With live music by Sza/Za, an experimental electro-acoustic duo from Warsaw, the program of Polanski’s seven short films will premiere at BAMcinématek on November 2, and then tour the U.S. to be presented at some of the most prestigious venues on the East Coast and West Coast, including the National Gallery of Art in DC and the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco. The project will pay tribute to the Polish jazz pioneer Krzysztof Komeda, Polanski’s long time collaborator in Europe and Hollywood.
Between 1958 and 1962, the acclaimed director made a series of short films, mostly as a student at the renowned Lodz Film School in Poland. From playful filmmaking exercises: Murder (1957) and Teeth Smile (1957), and the metaphorical Break Up the Dance (1957) and Mammals (1962), to his award winning film Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958).
Roman Polanski: Short Films will reveal the director's surreal and dark style, his masterful storytelling ability and his restless search for the truth about human nature. The grotesque and often disturbing world of his short films, and his meticulously clean direction are traits that would be later developed in such masterpieces as Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, The Pianist, and his most recent The Ghost Writer.
Sza/Za (Pawel Szamburski and Patryk Zakrocki) – musicians, improvisers and promoters of culture in the Warsaw music and independent art scene since 1999 – have composed a new score for this special event. Using clarinet, violin, analogue loop stations and subtle effects, their music
is a unique mix of noise and silence, pop and contemporary chamber music, which convey both the beauty and ugliness of sophisticated wisdom and pure, naive thoughtlessness.
LISTINGS:
- Tuesday, November 2, 7:30 pm: BAMcinématek – 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY; www.BAM.org.
- Thursday, November 4, 7:30 pm: Cornell Cinema – 104 Willard Straight Hall, Ithaca, NY; www.cinema.cornell.edu.
- Sunday, November 7, 7:00 pm: Alamo Drafthouse Ritz – 320 E. 6th St.Austin, TX; www.originalalamo.com.
- Monday, November 8, 7:30 pm: Boulder Theater – 2032 14th St., Boulder, CO; www.bouldertheater.com.
- Tuesday, November 9, 8:00 pm: The Cinefamily – 611 N. Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA; www.cinefamily.org.
- Wednesday, November 10, 7:30 pm: Letterman Digital Arts Center - One Letterman Dr., San Francisco, CA; www.sffs.org.
- Thursday, November 11, 7:30 pm: Seattle International Film Festival Cinema – 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA; www.siff.net.
- Saturday, November 13, 4:30 pm: National Gallery of Art/ East Building Large Auditorium - 4th St. & Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC; : www.nga.gov.
- Sunday, November 14, 7:00 pm: Film Row Cinema/Columbia College – 1104 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL; www.pffamerica.com, www.societyforarts.com.
