Film: Diaries Notes and Sketches
On 17 November, Filmhuis De Spiegel, in collaboration with SCHUNCK, will screen 'Diaries Notes and Sketches', as part of 'Andy Warhol: Vanitas'.
Around the exhibition, Filmhuis De Spiegel, in collaboration with SCHUNCK, will screen five different films that, in the broadest sense of the word, align with the theme of the exhibition. On 17 November, 'Diaries Notes and Sketches' will be shown.
Diaries Notes and Sketches
'Diaries Notes and Sketches' is a chronological sequence of scenes that director Jonas Mekas shot with his Bolex 16mm camera between 1964 and 1968. In this film, he responds directly to the reality surrounding him: the city of New York, his friends, and nature, creating a fascinating portrait of New York's underground culture. Many famous figures from the American avant-garde appear in the documentary.
After several years of filming everyday scenes from his life, Mekas was commissioned by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in New York to make 'Diaries Notes and Sketches'. It was his first major diary film. It chronicles events in Mekas' life, with intertitles describing the images that precede or follow. The soundtrack alternates between music, narration by Mekas, and ambient sounds.
'Diaries Notes and Sketches' has English subtitles.
Film Diary
Since 1950, Jonas Mekas has been keeping a film diary. He walks around with his Bolex and responds to reality by filming it. On some days, he shot ten frames, on others ten seconds, and on others ten minutes. Or he shot nothing at all. When you write diaries, it's a retrospective process: you sit down, look back on your day, and write everything down. Keeping a film diary means responding immediately with your camera. You either capture it right away, or you don't capture it at all.
Going back and recording it later would mean having to reenact events or feelings. Capturing it in the moment, as it happens, requires total mastery of your camera. All the footage you see in 'Diaries Notes and Sketches' is exactly as it came out of the camera: there was no way to edit it in the editing room without destroying the form and content.
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
United States, 1968 / 177 minutes
Rated: Caution with children under 6 years / Strong language
Director: Jonas Mekas
Featuring: Andy Warhol, Stan Brakhage, and Carl Theodor Dreyer