The best known camera-less productions of Steven Woloshen share the verve and pace of the freer works of Norman McLaren and the joie de vivre of Robert Breer’s films. Colour, graphics and music take the lead in films that regale the eyes and the ears. But there is another interesting facet to the Canadian filmmaker, less known and more mature and, if possible, even more original, using found footage and formalistic mechanisms reminiscent of structural and materialist cinema, such as his latest film, The Dead Sea Scrolls. This programme offers a range of his work that illustrates the talent and the contributions of one of the most celebrated contemporary experimental animators.
The selection has been put together by the filmmaker himself and Carolina López, director of Xcèntric, the CCCB’s cinema, and a specialist in animation.
Program:- Free Speech, 2012, 30’’A public service announcement. A plea to free jailed, Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi.
- 1000 Plateaus (2004-2014), 2014, 3’21’’A musical celebration of travel, jazz and road maps, this abstract film was created entirely in the front seat of a car with ink, paint and other simple tools.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls, 2018, 26’02’’ Film is the new scroll. We read time as it times passes and repeats itself. Each ‘scroll’ works like a chapter Paint on film, decay, collage and photograms for the most original film by this Canadian artist up to date.
- Chronicle Reconstructions, 2008, 3’A short film about love and loss and the Matabeleland tribe of Southern Rhodesia.
- Bru Ha Ha!, 2002, 2’ A hand made 35 mm film that uses paint, emulsion scratches, and dry transfer lettering to represent voices and instrumentation. “Unplanned” as a spontaneous study of inhuman relationships of abstract characters.
- Crossing Victoria, 2013, 4’Ten years ago, I made a treacherous, late night winter journey across an old, Montréal historical landmark. Through the freezing rain, wind and snow, these were the ironclad hallucinations that I encountered on my path
- Frobisher Bay, 2012, 2’Revolving and repeating, Frobisher Bay offers a glimpse into the permanence of nature – in contrast to the transience of man-made ideals and ambitions.
- The Curse of the Voodoo Child, 2005, sound, 35mm, 3’ 20’’The cycle of sex, birth, fire and childhood. Will my child repeat this cycle, or invent a new one
- Fleeting Rotland, 2009, 5’In 1914, a man abandoned his horse and escaped the impending disaster that loomed overhead. Man, horse and barn. They are all either dead or destroyed. But their activities on film could exist forever.
- National Tapestry, 2015, 2’Created as a large-scale installation for public spaces, National Tapestry draws our focus to the weft and the warp of the woven image.
- Two Eastern Hair Lines, 2004, 4’An exploration of communication and isolation/east and west.
