Buffalo Rising Online

Aug 19th 2008, 12:49am By Eli George

There used to be a time when while watching a film, you had to decipher the action for yourself with the help of title cards. Staring at the screen and using the music coming from a piano, organ, or other instrument, you had to determine what each character was doing and trying to convey to the audience. That was silent film and even without words, it captivated audiences. Squeaky Wheel, in collaboration with Gusto at the Gallery is now presenting the opportunity for you to enjoy film the same way your grandparents or great grandparents might have while relaxing in the same outdoor atmosphere you might enjoy at the drive-in theater.

This Friday, August 22nd at 8:30 PM, you’ll be able to watch the classic silent film Strike from 1925 on the back stairs of the Albright-Knox Art Center. (Don’t worry, if it rains, the film will be moved inside to the Knox Theater.) The film is directed by Sergei Eisenstein and is about the suicide of a worker who is unjustly accused of theft, which prompts the laborers working at a Moscow factory to call a strike.

The score for the film is being provided by David Kane, who has been composing and performing for the past 30 years. He is premiering a new score for the film and has composed scores for the films In and Shadow Creature, as well as composing a new score for Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera with Them Jazzbeards. For Strike, Kane’s score features electronic keyboards, samples, and theremin.

On September 6th, local musician Don Metz will provide the scores for films in Columbus Park on the corner of Porter and Niagara Street with a rain location of Squeaky Wheel. Metz has scored the classic films Anemic Cinema by Marcel Duchamp and L'Etoile de Mer by Man Ray. However, Metz has also scored a number of new experimental films by national filmmakers Nicole Rademacher, Angeles Cossio, Karen Brummond, Henry Gwiazda, Jon Monaghan, Sang Um Nam, John Larsen, Adam Paradis, and Cara Marisa Deleon which feature 3D and stop-motion animations, digital poetry, abstract video collages and hand-made film techniques.

That Saturday at 8:30 PM, local filmmakers Courtney Grim and Michael Lent will screen their films while Metz performs a score for four guitars. Grim’s film is called Wine-oh, a film she soaked in red wine for a year. Lent’s films are Number 2 and Oklahoma is OK. Both films are abstract video collages of video from a road trip across the United States.

To learn more about events hosted by Squeaky Wheel, visit their website. You can also e-mail office@squeaky.org or call 884-7172.