Experimenten met kleur

Programme

• L'antique cérémonie du cha-no-yu (Pathé, FR/JP 1914, 8')

  The rituals of the Japanese tea ceremony ‘chanoyu’ developed centuries ago and are recorded in this film that was shot in Japan by the French company Pathé. Kiyo-Ko-San invites her friend Haru-Ko-San for tea. The two guide us through the ceremony’s various stages in an authentic setting. Conserved from nitrate by Eye in 2024.

• For the little ones (Pathé, FR 1924 [?], 2')

  Report on children’s fashion shot at a petting zoo. The children are dressed in elegant clothes described as ‘deux-pieces’, ‘kasha’ and a ‘chic boy’s outfit’. Subtly coloured using Pathé’s patented stencil method, this film is an interesting addition to the more garishly coloured fashion films Eye has restored in recent years from the same period.

• Paris Fashions 3 (Pathé, FR 1911-1927, 7')

  This collector's compilation was preserved from the nitrate that arrived at Eye in 2019. The film compiles material from various years and styles. It covers the dresses of Maison Agnès, hats from Maison Francine Arnauld and haircuts by Decoux. The final item is on parasols, that era’s ultimate fashion accessory. What links these various excerpts are the wonderful colours Pathé applied to black & white film to emphasise the glitter and glamour.

• Colour in experimental Film

  This presentation by curator Simona Monizza studies the fascination with the use of colour techniques in Dutch experimental cinema from World War Two to the present with an emphasis on abstract animation. Experiments with the use of colour date back to cinema’s beginnings, but only gained artistic recognition thanks to the international avant-garde artists’ movement. Dutch avant-garde cinema was no exception.
  
  The film programme was inspired by Eye’s new permanent exhibition: Hands On: Animation Techniques, set to open in July and features two examples from the experimental animation collection: José Vonk and Maarten Visser, both of whose works are part of the exhibition. The films selected are all from Eye’s collection and were recently preserved. They all have a different artistic take on colour techniques and materiality, each entailing its own specific set of challenges to preservation. The programme includes the premiere of the new digitisation of Fences by José Vonk.

• Colour Experiments in Dutch Feature Films

  Over the past year, Eye restored Kracht (Frouke Fokkema, 1990) and cooperated with Theo van de Sande and Jack Kuiper on the restoration of Het meisje met het rode haar (Ben Verbong, 1981). Both Dutch feature films used special colour techniques. In Kracht, this was the ‘bleach-bypass’ whereby, while developing the film, not all the silver is converted, which leaves a black-and-white image floating over the colour film. In Het meisje met het rode haar, the colours were all almost bleached out with the exception of red. This creates footage in which all the colours are flat except red which pops out at you.
  
  During this session both restorations will be presented by film restorer Jeroen De Mol and curator Rommy Albers. Their guests are cameramen Theo van de Sande (Het meisje met het rode haar) and Theo Bierkens (Kracht) as well as Jack Kuiper (colour grader).