RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS - PICTURE RESTART 16MM SERIES | IN-PERSON (5/17)
RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS - PICTURE RESTART 16MM SERIES | IN-PERSON (5/17)
Chicago Filmmakers (map) | Saturday May 17, 2025 | 6:00PM
Picture Restart is back - with another round of visual delights all on 16mm. This program revolves around a simple cinematic device - rapidly changing the image from frame to frame. It can be dizzying, and hard to keep up with, but when done well, this technique can make the viewer transcend normal cinema vision into something beyond language. These six films may flash, but they go beyond flicker, as their use of color and images move towards a set of boundless psychedelic possibilities. Among the films will be an Elvis Costello music video, rarely projected on film, and two ultra rare low-fade prints of XFILM and RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS, rarely glimpsed outside of film archives.
Content Warning: Numerous instances of flickering and flashing lights. Limited adult content, suitable for adventurous kiddos.
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Chicago Filmmakers does not deny admission to those who do not have the ability to make a donation. Please email coop@chicagofilmmakers.org to inquire about free admission.
Lineup:
1. FILMMAKER - Barry J Hershey, 1986, 2m
Seemingly presented in a single self-reflexive take, this film shows the filmmaker documenting the visions outside his window, but it's not long before the images span a whole life and spectrum of optics into the limitless scope of what the camera can capture.
2. SHORELINES - Al Jarnow, 1977, 3m
Dancing seashells gyrate in stop motion while sounds of the ocean fill our ears - this is a beachy classic, a sensory love fest for all that’s sandy and wet. Collecting shells one by one, and interchanging matching shells of different sizes to create animations, this dazzling short film by Al Jarnow was made while he was also working on Sesame Street.
3. ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN - Cucumber Studios, 1979, 3m
Animated on film by the duo Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, under the name of Cucumber Studios, this film was featured in MoMA’s roundup of classic music videos in 2003. It may also feature the first piece of computer generated imagery in a music video. The duo would go on to create the iconic character Max Headroom, and would co-direct the 90’s cult classic Super Mario Bros film adaptation.
4. OBJECT CONVERSATION - Paul Glabicki, 1985, 10m
A series of source objects are presented, defined, demonstrated, discussed, spoken about, juxtaposed and progressively re-invented during the course of a multi-layered visual and aural “conversation”. An eye-popping frenzy of mathematics, language, architecture, an endless array of classical knowledge and diagrams, making its own kind of music.
5 RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS - Mary Lambert & Jeff Carpenter, 1977, 12m
This psychedelic animated film follows a hip celebrity and his underworld lifestyle through casinos, hotel rooms, parties and odd characters. A thesis collaboration from RISD, RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS would be the only film by celebrated artist Jeff Carpenter, but the start of a long career for Mary Lambert. Mary would go on to direct key videos for Madonna and Janet Jackson as well as collaborate with an array of musical icons, while also making several lower-budget horror movies that are honestly classics. Screening in an ultra rare LPP print.
6. XFILM - John Luther Schofill, 1968, 14m
"Through precise manipulation of individual frames and groups of frames, Schofill creates an overwhelming sense of momentum practically unequaled in synaesthetic cinema. There is almost a visceral, tactile impact to these images, which plunge across the field of vision like a dynamo…" – Gene Youngblood, Expanded Cinema
Total Runtime: 46m