Big Cinema, Small Cinema # 58 – Painting, scratching, filing - films without a camera

Most films are shot with a camera, but there are also ways to make films without a camera: For example, filmmakers can paint directly onto a film strip. Three short films give us an insight into this type of work: The hand-painted film ALGORITHMEN by Bärbel Neubauer, looks like a frenzy of color with music. Other filmmakers might carve patterns and shapes onto a black film strip using needles and other tools, as Len Lye's impressive rhythmic black-and-white film FREE RADICALS shows. SEA SONG by Richard Reeves, which looks at marine pollution, shows that traces scratched into film material can also be colored in afterward.
After a short film program, we will make a community film without a camera in the foyer. Everyone is invited to lend a hand to the filmstrip. We will watch the result directly on the cinema screen. (sts)
For everyone aged 5 and more.

Films:
Algorithmen Bärbel Neubauer Germany 1994 35 mm 3 min.
Free Radicals Len Lye USA 1958 16 mm 5 min.
Sea Song Richard Reeves Canada 1999 35 mm 4 min.