Join us at 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29th for a series of short films on 16mm film! Free and open to the public! Tickets are not required.
A Few Film History Treats:
“For those who seek unusual films in attractive and comfortable surroundings” – Bosley Crowther, New York Times, December 27, 1951
The program includes:
The Great Train Robbery, Edwin Porter, 1903, 12 minutes
Bandits tie up the station master, stop the train, rob the mail car, take the passengers’ valuables, and then escape, and the station master’s daughter frees her father, alerts a group at a dance who then chase and overtake the robbers.
The Adventurer, Charlie Chaplin, 1917, 25 minutes
Chaplin, as an escaped convict, eludes the law in a series of wild chases, slapstick, and pantomime.
Oscar Micheaux: A Film Pioneer, 1982, 28 minutes
Oscar Micheaux (early African American filmmaker and author) is remembered for his work as a pioneer producer-director whose films offered complex characters and incisive commentary on serious community issues during the 1920s and 1930s. The program is built around the on-camera reminiscences of two performers who appeared in Micheaux films: Bee Freeman, dubbed the “Sepia Mae West” and Lorenzo Tucker, the “Black Valentino.”
Les Mistons/The Brats, François Truffaut, 1957, 17 minutes
A story about the awakening of the sensuality, the innocent malice, the unpredictable jealousy, and the unknown desires of adolescence. A gang of boys living in a small town in southern France follow and spy upon two young lovers, persecuting them by writing comments about them on the walls of the town.
Charlotte et Veronique ou Tous les Garcons s’appellent Patrick/All Boys are Named Patrick, Jean-Luc Godard and Eric Rohmer, 1957, 21 minutes
College roommates become acquainted with the same ardent Patrick on the same day in separate encounters. Each falls for his line and agrees to a later date with him. They do not realize they have dates with the same Patrick until later, when they see him giving another girl “the rush.”
Herzog Eats His Shoe, Les Blank, 1980, 22 minutes
German filmmaker Werner Herzog is shown as he prepares to eat his shoe, due to a lost bet. He explains that his stunt is not so much for publicity as it is to encourage other filmmakers. He also offers information about filmmaking, showing his devotion to the craft.
This AV Club screening of “A Few Film History Treats” is a class screening for International Film History and is open to the public as part of a 3-series collaboration between Dr. Terri Francis, Associate Professor of Cinematic Arts and Katharine Labuda, film archivist and special collections librarian of the Miami-Dade Public Library, Main Branch. All films are presented in 16mm film format.
AV CLUB is an ongoing program of curated 16mm short film screenings and feature presentations designed to provoke discussion, create awareness of unique library resources held by the Special Collections Division of the Miami-Dade Public Library System and generate enthusiasm for learning and research.
The Miami-Dade Public Library holds one of the last remaining circulating 16mm film collections. The collection dates to 1956 and was developed to be a teaching collection designed for public programming.
