“Ventana al Sur,” a screening of experimental short films made by both young and veteran filmmakers from Argentina, will be taking place tomorrow, April 7, at Berkeley Art Museum. Attention film buffs, because this will be a rare opportunity to see films you usually wouldn’t be able to see. All were made by Argentinian experimental film-makers who follow the paths established by the huge names of experimental film: Jonas Mekas, Stan Brakhage, Michael Snow, Mike and George Kuchar.
Curated by experimental New York based film-makers Mark Street and Lynne Sachs who last summer visited Argentina, engaging with the Buenos Aires film community. This program is a unique collection of experimental films that break through formal barriers producing daring unconventional imagery. The best part of the exposition is that all the films will be screened in their original formats, which actually range from different types of film and video. Starting with the very popular, for its easy accessibility and amateur look, Super 8mm (proving that artists are still creating strong provocative works with their Super 8 cameras), 16mm and other types of video and digital formats.
The stand-outs of the program are definitely Leandro Katz and Narcisa Hirsch, who have been experimenting with film since the 60’s. Both of them are highly respected artists who have expanded their works, along the years, to other areas such as photography, installations, performances and urban interventions. There are also young artists offering new visions, like Pablo Marin who follows in the footsteps of Claudio Caldini (absent in this program, but was the highlight of last August The International Experimental Cinema Exposition in Buenos Aires Imagenes del Fin del Mundo) the subject of Marin’s film Bajo Tierra (2007), where he makes a portrait of the late filmmaker.
This collection relishes on the possibilities of producing images that provoke with their unconventional formal tropes and inspire innovative visions from the past, present and still to come.
Below is Narcisa’s 1-minute long film El Aleph (2005) inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ story.