Harry Smith’s Experimental Films
Sun, Oct 22, 2023
3 pm
Harry Smith, still from Film No. 16: Oz: The Tin Woodman’s Dream, c. 1967. 35mm film, color, silent; 15 min. Courtesy of Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY; restored by Anthology Film Archives and the Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. ©️ Anthology Film Archives
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Floor 3, Theater
Harry Smith began making experimental animations in the late 1940s in Berkeley, California, and by the 1960s was recognized as a central figure in American avant-garde cinema. This screening spotlights a selection of his most dazzling short films that employ a variety of analogue techniques to explore color, abstraction, rhythm, and psychedelia.
This screening is followed by a conversation between John Klacsmann, archivist and film restorationist, Anthology Film Archives, and Andrew Lampert, artist and curator, about Smith’s work as a filmmaker, his unique process, and his importance within the history of experimental cinema.
Program:
Early Abstractions [Film Nos. 1-5, 7, 10], c. 1946-1957, 23 minutes.
Restored by Anthology Film Archives.
Film No. 11: Mirror Animations, c. 1957, 4 minutes.
Restored by Anthology Film Archives.
Film No. 15 (Untitled animation of Seminole patchwork patterns), c. 1965-66, 10 minutes.
Restored by Anthology Film Archives.
Film No. 16: Oz: The Tin Woodman’s Dream, 1967, 15 minutes.
Restored by Anthology Film Archives and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
Plus never-before-seen screen tests and outtakes from Film No. 16.
Public programs for Fragments of a Faith Forgotten: The Art of Harry Smith developed in consultation with Andrew Lampert.
