SEATED FIGURES, 1988 & SO IS THIS, 1982

SEATED FIGURES, 1988
Canada | 16mm, Color, 42’ | No Dialogue

In what the director describes as a “history of roads”, he makes a road movie while driving a pickup truck with his camera across a field. As the speed of travel changes, the readability of the visuals changes. Man-made surfaces turn into the variegated patterns of nature and the images oscillate between the abstract and the real. The result is a Michael Snow film that is full of contrasts but which is also nourished by these contrasts. Despite the fixed camera setup, Seated Figures is one of the most visually impressive films in Snow's catalogue.

SO IS THIS, 1982
Canada | 16mm, Black & White, 43’ | English

The film opens with a white text tightly framed against a black background, where each frame consists of a single word. Throughout the film, each word that appears on the screen communicates with the audience in the right proportion and in equal time. Snow breaks new ground in pushing the boundaries of cinema, turning his back on the basic medium of film, the—image—to create one of his most special works. He transforms a simple movie concept into an unpredictable and layered experience.

Screening date:
March 2, 17.00