The Father of Everything ...

Georges Melies: Impossible Voyager
Special Effects Epics from 1901 – 1913

Thursday, May 15, 8:00 p.m.
Northwest Film Forum

What is the origin of theatrical film? The significant facts of where and how it began have disappeared from our cultural consciousness, like the tanned and faded image on an old photo. Consider another wrinkle, the greed and avarice of opportunists who twisted the truth then, as they do today. John Frazer’s definitive analysis, Artificially Arranged Scenes: The Films of Georges Melies, is a declaration of the brilliant and offbeat truth. Before Melies, film was simple documentation, or actualities, impressive only in its ability to capture and reproduce movement for historical posterity.

The son of a shoe factory owner, Melies saw potential in this new technology and used his inheritance to exploit it. Altogether unlike the technicians who dominated early motion pictures and amusingly odd, even by French standards, Melies’ theatrical background and fascination with the camera produced hundreds of whimisical, shocking, absurd and hilarious short films. His combination of Science Fiction and Fantasy became so wildly popular, the exceedingly dull establishment of film pioneers began to imitate Melies’. An older brother even came to America to stem the tide of piracy. Georges Melies was the father of motion picture magic until the day it outgrew him and, like one of his clever illusions, he vanished.

Northwest Film Forum and The Sprocket Society present for one showing only, the films of Georges Melies, Thursday May 15. Announced titles include:

A Trip to The Moon (1901)
The Kingdom of The Fairies (1903)
The Palace of Arabian Nights (1905)
The Merry Frolics of Satan (1906)
Paris to Monte Carlo (1905) and,
Conquest of The Pole (1912)

Musical accompaniment for this program will feature:

A special remix of The Residents' Eskimo
The Master Musicians of Jajouka
Chicago’s legendary Hal Russell NRG Ensemble
Dada scat jazz by Fred Lane and,
The Climax Golden Twins, spinning vintage 78rpm recordings.