>>PREVIEW
J. ALFRED’S TRAVELLING FILM SHOW
Saturday, August 20
Birds + Stone
They say that variety is the spice of life. If that is the case, then J. Alfred’s Travelling Film Show should be pretty spicy.
"It’s a potpourri of independent short ephemera," says the show’s curator, Alphie Primeau. "It’s like a film version of one of those rock ’n’ roll mix tapes – a couple of hip hop songs, some old soul and a bit of punk rock, but it all goes together."
A transplanted Calgarian living in Montreal, Primeau made the decision to curate this cinematic mash-up after viewing short films at poorly advertised screenings and on the Internet. Primeau was bothered by the fact that these films weren’t more widely available and he didn’t want to wait for a film festival or some similar event to see them again. He figured, why not rent a projector, find a room and host his own film party?
Compiling ’80s TV commercials, bizarre animation and Super 8 film collages from artists across Canada (with a few international pieces for good measure), Primeau spent six months tracking down artists with the help of some of the film networks in Montreal. According to Primeau, there was no specific focus for the show, but somewhere between footage of dogs made out of burlap and aging animated shorts, random nostalgia revealed itself as an accidental underlying theme.
Currently, Calgary is the only stop on the tour for J. Alfred’s Travelling Film Show, but since it goes where he goes, future screenings aren’t ruled out. Primeau is looking forward to the spontaneous nature of the event and admits that part of the plan was to quickly find a space where he could set up his gear on the floor and get to work. While he is excited about the collection of films, he is worried that the fly-by-night aspect of the operation might put some viewers off. He does note, however, that the self-described "sketchy" nature of the show is inspired by a trend in the underground film community.
"I have been noticing in the last few years that a lot of filmmakers and media people in general, have been applying a more do-it-yourself rock ’n’ roll show model to their arts. There has been a lot of travelling film shows where filmmakers have hit the trail in a hatchback and played their films wherever they could show them," says Primeau. "No need to book a ‘proper venue’ or a proper cinema. It’s more just a matter of getting the work out to those who want to see it – that spurred me into doing this."
This is a pay-what-you-can event. |
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