Shorts + Q&A
Pinscreen Magic

Followed by Q&A with Special Guests


Saturday, January 26, 2019
5:30–7pm
Ages 12+
FIAF Florence Gould Hall



The pinscreen instrument produces beautiful and lyrical black and white short films. This program showcases the first film produced with the pinscreen in 1933 by its creators, Alexandre Alexeïeff and Claire Parker; films made in Canada by Jacques Drouin and Michèle Lemieux; as well as the most recent pinscreen film made in 2017 by Justine Vuylsteker.

After the screening, there will be a Q&A with Alexandre Rockwell, filmmaker (In the Soup) and grandson of Alexandre Alexeïeff, filmmaker Michèle Lemieux (Here and the Great Elsewhere), and executives Jean-Baptiste Garnero and Sophie Le Tétour, Direction du patrimoine cinématographique, CNC.

En passant
Dir. Alexandre Alexeïeff, France, 1943. 1 min. B&W. No dialogue.
An animated illustration of the popular Canadian song, “And I, I fled,” sung by the Alouette quartet.

Etreintes (NY Premiere)
Dir. Justine Vuyisteker, France, 2018. 5 min 27 sec. B&W. In French.
Standing in front of an open window, a woman looks at the clouds that darken the horizon. Motionless, she struggles against the rise of her memories. Meanwhile, a body emerges from the clouds.

Le Nez
Dir. Alexandre Alexeïeff and Claire Parker, France, 1963. 11 min 22 sec. B&W. No dialogue.
A man finds a nose in his loaf of bread one morning. Based on the story by Nikolai Gogol.

Le Paysagiste
Dir. Jacques Drouin, Canada, 1976. 7 min. B&W. No dialogue.
A painter enters the surreal world of his own work. A haunting, dynamic, and magical tableau that bears the mark of the creator’s genius.

Here and the Great Elsewhere
Dir. Michèle Lemieux, Canada, 2012. 14 min. B&W. No dialogue.
From dreams to meditation, a man is suddenly dizzy as he tries to capture the meaning of the world. Surrounded by a wall, he wants to find a key which would give him access to the mysteries of the great elsewhere.

Tableaux d’une exposition
Dir. Alexandre Alexeïeff and Claire Parker, France, 1972. 10 min 20 sec. B&W. No dialogue.
Alexeïeff and Parker illustrate Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with images inspired by the composer’s childhood.

Une leçon de chasse
Dir. Jacques Drouin, Canada, 2000. 13 min. B&W. In English.
Antoine is eager to learn about hunting, but the lesson he learns from a wise older man is not what he had expected: Antoine is left with a profound reverence for life. The film is based on Jacques Godbout’s book Une leçon de chasse.

Une nuit sur le mont chauve
Dir. Alexandre Alexeïeff and Claire Parker, France, 1933. 8 min 20 sec. B&W. No dialogue.
The very first pinscreen animation film, A Night on Bald Mountain is set to Modest Mussorsgky’s evocative tone poem of the same name.