Born in 1929 and a graduate of the University of Manitoba School of Art, naturalist, author, and artist Bill Mason left behind a legacy showcasing the artistry of the North American wilderness like few others. Long regarded as “the patron saint of canoeing”, Mason would eventually bring extensive camera equipment on his expeditions through the Great Lakes in hopes of instructing the public on canoe techniques and eventually addressing growing ecological concerns.

His rigorous documenting resulted in some of the purest examples of environmental filmmaking and an unintentional antidote to the slop-produced overconsumption of today’s media landscape. With the weather brightening up and summer approaching, we at Spectacle invite you to touch grass with us (albeit metaphorically)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6 – 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 21 – 7:30 PM (Virtual Q&A w/ Becky Mason)
SUNDAY, MAY 24 – 5 PM

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PADDLE TO THE SEA
Dir. Bill Mason, 1966
Canada, 28 min.
In English

Based on Holling C. Holling’s Caldecott award-winning children’s picture book, PADDLE TO THE SEA tells the quaint tale of a wood-carved model’s human-assisted journey through the Great Lakes. Narrated by NFB affiliate Stanley Jackson, Mason modernizes this classic family tale to educate on the negative effects of water pollution.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GREAT LAKES
Dir. Bill Mason, 1968
Canada, 17 min.
In English

Accompanied by playful bluegrass and accentuated by match cuts and slapstick gags, THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GREAT LAKES subverts the film travelogues of the time and showcases man’s harm to the natural world through a quirky geography lesson.

SONG OF THE PADDLE
Dir. Bill Mason, 1978.
Canada, 41 min.
In English

The wholesome family vacation is brought to full cinematic scope in SONG OF THE PADDLE. Bill Mason brings his wife and kids along for a camping excursion through Lake Superior, providing insightful and warm anecdotes along the way.

CRY OF THE WILD
Dir. Bill Mason, 1972
Canada, 88 min.
In English

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12 – 7:30PM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 – 10PM
FRIDAY, MAY 29 – 7:30PM

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Bill Mason’s first foray into feature length documentary filmmaking, he sought to destigmatize wolves and their vicious public perception with this project. Observing them both in their natural habitat and on his own property in the Gatineau Hills, the film also chronicles Mason and his family’s attempt to raise wolf cubs on their own.

Note: this film contains brief scenes of animal death

WATERWALKER
Dir. Bill Mason, 1984
Canada, 87 min.
In English

SATURDAY, MAY 2 – 3PM
MONDAY, MAY 11 – 7:30PM
SUNDAY, MAY 31 – 7:30PM

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In what would be Mason’s final film project before his passing in 1988, WATERWALKER follows him through a solitary journey down rapids along Lake Superior. Interspersed with quiet, pensive moments of painting landscapes that would put even Bob Ross to shame, Mason’s swan song also incidentally manages to be his most spiritual work. Accompanied by a lush theme song penned by Canadian folk singer icon Bruce Cockburn.

Special Thanks to Frédéric Savard, the National Film Board of Canada, The Canadian Canoe Museum and Becky Mason

Last year, we here at Spectacle had the privilege of showcasing one of the first posthumous retrospectives for prolific underground writer, astrologer, playwright and filmmaker Antero Alli. This March, we’re thrilled to showcase four more of his deeply singular and surreal approach to shot-on-video auteurism. Including his very first and last feature films, THE ORACLE and the previously screened BLUE FIRE, respectively, this selection focuses more on artistic intertextuality over speculations on the future. Allusions to the works of everyone from Paula Modersohn-Becker to Tim Buckley, alongside Antero Alli’s incorporation of psych-hypnagogic imagery, will still expand the consciousness of both new and familiar viewers of Alli’s poetic imagination.

THE ORACLE
dir. Antero Alli, 1993
United States, 58 min.
In English

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 14 – MIDNIGHT
MONDAY, MARCH 16 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, MARCH 27 – MIDNIGHT

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Antero Alli’s very first feature-length “videofilm” was born from a place of immeasurable grief, where he took the helm at cinematography, writing, editing and directing. Another case of processing pain through art would accidentally establish Alli as a DIY filmmaker. Loosely inspired by Pablo Neruda’s Book of Questions, THE ORACLE explores the feelings of loss in the dream states of a dying man and his granddaughter, Ariadne. A theatrical and distinctly West Coast urban fantasy shot on both analog video cassette tape and Super 8 film, THE ORACLE is a subconscious home movie, a tapestry of an artist in mourning.

UNDER A SHIPWRECKED MOON
dir. Antero Alli, 2003
United States, 94 min.
In English and Finnish with English Subtitles.

TUESDAY, MARCH 3 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, MARCH 6 – 7:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, MARCH 26 – 10 PM

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A fable of love, death & hedgehogs

Made during Antero Alli’s 50-year mark, UNDER A SHIPWRECKED MOON continues his pairing of psychological family drama with magical realism. Jari (Gabriel Carter) is a punk rock musician wrestling with the strange reality that he inherited his grandmother’s shamanic abilities. Sprinkled with visual cues to The Wizard of Oz and accompanied by Thia (Sylvi) Alli’s gorgeous rendition of “Song to the Siren”, UNDER A SHIPWRECKED MOON is a bewitching work on the intersection of desire, dreams, and memory.

