An analysis of artistic processes and filmic forms resulting from hybridization with dance. An exploration of a different history of experimental cine-choreographic forms, in which movement inspired by or aspiring to dance takes shape in the material of the film itself, rather than in the physical bodies displayed on screen.

Arthur Lipsett’s first film was nominated for an Academy Award in 1962, marking the arrival of an influential new voice. The film’s dark humour and dancing rhythms had captured the spirit of his times. When Lipsett died by suicide in 1986, the humour and joy of his work was eclipsed by that sardonic darkness. It all came to feel like an omen.

A collection of sourcebooks compiled by experimental filmmaker Peggy Ahwesh during the production of some of her most notable films: Martina’s Playhouse (1989), The Deadman (1990), She Puppet (2001), Ape of Nature (2009), and OR119 (2022). Each of these films are significant milestones in Ahwesh’s career and have had remarkable influence on the landscape of experimental filmmaking.