Half On Half Off
Louisiana Story
Five months and an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled since the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, Early Monthly Segments presents two distinct visions of the impact of the oil industry to the region and its inhabitants. Louisiana Story is Robert Flaherty’s 1948 feature narrative film in which a boy and his pet raccoon serve as witness to the risks and benefits of exploratory drilling to his bayou home. Compromised from the start—the film was a commission for the Standard Oil Company—the film nonetheless provides glimpses of truth beneath the gloss. Shot on location by a young Richard Leacock using local inhabitants as actors, the film contrasts the lush biodiversity of the region, with the mechanical might of the rig and its machinery, finding formal beauty in both. The film is also notable for it’s masterful editing by Helen van Dongen, and Virgil Thompson’s Pulitzer Prize winning score.
Kevin Jerome Everson’s Half On Half Off shows a team of workers on Pensacola Beach, Florida dealing with the aftermath of the recent Deepwater Horizon Spill. Everson shot the film one frame at a time, compressing hours of work onto a single 3-minute roll of film. The title refers to the work schedule of the cleaners, who work in half-hour shifts punctuated with rests of the same length. In both films work and life continue after the drilling stops, as does the question of the hidden price of the lifestyle we’ve come to take for granted.
Programme:
Half On Half Off, Kevin Jerome Everson, 16mm, 2010, USA 3 min.
Louisiana Story, Robert Flaherty, 16mm, 1948, USA 78 min.
@ the Art Bar, Gladstone Hotel | 1214 Queen St West
Tuesday August 17, 2010 | 8:00pm screening
UPCOMING: Our September 21 program will feature De Profundis by Lawrence Brose, based on Oscar Wilde’s prison writings. It will be a fundraiser for the Lawrence Brose Legal Defense Fund (http://lawrencebroselegaldefensefund.com). More info soon.
Louisiana Story
Half On Half Off
Louisiana Story