THE GREATER CIRCULATION
dir. Antero Alli, 2005
United States, 93 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6 – 10 PM
MONDAY, MARCH 16 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 21 – 5 PM
TUESDAY, MARCH 31 – 10 PM

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A true highlight in Alli’s mid-career of filmmaking, THE GREATER CIRCULATION paints postmodern parallels between 1908 Paris and Berkley, California in the early 2000s. As a theater director prepares for an interpretive performance adaptation of Rilke’s “Requiem for a Friend”, his life becomes metaphysically intertwined with Rainer Maria Rilke (LLOYD BROKEN) as he himself begins to have visions of his deceased friend Paula Modersohn-Becker (THIA ALLI). Embellished with dream sequences that incorporate Modersohn-Becker’s enchanting portraits, Antero Alli’s closest attempt at a period piece is also one of his most beautiful.

In ‘The Greater Circulation’ we are enchanted and indeed haunted, not only by the profound trajectory of Rilke’s life and work, but also by Alli’s ability to tell stories within stories, to make the invisible visible, and to bring to earth what can only be truly grasped through spiritual vision.
–Cedrus Monte, Jungian analyst

BLUE FIRE
dir. Antero Alli, 2023
United States, 90 min.
In English

MONDAY, MARCH 2 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, MARCH 7 – 7:30 PM (Virtual Q&A w/Douglas Allen)
THURSDAY, MARCH 26 -7:30 PM
SUNDAY, MARCH 29 – 5 PM

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Q&A TICKETS

Before Antero Alli passed and right before AI became everyone’s least favorite hot topic, he would return to his “cyberfi” narratives with BLUE FIRE. Previously screened in 2023 with a virtual Q&A with Alli himself, we’re proud to bring back his final film into an official program. A bizarro techno-fable on the Singularity, salvia, the Divine Transfeminine, and even the Egyptian God Anubis. As we continue to unlock the secrets left behind by Alli, we’re ecstatic to bring back actor Douglas Allen in a virtual Q&A to provide further insight.

Special Thanks to Thia (Sylvia) Alli

MARK LOMBARDI: DEATH DEFYING ACTS OF ART AND CONSPIRACY
(MARK LOMBARDI – KUNST UND KONSPIRATION)
Dir. Mareike Wegener, 2011.
Germany. 77 min.
In English.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7 – 10PM
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 – 10PM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 – 7:30PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 – 5PM, with virtual Q&A, this event is $10
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – 5PM

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Mark Lombardi’s medium would probably be described as “graphite” or “pencil” on a museum placard, but his true medium was information. The tools he used to create his works were various publicly available journalistic outlets. The work, an assemblage of the information put together and showing the connections between the world’s governments, politicians, financial markets, military and terrorist operations. His ‘drawings’ were concept maps, diagrams showing the relationships between entities in regards to geo-political events. Lombardi followed the money, and he presented his findings in art galleries and museums rather than the dark recesses of the internet.

The associations Lombardi drew would garner the attention of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation after the events of September 11th, 2001, when they contacted the Whitney Museum and Pierogi Gallery to look at drawings of his that connected the Bush family, their oil holdings, the Saudis, and Osama bin Laden. The nature of Lombardi’s work, and the names contained within raise an eyebrow to the circumstances surrounding the taking of his own life in March of 2000. Lombardi was found dead in his Williamsburg apartment a day before his birthday and a day after he bequeathed all of his work to Pierogi Gallery.

Director Mareike Wegener humanizes and presents Lombardi through interviews with the people who knew him best: his friends, family, fellow artists, and gallery representation. Intertwined with archival footage and home videos taken by Lombardi’s friends showing him at work, as well as a now nostalgic depiction of late aughts Williamsburg that long time frequenters of Spectacle may recognize.

Mareike Wegener is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer based in Cologne, Germany. Wegener came to New York in 2009 as the recipient of the Gerd-Ruge scholarship, to work on the documentary during her graduate studies at the New School. Wegener will join us virtually for a post-screening audience Q&A on November 23rd at 5pm.

ONE DAY AND ONE NIGHT
(하루낮 하루밤)
Dir. Pak Kyong Jin, 2022.
North Korea. 95 min.
In Korean with English subtitles.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – 10 PM

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“NORTH KOREA’S FIRST HORROR FILM”

After accidentally unearthing a conspiracy that seeks to thwart the revolution, young nurse Ra Myong Hui must gather the might to prevail against the forces that hope to end the worker’s cause… and her life.

Although some States-based gorehounds may just crave more blood, ONE DAY AND ONE NIGHT is a truly unique ghost story that adopts the more violent and thrilling aspects of its Southern siblings, while still towing the line as a Juche-Approved stagepiece about the awesome power of self-reliance and iron smelting (we agree). Playing all November long, only at Spectacle!

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BLINDNESS
Dir. Alan Zignoto, 2012.
United States. 123 min.
In English

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1 – 5 PM
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6 – 10 PM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26 – 7:30 PM

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“HR4B” is a home-video snapshot from the catalogue of prolific audio/visual wizard Alan Zignoto. Shot in 2006, scored over the next few years, and released on VHS in 2012, is a slow-cooked music video manifestation of Zignoto’s ongoing music project Slobberkiss Intl. Zignoto describes the film as an aggregate of visuals they were fascinated with, and collecting onto video, in a time before they had social media platforms at their disposal for sharing. While living in Louisville, Kentucky, Alan (or ‘Al N’, ‘Arsenio’, ‘Raw Thug’) collaborated with multiple groups of the improvisational and genre-escaping DIY midwest landscape, including Softcheque, Sapat, Kark, and others. The film offers a casual, pedestrian, almost ambient glimpse into the suburban environments of Louisville, set to experimental, sometimes casiotone, musical accompaniment.