The Film-Makers’ Cooperative presents “The Alchemy of Film: Experiments with the Medium”, a stunning program of avant-garde works from our archive, curated by Julia Curl, on the occasion of Mary Grigoriadis at Cohan, that highlight women filmmakers who experiment with the physical medium.

Like Grigoriadis’s attention to the material quality of her paintings, these filmmakers intervene directly on the surface of their films, scratching, painting, tinting, and even deliberately eroding the emulsion by burying it in a landfill. Works like Storm De Hirsch’s psychedelic classic Peyote Queen (1964) and Irene Duga’s Pesca Pisca (1968) explore the female form, abstracting it in paint. Others employ inventive processes, like Carolyn Avery’s experiments with using scotch tape to pull ink off of magazines before adhering the tape to the surface of Pilgrim's Progress (1985).

This screening will take place on 16mm film and features rare vintage prints. (Photosensitivity warning: this program includes some strobe-like visuals).

This program is free and open to the public. No advanced registration is required.

More information on the event can be found here.