Nathaniel Dorsky

9 March, 2015 - 20:30
OFFoff Art Cinema, Gent
screening

Courtisane preview show at OFFoff

 

The films of Nathaniel Dorsky blend a beauteous celebration of the sensual world with a deep sense of introspection and solitude. They are occasions for reflection and meditation, on light, landscape, time and the motions of consciousness. Their luminous photography emphasizes the elemental frisson between solidity and luminosity, between spirit and matter, while his uniquely developed montage permits a fluid and flowing experience of time. Dorsky's films reveal the mystery behind everyday existence, providing intimations of eternity." - Steve Polta

Nathaniel Dorsky (1943, VS) startte al op elfjarige leeftijd met het maken van films op 8mm. Zijn lyrische en poëtische stijl ontwikkelde zich geleidelijk in zijn meestal volledig stille films. Zijn lumineuze, subtiele en verstillende werk evoceert een 'floating world' waarin straatscènes, binnenopnames, natuur, rivieren en bossen transformeren in speeltijden van licht, ritme, kleur en schaduw. Courtisane presenteert 3 nieuwe films van Dorsky in dialoog met Words of Mercury van Jerome Hiler, Dorsky's partner sinds vele jaren. 

Summer

Nathaniel Dorsky
,
US
,
2013
,
16mm
,
colour
,
22'

Summer in San Francisco is a dry and rainless season. The film, Summer, although photographed during this period of time, is not so much a description of summer, as it is a cinematic response to that world of our being.   N. D.

February

Nathaniel Dorsky
,
US
,
2014
,
16mm
,
colour
,
17'

February was photographed during the first weeks of early spring in San Francisco. For me there is a haunted sense of restlessness in its form, some desire for a new freedom, a fresh sense of cinema. It feels to me to be the conclusion of an exploration that began with Triste, some 20 films earlier. What will follow, I do not know.   N.D.

Avraham

Nathaniel Dorsky
,
US
,
2014
,
16mm
,
colour
,
20'

In most of my films I have had the burden of adding a title afterwards. Sometimes the word or words would come automatically, but more often with great difficulty. In the case of Avraham, the title came first. It was not only the film’s inspiration but the very thing that determined every shot and every cut.  N.D.

Words of Mercury

Jerome Hiler
,
US
,
2011
,
16mm
,
colour
,
25'

Words of Mercury is, if nothing else, economical. It was shot on reversal film and is being screened as original. Its layers of superimpositions were all shot in the camera. Half of the many fades in the film were made by submerging the original film in a black liquid. The film is silent. The shooting ratio is low and there are areas which are unedited since taken from the camera. I generally shoot first and ask questions later, but I’m struck at the influences that I see in Words of Mercury because they reach back to the very first times that I saw great 16mm films in the early Sixties: Marie Menken, Gregory Markopolous, Stan Brakhage and my lifetime companion Nathaniel Dorsky.   -   Jerome Hiler