Winnipeg

Sounds like A Cheap Contest for A Pirate

Saturday, August 11, 8:30pm, Symphony Barn

Mike Maryniuk

We “Peggers” embrace being the punchline for a bad pun. Our eye patches are worn like a badge of honor; they allow us to see things in a completely unique way.

Winnipeggers have been trained to make fun of themselves. Self-deprecating humour is the only defence against the minus forty degree winters. This program of recent work made by members of the Winnipeg Film Group is made up of films that are both experimental and comedic in nature.

Winnipeg also has a strong tradition of seeking out bargains. Many filmmakers have decided to learn how to process and colour film themselves. It is not because of a desire to do something different than the mainstream media (heck we don’t even have cable). It is because we want a bargain. This program features films made with a photocopier, hand processed film, scratch animated film, V.H.S cam and a film where film is the protagonist.

The first great experimental film in Winnipeg was released in 1980 by Ed Ackerman and Greg Zbitnew. Ed and Greg were considered to be troublemakers in their day. In 1979 when the W.F.G. announced that they would be purchasing a photocopier instead of filmmaking equipment, most members were delighted. Not Ed and Greg. They turned their frustration into ingenuity. The two filmmkaers turned the photocopier into a piece of filmmaking equipment. They emerged from the tests with a finished film, 5 Cents a Copy and a broken photocopier. The film was scored by Jon Krocker, who went on to make his own weirdly wonderful techno-skidoo soundtrack heavy film 38 Jansky Units in 1982.

In 1983, Greg Hanec used music as inspiration for his film appropriately titled “Music”. This short follows a band made up of six-year-olds who are already jaded by the music industry. Greg later went on to make two feature films, Downtime and Tunes a Plenty.

In 2001 Sol Nagler introduced the hand-processed teachings of Phil Hoffman to the W.F.G. This resulted in a flurry of experimental activity. Sol’s Artist in Residence project interpretation of Otto Wieneger’s The Sex of Self Hatred is included in this programme. Danishka Esterhazy scratch ‘-tastic’ handprocessed film Protection is simple and gorgeous. Sheena Crookes uses the optical printer with great success with her personal film “Panic Attack”.

Jaimz Asmundson’s ‘K.Anger-’ian Drawing Genesis, Gwen Trutnau’s skeletal pining for partying Worked to the Bone, Darryl Nepinak (Winnipeg’s First Nation Sensation) questions ‘whitey’s’ filmmaking rules in Sundown at the Dusty Trail and Arlea Ashcroft and Andrea VonWichert’s performance art Snapperdoodle were all made for the 2006 Super-8 One Take Event put on by Alex Rogalski and WNDX film festival.

The 48-Hour Film Contest 2006 and 2007 gave filmmakers a deadline to create amazing short films. Leslie Supnet’s animation about choosing Winnipeg, Moving, was the 2007 winner. The event is put on by animator Kevin Nikkel who made Kitchen Hockey.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery commissioned several films, including Simon Hughes’ time-lapse ice sculpture ballet Cold Satire. The Winnipeg Film Group also commissioned Neil McInnis’ stop motion marvel AutoMoto to celebrate their 30th Anniversary. Guy Maddin’s Mexican masterpiece Sombra Dolorosa was shot for Bravo TV. Guy has become a perennial Fab Fest favourite.

L’atelier National du Manitoba is represented by Matthew Rankin’s tribute to the inevitable brick apartment buildings of Winnipeg I Dream of Driftwood while Walter Forsberg documents his cousins victory at the Creleman Fair Lawnmower race in Thunder at the Track. Deco Dawson’s Dumb Angel is a musical meditation on the drummer of Inward Eye and Clint Enns documents a Torontonian who willingly removed his eye to become a full Winnipeger in Botched Eye Operation.

Curator Mike Maryniuk and filmmaker Jaimz Asmundson will be present at the screening.

5 Cents A Copy
3 min (1980) BW
Ed Ackerman and Greg Zbitnew

38 Jansky Units
4 min (1982) Colour
Jon Krocker

Music
3 min (1983) BW
Greg Hanec

Dumb Angel
9 min (2005) Colour
Deco Dawson

Cold Satire
2 min (2007) Colour
Simon Hughes

Drawing Genesis
2.5 min (2007) Colour
Jaimz Asmundson

Botched Eye Operation
1 min (2007) Colour
Clint Enns

Worked to the Bone
2 min (2007) Colour
Gwen Trutnau

Moving
1 min (2007) Colour
Leslie Supnet

Kitchen Hockey
1 min (2007) BW
Kevin Nikkel

Sundown at the Dusty Trail
2.5 min (2007) Colour
Darryl Nepinak

AutoMoto
2.5 min (2007) Colour
Niel McInnis

Protection
2 min (2006) Colour
Danishka Esterhazy

Snapperdoodle
2.5 min (2007) Colour
Arlea Ashcroft and Andrea VonWichert

Thunder at the Track
4 min (2005) Colour
Walter Forsberg

I Dream of Driftwood
4 min (2006) Colour
Matthew Rankin

Sombra Dolorosa
4 min (2005) Colour
Guy Maddin

Panic Attack
7 min (2004) BW
Sheena Crookes

The Sex of Self Hatred
9 min (2004) Colour/BW
Soloman Nagler