Listen with your eyes is an ongoing series of screenings that aims to create a space for children of all ages to engage with and enjoy experimental forms of cinema. By turns playful, beautiful, and idiosyncratic, the films in this programme range from hand-coloured collages and optical printing experiments to studies of movement and dance. Rather than being prescriptive, they invite viewers to discover their own ways of engaging with these celebrations of colour, motion, and imagination. Although not exclusively intended for young minds, they express a beauty and wonder that both children and adults can share.

Please note that this is a relaxed screening, open to children of all ages. While talking is permitted, singing and dancing are actively encouraged!

Ticket holders are welcome to join us early for a free 16mm direct animation activity between 10:15 and 11:00 at the Close-up Film Centre.

Programme:

The Sun Came Dripping a Bucket Full of Gold
Andrew Kötting / 2014 / UK /3 min / Super 8 digital transfer / sound

A mysterious encounter between a woman (Eden Kotting) and a straw bear.

Hand Movie
Yvonne Rainer / 1966 / US / 6 min / 8mm digital transfer / silent

Filmmaker and choreographer Yvonne Rainer performs an elaborate dance with the fingers of one hand.

The Flight of an Ostrich (Schools Interior)
Jessica Sarah Rinland / 2016 / UK / 3 minutes / 16mm film digital transfer / sound

Whilst watching an educational video about ostriches, a shy 8-year-old girl breaks the monotony of the classroom as her imagination takes flight.

28.IV.81 (Bedouin Spark)
Christopher Harris / 2009 / 3 min / US / 16mm digital transfer / silent

Edited in camera on a single reel of 16mm film, Christopher Harris’ miniature transforms his child’s night light into a shimmering celestial vision.

Minsan Isang Panahon (Once Upon a Time)
Melchor L. Bacani III / 1990  / 5 min / Philippines / 8mm digital transfer / sound

An experiment in optical printing using Super 8 home movies and hand-­coloured found film material, set to the music of Pat Boone.

A Study in Choreography for Camera
Maya Deren / 1945 / US / 3 min / 16mm digital transfer / sound

Deren films dancer Talley Beatty as he glides gracefully through a series of different spaces.

Black Bus Stop
Kevin Jerome Everson, Claudrena N. Harold / 2019 / US / 9 min / US / 16mm transferred to digital / sound

Students at the University of Virginia reclaim the iconic site of the Black Bus Stop through a sequence of exhilarating choreographed performances.

Rainbow Dance
Len Lye / 1936 / UK / 5 min / 16mm / sound

In this film, created by animation pioneer Len Lye using a variety of innovative layering and collaging techniques, a man dances and plays tennis as colours explode and swirl around him.

Listen with your Eyes is an ongoing series of screenings organised by Open City Documentary Festival and co-programmed by Hyun Jin Cho & Oliver Wright. Listen with your Eyes #1 took place in collaboration with the Barbican Family Film Club during Open City Documentary Festival 2024.