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Moments of Perception: Experimental Film in Canada
Film is the art form of our times. It has formed the background of our lives, informed visual arts practices, and formed our culture’s stories, its memory.
Moments of Perception is a landmark book. The first history of twentieth and early-twenty-first-century Canadian experimental filmmaking, it maps avant-garde film across the country from the 1950s to the present day, including its contradictions and complexities.
Experimental film is political in its very existence, critical of the status quo by definition. In Canada, some of the country’s best-known artists took up the moving image as a form of artistic expression, allowing them to explore explicitly political themes. Mike Hoolboom’s exposure of the horror of AIDS, Josephine Massarella’s concern for the environment, and Joyce Wieland’s satiric look at US patriotism are just a few examples of work that contributed to social movements and provided a means to explore issues of race and gender and 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigenous identities.
Featuring a major essay on the history of the movement by Michael Zryd and profiles of key filmmakers by Stephen Broomer and editors Jim Shedden and Barbara Sternberg, Moments of Perception offers a fresh perspective on the ever-evolving history of Canada’s experimental film and moving image media arts.
Moments of Perception is a landmark book. The first history of twentieth and early-twenty-first-century Canadian experimental filmmaking, it maps avant-garde film across the country from the 1950s to the present day, including its contradictions and complexities.
Experimental film is political in its very existence, critical of the status quo by definition. In Canada, some of the country’s best-known artists took up the moving image as a form of artistic expression, allowing them to explore explicitly political themes. Mike Hoolboom’s exposure of the horror of AIDS, Josephine Massarella’s concern for the environment, and Joyce Wieland’s satiric look at US patriotism are just a few examples of work that contributed to social movements and provided a means to explore issues of race and gender and 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigenous identities.
Featuring a major essay on the history of the movement by Michael Zryd and profiles of key filmmakers by Stephen Broomer and editors Jim Shedden and Barbara Sternberg, Moments of Perception offers a fresh perspective on the ever-evolving history of Canada’s experimental film and moving image media arts.
352 pages, Paperback
Published November 16, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
February 10, 2022
As a cinephile I picked this up eager to dive in to some Canadian film history. Half of this book is history, the second half is commentary on different experimental filmmakers and their filmmography.
The first half delves into necessary definitions, helping to unpack the difference between terms like "independent" filmmakers (or indies), studio films, experimental films, genre films, ect.. Once we have these definitions it becomes easy to see how these lines interesect, grounding experimental film as a necessary foundation for the development of the artform and the industry. Experimental film occupies a space that eventually grows into genre norms and traditions with independent filmmakers and studio films playing subsequent roles in shaping this on a cultural front.
A few interesting thoughts that the book teases out is first the importance and relevance of maintaining and growing a tangible and physical industry outside of streaming, or in relationship to it. One causalty of the modern landscape is that it erodes the spaces where film and genre and ideas and creativity are able to be birthed and developed. This can't happen on streaming services, and both experimental and independent film, which need that cultural presence, are facing real and genuine struggles. These things are vital though to the future of the film industry.
The other interesting part of this book is unpacking the unique character of the Canadian film industry. For example, Canada, unlike other places, finds its strength in a diverse cast of interntaional filmmakers working abroad and connected to their homelands and heritages. This gives Canadian film a distinct characteristic, one the book describes as being in line with the notion of the "mosaic", but it also represents certain challenges in terms of the building up of our local industry.
It also makes some really interesting points about our close relationship to the American industry, something that has had an impact on genuine growth on Canadian soil. Capitalist approches to the industry might reflect the breadth and power of the American industry, but that doesn't necessariy equate to "health". This is certainly relevant when we speak of distinct cullturally bred industries that operate on different models. The intrusion of American capitalist approaches tend to create more challenges than opportunities on this front, making local and national industries that much more indebted to investment on different levels (be it investment of viewers or investment of industry insiders in to the Canadian industry). This is a global reality of course, but its illuminating to see how this has impacted the Canadian film industry inparticular.
Really glad I stumbled across this one and was able to track it down.
The first half delves into necessary definitions, helping to unpack the difference between terms like "independent" filmmakers (or indies), studio films, experimental films, genre films, ect.. Once we have these definitions it becomes easy to see how these lines interesect, grounding experimental film as a necessary foundation for the development of the artform and the industry. Experimental film occupies a space that eventually grows into genre norms and traditions with independent filmmakers and studio films playing subsequent roles in shaping this on a cultural front.
A few interesting thoughts that the book teases out is first the importance and relevance of maintaining and growing a tangible and physical industry outside of streaming, or in relationship to it. One causalty of the modern landscape is that it erodes the spaces where film and genre and ideas and creativity are able to be birthed and developed. This can't happen on streaming services, and both experimental and independent film, which need that cultural presence, are facing real and genuine struggles. These things are vital though to the future of the film industry.
The other interesting part of this book is unpacking the unique character of the Canadian film industry. For example, Canada, unlike other places, finds its strength in a diverse cast of interntaional filmmakers working abroad and connected to their homelands and heritages. This gives Canadian film a distinct characteristic, one the book describes as being in line with the notion of the "mosaic", but it also represents certain challenges in terms of the building up of our local industry.
It also makes some really interesting points about our close relationship to the American industry, something that has had an impact on genuine growth on Canadian soil. Capitalist approches to the industry might reflect the breadth and power of the American industry, but that doesn't necessariy equate to "health". This is certainly relevant when we speak of distinct cullturally bred industries that operate on different models. The intrusion of American capitalist approaches tend to create more challenges than opportunities on this front, making local and national industries that much more indebted to investment on different levels (be it investment of viewers or investment of industry insiders in to the Canadian industry). This is a global reality of course, but its illuminating to see how this has impacted the Canadian film industry inparticular.
Really glad I stumbled across this one and was able to track it down.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review