Uncertain Space. Curating Experimental and Artists' Cinema Archives

Abstract

The end of the 1960s and advent of the 1970s was a period of great change amongst experimental filmmakers. Young, rebellious directors rose up the ranks, seeking a new form of cinematic expression.

One of the key stylistic similarities between this new style of filmmaking was the use of small-gauge (any film stock smaller than 35mm), but they often moved within the same circuits as well (such as the Cooperativa Cinema Indipendente).

These filmmakers all attempted, both within in Italy and internationally, to both advance the cinematic artform and consciously move away from many standard filmmaking practices. With the advancement of time and, crucially, technology, these films, which offer crucial historical context to this period (but are often unfinished), are revived through exhibitions, installations and performative screenings in museums and beyond cinema spaces. This essay, through an investigation of the uncertain spaces between the past and present, will focus (through theoretical and methodological reflection) on themes related to both contemporary restoration practices and the completion and exhibition of experimental film archives, by critical analysing a number of key case studies.