presented in association with Pacific Film Archive
Lewis Klahr In Person
The cinema of Lewis Klahr is the cinema of dreams on the threshold of recollection, of memories at the moment of departure. In his rich body of work—created tirelessly since the late ’70s—Klahr has developed a drifting and dreamy style of collage animation by which to re-animate the 20th century’s pop-cultural detritus—including advertising, comic books, forgotten toys and games—and discover therein an evocative world akin to that of admitted inspiration Joseph Cornell: innocent, tender, minimally rendered and familiar, yet rich with uncanny connotation and mystery. Begun in 2008 (and anticipated to weave through the rest of his filmmaking life), Klahr’s newest series, Prolix Satori, comprises a complex interleaving of artifacts, scenes and recurring musical tropes (from the Shagri-las to Mahler) in his continuing exploration of love, loss and reflection on lives past. Selections presented tonight from this series include Wednesday Morning Two A.M.; Lethe; False Aging; and the grouped trio of “couplets,” Nimbus Smile, Nimbus Seeds and Cumulonimbus, among others to be announced. (Steve Polta)