Phantasia

X-ray images were invented in 1895, the same year in which the Lumière brothers presented their respective invention in what today is considered to be the first cinema screening. Thus, both cinema and radiography fall within the scopic regime inaugurated by modernity. The use of X-rays on two sculptures from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum generates images that reveal certain elements of them that would otherwise be invisible to our eyes. These images, despite being generally created for technical or scientific purposes, seem to produce a certain form of 'photogénie': they lend the radiographed objects a new appearance that lies somewhere between the material and the ethereal, endowing them with a vaporous and spectral quality. It is not by chance that physics and phantasmagoria share the term 'spectrum' in their vocabulary.

A Bright Nowhere: Journeying Into Improvisation

An important audio-visual record of a landmark series of four concerts staged in London in 2022 when more than 30 musicians joined improviser, percussionist and animateur Eddie Prévost to mark his 80th birthday. The film takes a close look at improvisers who create music in the moment, free from the authority of a composer, score or conductor. Ranging from profound delicacy to subversive atonality, the “awkward wealth” of this music raises vital questions about artistic freedom, individual responsibility and what it means for people to make music together in the 21st Century. Featuring performances by John Butcher, Sue Lynch, Ute Kanngiesser, Marjolaine Charbin, Nathan Moore, Seymour Wright, Veryan Weston, Alan Wilkinson, John Tilbury and Eddie Prévost amongst others. Plus readings by musician and author David Toop. The film includes the last ever concert by AMM, the pioneering improvising group co-founded by Eddie Prévost in the mid-1960s.

Frank Zappa: Live in Barcelona

Frank Zappa's May 17, 1988 concert performance was captured and broadcast by Televisión Española. None of the song performances would make it onto albums showcasing this iteration of Zappa's band, his last touring rock group. The broadcast itself would not be used by Zappa either, as the television station presented him with a faulty VHS instead of the master tape. This concert video lives on only as a bootleg.

Outtakes from Jo

Outtakes, commentary from Zefier's third film: Jo; or The Act of Riding a Bike.

SIN PIEDAD

GUTTER: Girls of Noise

In April 2008, LRS toured across the USA and met some amazing female noise artists. This is what it is like to be a girl of noise.

Time

Then, now, where? how?

Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968

Shot on July 23, 1968, this historical 16mm footage of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, CA has been newly restored from the Vault! The film has been newly synced to the 2023 mixes, marking the first time it's ever been seen with audio. Frank Zappa never had the opportunity to see this footage synced to the music. Now you do. The film was shot in increments and features silent performance footage of The Mothers along with scenes involving The Freaks and the premier of The GTO's (Girls Together Outrageously). In the audience were Flo & Eddie (The Turtles), John Mayall, Elliot Ingber (The Fraternity Of Man), Alice Cooper and members of the Rolling Stones.

The Yellow Shark

This live recording was culled from seven September 1992 concerts given in Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfurt by the Ensemble Modern, a Frankfurt-based chamber orchestra that performs only contemporary music. Composed and conducted by Frank Zappa.

Khamsin

Lebanon today. The traces of the civil war are all too tangible as government corruption becomes unbearable. In a country where conflict and peace are caught in an endless cycle, musicians from different backgrounds pool their talents to create an underground music scene. Each evokes his or her representation of Lebanon: its shifting geographical, political, historical and social borders, its painful passage through conflict and instability. A touching portrait of a young generation trying to build an oasis in a hostile environment where the forces of destruction continue to wreak havoc.

Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980

Recorded Live in Paris in 1980, this is a rare recording of Frank Zappa performing at the peak of his career with his incredible backing band, including Ike Willis (guitar/vocals), Ray White (guitar/vocals), Tommy Mars (keys), Arthur Barrow (bass) and David Logeman (drums). It was the year after Zappa released two of his greatest albums - Sheik Yerbouti, and the masterpiece Joe's Garage - and this cracking live show includes the classic Zappa songs Joe's Garage, Dancing Fool, Bobby Brown and The Illinois Enema Bandit. Tracklist : 01. Chunga's Revenge 02. Keep It Greasey 03. Joe's Garage 04. Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? 05. Dancin 'Fool 06. Bobby Brown 07. Ms Pinky 08. Illinois Enema Bandit

New Blue Sun (Listening)

"I swear, I wanted to make a “visual album” but this is literally the way the wind blew me this time."

Moonwalk

This short documentary film captures the natural movement of the moon mixed with an experimental musical track that accompanies the rhythm of the "walk" on the stage that the protagonist occupies, the sky.

Swans ‎– A Long Slow Screw.

Features live footage from the Greed/Holy Money tour in 1986 in London and Nottingham and the A Long Slow Screw video.

Transfragmentation

After I had already begun to conduct my first cinematographic experiments in 2015, I shot between 2016 and 2019 (during my time as a student in Rostock) exclusively for this "No Budget Feature-Length Experimental Film", now titled "Transfragmentation", which was originally conceived to last three hours, based on Werner Fritsch's "Faust Sonnengesang" (2011), but now has a running time of approximately two hours. In 2015, I also began my correspondence with the Brussels-based Sound-Artist Unenthüllte, who eventually composed four twenty-minute pieces for this work and has to be regarded as my sole artistic collaborator in this sense. My cinematographic concept was clearly outlined from the beginning: The duration of each shot is exactly 1 minute. Only two elements diverge from this primary premise: The Seventeen Minute Prelude, Created In Post-Production (2020-2022), And The Slow Motion Sequences Involving My Voice-Over, Which Linger In The Heart And At The End Of The Work.

To B or to B Flat - the composer Boudewijn Buckinx

Who gets the idea to write “Nine unfinished symphonies” - one of them perhaps the shortest Symphony in music history? Or "1001 sonatas’ - each lasting about a minute but in total being one of the longest pieces ever written? Like a postmodern Erik Satie the Belgium composer Boudewijn Buckinx is using music history as a playing field. The classical music audience is irritated, the avant-gardist wrinkles his nose... "Daisies in a Meadow" - that's how Buckinx described his "1001 Sonatas” for violin and piano, They play a leading role in our film, in the supporting roles the Spanish sun and the Belgian rain. The latter, however, did not show up at the set - just as you always have to be prepared for surprises with Boudewijn Buckinx. "Why is my music so simple? - Why is my music so complex?" With a wink, Buckinx gives various answers to these recurring questions. The portrait of an immensely productive artist who is radically taking his own path.