About the guest curator:< /p>\n
Juan Barquin is a Miami-based writer\, programmer\, filmmaker\, an
d co-creator of the queer film series Flaming Classics. They aspire to be
Bridget Jones.
For this month's screening\, th ey've selected the following films:
\nAN IMPOSSIBLE
VOYAGE (1904) 15 MIN. \;
This reproduction of George M&
eacute\;liè\;s' hand-tinted journey film shows a spectacular trip to
the sun and back. Mé\;liè\;s employs a number of special effe
cts such as pyrotechnics\, miniatures\, stage machinery\, substitution spl
ices and dissolves to show the journey of a group of savants from the Inst
itute of Incoherent Geography as they use every known means of transportat
ion to travel from the Alps to the Sun\, and under the sea. \;
<
br />EMAK-BAKIA (1926) 18 MIN. \;
Emak-Bakia (Ba
sque for Leave Me Alone) is a 1926 film directed by Man Ray. Subtitled as
a ciné\;poé\;me\, it features many techniques Man Ray used in
his still photography (for which he is better known)\, including Rayograph
s\, double exposure\, soft focus and ambiguous features. The film features
sculptures by Pablo Picasso\, and some of Man Ray&rsquo\;s mathematical o
bjects both still and animated using a stop motion technique. \;
\;
GEOGRAPHY OF THE BODY (1943) 8 MIN. \;<
br />A quotation from Aristophanes\, &ldquo\;The desire and pursuit of the
whole is called love\,&rdquo\; precedes views of a man and a woman&rsquo\
;s bodies\, often in extreme close up. Off-screen\, a voice recites fragme
nts of oracular literature and purple prose. We see an eye\, an ear\, a mo
uth\, a tongue\, bits of hair\, a hand\, the tips of fingers\, toes. Occas
ionally\, the frame includes a larger scape of a body: a chest\, a back\,
a breast. Usually\, the camera is stationery\; sometimes\, it moves across
a body\, remaining in close up. They hold hands for one moment. The bodie
s are without clothes\; no genitalia are visible. This controversial film
from pioneer filmmaker Willard Maas makes a daring analogical pilgrimage e
voking the terrors and splendors of the human body as an undiscovered\, my
sterious continent. The commentary by poet George Barker uses the imagist-
symbolist poetic technique. \;
\;
The Bed is a merry allego
ry which celebrates impudently and imaginatively just about everything tha
t could happen in bed (and some things that couldn't) - birth\, young love
\, loneliness\, dreams and death\, amid all sorts of hanky-panky from feti
shism to plain old lechery. \;
\;
In this short film by N
orman McLaren\, dancers enact the Greek tragedy of Narcissus\, the beautif
ul youth whose excessive self-love condemned him to a trapped existence. S
kilfully merging film\, dance and music\, the film is a compendium of the
techniques McLaren acquired over a lifetime of experimentation. \;
About the Division of Special Collections &\; Archives
\nMiami-Dade Public Library System&rsquo\;s Divisi on of Special Collections &\; Archives holds rare and irreplaceable his torical documents for the benefit of the public and scholarly community. T hey oversee the Helen Muir Florida Collection\, 16mm Film Collection\, Cub an Collection of Rare Books &\; Ephemera\, Genealogy Collection\, Vasar i Project\, and rare &\; antiquarian books from as early as the 17th ce ntury. The Division's primary goal is to provide the public with the conte nts of the vault at their request. Its collections include rare books\, or iginal manuscripts\, over 18\,000 photographs\, prints\, artifacts\, audio visual resources\, and electronic media.
\nAbout the Film Co llection
\nThe 16mm film collection has been part of the Li brary's holdings for over 55 years. Its first films were part of the City of Miami&rsquo\;s public library and began in the 1960s before there was a county library system. When MDPLS was formed\, the County supplemented it s local funding for films with Federal LSCA grants (Library Services and C onstruction Act). Apart from leased feature films\, all films were purchas ed for free exhibition for the life of the print. Subjects within the coll ection include experimental/avant-garde art films\, non-narrated films\, c hildren&rsquo\;s films\, Black history\, Floridiana\, and local history. T oday\, there are over 4\,000 films within the collection. \;
\nhttp s://mdpls.libnet.info/event/10970758 URL;VALUE=URI:https://mdpls.libnet.info/event/10970758 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR