DADA shorts!

Musical accompaniment at the cinemas. Around 1910-1930 this was a normal course of events in the Netherlands. But with the advent of sound film, the so-called ’talkies’, this has become rather unusual. In a way this is a pity, because it provides the viewer a completely different cinema experience than what we are used to nowadays; the musician really turns the film into something of their own.

That is why we are bringing this old cinema tradition back to WORM Rotterdam, Filmhuis Cavia and VERA Zienema! Julia Bekker (Santa Fé, Vanity Box) and Hugo Heinen (Atoomclub, Vanity Box) will bring their own compositions and accompany a carefully curated program of Dada films from the 1920s. Film curator Hilde van der Wal will introduce the evening and explain what makes the innovative Dada movement so interesting.

PROGRAMME:

Entr’acte (1924, Rene Clair, 24 min)
Situated at the threshold between dadaism and surrealism, evolved as part of Relâche, a ballet in two acts by Francis Picabia. Follows the convisction of Picabia that real sensual pleasures have nothing to do with explainable logic.

Vormittagspuk (1928, Hans Richter, 7 min)
In this mix of stop motion and live action everyday objects are rebelling against their daily routine.

Ballet mécanique (1924, Fernand Léger & Dudley Murphy, 18 min)
A pulsing, kaleidoscope of images set to an energetic soundtrack.

Symphonie diagonale (1923, Viking Eggeling, 7 min)
This short film is a visual rather than musical symphony. A cacophony of animated geometric figures appear in succession, much like a musical piece where idioms or themes emerge. All the figures have in common that they are oriented either approximately minus thirty degrees from the horizontal plane or approximately plus thirty degrees from the horizontal plane.