Pure Cinema*

Germaine Dulac played a key part in the development of the French avant-garde cinema of the 1920’s. Her goal was “pure cinema”, free from any influence from literature, the stage, or even the other visual arts. She talked of “musically constructed” films, or “films made according to the rules of visual music.” Dulac was fascinated with movement and her abstract films reflect this. She attempted to create a style that she dubbed ‘the integral film’, a visual symphony made of rhythmic images.

Katie Kim has drawn inspiration from Dulac’s haunting images and dream-world narratives with a newly conceived soundtrack of The Seashell and the Clergyman which will be performed live with surround sound. The film received its official premiere in Paris in 1929 and is considered by many to be the first true surrealist film, pre- dating Dali and Bunuel’s Un Chien Andalou by one year. The iconic techniques associated with surrealist cinema were all borrowed from her early film.

Katie Kim will also perform a specially arranged medley to accompany the film L’Invitation Au Voyage (1927).

Katie Kim released the critically acclaimed full-length album ‘Twelve’ in 2009 and her sounds, atmospherics and distinctive lyrics have pushed her to the forefront of the Irish independent music scene.

The Seashell & the Clergyman

1927 |16 mm | b&w | Silent | 40min
The film follows the erotic hallucinations of a priest lusting after the wife of a general. Scripted by Antonin Artaud the film does not tell a story as such but rather develops a series of mental states.

L’Invitation au Voyage

1927 |16 mm | b&w | Silent | 33min
Courted by a naval officer in a smoky bar, a young woman, driven by her imagination, finds herself already sailing to distant lands. She expects an invitation to a journey that will not come, her companion thinks that she is married.

Donal Dineen & Niwel Tsumbu first played together live at the electric picnic in 2009. After playing a series of gigs together in 2010, they assembled a band and in January of this year they went into the studio with Liam O’ Maonlai to record the first Parish LP, ‘Notes’. It’s due for release on their own Parish Records label in May and a series of summer festival appearances are planned. Donal Dineen is the presenter of the Small Hours radio show on Today FM & Niwel Tsumbu is about to release his third solo record.

Donal Dineen & Niwel Tsumbu will peform original scores to three short films by Dulac. This will be followed by the first live performance of their Parish tracks fresh out of the studio with live painting by very special guest Guillermo Carrion on overhead projector.

Étude Cinématographique sur une Arabesque

1929 |16 mm |n&b | Silent | 6min
Cinema visually sensitised with the deepest sense of orchestration extends below the story like elusive music.

Disque 957

1928 |16 mm |n&b | Silent | 6min
Film can be a vehicle for feelings and emotions, just like music. A visual impression of listening to the 5th and 6th Preludes by Frederic Chopin.

Thèmes & Variations

1928 |16 mm |n&b | Silent | 9min
I evoke a dancing woman. A woman? No. A bouncing line with harmonious rhythm. Harmony of lines, harmony of light thus giving more space to sensations and to dreams: integral cinema.

€15 / €12 CONCESSION