Please join me, filmmaker John Petitt, and photographer JJ. Tizou for a special screening of four films along the theme of “Photographic Memory,” curated by Scribe Video Center’s Producer’s Forum at the Ibrahim Theater in Philadelphia.
I’ll also be offering a “master class” workshop the day before on caring for family archives. More information about that can be found here.
Descriptions of the films and event information is below:
The Ibrahim Theater at International House
3701 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19104
See map: Google Maps
Sunday, September 20, 2009 – 7:00pm
Tickets: $10 general, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe members
How does the act of taking a photograph define a moment in time?
Four documentaries, including a preview of Ashley Maynor’s For Memories’ Sake, explore how the photographs triggers and influences our memories and how image making can be a transformative act in itself.
For Memories’ Sake (US, 2009, work-in-progress, 30 min)
Directed by Ashley Maynor
Angela Singer is a Southern homemaker who has taken an average of a dozen photos a day for the last 35 years, compiling a mysterious and strange archive of over 150,000 photographs of her daily life. Her life and photography hobby is revealed through the lens of her granddaughter, filmmaker Ashley Maynor. Investigating one Southern homemaker’s obsession with the photographic image, the film asks questions about the nature of photography as a form of memory and captures a cross-generational portrait of two Southern women whose lives as image-makers have taken very different paths.
Ulysse (France 1982, 35mm, color, 22 min. French w/ Eng sub)
Directed by Agnes Varda
Agnes Varda, considered the grand mother of the French New Wave, returns to a striking photograph she took in 1954, its subject a naked man on the beach beside a young boy, also naked, and the corpse of a goat. When the subjects, tracked down thirty years later, fail to remember the circumstances surrounding the photo, the film becomes a haunting meditation on the elusive nature of memory as well as a fascinating introduction to Varda’s photography and its influence on her filmmaking.
Looking Back (US, 2008, 6 min)
Directed by Emile Bokaer
presented by Media That Matters
Albert Lewis struggles with addiction and with memories of war. His photography helps him survive in a supportive community of homeless veterans where he eloquently uses his picture taking as a way to look back, but to also gauge his and his fellow veterans’ progress.
The Archivist (US, 2007, 4:46 min)
Directed by John Petitt
Originally made as part of the First Person Festival’s, ‘Object of My Affection’ documentary film competition, The Archivist profiles Philadelphia based photographer J.J. Tiziou and his vast digital photo archive. Tiziou reflects on his relationship with the archive and challenges of organizing and maintaining it.
