settima

ShortFilm

Le 15 mai (Claire Denis, 1971)

May

15

Thu

Le 15 mai (1971)

Claudia Morin in her silver dress showing up in Philippe Rouleau's office. The perpetual calendar behind her – Enzo Mari's Formosa from 1963 – tells us it is May 15. DP: Dominique Le Rigoleur.

“Of course, it's the 15th of May.”

Le Horla [The Horla] (Jean-Daniel Pollet, 1966)

May

08

Le Horla (1966)

A reel-to-reel tape recorder. DP: Jean-Jacques Rochut.

and subsequent days.

“8th of May. What a lovely day!”

– voice on tape

Japanicky [Felix the Cat in Japanicky] (Otto Messmer, 1928)

May

03

Japanicky (1928)

A cheeky looking Felix stands in a doorway with a bamboo roller shutter. Inside the room a woman in Japanese dress sits in front of a tea bowl and pot on top of a small platform. From the ceiling hangs a (Chinese) lantern and from the wall a large scroll that reads May 3 in stereotypical Oriental lettering.

and May 4.

 

Goya 3 de mayo [Goya, May 3rd] (Carlos Saura, 2021)

May

3

1808

Goya 3 de mayo (2021)

Saura's reconstruction of Goya's anti-war painting El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid (1814). DP: Sergio De Uña.

L'eclisse del 17 aprile [An Eclipse of the Sun] (1912)

Apr

17

1912

L'eclisse del 17 aprile (1912)

Scientists in impeccable suits observing the 1912 solar eclipse. The colour used for tinting this scene, a turquoise, indicates moonlight/dusk. Image source: Cineteca di Bologna (via).

Even: As You and I (Roger Barlow, Harry Hay + LeRoy Robbins, 1937)

Feb

27

Even: As You and I (1937)

A film editor struggling with a long strip of celluloid. DP: Hy Hirsh.

憂國 [Yūkoku / Patriotism or the Rite of Love and Death] (Yukio Mishima, 1966)

Feb

26

1936

憂國 (1966)

Reiko (Yoshiko Tsuruoka) walking through her lover's blood, her kimono drenched. DP: Kimio Watanabe.

Covers February 26–28, 1936.

”'I know how you feel,' Reiko says quietly. 'And I will follow you wherever you go.'”

– intertitles

X2000 (François Ozon, 1998)

Jan

1

2000

X2000 (1998)

A young, naked man holding a drink observes two men asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. On the wall behind them the text “2000” spelled out with tinsel garlands. DP: Pierre Stoeber.

Le voyage dans la lune [A Trip to the Moon] (Georges Méliès, 1902)

Dec

19

Apollo 17

Le voyage dans la lune (1902)

A gif from the hand-coloured edition that is now in the Filmoteca de Catalunya. Poor Mister Moon has the adventures' rocket stuck in his eye. DPs: Théophile Michault & Lucien Tainguy.

The Moon (any moon) to commemorate the end of the final man-manned moon landing.

“Laugh, my friends. Laugh with me, laugh for me, because I dream for you.”

– Georges Méliès, 1937

In true Méliès style, a wild menagerie of showgirls and scientists meet on the Moon in this groundbreaking sci-fi spectacle.

Children's Party (Joseph Cornell, c. 1938/1969)

Dec

18

Las Posadas

Children's Party (1938)

Exuberant dancers at the children's party.

A festive child for Las Posadas

“Shadow boxes become poetic theaters or settings wherein are metamorphosed the element of a childhood pastime.”

– Joseph Cornell

Children of all ages are entertained by a menagerie of dancers, acrobats, talented fauna and bobbing apples in this exhilarating found-footage party. Part of The Children's Trilogy, together with Cotillion (c. 1938/1969) and The Midnight Party (c. 1938/1969).