AVAILABLE FOR FREE STREAMING NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 7, 2022

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Blueish film still of two hands
COLLECTIVE WORK:
Experimental films from the Handmade Film Collective (Halifax) and
the Lightproof Film Collective (Ottawa)

 

Image credit: Nothing like a fresh tomato, Rena Thomas, 2019


COLLECTIVE WORK:

Experimental films from the Handmade Film Collective (Halifax) 

and the Lightproof Film Collective (Ottawa) 


Essay by Penny McCann


Experimental filmmakers tend to toil in isolation, creating works that exist on the fringe of moving image making. In recent years, the decline of film labs, production centres, and film’s increasing expense has been accompanied by a rise of interest in DIY analogue filmmaking, spurring the creation of community-based informal support structures.  This screening celebrates the output of two recently formed Canadian film collectives, one in Ottawa and one in the Maritimes, each of which seeks to support experimental analogue film practices. 
 
Formed in 2018, the Handmade Film Collective is a group of practicing, enthusiastic, analogue, handmade filmmakers who have come together to showcase experimental analogue handmade films and support other filmmakers working in this specialized genre. Three of the artists are based in Nova Scotia: Dawn George and Rena Thomas in Halifax, and Herb Theriault in Kentville. Todd Fraser lives and works in Fredericton, New Brunswick. 
 
Three of the four works presented by the Handmade Film Collective were created through the Plants on Film Commissioning project, a collaboration between the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative and the Handmade Film Collective. Over the course of four months, filmmakers were asked to create new 16mm films responding to the theme of plants and utilizing one or more handmade filmmaking techniques such as eco-processing, phytogramming, drawing or tinting. 

This screening celebrates the output of two recently formed Canadian film collectives, one in Ottawa and one in the Maritimes, each of which seeks to support experimental analogue film practices.

The Lightproof Film Collective formed in January 2020 with the mandate to foster experimental film practices in Ottawa through the creation and presentation of works on celluloid. The collective consists of eight members, all practicing filmmakers: Nicole Blundell, Cooper, Pixie Cram, Bridget Farr, Paul Gordon, Matthieu Hallé, Dave Johnson, and Penny McCann. In coming together as a collective, the filmmakers seek to foster community, exchange knowledge, and illuminate the largely invisible practice of experimental filmmaking in Ottawa. 
 
The films emerging from the Lightproof Film Collective incorporate a range of techniques such as hand-processing, tinting/toning, optical printing, masking and the use of found footage. Five of the eight works from the Lightproof Film Collective were created from a commissioning project undertaken by the collective to mark its foundation. The films by Pixie Cram, Matthieu Hallé, and Penny McCann were created independently of the collective but share the same strong DIY analogue ethos. 
 
Although all very different in approach and technique, taken together, the films in this programme speak to the power of collectivity to galvanize artists who work in analogue film and bring the dimly visible practice of experimental filmmaking into the light. 
 
Penny McCann, Lightproof Film Collective
 

The films emerging from the Lightproof Film Collective incorporate a range of techniques such as hand-processing, tinting/toning, optical printing, masking and the use of found footage.

Eco-processing Seminar with Dawn George (Halifax)

WHEN: Sunday, December 4th, 2:00 - 3:30pm EST
WHERE: Virtually on Zoom
SIGN UP HERE: Register in advance for the seminar by clicking here.

Join filmmaker Dawn George as she takes you on an adventure in eco-processing. You’ll learn about her experiments making film developers and tints from weeds, fruits, vegetables, and trees and her explorations with a greener reversal process. Dawn will share film clips, some garden tips, as well as her favourite eco-processing recipes!

SIGN UP HERE: Register in advance for the seminar by clicking here. 

Dawn George makes films with the living things she discovers in the wild. Her film, video, and installation work reflect her appreciation and respect for movement, nature, science, and sound and have included images of time lapse mold, intimate moments with insects, and eco-processed film from plants. Accompanying her films are intricate soundscapes crafted with sounds recorded in her kitchen and collected in nature. Dawn is a founding member of the Handmade Film Collective.


 

Presented by: Lightproof Film Collective.


We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.