PHIL SOLOMON: FOUR FILMS

Philip S. Solomon, who died in May at age 65, was a disciple of Stan Brakhage. He went on to become one of America’s most acclaimed and accomplished experimental filmmakers himself. Before transitioning to digital, Solomon made supremely beautiful 16mm films, and we show four of them tonight. These poetic works ponder death and dying, decay and remembrance, and “the dusk of cinema.” Program includes: Remains To Be Seen (1989/1994), dedicated to the memory of Solomon’s mother; The Exquisite Hour (1989-94); The Snowman (1995), a “kaddish” for Solomon’s father; and Twilight Psalm II: Walking Distance (1999), which was “inspired by Kiefer and Ryder, dedicated to Stan Brakhage.” “Solomon’s film work employs an array of chemical and optical treatments to explore the natural state of decay of 16mm film. The results produce a molten emulsion unique to his cinema, a visually mesmerizing struggle between a captured image and the materiality of the medium.” – Magic Eye and Johns Hopkins University. “Although part of a long avant-garde tradition, Mr. Solomon makes films that look like no others I’ve seen.” – Manolha Dargis, NY Times. Total 63 min.