Athens International Film Festival
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A SPACE STORY

SPACE ?n. an expanse in which objects are located and events occur; an interval between points; outer space; emptiness; distance; a time period Using points 12 pioneering silent films, accompanied by live music by the artists Angelos kyriou and Fantastikoi Hxoi, and framed by a total of 150 quotes projected on the theater walls, we shall attempt to define the multiple meanings of space: emptiness; expanse; distance; and interval. Emptiness comes first, followed by intervals between the dots of emptiness, that gradually solidify and become convictions and distances. In a way the things setting us apart can also be seen as expanses that draw us together, while distances exist as long as we keep them; or alternatively abolish them. There are spaces open and free and spaces hidden between lines, words and meanings; intervals of time and empty intervals. The history of space becomes an adventure of images, movement, sounds and words. And we follow it. 1.Dream of a Rarebit Friend, 10’, USA, 1906. Dir: Edwin S. Porter An engineer and cameraman, Porter allows his heroes to dream of a space that is both extreme and visible, distant and approachable. 2.Moonland, 11’, USA, 1923-26. Dir: Neil McGuire, William A. O’Connor Early 1900s child star Mickey McBan is looking for the 'man of the moon’, who, like the Wizard of Oz that came later, defies of limitations of distance, time and space itself. 3.Looney Lens: Split Skyscrapers, NYC, 1’, USA, 1924. Dir: Al Brick The Looney Lens series was conceived as a humorous way to show audiences what visual effects could do. The split images of skyscrapers and cars, remind us of Dziga Vertof’s ?Man with a Movie Camera?, create gaps and cracks in the urban landscape. 4.Anemic Cinema, 6’, France, 1924-26. Dir: Marcel Duchamp Spinning spirals of phrases create a complex game of words and images, as puns, alliterations and visual forms emerge from a new unseen space. 5.Le Vampire, 8’, France, 1939, Dir: Jean Painleve The vampire is presented as both a biological archetype and an allegory of Nazism, as director, scientist and inventor Jean Painleve observes terrestrial, aerial and underwater spaces filled with tiny organisms. 6.Le Retour à la Raison, 3’, France, 1923. Dir: Man Ray An assault of random flying objects, as seen through the critical gaze of a Dadaist. The space between reason and its return is ambiguous. 7.Out of the Melting Pot, 3’, USA 1928. Dir: Unknown The transitions of a zoo from the abstract to the realistic highlight the differences between their dimensions and the spaces into which they exist. 8.The Furies, 3’, USA, 1934. Dir: Slavko Vorkapic The Serbo-American director defies a ‘crime without passion’ in the unreal space of a love encounter, while an eerie figure looms over an urban aerial space that resembles the void of nightmares. 9.La Lune a un Mètre, 3, France 1898. Dir: Georges Méliès An elderly astronomer is attacked by the moon in a film featuring groundbreaking special effects and animation. 10.Le Voyage dans la Lune, 13’ France 1902. Dir: Georges Méliès The first science fiction film in history was inspired by the novels ?The First Men on the Moon? by H. G. Wells and ?From the Earth to the Moon? by Jules Verne. A team of astronauts travel to the moon and their rocket lands on its eye. 11.Eclipse de Soleil en Pleine Lune, 9’ 1907. Dir: Georges Méliès During an eclipse, a female moon covers a male sun. The space between them is decreasing, bringing the two bodies closer, giving the film itself an erotic dimension. 12.The Bridge, 10’, 1929-30. Dir: Charles Vidor "The Bridge? is a fantastical adaptation of an Ambrose Bierce short story by the director of ?Gilda?. Time compresses and stretches creating a strange space where anything is possible and a tragic second may equal a lifetime.


    Publication date: 2009-09-10 12:05:41