How to Enjoy Experimental Film

Guy Sherwin makes a most welcome return to the show to continue our conversation about his prolific and varied output. In this episode, we discuss some of Guy's film performance works as well as several of his more lyrical and personal films. Through work that combines the personal with structural rigour, these films form a sensitive and highly original body of work. 

Filmmakers and artists discussed in this episode include

One of the most prolific and multi-faceted film artists currently working in the UK, Guy Sherwin joins H2EEF for the first of a two-part conversation. In this episode, we cover the origins of Guy's film works as well as discussing the variety of stylistic features that inform his work. 

Artists & Filmmakers discussed in this episode include:

One of the most noted experimental animators in the UK, Paul Bush joins the show to discuss his life and work, both in scratch animation and stop motion.

Ever popular with audiences, Paul has produced extraordinarily beautiful films, one of which was described by one critic as being akin to “reading a book by moonlight”. 

Watch Paul's films online here:

You can also find some early works as well as writings uploaded on Paul's own website:

Coming next week wherever you get your podcasts:

Paul Bush

Guy Sherwin

Peter Rose, 

Inger Lise Hansen 

John Woodman

Ingo Petzke 

Marie Losier

French filmmaker, author, photographer and video maker Christian Lebrat joins How to Enjoy Experimental Film to discuss his entire output of works made on celluloid film. 

Christian produced these works between 1975-1985 and can see and read Christian’s work from Re:Voir, either using their smartphone app or on DVD. 

Often wrongly described as a 'structuralist' filmmaker, Lebrat's films fragment the film image and allow the audience the freedom to enjoy a unique experience of colour and movement. 

Christian is the founder of Paris Experimental, a publishing house dedicated to writing about experimental cinema, which now boasts a huge catalogue of books. Christian's book Radical Cinema as available in an English-Language edition, as are some others. 

Now working in still photography and video, Lebrat is as active as ever and we look forward to returning soon with another extended episode discussing his non-celluloid works!

Visit Christian's website http://www.christian-lebrat.net

Another great interview with the filmmaker is available here: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2007/feature-articles/christian-lebrat/

Other filmmakers and artists discussed in this episode include:

Recorded live at Anglia Ruskin University, we are joined by filmmakers Neil Henderson and Andrew Vallance, as they discuss their "ways in" to experimental cinema as well as how closely linked Avant-Garde cinema is to more mainstream work. The speakers have each chosen a handful of films to discuss to illustrate their points as well as recommending others to the audience.

Artists discussed in this episode include:

Filmmaker Ding Xin, more commonly known as Sandy Ding produces extraordinary "psychoactive" films, which lull the viewer into states of altered consciousness to weave his very special kind of cinematic magic. In this in-depth interview, he discusses his filmmaking methods as well as his wide ranging interests in noise music and hypnosis. Sandy graduated from CalArts in 2007 and now teaches at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

A DVD of his films can be purchased from the Paris-based distributor Re:Voir.

and some films, including his first feature Night Awake can be viewed via Re:Voir's VOD service.

A selection of the films found on the DVD are also now available to view using the Re:Voir app, a subscription service boasting a huge selection of experimental films.

Filmmaker Emily Richardson joins us to discuss her highly atmospheric explorations of spaces and locations, many of which are in states of transition. Working both in film and digital video, Emily's works communicate a sense of immanence in often anxious atmospheres hinting at something just unseen at the periphery of our vision. These spaces are often "haunted" by soundscapes created by recording and manipulating sounds recorded on the locations. 

For more information, visit emilyrichardson.org.uk

Prolific filmmaker Nick Collins joins us to discuss his extensive body of film work. Shot in some of the filmmaker's most frequently visited locations, these are films that defy classification, despite the regular presence of landscapes and of carefully controlled structures. Simply put, we are in the presence of a filmmaker who explores the world around him and we are gently invited to explore with him. Extremely hard to label, Nick's cinema might even transcend the label of experimental film, with appeal far beyond what is sometimes described as a "niche" interest. 

Nick's films can be found here: https://vimeo.com/user13647711

Or on DVD published by Simon Payne, from the BFI Store. https://shop.bfi.org.uk/five-greek-films-dvd.html

Filmmakers discussed in this episode include:

Simon Payne

Yasujirō Ozu

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Anna Thew

Authors discussed include:

Gaston Bachelard

Bret Battey is a composer and visual musician, who creates both electro-acoustic music together with digital moving image art. The films are as complex visually as the music is to listen to, but together they create an altogether gripping and captivating experience. Musically, Bret is influenced as much by the sweep of late romantic composers such as Gustav Mahler as he is by the granularity of Iannis Xenakis, or the 'organised noise' of Edgard Varése and a host of other more recent electro-acoustic composers. Visually, he works often by digitally manipulating photographs (which he has often taken himself) to create colourful abstract visualisations to compliment the music, working often from programming individual pixels into alluringly complex larger pictures. Here, he discusses the processes involved in creating both music and image for his artworks, as well as the lineage of visual music into which he fits. 

Filmmakers discussed in this episode include: