Free Radicals
/ Free Radicals
›I filmed every day. I filmed with friends…in school…There were no rules. We were totally free,‹ recounts filmmaker and curator Pip Chodorov in his new documentary. Named after the Len Lye’s landmark experimental film of dancing lines and marks scratched into the emulsion. Free Radicals, is a documentary film which explores the history of 20th-century experimental filmmaking. Filmmaker and film activist Pip Chodorov offers this affectionate overview of some of the leading figures of 20th century experimental film. The artists and poets of cinema since before WWI have always been free radicals, crazy about filmmaking and pushing the art-form in radical new directions. Pip shares with us the films he loves and introduces us to some of the free radical artists in a personal and plainspoken manner (›I’d like you to meet some of my friends and see their films‹).
Chodorov combines clips and even films in their entirety with conversations with such luminaries as Hans Richter, Robert Breer, Michael Snow, Peter Kubelka and Stan Brakhage in his final recorded interview and the godfather of the New American Cinema, Jonas Mekas. Pip does not hesitate to show extended clips of the actual films by the artists, immersing the viewer in their unique visual worlds and perspectives. Drawing from the Dada and Surrealist movements, many of these artists formulated new film grammars to express themselves. Others used the photo-realistic power of the camera to transform objects and people into personal symbols and ideas.
Avant-garde cinema has always occupied an uncomfortable position in our culture. Traditionally, galleries have shunned it since its reproducibility makes it difficult to commodify (though Pip to his credit has started a new organization ›The Film Gallery‹ that may cause the art world to rethink its position). Further, unlike popcorn cinema with its institutional modes of representation, experimental film frustrates uninitiated audiences with its challenging forms. In response to these desolate conditions, Jonas Mekas and others created their own grassroots network for making and showing their films in the 1960s. Many of these organizations such as the Filmmakers’ Co-op and Anthology Film Archives are still active today. Chodorov’s film is an affectionate tribute to these influential yet struggling artists who created this often misunderstood area of filmmaking.
Director/author: Pip Chodorov
France 2010
Film & Video 35 mm 80 min.
