Experiments in Cinema

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More About

• Barbara Hammer
• Lawrence Jordan
• Ken Paul
• Kathryn Golden
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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Perhaps out of compassion for punch-drunk filmgoers who might flinch at the addition of another festival to their packed-to-the-gills calendars, S.F. Cinematheque carefully avoids using the magic word to describe its first-ever weekend bash. Neither coyness nor shyness is warranted, however, for Crossroads casts a welcome spotlight on the vibrant state of personal filmmaking. The criminally underappreciated Lawrence Jordan, who has been making remarkable collage films here since the early 1950s, is saluted Friday night with a sneak preview of East Bay docmakers Kathryn Golden and Ashley James’ affectionate portrait, Moments of Illumination, followed by the debut of his latest tour de imagination, Cosmic Alchemy! Another pantheon figure, Barbara Hammer, launches Saturday’s festivities at 1 p.m. with an illustrated lecture in honor of her new memoir, Hammer! Making Movies out of Sex and Life. Anyone with so much as a passing interest in mental health (aka alternate states of mind) should be on hand for the unveiling of Crooked Beauty (Saturday at 9 p.m.), Ken Paul Rosenthal’s poetic (occasionally to the point of abstraction) documentary, inspired by artist and writer Ashley McNamara’s journey from psych ward to activist. Today’s offerings include a pair of mind-warping shorts programs capped by the Left Coast premiere of Sleep Furiously, Gideon Koppel’s evocative, acclaimed study of the rural Welsh village where he spent a chunk of his childhood. Next time, Cinematheque, don’t hide your light under a bushel.
April 16-18, 2010