Wednesday, May 26 at 7:30 pm

The Invisible Forest

by Antero Alli

– appearing in person

Forests embody threshold spaces where we encounter the spirits of nature as well as ghosts of the psychic, para-spiritual world, says Cedrus Monte in his review of Antero’s Alli‘s film.  It’s here in the forest that Antero’s dream story begins and winds itself through a rich tapestry of labyrinthine dreams within dreams which eventually carry us through to the shattering and regenerative conclusion of Antero’s cinematic opus.

Here’s the story:  A theatre troupe camps out in a forest to perform their director’s vision of Antonin Artaud‘s magic theatre of ghosts, gods, and spirits.  During their forest experiment, Alex, performed by the director Antero Alli, is haunted by disturbing dreams where Artaud appears and mocks his ambitions.  When these strange nightmares persist, Alex stops sleeping in an attempt to regain control over his mind.  Sleep-deprived and with his sanity pushed to its outer  limits, he seeks help from a psychotherapist who suggests hypnosis as a means to uncover the source of his disturbance  What follows is a phantasmagorical journey through the internal landscape of Alex’s subconscious memories and dreams, a sojourn that leads us to a place beyond belief, beyond words, and beyond the mind itself. This unique feature film was conceived and directed by local filmmaker Antero Alli and features the writings of William Shakesepare and Antonin Artaud.

http://www.verticalpool.com/invisibleforest.html

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

click here

Wednesday, March 31 at 7:30 pm

The Greater Circulation

By Antero Alli

– appearing in person

Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Requiem for a Friend“ (via the lyrical Stephen Mitchell translation) is the heart, soul, and mind of this marvelous drama from the master underground film legend Antero Alli.  This production has a deceptively simple concept: an experimental theater company in Berkeley, California, stages a performance ritual based on Rilke’s poem and during the course of rehearsals and production the impact of the poem comes to challenge and haunt the people involved in it. And beyond this concept is a deep, provocative, and often disturbing drama which poses questions of love, art, mortality and grief with the grace and majesty of Rilke’s work.  This docufiction is a marvel of mature emotion and deep wisdom;  few films have been able to explore issues surrounding death with such grace and intelligence.  Rilke himself figures in the film via flashbacks which recreate the physical and emotional circumstances behind “Requiem for a Friend.”

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

click here

Wednesday, March 24 at 7:30 pm

Loaded Visions

By Antero Alli

– appearing in person

These are original experimental short videos — not videotaped poetry readings — that use poetry as oblique narratives as a way of invoking the spirits dwelling in the texts themselves.  If tribal shamans created content for television, these videopoems might be construed as their brand of commercials.  This is a list of the poems that are used:

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

click here