Balagan presents... the films of Will Hindle

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

From that late fifties until his death in 1987, Will Hindle was a major figure in the American Avant-Garde and what has been called the Personal Film Movement, as defined by a conscious move away from the industrial methods of production toward a more individualistic and idiosyncratic cinema. Incredibly technically adept as well as emotionally astute, Hindle utilized complex optical effects to craft beautiful, evocative and densely-layered short films that play out vividly like dreams and resonate long after. Being neither wholly abstract nor rooted to narrative form, the fictive elements within the films tend to forgo exposition, instead working with the images, colors, and sound to create a strong sensorial experience that channels a deep empathetic response within the viewer.

While Hindle was a contemporary and friend of filmmakers such Stan Brakhage and Bruce Baillie – both of whom rightfully continue to be recognized, within certain circles, for their cinematic contributions – Hindle's own work seems to have fallen into relative obscurity in the time since his passing. This may be in part due to his comparatively small output; he only finished 10 films in his lifetime. (Trekkerriff, the 11th, was finished after his death.) A more likely major contributing factor, however, is the limited availability of decent film prints and the total lack of availability of his works on video.

Hindle himself was opposed to his work being reproduced on video, and while there have obviously been some major advances in video over the past thirty years, his estate has until now remained true to his feelings that his works be seen only on film. While this maintains the integrity and potency of the experience, it could also prove damning, for if people aren't screening the work, there is no way to see it, and if people have not seen the work, they are unlikely to program it (lest they decide to take a chance like this adventuresome curator who has only seen roughly half of Hindle's output).

Thankfully, a number of the prints we will be screening have been recently restored by Mark Toscano of the Academy Film Archive, who is currently in the process of restoring the rest. We are very pleased to be presenting them at the wonderful Coolidge Corner Theatre, where Balagan got it's start 16 years ago. All films will be presented on 16mm.

Programme:
- Pastorale d'Eté (1958) 9 min
- FFFTCM (1967) 5 min
- Billabong (1969) 8 min
- Saint Flournoy Lobos-Logos And The Eastern Europe Fetus Taxing Japan Brides In West Coast Places (1970) 12 min
- Later that Same Night (1971) 10 min
- Watersmith (1969) 32 min
- Trekkeriff (1987) 9 min

More details and stills: http://www.balaganfilms.com/films-will-hindle

Venue: 

Coolidge Corner Theatre - Brookline, United States

Dates: 

Thursday, May 19, 2016 - 19:00 to Friday, May 20, 2016 - 18:55

Category: 

Dates: 

Thursday, May 19, 2016 - 19:00 to Friday, May 20, 2016 - 18:55
  • 290 Harvard Street
    02446   Brookline, Massachusetts
    United States
    Phone: 617-734-2500
    42° 20' 33.3168" N, 71° 7' 20.8668" W