TIFF 2014: Wavelengths 3: Tales Told Review

In Wavelengths Program 3, Tales Told, we deal with the structure of narratives, and observe as they are manipulated and conveyed, with varying results.

San Siro

Yuri Ancarani’s San Siro is filmed in and around the football stadium in Milan of the same name. We watch as preparations are made before the match- the tedious, arcane details such as hooking up audio cables and inspecting toilets. We watch the players in their bus as they head to San Siro, and see from afar the tiny people winding their way through San Siro’s massive concrete labyrinth. It all builds to a climactic conclusion that never comes. It’s an interesting take on the value we place in such games, and perhaps even the costliness and absurdity of our sport worshipping culture.

Canopy

Ken Jacobs takes an arcane construction material and elevates it to the focal point in Canopy. The five-minute stroboscopic work films a seemingly ordinary construction tarp in New York. Channeling Marcel Duchamp’s found object art and Christo’s use of large fabric in installations, Jacobs turns a simple canopy and makes it art. Then again, it is also just five minutes of looking at a tarp.

Detour de Force

The most fascinating of the group is Rebecca Baron’s Detour de Force. Her subject is Ted Serios, a bell-hop who, in the 1960s, claimed to be able to create photographs of his thoughts. She recreates the story through 16mm film of sessions held with Serios and his psychiatrist, Dr. Jule Eisenbud. The piece conveys the struggles Serios dealt with, as well as the struggle of those around him to control his erratic behaviour. Its eerie tone befits its supernatural topic, and sheds light on an eccentric character in an era of increasing technological advancements in photography.

Two other shorts are part of this program: Twelve Tales Told by Johann Lurf and Intransit by Jakrawal Nilthamrong. They were unavailable for screening at press time. (Cameron Bryant)

Screens

Sunday, September 7th, 7:15pm, Jackman Hall AGO


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Thanks to SPiN TORONTO for sponsoring our TIFF 2014 coverage.



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