Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema as part of the new “Street Views” series tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10: DECASIA
Bill Morrison’s meditation on creation and destruction made its premiere at Sundance in 2002. It went on to screen at additional notable festivals, including Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary, and Edinburgh, before enjoying a limited theatrical release.
Harder to describe than it is to experience, Morrison’s experimental film assembles more than an hour’s worth of damaged, decaying black and white film footage into an absorbing collage. Viewers find themselves simultaneously caught between the tension of trying to decipher and at times narrativize the footage before them, but also reflect on its impermanence and impending loss. The archival images, beautiful and haunting but also sometimes disturbing, work their spell on the audience – from whirling dervishes to carnival rides, the effect is truly hypnotic. Utilizing only existing deteriorated celluloid and a pulsating score, Morrison explores the process of making through an almost paradoxical play with images that are literally being unmade before the viewer’s eyes.
what (not) to doc 