Steel Mushrooms, dir.Gary Lee Nova, 1967, Canada, 7:30 min
A psychedelic hallmark of early Vancouver experimental cinema. The collage of shapes and textures shot in the back alleys of the downtown east side is set against the found footage of nuclear annihilation.
Lumiere’s Train (Arriving at the Station), dir. Al Razutis, 1979, Canada, 9 min
Bold, hypnotic and visually stunning, the film celebrates the birth of cinema, the rebirth of cinema and the rebirth of cinema through the avant garde.
A Day Much like the Others, dir. Sturla Gunnarson, 1977, Canada, 4 min
Represents artistic longing set against the inability to find one’s way. A male figure lies in the void. He rises cautiously to action, only to encounter darkness, confusion and directions that lead back to his own powerlessness.
Seeing In The Rain, dir. Chris Gallagher, 1981, Canada, 10 min
This electrifying work deconstructs a point-of-view from a city bus moving down Vancouver’s Granville Street. The windshield wiper is the only constant as the image moves through the impermanence of time.
The Central Character, dir. Patricia Gruben, 1977, Canada, 15 min
An amorphous protagonist, a housewife perhaps, disintegrates as her persona moves from the emphatically organized environment of the kitchen to the organic profusion of the garden.
Canadian Pacific 1, dir. David Rimmer, 1974, Canada, 11 min
A view out of a dingy harbour and the north shore mountains cycles through the seasons. The film is meditative and strangely emotional as the landscape plays hide and seek with our perception.
Backbone, dir. Tom Braidwood, 1972, Canada, 11 min
Found footage of a soldier yelling “fire” and a cannon discharging loop. The image becomes increasingly unsettling as the rhythmic soundtrack slips synch and turns our perceptions inside out.
Eclipse, dir. Peter Lipskis, 1979, Canada, 3:30 min
In a motel room a TV plays the live broadcast of an eclipse. In the background out the window the street scene is dingy and overcast. Part landscape film, part odd documentary, and all cheeky, this film takes an error and makes a great moment out of it.
Far From Quebec (Loin du Quebec), dir. Kirk Tougas, 1971, Canada, 15 min
Abandoned whaling boats in a barren, forbidding landscape. The absolute stillness evokes a deathlike atmosphere of restless longing.
In Black and White, dir. Michael McGarry, 1979, Canada, 10 min
The unsung and significant spark of gay cinema charges off the screen exploring themes of preference, eroticism, sexual politics and harassment.
