Flaherty: Epic Encounters
No, it is not a forgotten film by ”the father of documentary”, Robert Flaherty. Flaherty is, of course named after him, ”a nonprofit organization dedicated to the proposition that independent media can illuminate the human spirit. Its mission is to foster exploration, dialogue, and introspection about the art and craft of all forms of the moving image. The Flaherty is based in New York City and was established to present the annual Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, named after the maker of such seminal documentaries as Nanook of the North, Man of Aran, and Louisiana Story.”
The Epic Encounters is the title of a film series (6 films), organised by Flaherty on six Wednesdays in March and with critic and tv host Jeronimo Rodriguez as programmer. It takes place in NYC at 92Ytribeca (website below). Regret to say that I don’t know any of the films, but having read about/googling them, I see high quality, a programme maybe to be copied somewhere in Europe? Here is an intro:
“Some things in life fall away into a forgotten chasm, relegated to imperfect human memories, tucked away in a remote abyss where you will probably never hear from them again. Film often reverses the course of events, giving these things a place in our history. This program focuses specifically on the ability of film to shed light on those spots that might otherwise be lost forever. The selected films deal with episodes of a nebulous past, with activities that are not usually represented, with fractured spaces, and finally, with the frailty of memory. Filmmakers, videographers, professionals, and amateurs from Latin America, Spain and the US help create a bridge between what is seemingly irrelevant and what takes on significance. This show features a Hi-8 home video, an underground scream, a fading memory, an unknown story, a rehearsal, and a rarely seen film.
Some of the Spring season highlights include: Xurxo Chirro’s mythmaking in Vikingland, constructed from editing found footage recorded by a Galician sailor in the early 90s; El otro día (The Other Day) in which Ignacio Agüero’s past and the complexities of Chilean society are revealed through everyday objects left in his home; Argentine filmmaker Matías Piñeiro’s Rosalinda (photo), which pulls back the curtain on the act of rehearsing; and a selection of short films that examine rarely seen spaces, many of them fractured or undergoing transformation, like the eerie tranquility of a Peruvian beach resort recorded by Andrea Franco in En Ancón (In Ancon).”
