Viva Brighton September 2015 Issue #31

CINEMA
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Scalarama
Great cinema… but not necessarily in cinemas
With over 500 diverse events across 300 venues
in over 100 towns and cities up and down
the country (and beyond), Scalarama, now in
its fifth year, is an openly-sourced season of
film events, with each screening programmed
by a different organisation or individual,
often in collaboration with established exhibitors
but increasingly using alternative spaces.
In venues as diverse as Redroaster coffee
house in Kemp Town, the Brighton Media
Centre on Middle Street and the glorious
Emporium theatre on London Road, there’s
plenty to enjoy. Kicking off the festival at
Fabrica, Duke Street, on Tuesday 1st is a rare
screening of Shirley Clarke’s The Cool World
(1963), the first commercial film to be set
in Harlem; this cinema verité-style feature,
replete with soundtrack by Dizzy Gillespie,
focuses on the 14-year-old leader of a local
gang as he attempts to survive the violent
expectations of his environment. The film is
part of a Clarke retrospective that includes
the stunning Portrait of Jason (1967), Ornette
Coleman: Made in America (1985) and debut
feature The Connection (1961). If nothing else,
do try to see these films.
Other highlights include a screening of the
German Expressionist classic The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari with a live score by Partial
Facsimile, more horror glory with a screening
of two versions of Nosferatu, a season of films
based on the life and work of Oscar Wilde,
Germaine Dulac’s avant-garde classic The
Seashell and the Clergyman, on 16mm, with
a live score by Drill Folly and Miles Brown,
and, as a fitting Closing Night gala, a chance
to see Alejandro Jodorowsky’s surreal, psychedelic
nightmare, Santa Sangre.
Another stand-out moment is the screening
of B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West Berlin
1979–1989 (2015), playing at the Duke of
York’s on Sunday 27th. Brought to us by the
good people at KissKissKino and Sensoria,
this documentary on the music and art scene
in West Berlin prior to the fall of the Wall is a
fascinating insight into this very special time
and place that attracted radical artists of every
hue to create a unique moment in popular
(sub-)culture. Serious fun.
Yoram Allon
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