HARRY SMITH PROGRAM PRESERVATION PREMIERE!
In addition to the works listed below, this program will feature some unedited footage of an interview with Smith undertaken by P. Adams Sitney and Jonas Mekas, as well as a dip into Smith’s unique treasure trove of audio recordings made in the city during the 1970s and 80s.

Recently rediscovered and restored, this late film is as curious and mannered in form and structure as the work to which it is related, Smith’s 4-projector opus MAHAGONNY. Composed of footage shot for that project (including portraits, string figures, and sand animation), FILM #23 is actually much closer in technique and nature to the earlier LATE SUPERIMPOSITIONS (1964), for which Smith printed two separate rolls of film on top of each other to create dramatic new image compositions and deeper resonances. Much of the footage was shot in the Chelsea Hotel where Smith was for many years a fixture. FILM #23 seems to have had few if any public screenings, and prior to its preservation only one print was known to exist. Anthology used the original picture and sound elements from our collection for this preservation.

Michel Auder
VIDEO VISIT: HARRY SMITH, ROOM #705, CHELSEA HOTEL 1971 (1971/2009, 24 minutes, video)
In this rarely-seen tape by video-artist Michel Auder, shot on the 7th floor of the Chelsea where Smith and Auder were neighbors, the two smoke a joint, read some fan mail, chat with a friend, and talk about filmmaking. An invaluable record of Harry Smith at the Chelsea.
Total running time: ca. 110 minutes.
–Friday, April 10 at 7:00, Saturday, April 11 at 5:30, and Sunday, April 12 at 9:00.