Michael Almereyda presents: Another Girl Another Planet (1992) + The Rocking-Horse Winner (1997)
The stalwart independent filmmaker joins us in person to present two of his Pixelvision films from the 1990s, hallucinatory and wryly funny tales of romance and desperation.
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Mar 28, 2023, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
2220 Arts + Archives, 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057, USA
With director Michael Almereyda and actress Paula Malcomson in person
One of the most adventurous American independent filmmakers working today, Michael Almereyda has neatly oscillated between genre films (Nadja, Marjorie Prime), biopics (Experimenter, Tesla), intimate documentaries (Skinningrove, Escapes) and Shakespeare adaptations (2000’s Hamlet) with an inventiveness that is always personal and engaging, regularly working with Hollywood actors and non-professionals alike to reach the most intuitive narrative approach. Among his most strangely beautiful works are two black-and-white films from the early ‘90s shot on Fisher-Price’s PXL2000, also known as “Pixelvision”. The lightweight plastic camcorder, originally conceived for children in 1987, was not long for the market; but its grainy textures and formal limitations became fecund for experimental narrative filmmakers at the turn of the decade. These films, featuring some of Almereyda’s most memorable characters and dialogues, are exemplary of his arresting approach to storytelling.
We are thrilled to have Michael Almereyda and actress Paula Malcomson in person for a conversation after the screening.
ANOTHER GIRL, ANOTHER PLANET
directed by Michael Almereyda
1992, 62m, U.S., 16mm
Screening from Michael Almereyda's personal 16mm print!
The first feature film shot entirely on a Fisher-Price Pixelvision camera, Almereyda’s deadpan romantic comedy is set within the confines of an East Village walk-up, where Bill (Barry Sherman) seeks validation from a series of young women (Elina Lowensohn, Mary Ward, Isabel Gilles) orbiting in and out of his apartment, while his married neighbor (Nic Ratner) comes over to blow off steam and play choice LPs from his collection. Completely embracing a visual technique of “electronic pointillism” (J. Hoberman), Almereyda’s restless blend of a ghostly avant-garde aesthetic with a distinctly Gen-X form of anxiety and alienation results in one of the great unsung independent films of the 1990s.
“A tribute to French New Wave romanticism done up in down ‘n out East Village Pixelvision… Almereyda’s ears are even sharper than his eyes — the dialogue, indeed the entire soundtrack, is dazzling.” — Amy Taubin, 10 Best List, Village Voice
“Rich with tenebrous lensing and evocative voiceovers, not to mention an unerring feel for musical accompaniment… Downtown anomie has never looked better.” -Film at Lincoln Center
Official Selection: Toronto International Film Festival, 1992
Official Selection: New Directors/New Films, 1993
Winner: Special Citation, National Society of Film Critics, 1993
followed by:
THE ROCKING-HORSE WINNER
1997, 23m, U.S., DCP
A gambler (Eric Stoltz) comes to live with his sister (Paula Malcomson) and discovers his young nephew (Jesse Forrestal) can predict the winner of horse races by riding on his rocking horse. An adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence story.
Official Selection: New York Film Festival, 1997
Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival, 1998
Official Selection: International Film Festival Rotterdam, 1998