Canyon Cinema 50: Studies in Natural Magic

Legendary experimental film distributor Canyon Cinema celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with a national tour of four programs that represent a rich panoply of independent artist-made films. 

Program one: Studies in Natural Magic features recent films by Saul Levine, Charlotte Pryce, and Christopher Harris; rarely screened films by Standish Lawder and Jean Sousa; sublimely filmed and acutely perceived portraits of cities, seas, skies, and landscapes by Peter Hutton, Julie Murray, Gary Beydler, Robert Fulton, and Emily Richardson; Betzy Bromberg’s audacious and energetic feminist punk city symphony; Degrees of Limitation, one of Scott Stark’s earliest films, a humorous 3-minute structuralist gem; and Portland, a mid-90s travelogue and playful Rashomon-like inquiry into the nature of truth by Greta Snider. Total running time: 79 minutes

Program includes: 

Catfilm for Katie and Cynnie (Standish Lawder, 1973, 3 min.)
Light Lick (Amen) (Saul Levine, 2017, 4 min.)
Ciao Bella or Fuck Me Dead* (Betzy Bromberg, 1978, 9 min.)
Swish (Jean Sousa, 1982, 3 min.)
28.IV.81 (Bedouin Spark) (Christopher Harris, 2009, 3 min.)
Redshift (Emily Richardson, 2001, 4 min.)
A Study in Natural Magic (Charlotte Pryce, 2013, 3 min.)
Starlight (Robert Fulton, 1970, 5 min.)
Hand Held Day* (Gary Beydler, 1975, 6 min.)
Portland (Greta Snider, 1996, 12 min.)
Degrees of Limitation* (Scott Stark, 1982, 3 min.)
Shrimp Boat Log (David Gatten, 2010, 6 min.)
Boston Fire (Peter Hutton, 1979, 8 min.)
Orchard (Julie Murray, 2004, 10 min.)

*recent restorations and new prints