Bob & Teresa’s 16mm Film Night: Spooky-Weird-Fun Edition

A curated screening of real 16mm film shorts! Two sets of approximately 45 min. each with a bar break intermission.

Doors at 7:30, Films start around 8pm.
No cover

-- SET 1 --
Prest-O Change-O
On a dark and stormy night, two curious puppies wander into an old dark house, and fall victim to the tricks of a mischievous magician's rabbit. This weird white rabbit was a precursor to Bugs Bunny. A Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones with Music by Carl Stalling, released in 1939.

Betty in Blunderland
A different take on the magic white rabbit: a trippy fever dream in an early black & white cartoon. Betty Boop dozes off while working on a jigsaw puzzle of Alice in Wonderland and the white rabbit, and ‘awakes’ just in time to follow the rabbit through the looking glass. The characters inspired by Alice in Wonderland come alive and Betty walks into an enchanted world of bizarre characters. Fleischer Studios animation, 1934.

Agua Salada (Bitter Waters)
A dark, contemporary passion play shot on location along the turbulent Peruvian seacoast, set to the music of Bach's Passion according to St. John. The Movie Database says “Agua Salada is born from a dream, where a fish speaks and a cave is the scene of the drama of Passion.” Directed by Arturo Sinclair, Peru. Winner of the Gold Hugo Award, Chicago International Film Festival, 1974.

Angel
Next up is a bizarre experimental short art film, shot in high contrast black & white with abstract shapes of a woman, man, and dog in the snow - with wings. Is she an angel, or are they just really wasted?? With music by poet Leonard Cohen, performed with boingy jaw harp accompaniment by the Stormy Clovers. Notes for high school film teachers at the time suggested, “Ask the class if they think there is a possibility of the couple using drugs and feeling euphoric that explains their ‘high’." Written & directed by Derrick May, produced by Guy Glover. National Film Board of Canada, 1966.

In the Night Kitchen
Back to more classic weird fun: an animation of a little boy's dream-fantasy in which he helps three fat bakers get milk for their cake batter, with humor and a child’s strange dream-logic. Based on the award-winning 1970 children’s book of the same title by Maurice Sendak (author of Where the Wild Things Are). Produced by Morton Schindel, directed by Gene Deitch, narrated by Peter Schickele, 1987.

BAR BREAK INTERMISSION:
Get a warm drink, visit the indoor gallery, stretch your legs and settle back in for:

-- SET 2 --
Quasi at the Quackadero - 10 min.
A fun and bizarro house favorite, animated by Sally Cruikshank. This cartoon follows two anthropomorphic ducks and a rolling robot at an amusement park where phenomena such as time travel, telepathy, dream interpretations, and reincarnation are all sideshow attractions. Will Anita and Rollo seize the chance to push Quasi over the edge into 3,000,000 B.C. at the Time Hole pavilion? Music by the band the Cheap Suit Serenaders used slide flute, xylophone, ukulele, duck call, boat whistle and bagpipe to create what Cruikshank called the ’strange, gallopy feeling’ of 1920s/1930s dance-band music. This film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Snazelle Films, 1975.

Chicken Thing
In this more “modern” (retro 1980’s style live action filming) humorous short film, we watch a young boy named Billy whose imagination gets carried away one dark and stormy night, paying homage to previous Hollywood films where things go bump in the night. IMDB says that director Todd Holland's life was changed forever when, at the age of five, he saw an episode of Jonny Quest that scared the bejesus out of him - and from that moment he wanted life to always be that exciting. Holland called Chicken Thing "My UCLA Thesis film. The one that launched my career. Three and a half years in the making. Winner of a Student Academy Award and dozens of awards internationally." 1986.

"Frozen Fear" segment from House of Crazies (aka Asylum)
This segment is one of the four short horror stories in the British anthology film Asylum (released in the U.S. under the title House of Crazies). Written by Robert Bloch, who also wrote Psycho. A doctor visiting the creeptastic Dunsmoor Asylum For The Incurably Insane is interviewing a patient named Bonnie, and the story is a flashback of the diabolical tale that ended with her living there. We’ve got campy 1970s domesticity, voodoo vengeance, and surprises that both horrify and delight. The cast includes Robert Powell from The 39 Steps and Barbara Parkins from Valley of the Dolls. From the British film company Amicus Productions, known as The Studio That Dripped Blood. 1972.

Plus! Film trailers and short fragments are always possible

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Accessibility and Transportation Info: https://www.currentspace.com/visit
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Consider becoming a sustaining member of Current Space – membership starts at just $5/month! Supporters ($10/month) get half price advance tickets and Benefactors ($25/month) get free advance tickets.

Current Space is an artist-run gallery, studio, outdoor performance space, and garden bar; nourishing an ongoing dialogue between artists, activists, performers, designers, curators, and thinkers. Operating since November 2004, we are committed to showcasing, developing, and broadening the reach of artists locally and internationally.

Thank you!
Programs at Current Space are made possible in part by supporting members like you, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, and William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artist Portfolios at BakerArtist.org.