Cine16 Tonight: Sometimes moving, often kitschy, always FREE!

cine16 is a free monthly film series presenting vintage short films that were shown in schools in decades past. As we move into a new space, we examine the motion and growth that are the essence of life.

Please note our change of location begins this month!

What: ciné16 -- Free films at Missouri History Museum

When: Thursday, January 19, 7 p.m. (doors open at 6)

Where: Missouri History Museum (Lindell at DeBalivere in Forest Park, two blocks south of the MetroLink station)

How Much: Free

Theme: "Motion and Growth"


Films on the program:

'Pas De Deux' (1968) 13m, dir. Norman McLaren. McLaren's classic black and white film is both exquisite and experimental. Documenting the movements of two ballet dancers, McLaren accentuates their movements through slow motion, super-imposed images and stark contrast.

'Ballet Adagio' (1971) 10m, dir. Norman McLaren. A few years after releasing "Pas De Deux," McLaren came out with another lovely film documenting ballet through experimental treatment of motion, time and light.

'Barges' (1973) 13m, dir. Parker Rushing. This film chronicles the journey of Illinois corn from a farm field through the port of Chicago and onto a bridge headed south to New Orleans via the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The narrative is almost an ode to life on the river.

'Johnny Learns His Manners' (1977) 17m, dir. Abe Levitow. A child is so messy and rude that he turns into a pig. His mom explains to him that astronauts get to go into space because they are neat and clean. He changes his ways and turns human again.

'How Does a Rainbow Feel?' (1972) 16m, dir. David Holden. A group of children explore character, narrative, color and motion by improvising a story that moves and grows, shifting from tense to silly as each youth adds to the tale.

'The Living Soil' (1965) 20m., dir. Atma Ram. A film made by Shell Oil that discusses soil organisms and "pests" with gratuitous close-ups, then shows farmers applying pesticides to their fields and talks about how great pesticides are.



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SERIES INFO:
cine16 St. Louis is a satellite program of the Academic Film Archive of North America (AFA), based in San Jose, California. The series is co-curated in St. Louis by Claire Nowak-Boyd, Michael Allen and Evalyn Williams.

What is "academic film"? From the early 1900s to about 1985, many of the best art, history, social science, literature and science films made were produced for academic settings on 16 millimeter film. AFA is dedicated to preserving these films and to educating the public about films of this era through free screenings and lectures.

For more information about AFA, visit http://www.afana.org