My Life without Nitrate lecture, Alexander Horwath; Rouen, Martyre d'une Cité, Die Todesmühlen (Death Mills) screenings

In the Dryden Theatre, Alexander Horwath will present a lecture titled My Life without NitrateRouen, Martyre d'une Cité (Louis Cuny, France 1945, 15 min.), and Die Todesmühlen (Death Mills, Hans Burger, U.S. 1945, 22 min.): "Both films address the destructive consequences of World War II. Rouen is about the 'martyrdom of a city'; Todesmühlen is the most important postwar re-education film made by the Allied Forces, showing to the German and Austrian population the horrors of concentration camps.".

A leader and a source of inspiration in the museum world, Alexander Horwath has worked internationally as a curator of exhibitions, film retrospectives, and festivals; as a lecturer on film at universities and cultural institutions; as a consultant and jury member at film festivals; and as a member of film subsidy boards. Since 2002, he has served as director of the Österreichisches Filmmuseum (Austrian Film Museum). He has been a member of the Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts, Berlin) since 2012 and a corresponding member of the Vienna Secession since 2008. Previously, he was director of the Viennale (1992—1997) and curator of film at Documenta 12 in Kassel (2007). Eloquently outlining the principles behind his curatorial efforts, Horwath has stated, "The Austrian Film Museum has the policy of exhibiting moving image works in their respective medium—meaning the way in which they originally entered the world: the 'language' in which they expressed themselves at the time of production and publication. . . . This is what museums do—and why they exist in the first place: to give access to cultural artifacts in a manner that keeps them legible and transparent, especially if these artifacts are no longer part of everyday life or mainstream industrial practice. . . . By continuing to give access to film as film, a film museum also partakes in a tradition that has supported human culture for many centuries: the notion that our heritage can actually remain generative, potent, and procreative in relation to future artistic achievements. For this to happen, our cultural techniques have to be preserved as working systems, and our artifacts need to remain in a shape that can be 'read' by these systems. Only then will they continue to make sense."

[source: Nitrate Picture Show program, 2017-May-5]

Nitrate Shorts screening

The Dryden will screen Nitrate Shorts with live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli to kick off the Nitrate Picture Show. The films are:

  • Movies are Adventures (Jack Hively, U.S. 1948, 10 min.): "The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences produced this short advertising the magic of the movies."
  • Together in the Weather (George Pal, U.S. 1946, 7 min.): "One of the most beloved (and edgiest) "Puppetoons" by the famous Academy Award—winning Hungarian-American master of stop-motion puppet animation."
  • The Kidnapper's Foil (Melton Barker, U.S. 1930, 17 min.): "A unique treasure of our shorts program, this early example of truly independent, amateur small-town filmmaking is the original that inspired Barker to travel the United States for forty years, remaking the same film with local children."
  • En Kluven Värld (A Divided World, Arne Sucksdorff, Sweden 1948, 9 min.): "Arguably the greatest by the Swedish master of shorts Arne Sucksdorff, A Divided World is a hauntingly beautiful, poetic depiction of animal hierarchy in a forest somewhere in Sweden on a winter night."
  • PÃ¥ Ski Med Per Og Kari (Skiing with Per and Kari, Norway 1948, 13 min.): "Based on the eponymous book by the Norwegian skier Tomm Murstad, Skiing with Per and Kari shows two children who receive skis for Christmas and then enroll in Tomm Murstad's ski school for children. The film was shown to children all over Norway."
  • Something You Didn't Eat (James Algar, U.S. 1945, 9 min.): "A government-produced, Disney-made animated short on the benefits of a healthy, balanced diet."
  • In a Roman Garden (Donald MacDonald, U.S. 1913, 12 min.): "Produced by the Powers Motion Picture Company in New York, this costume drama of religious subject is the earliest film shown so far at the Nitrate Picture Show."

[source: George Eastman Museum calendar, 2017-May-5]

Bakushū (Early Summer) screening (2017-May-5 @ 7:30 p.m.)

The Dryden will screen Bakushū (Early Summer, Yasujirō Ozu, Japan 1951, 124 min.) as part of the Nitrate Picture Show.

"I was interested in getting much deeper than just the story itself; I wanted to depict the cycles of life, the transience of life. . . . Consequently, I didn't force the action, but tried to leave some spaces unfilled . . . leave viewers with a pleasant aftertaste. For this reason, Early Summer was one of the most demanding work[s] I've done in years. There was criticism about the children being unruly. In my view, children and adults have different 'rules.' When they grow up, they too will change. As for acting, it's best to leave things unexpressed, something to ponder or savor. Those who appreciate this have themselves reached a transcendent state. Hara Setsuko is a fine person. If only there were four or five more such persons." — Yasujirō Ozu

[source: George Eastman Museum calendar, 2017-May-5]

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer screening

The Dryden will screen The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (Irvin Reis, U.S. 1947, 95 min.) as part of the Nitrate Picture Show.

"We wouldn't be able to tell you whether Sidney Sheldon, the fellow who wrote The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, which came to the Music Hall yesterday, has suffered personal harassment at the hands of modern youth. But whether he has or hasn't, he certainly understands that dreadful fate. And, furthermore, he knows how to make it seem delightfully bewildering on the screen—which may not be wholly consistent but which makes for most agreeable film fare. For, in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, Mr. Sheldon has caught the wry frenzy of a gay, debonnaire, indifferent and slightly naughty man-about-town who suddenly finds himself the victim of a fanciful high-school girl's crush—than which no other attachment of a female is more profound. And he has also invented a hilarious sequence of events by which the baffled hero must submit to the willful child's designs. As a consequence—and while the swoony fever is upon the bashless tot— this poor, victimized bystander is taken for a most amazing ride. . . . And we also must tell you that the texture of Mr. Sheldon's farce is firm and uncloyed with cuteness, which is just the way it should be, and that Irving Reis' direction has kept it in that solid shape. In fact, it is all reminiscent of some of those gay, galvanic larks that Gregory Lacava and Leo McCarey used to make ten or more years ago. And a higher recommendation we can't give to a light summer show." — Bosley Crowther, New York Times, July 25, 1947

[source: George Eastman Museum calendar, 2017-May-5]