New York is
often depicted on screen
as a place bristling with money, energy, and excitment. That is there
to some
extend, but there is another side to New York as well, and the four
works that
comprise this program offer such an alternative view. One that focuses
on
ordinary daily activities, which like the strata of society engaged in
them,
remains largely grey and transparent – buying and selling at
an indoor market;
eating or relaxing at lunch counters; riding underground trains, the
hustle and
bustle of New York City street life; the energy of light and color
caressing
the urban landscape; moments of repose and quite delight. Deceptively
casual
and somewhat reminiscent of early cinema
“Actualities”, these works are
nevertheless also tempered by a responsiveness to the pleasures of
vision and
reflection. The footage was originally recorded on 16mm in the early
1970s, but
not edited and shaped into these four independent, yet interrelated
pieces
until
Biography
film director
Ernie Gehr
Ernie Gehr (Milwaukee,
Usa, 1943), began making
films in the 8mm format in the 1960s and has established himself as one
of the
true masters of New American Cinema. His films have screened
internationally,
including retrospectives at the MOMA in New York, the Centre Pompidou
in Paris
and at the San Francisco Cinematheque. He has also taught cinema at the
American Film Insitute, the University of California and the School of
the Art
of Chicago.
FILMOGRAFIA
Morning (1968), Wait
(1968), Reverberation
(1969), Transparency (1969), History
(1970), Field (Short
Version) (1970), Field (1970), Serene
Velocity (1970), Three
(1970), Still (1969-71), Eureka
(1974), Shift (1972-74),
Behind the Scenes (1975), Table (1976),
Untitled (1977), Hotel
(1979), Mirage (1981), Part
One (1981), Signal-Germany on
the Air (1982-85), Listen (1986-91), Rear
Window (1986-91), This
Side of Paradise (1991), Side/Walk/Shuttle (l991),
For Daniel (1996),
Cotton Candy (2002), Carte da Visite -
Der V'03-Trailer (2003),
Essex