The 34th

9,20/1

Broadway Cinematheque

French Cinepanorama

If Cocteau is not the inventor of the experimental cinema he is at least one of the most impactful inspirer and secret godfather of underground cinema. Maya Deren, one of most prominent figures of this movement, revisits the shots of The Blood of a Poet to rip them off of the erotic connotation and recreate the emotions. The same quest for the sense of time obsesses her when in Ritual in Transfigured Time (1945 / 15 mins / B&W/ silent), a woman is coming forward, arms straight like Orpheus and sees in front of her two girls knitting with the stitches of Time. Meditation of Violence (1948 / 12 mins / B&W) explores theme of variation and transformation. Fireworks (1947/ B&W / 20 mins), directed by the avant-garde artist, Kenneth Anger, exemplifies the inspiration found in Cocteau's use of saturated and dazzling white colour when the guy is lighting his cigarette in the white dazzling shirt. Jean Genet's Un Chant d'amour (1950 / 26mins / B&W / silent) is a project commissioned by Jean Cocteau (who is also unaccredited as cinematography), it tells the story of three prisoners who share the same fantasy. It is one of earliest underground films dealing with gay male desire and eroticism in an explicit manner, casting huge influence on both gay cinema and experimental cinema. (total running time: 73 mins)