Barbara Meter is a pivotal figure in Dutch experimental cinema. In the 70's she was the driving force behind the Electric Cinema in Amsterdam, where numerous British and American filmmakers screened their work alongside their Dutch colleagues. Meter has a long filmography including experimental films, documentaries and fiction. She describes her experimental films as "lyrical structuralist". Curated by Karel Doing, the programme includes four films in which Meter combines documentary aspects with a more formal approach. Her latest film Up to the Sky and Much Much More will be screened in the UK for the first time. She will be present during the screening and participate in a short Q&A afterwards.
Programme:
- Appearances (Netherlands, 2000, 22 min, B&W, 16mm An image of early twentieth century Germany rises from a collage of family photographs and landscapes. Meter used the photo albums of her parents, who had to flee Hitler's Germany. The shots alternately exude warmth and detachment.
- Ariadne (Netherlands, 2004, 12 min, Colour, 35mm)The constant movement of the wheels, threads, sprockets, feet and hands suggests restlessness, and this is paralleled by the soundtrack. The unknown woman could be Gretchen from Faust, hopelessly in love or Ariadne who gave Theseus the thread to find his way out of labyrinth or perhaps she is one of the fates, weaving destiny... Enlarged from Super-8 to 35mm, the film is an homage to the medium, also emphasised by the depiction of all kinds of turning machines, both in image and sound.
- Loutron (Netherlands, 2009, 17 min, Colour, Digital)A day in the life of an old Ottoman bath, from dawn till dusk, where the light, the mirroring in the water and the visitors figure alongside the protagonist – the bath itself.
- Up to the Sky and Much Much More (Netherlands, 2015, 32 min, Colour, DCP)Beautiful, poignant record of a unique man, Barbara Meter tells her father Leo Meter's life story using the impressive series of slides, photos and letters her father sent her after being arrested by the Gestapo and deported to the Eastern Front.
Tickets: £12 / £10 conc. / £8 Close-Up membersBox Office: 020 3784 7975 (booking essential)