Film Screening: Lyrical Flight From Reality: Playfulness and Humour in Experimental Film, Saturday 7 May, 15.00 – 16.30, Camden Arts Centre

Traversing contexts, national borders and generations, humour and playfulness have been used to create the most appealing forms of visual expression. Writer, filmmaker and curator Kamila Kuc selects a series of films that draw out humour and playfulness in the works of contemporary experimental and historical avant-garde filmmakers, such as Franciszka and Stefan Themerson. 

Przygoda Czlowieka Poczciwego (The Adventure of a Good Citizen, Franciszka and Stefan Themerson, 1937, 10 mins, Poland)

The Girl Chewing Gum (John Smith, 1976, 12 mins, UK) 

Ojej, boli mnie noga (Oh My, My Leg is Hurting, Józef Robakowski, 1985, 4mins, Poland)

Log Head (Maarit Suomi-Väänänen, 2015, 10 mins, Finland, Canada, Norway)

La Diable Noir (The Black Imp, Georges Méliès, 1905, 4 mins, France)

Laughter (Heidi Kilpeläinen, 2016, 6mins, Finland, UK)

Whirled Music (Max Eastley, 1980, 6mins, UK)

Ssaki (Mammals, Roman Polanski, 1962, 11 mins, Poland)

Climbing (Jesse McLean, 2016, 6mins, USA)

RHT (TBC, Bryan Konefsky, 2013, USA)

£5 (£4, concession and friends)

Talk: Kamila Kuc and Michael Brooke: Humour in Experimental Film, Sunday 8 May, 15.00 - 17.00 , Camden Arts Centre

One of the most under-explored areas of experimental film is the role of playfulness within it. The Themersons’ ‘irrational humoresque’, Adventures of a Good Citizen (1937) serves as a starting point for this illustrated discussion between writer, filmmaker and curator, Kamila Kuc and Michael Brooke, film critic and producer in which they debate ways in which artists and filmmakers have used humour as a subversive tool. With Heidi Kilpeläinen, Maarit Suomi-Väänänen and Max Eastley.