to explore and express his own sexuality, and obviously the ways he could do that changed radically over four decades.
- Alan Smithee
- Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:49 am
- Location: brooklyn
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Can anyone recommend some great living critics who cover experimental film? Worldwide for sure but New York based especially.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
I would imagine Mekas still gets some writing in.
- AlexHansen
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:39 pm
- Location: Idaho
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Not NY based but Michael Sicinski is as good as there is.
- Alan Smithee
- Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:49 am
- Location: brooklyn
Re: Avant-Garde, Experimental & Non-narrative Films on DVD
Cool this is new to me, thanks!AlexHansen wrote:Not NY based but Michael Sicinski is as good as there is.
I follow Mekas on Facebook, if he does he doesn't post it. He seems to be pushing his own work in his twilight years.knives wrote:I would imagine Mekas still gets some writing in.