Cinema / Film

Listen with your Eyes 6: Experimental Films for Families

The Mall, London

Sun 4 Oct · 11:00

40m · Film

About this event

Listen with your eyes is an ongoing series of screenings for children of all ages and their grown-up companions. It’s a space where curious minds and open hearts can come together to drift through the worlds of experimental cinema. Shown on 16mm and 35mm, the films in this programme span a period of 70 years, from the hand-painted and stencilled imagery of Len Lye ( Colour Flight , 1938), to the stroboscopic study on the history of weaving patterns of Jodie Mack ( Persian Pickles , 2012). Showcasing a large variety of techniques (painting, animation, flicker, etc.), the programme is also a journey through vastly different worlds, ranging from the magical realm invented by Anita Thacher ( Loose Corner , 1986) to the cosmogonic trip created by J.A. Sistiaga ( Impressions en haute atmosphère , 1989), and taking in uncanny observations of the animal world (R. Breer, G. Rey, and J. Smith) along the way. All the films are selected from the collection of Light Cone, a non-profit distributor of experimental films based in Paris, among the 7,500 films of their catalogue. Ticket holders are welcome to join us early for a free 16mm direct animation activity between 10am and 11am. Please note that this is a relaxed screening, open to children of all ages. Programme : Abstronic Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth I 1952 I Digital I colour I sound I 6 min "Beautiful Lissajous, curves can be put through a choreography that inspires – and startles – the imagination." – Mary Ellen Bute Bread Deborah Phillips I 1994 I 16mm I colour I sound I 3 min Loosely based on Lewis Caroll's Through the Looking Glass , Bread is a series of metamorphoses. Colour Flight Len Lye I 1938 I 16mm I colour I sound I 4 min This film is a riot of colour and a showcase for Lye’s hand-painted and stencilled imagery. Gargantuan John Smith I 1992 I 16mm I colour I sound I 1 min "A wonderful and witty example of what it can be to have a pillowtalk with a small amphibian." – Elaine Paterson Impressions en haute atmosphère José Antonio Sistiaga I 1989 I 35mm I colour I sound I 7 min "The colours don't appear randomly but elaborate a logic of dynamics, continual movement of energy-matter." – Claira Janes Loose Corner Anitha Thacher I 1986 I 16mm I colour I sound I 10 min In the film we accompany a man and a woman, a child and a dog, as well as objects, to an impossible place: a corner (...) The surprises in the corner... surprise and satisfy us too. A Man and His Dog Out For Air Robert Breer I 1957 I 16mm I b&w I sound I 3 min "I can describe [the film] as a stew: something recognisable comes to the surface and disappears immediately." – Robert Breer Persian Pickles Jodie Mack I 2012 I 16mm I colour I sound I 2 min A swimming study of paisley patterns traces this decorative motif from its origins in Persian weavings to appearances in Irish quilting and American Counterculture. La vache qui rumine George Rey I 1969 / 16mm I b&w I silent I 3 min First she cows, then she cows. Standing shot of a cowing cow which plays with the filmmaker and so with the audience.