You’ve heard of art house cinema. So how about “architecture house” cinema?
This Thursday (July 19) at 7 p.m., the Mini Microcinema presents Cinema at the Center: House and Home, a night of short films about architecture, at Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center, itself renown for its daringly modern building designed by the great architect Zaha Hadid.
C. Jacqueline Wood is bringing her Over-the-Rhine-based Mini operation Downtown for this special presentation.
Here are the films, with descriptions provided by the Mini. Some were provided by filmmakers.
• H is for House (1972) by Peter Greenaway (UK)
Returning to the house from his earlier film Windows, Greenaway demonstrates his love of the English countryside and displays a distinctive (if rare) autobiographical self with H Is for House. Envisioned as a living, breathing dictionary on film, this epistemological survey of the letter “H” represents Greenaway at his warmest and most playful.
• Nocturnal Admissions (2003) by Kara Blake (Canada)
An exploration of the home movie genre in which the home remembers the lives that have passed between its walls.
• Blight (1996) by John Smith (UK)
Blight was made in collaboration with the composer Jocelyn Pook. It revolves around the building of the M11 Link Road in East London, which provoked a long and bitter campaign by local residents to protect their homes from demolition. The images in the film record some of the changes that occurred in the area over a two-year period, from the demolition of houses through to the start of motorway building work.
• Mela (2011) by Ezra Wube (Ethiopia)
In this piece, I am exploring the idea of belonging by tracing the outline of the shifting skyline. Through imagination, learning and a continuous adjustment, I strive to relate the communal with personal identity.
• Turtles Are Always Home (2017) by Rawane Nassif (Lebanon)
This is a short essay about the meaning of home and the search for it in a transient environment. It is a personal journey inwards with an intimate camera that observes and takes its time to look at the buildings and the surroundings only to find its reflections. Houses have memories too. They hide them under their windowsills, tuck them in layers of paint and sometimes whisper them to birds passing by. I wonder whose memories these houses will keep. I live here but I am unable to leave a trace. I try to attach myself to the walls, dirty them, mark them… but I fail. They are constantly cleaned, watched, and protected. I caress them instead. And I film them, lest I forget. Home is where the heart is, they say. I disagree. My heart is everywhere. It left with the music. Like a turtle, I am always home.
• Domus (2017) by Rhayne Vermette (Canada)
“The block of marble is the most beautiful of all statues” – Carlo Mollino This is the story of the godlike architect, Carlo Mollino, animated within the desk space of failed architect, Rhayne Vermette. Made, with love on 16mm, 35 and Super 8, this classic tale of Pygmalion investigates intersections between cinema and architecture. For E. Ackerman, A. Jarnow, and T. Ito.
While not yet confirmed, the Mini wants to also present:
• High Steel (1965) by Don Owen (Canada)
This short documentary offers a dizzying view of the Mohawk Indians of Kahnawake who work in Manhattan erecting the steel frames of skyscrapers. Famed for their skill in working with steel, the Mohawks demonstrate their nimble abilities in the sky. As a counterbalance, the viewer is also allowed a peek at their quieter community life on the Kahnawake Reserve, in Quebec.
The CAC is at 44 E. 6th St., Downtown. More information: mini-cinema.org
This article appears in Jul 11-18, 2018.