The Language of Film: The Long Take — Cinema in the Age of 24/7
Contemporary art cinema is often characterized by long takes, a static camera, minimal editing, and extensive periods of silence. In an age dominated by an increasingly frenetic pace and the 24/7 flow of information, filmmakers from diverse cultures have adopted an aesthetics of slowness and contemplation. This series, curated and presented by Hester Baer, a professor at the University of Maryland, will investigate the prominence of “slow cinema,” considering the reasons for its emergence and examining some emblematic recent examples.
Series Events
Full Series Pass
Purchase tickets to all sessions and receive a discount.
Tickets: $55 / $45 Avalon members
Buy Series PassWed, Jun 3, 10:30 am – 12:45 pm
Session 1 delves into the formal language of slow movies, focusing especially on the films of the Berlin School of German cinema. The workshop will combine a lecture, scene analyses, and the viewing and discussion of clips in order to consider how stillness, stasis, and silence open up new ways of seeing the world in contemporary film.
Tickets: $25 / $20 Avalon members
Wed, Jun 10, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm
Washington Post critic Ann Hornaday named MEEK’S CUTOFF the top film of 2011. During the 1840s, six settlers and their guide are caught in a dangerous situation: lost, with food and water running out, the surrounding desert threatens to claim them all. Meanwhile, their guide, Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), refuses to acknowledge that they may be weeks off-course. When a Native American is captured, Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams), one of the settlers, shields him from Meek’s wrath, and he offers to lead the group to water in return. 2011, 104 min, in English
Tickets: $18 / $15 Avalon members
Wed, Jun 24, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm
Great changes have come to the town of Fengjie via construction of the Three Gorges dam: families that had lived there for generations have had to relocate to other cities. Fengjie’s old town, with its 2000-year history, has been submerged forever, but its new neighborhood hasn’t been finished yet. Two newcomers have arrived in Fengjie to look for loved ones: Sanming, a miner in search of his ex-wife of sixteen years, and Shen Hong, a nurse looking for the husband she hasn’t seen in two years. In the process they too will have to decide what in their lives is worth salvaging and what should be let go. 2006, 108 min, in Mandarin with English subtitles
Tickets: $18 / $15 Avalon members
Series Curator
Hester Baer is a faculty member in German and film studies at the University of Maryland. Her current research and teaching focus on the history of German film, digital media, and global art cinema.