Film Screening - BB Optics

On April 10, I attended the PFA’s screening of BB Optics. This screening involved a presentation by Bill Brand of a number of works he has been responsible for preserving through his company, BB Optics. The six short features shown were the Nixon White House Super-8 Films, New Left Note, The Fallen World, Fire in My Belly, Home Avenue, Black and White Film, and Daffodils.

The Nixon White House Super-8 Films were created by members of Nixon’s cabinet who were given video cameras to record whatever they chose to. The majority of the film focused in on Nixon attending political events. The film lacked sound, making it extremely boring to watch. I didn’t understand the point of filming Nixon giving a speech when you aren’t able to hear what he is saying.

The next clip shown was New Left Note. This clip consisted of mostly scenes of political protest. The editing was extremely jumpy and disjointed. As Mr. Brand discussed, the clip left out the leaders, choosing instead to focus in on the common people involved in the protests.

The Fallen World was the artist, Margie Keller’s intimate portrayal of her husband. The first shot focused in on a huge stone sculpture. A classical music soundtrack accompanied the clip. The video followed a middle-aged man as he walked around to different sites, including a graveyard.

A Fire in My Belly focused in on scenes from Mexico. The film started off by cutting between newspaper articles and scenes on the street of Mexico. Next, the film showed two wrestlers fighting along with scenes of a cock fight and a bull fight. Finally, the film ended with scenes from a circus, showing a person on a trapeze and a monkey doing tricks.

The next three films shown by Mr. Brand were described as portraying intimate situations. The first film, Home Avenue, involved a women retelling the story of how she was raped in college. She discussed each event at the same locations that each event took place. In the next film, Black and White, we watched in black and white as a woman undressed and then slowly covered parts of her body with black paint, making them disappear to the audience. The final film was Daffodils, which was intimate showing of Mr. Brand by his wife.

Overall, I was disappointed with the BB Optics showing at the PFA. I found most of the clips boring. This probably stemmed from the fact that I had no connection to the film archival process like many people in the audience did.

Philip Schmidt