If you want a glimpse of brilliance, take a look at the six-minute Hand Movie, a short film made by Yvonne Rainer in 1966. The image? A somewhat gangly hand against a white background. The action? The fingers wiggle and touch each other, they furl and unfurl, they line up tall, they stretch outward, they dance a bit... The result? Delicious! I can feel the hand in my hand. The angular line of the thumb asserts strength. The hand then becomes contorted and entirely unfamiliar. Minimal, conceptual, beautiful. Rainer began making longer films in 1972 after having already established a vibrant career in modern dance in New York. She went on to become one of the most prominent experimental and feminist filmmakers, with a slate of complex and intriguing features that altered the history of the avant-garde in the U.S. Over its coming season, Filmforum will present a full retrospective of Rainer's work, starting this Sunday, October 4, 2009, with a screening that includes Hand Movie, as well as four other shorts and the 2002 video titled After Many a Summer Dies the Swan: Hybrid. Rainer will be in attendance, and will discuss her work with Lynette Kessler, Executive Director of Dance Camera West.
the details:Bodies, Objects, Films: An Yvonne Rainer Retrospective (part 1 of 8)
Sunday October 4, 2009
7:30 pm
Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Blvd. at Las Palmas
Presented by Filmforum
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