Film as Film: Theory and Practice in the Work of Gregory J. Markopoulos
Symposium & Screenings
Basel, 23 & 24 April 2015
Basel University, eikones Forum and Stadkino Basel will host Film as Film: Theory and Practice in the Work of Gregory J. Markopoulos on 23 & 24 April 2015. This symposium and screening series is the first of its kind to be focused on Markopoulos, and will bring together many of the most knowledgeable individuals interested in his work. This event is open to the public.
The Greek-American filmmaker Gregory J. Markopoulos (1928–1992) was one of the key figures in the development of postwar avant-garde film, and a co-founder of the New American Cinema Group. In his exquisitely stylized and dreamlike early films, and in the stunning works of the sixties and seventies, Markopoulos formulated a maverick aesthetic characterized by incomparable formal rigor, fascinating beauty, and the penetrating representation of interior worlds that emerge from the entwinement of image and sound into an ecstatic filmic language. He was able to infuse his films with poetic density and force using minimal filmic and financial means. Although the archive of his films, texts, research materials, correspondence and library has been located in Switzerland since his death, Markopoulos’ films have yet to be officially shown there, nor have they been the subject of extended scholarly discussion. On the occasion of the publication of his collected writings in September 2014, texts which underpin Markopoulos’ oeuvre with far-reaching theoretical reflections, this event presents three film programs and a colloquium that will discuss the many different aspects of his work.
The three film programmes are each accompanied by presentations by P. Adams Sitney, Luke Fowler and Robert Beavers. The colloquium at eikones Forum will also feature talks and discussions with Erika Balsom, Rebekah Rutkoff, Mark Webber, François Bovier, Markus Klammer and Maja Naef. Tickets for screenings and lectures at Stadktino Basel are available from the cinema and booking is recommended.
Programme:
Thursday 23 April 2015, at 6pm – Basel Stadtkino
Film as Film: Theory and Practice in the Work of Gregory J. Markopoulos
Opening introductions / excerpt of Walden by Jonas Mekas
Presentation: Mark Webber
Ming Green / Twice a Man
Lecture: P. Adams Sitney
Friday 24 April 2015, at 9am – Basel Eikones Forum
Colloquium and Discussions
Erika Balsom, Rebekah Rutkoff, Mark Webber, François Bovier, P. Adams Sitney, Luke Fowler, Markus Klammer, Maja Naef
Friday 24 April 2015, at 3:30pm – Basel Stadtkino
Sorrows / Gammelion
Artist's Talk: Luke Fowler
Friday 24 April 2015, at 6:30pm – Basel Stadtkino
Through a Lens Brightly: Mark Turbyfill / Political Portraits (excerpt) / Eniaios II, Reel 4: The Cosmos of Sight
Discussion: Robert Beavers with Lucy Parker, Ian Wooldridge, James Edmonds
To register your interest in attending the colloquium please contact maja.naef@unibas.ch. Reasonably priced accommodation can be found at the Basel-St Alban Youth Hostel http://www.youthhostel.ch/en/hostels/basel-st-alban or at easyHotel Basel http://www.easyhotel.com/hotels/basel.html
