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The Archival Imagination: Found Footage in Experimental Film

Screening on Film

For nearly a century, found footage has provided both inspiration and raw material for experimental filmmakers. For some filmmakers, found footage has provided access to a vast archive of cultural production, often providing the means to comment on the status of the image in society or to deconstruct cinematic language. For others, it has served as a vehicle for exploring the material qualities of the film stock itself, shifting attention from the photographic content of the footage to the formal effects of the artist's manipulation. From virtual non-intervention to intricate strategies of editing and reprinting, the films in this program represent a range of approaches to found footage over the last half-century.

PROGRAM

  • Wild Gunman

    Directed by Craig Baldwin.
    US, 1978, 16mm, color, 20 min.

  • Surface Noise

    Directed by Abigail Child.
    US, 2000, 16mm, color and b&w, 18 min.

  • Valse Triste

    Directed by Bruce Conner.
    US, 1979, 16mm, black & white, 6 min.

  • Take the 5:10 to Dreamland

    Directed by Bruce Conner.
    US, 1977, 16mm, color, 5 min.
  • Public Domain

    Directed by Hollis Frampton.
    US, 1972, 16mm, black & white, silent, 4 min.
  • Georgetown Loop

    Directed by Ken Jacobs.
    US, 1997, 16mm, black & white, silent, 11 min.
  • Film in Which There Appear Sprocket Holes, Edge Lettering, Dirt Particles, etc.

    Directed by Owen Land (AKA George Landow) .
    US, 1965-66, color, silent, 4 min.

  • The Big Stick/An Old Reel

    Directed by Saul Levine.
    US, 1967/73, 16mm, black & white, silent, 11 min.
  • Happy End

    Directed by Peter Tscherkassky.
    US, 1996, 16mm, color, 12 min.

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