Tone Glow Presents "So Lovely to Be: The Everyday Poetics of Sandra Davis"
On May 2nd, Tone Glow presents a retrospective of works from the avant-garde filmmaker Sandra Davis, who will be in person for a post-screening Q&A
Tone Glow is excited to announce “So Lovely to Be,” a seven-film retrospective of the works of Sandra Davis. Based in San Francisco, the avant-garde filmmaker has spent the past 50 years constructing works of arresting beauty and elegant poeticism. Her approach to editing was inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach, taking influence from the harpsichord’s short decay and the fugal form to ensure that her every successive image shapes one’s understanding of all previous ones. This deep consideration of form, as well as her seamless blend of the cerebral and emotive, is something that Stan Brakhage has commented on regarding her 1980 masterpiece Maternal Filigree: “It trembles like poetry, music... symbol rubs and clashes with symbol, so that each is always vibrant.”
The event will take place on Friday, May 2nd at Chicago Filmmakers. There will be two programs for with a short intermission in between. The first program will focus on Davis’ sound films, which includes her striking postcard trilogy, whose works were conceived as “songs to the passion of place.” The second program will highlight Davis’ silent works, including her 1988 film An Architecture of Desire, which melds images of the Chaco Canyon, Chicago's Graceland Cemetery, and her elderly aunt’s body. All films will be shown on 16mm with prints courtesy of Canyon Cinema. The US premiere of Davis’ films took place in 1978 at Chicago Filmmakers, and we are excited to bring her works back to the same institution decades later. Sandra Davis will be in attendance for a rare post-screening Q&A.
Tickets can be purchased at the Chicago Filmmakers website here. A single ticket is good for both programs. Special thanks to Sandra Davis, Chicago Filmmakers, Canyon Cinema, and Cameron Worden. Ultra Dogme will also be streaming a digital version of Maternal Filigree as part of their Movie Club in May.
Program 1 at 7:00PM
Au Sud (1991, color, sound, 6.5 mins)
À la campagne, à Khan Tan Su (1992, color, sound, 2.5 mins)
Une fois habiteé (1992, color, sound, 6 mins)
Matter of Clarity (1985, color, sound, 28 mins)
TRT = 43 mins
Program 2 at 8:00PM
Soma (1978, color + b/w, silent, 17 mins)
An Architecture of Desire (1988, color, silent, 17 mins)
Maternal Filigree (1980, color + b/w, silent, 18 mins)
TRT = 52 mins