Canyon Cinema 50 programming continues this month with a screening of cityscape films curated by local filmmaker Dominic Angerame. The program, Cityscapes with Dominic Angerame, draws on his longtime history as Executive Director of Canyon Cinema and extensive knowledge of the histories and affinities of experimental film to present an evening of meditations on a diverse array of metropolitan milieux.

“Marie it was who first of all of us discovered that hypnagogic envisioning need not only be done at night.” -Stan Brakhage

The influence of Marie Menken on American experimental filmmaking cannot be overstated. Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger — all these better-known names owed much of their own development as filmmakers to her. Trained as a painter, she manipulated her Bolex camera like a set of brushes and palette knives. The films in this program, several of them tributes to other artists, are bold experiments with light and motion. Beyond the pyrotechnics of camerawork and editing, what inspires is the bodily connection to subject matter, held close like a partner in dance.