Archives: EXPRMNTL 4

In December 1967, West German filmmakers Claudia von Alemann and Reinold E. Thiel travelled to the Belgian seaside town of Knokke-Le-Zoute to report on what would become known as one of the most legendary events in the history of avant-garde cinema: EXPRMNTL 4, the festival organized by Jacques Ledoux, director of the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique. Just months before the tumult of May 1968, EXPRMNTL was a forum for not only the discovery of films such as Michael Snow’s Wavelength (1967), which won the grand prize, but also for happenings, protests, and provocations. Harun Farocki, Holger Meins, and others disrupted the proceedings in opposition to US imperialism and the war in Vietnam, while Jean-Jacques Lebel staged a mock beauty pageant called “Miss Experimentation” and Yoko Ono spent hours lying on the floor in a black cloth sack, a performance she called Bag Piece (1964).

This screening presents a new restoration of von Alemann and Thiel’s remarkable documentation of the festival alongside four of the more than 170 films that screened there, in and out of competition.

Curated by Erika Balsom

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NB! The first film of the screening contains strong strobo effect and flashing lights.

Films in the screening: 

John Latham: Speak (United Kingdom 1962; 11 min, no dialogue)
Speak is an 11-minute animated film that was known for its intense flicker effect when shown in London area psychedelic clubs.

Joyce Wieland: Water Sark (Canada 1965; 14 min, no dialogue)
"I decided to make a film at my kitchen table, there is nothing like knowing my table. The high art of the housewife. You take prisms, glass, lights and myself to it. "The housewife is high" Water Sark is a film sculpture, drawing being made while you wait." Joyce Wieland

Yoko Ono: Film No. 4 (Bottoms) (United Statest 1966; 6 min, no dialogue)
In silent, black-and-white sequences, Yoko Ono shows 6 minutes and 9 seconds of naked, walking buttocks, including her own, her daughter’s and a few of her artist friends’ in New York. Filmed in close-up on a concealed treadmill, the movements of flesh are transformed into a rhythmic, minimalist procession. 

Robert Breer: Fist Fight (United States 1964; 11 min, no dialogue)
Breer’s extraordinary autobiographical film combines personal and family photos with intense colors, textures and geometric abstractions. 

Claudia von Alemann & Reinold E. Thiel: EXPRMNTL 4 Knokke (Germany 1968, 43 min, in French, English and German, with partial English subtitles)
Turn of the year 1967/68: the 4th International Experimental Film Festival takes place at the Belgian seaside resort Knokke. In addition to clips from the films, Claudia von Alemann and Reinold E. Thiel’s documentary above all shows the parallel events, the spontaneous performances, happenings, and protest actions that took place there. These included the work of Harun Farocki, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Shirley Clarke, Holger Meins, Gustav Lamche, Armand Gatti and Mauricio Kagel, as well as the students from the Ulm School of Design, the DFFB and American underground filmmakers. The film captures the electrifying and inspiring atmosphere that made the festival legendary and provided a decisive impetus for independent film in Europe.