Roger Beebe, a filmmaker from Columbus, Ohio, is returning to Berlin for his first expanded cinema show in the city since 2012. The program consists of 3- and 4-projector performances, weaving together found and original footage, abstract cameraless experiments, laser-etched 16mm, and more. Much of his work emphasizes optical sound techniques, using materials like Washi tape and film grain to create rich auditory experiences. Included in the program are “Lineage (for Norman McLaren)” (2019), “de rerum natura” (2019), “Home Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry” (2021), and his newest work, “un arbre” (2024), all of which are European premieres.
Roger Beebe is a filmmaker whose work since 2006 consists primarily of multiple-projector performances and essayistic videos that explore the world of found images and the “found” landscapes of late capitalism. He has screened his films around the globe at such unlikely venues as the CBS Jumbotron in Times Square and McMurdo Station in Antarctica as well as more likely ones including Sundance and the Museum of Modern Art with solo shows at Anthology Film Archives, El Centro de Cultura Digital in Mexico City, and Los Angeles Filmforum among many other venues. Beebe is also a film programmer: he ran Flicker, a festival of small-gauge film in Chapel Hill, NC, from 1997-2000 and was the founder and Artistic Director of FLEX, the Florida Experimental Film Festival from 2004-2014. He is currently a Professor in the Departments of Art and Theatre, Film, and Media Arts at the Ohio State University.
Monday, May 20 2024, 7:30 pm
PA58, Prinzenallee 58 (2nd backyard on the right),
13359 Berlin–Wedding
Suggested donation: 5€
Program
Lineage (for Norman McLaren)
(2019, 15 min, 4x 16mm)
Drawing from Norman McLaren’s animations and documentaries, the performance uses techniques like laser etching to create surprising sounds from visual marks.
de rerum natura
(2019, 18:40 min, 3x 16mm + cell-phone video)
A three-part meditation on beauty in the natural world that both embraces and interrogates our knee-jerk response to the glories of nature.
Home Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
(2021, 10 min, 4x 16mm)
A trip to a craft store becomes a (very late) Modernist investigation of form.
un arbre
(2024, 12 min, 4x 16mm + video)
A hand-processed lament for the loss of a 200-year-old sycamore tree, felled to make way for a luxury apartment complex.