Schnitzer Cinema continues its look at American experimental media and the history of American avant-garde film with the winter/spring season.
Curated by Cinema Pacific director Richard Herskowitz, all films begin at 7 p.m. at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus and include free popcorn and soda.
The series begins February 11 with “Animations” by Laura Heit and continues on March 11 with the documentary “Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton.” In April, Schnitzer Cinema looks at the work of avant-garde film legend Jonas Mekas in two programs on April 15 and April 29. The series closes with the return of the Black Maria Film and Video Festival on May 13. “We’re pleased to be introducing the JSMA audience to pioneering filmmakers, like Jonas Mekas and James Broughton, and contemporary artists like Laura Heit, who have boldly experimented with cinematic language and drawn inspiration from visual art and poetry,” says Herskowitz.
April 15, 2015 -- 7:00 pm
Jonas Mekas, a legendary pioneer of American avant-garde film, will be honored with a gallery exhibition and film screenings at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. On view from April 1 to June 7, 2015, “Frozen Film Frames: Portraits of Filmmakers by Jonas Mekas,” presented in collaboration with the Cinema Pacific Film Festival and co-curated by Richard Herskowitz and Deborah Colton, includes twenty-two of Mekas’s photographic portraits extracted from his classic films. “Mekas is revered for his experimental diary films, his founding of the New York film institutions Filmmakers Cooperative and Anthology Film Archives, and his passionate promotion of avant-garde cinema in his “Village Voice” column,” says Herskowitz. The images in “Frozen Film Frames,” provided courtesy of the artist and the Deborah Colton Gallery, are drawn from adjoining frames in Mekas’s films, and reflect his characteristic single-frame filming style. Among the subjects are Robert Frank, Elia Kazan, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Andy Warhol, and Wim Wenders. Also on view is Jonas Mekas’s 1997 feature film, “Birth of a Nation,” which consists of 170 portraits, sketches, and glimpses of independent film makers and activists shot between 1955 and 1996. The exhibition is supported by a JSMA Academic Support Grant. In addition to the exhibition, in April, Schnitzer Cinema dedicates two programs to Mekas. On Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m., Colton and Herskowitz explore his diaries and film portraits including a conversation with Mekas via Skype. “Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol” (1990, 36 min.) chronicles not only Warhol, but also the social and cultural excitement that swirled around him. The film includes footage from the first public performance of the Velvet Underground at Delmonico’s Hotel in 1966 and includes an array of luminaries from John Lennon to Edie Sedgwick. “Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas” (1992, 35 min.) is a tribute from one Lithuanian expatriate to another. Comprised of diary footage, the film explores the life and work of Fluxus artist Maciunas from 1952 until his tragically early passing in 1978. It includes bits of Fluxus events and performances, and is a beautiful portrait of a lost friend and living spirit.
April 29, 2015 -- 7:00 pm
On Wednesday, April 29 at 7 p.m., guest speaker Scott MacDonald screens “Walden (Part One), as part of Cinema Pacific. “Walden” was Mekas’s first diary film, and it was edited as a collection of images gathered between the years 1964 and 1969. Its original title was “Diaries, Notes, and Sketches.” The sketches refer to various films that, edited previously, were later included in “Walden: Report from Millbrook” (1965/1966), “Hare Krishna” (1966), “Notes on the Circus” (1966), and more. Scott MacDonald, the leading chronicler of avant-garde filmmakers, is the author of the five volumes of the “Critical Cinema” series (UC Press) and of several other books on avant-garde film. MacDonald will also speak the following day on “Avant-Gardens: Landscape in Experimental Film” at 3:30 p.m. in PLC 180.
May 13, 2015
On Wednesday, May 13, The Black Maria Film and Video Festival, an international juried competition with a mission to exhibit and reward cutting-edge works from independent film and video makers returns to the JSMA for the sixth year. This year’s festival will emphasize new experimental media, along with documentary, animated, and narrative shorts.
About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
The University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a premier Pacific Northwest museum for exhibitions and collections of historic and contemporary art based in a major university setting. The mission of the museum is to enhance the University of Oregon’s academic mission and to further the appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts for the general public. The JSMA features significant collections galleries devoted to art from China, Japan, Korea, America and elsewhere as well as changing special exhibition galleries. The JSMA is one of six museums in Oregon accredited by the American Association of Museums.