SFCINEMATHEQUE

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

In Present Tense

Films of Ute Aurand

California College of the Arts





Ute Aurand in person
presented in collaboration with the Pacific Film Archive
[members: $5 / non-members: $10/ CCA students & faculty: free]

Over the last thirty years, German filmmaker Ute Aurand has been creating films drawn from her daily life, travels and friends. Made in conversation with the work of Jonas Mekas, Margaret Tait and Marie Menken, Aurand’s films find a spontaneous interaction with the here and now. Her signature staccato bursts of imagery share a stylistic affinity with Mekas, but lack the Lithuanian émigré’s melancholy. Instead, her work has a decidedly joyous present tense — the flooding imagery of the now. This program features two early films, Deeply Absorbed in Silent Conversation (Schweigend ins Gespräch vertieft) and Thirds 1 (Terzen 1), and a stunning new work, Building Underground (In die Erde gebaut) . In the latter, she follows the construction of the new wing of Zurich’s Museum Reitberg from the groundbreaking in 2004 to its opening in 2007. Enhancing her unparalleled access to the construction site with an attentive eye towards the meticulous labour involved, Aurand creates a portrait that beautifully melds her seeing with her subject. Her image bursts, like bricks and mortar, constructing moving pictures out of fragments much like the labourers build up the museum wing from under the ground. (Chris Kennedy)

Presented with the generous support of the Goethe-Institut San Francisco.

Download program notes