Parallax Views: Paranoia on Film
@ Co-Prosperity Sphere
3219 S Morgan St, Chicago, IL 60608
Opening Thursday, July 20th, from 8PM - 11PM
Ernest J. Ramon in person!
Taking its title from Alan J. Pakula’s classic paranoia thriller (which itself refers to an optical distortion phenomenon), Parallax Views presents several experimental short films interfacing with an aesthetics of paranoia. Based on a Kafka short story, Stan VanDerBeek’s MIRRORED REASON (1980, 10 min., 16mm) centers on a woman obsessed with a distorted memory of herself, blurring the line between paranoia and insanity. In John Smith’s THE BLACK TOWER (1987, 25 min., 16mm), a man believes that he is being stalked by a nefarious tower as he traverses the streets of London. Critic Nik Houghton says, “the images, meticulously controlled and articulated, deliver a series of colour coded puzzles, jokes and puns which pull the viewer into a mind-teasing engagement.†Drawing a parallel between the stagecraft of filmmaking and the pervasive climate of government surveillance, Deborah Stratman’s HACKED CIRCUIT (2014, 15 min., HD video) grapples with the complication of the seen, the known, the heard, and the undetectable. Taking place in a laundromat, J. Leighton Pierce’s MIRACLE OF CHANGE (1984, 7 min., 16mm) is an exploration of territoriality, paranoia and voyeurism. The space itself exerts an oppressive force on the characters as they strive to define and maintain their individual semi-private spaces in the public sphere. Stephanie Barber’s WOMAN STABBED TO DEATH (1996, 9 min., 16mm) is a “tiny horror film†about the apathy of strangers and the ambient paranoia subliminally ingrained in women. Filmmaker Ernest J. Ramon will present special excepts from his CRITICAL PARANOIA series and participate in a Q&A. Films and descriptions courtesy of Canyon Cinema Foundation, Video Data Bank, and Ramon himself.
Free, although you can donate $$$ if you would like to!
Poster by Ernest J. Ramon
Official Website
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Tags: Bridgeport, Chicago, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Ernest J. Ramon, Parallax Views: Paranoia on Film, South Side Projections
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