CINE FAN SHOWCASES KAURISMÄKI'S DEADPAN COMEDY AND PSYCHEDELIC CINEMA
The selection takes the audience on a cinematic journey through Kaurismäki's career, starting from his solemn debut Crime and Punishment, the comically absurd Calamari Union, to style-defining works such as Shadows in Paradise and I Hired a Contract Killer. The Loser Trilogy, consisting of Drifting Clouds, the Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner The Man Without a Past, and Lights in the Dusk, along with his two films on the refugee crisis, Le Havre and The Other Side of Hope, are also must-see films.
In contrast to Kaurismäki's deadpan comedic style, the Psychedelia – Cinema as a Fever Dream programme features ten films that create altered states of reality and hallucinogenic experiences beyond the influence of psychedelic drugs. The journey begins with Dennis Hopper's 1969 counterculture classic Easy Rider, which captured the socio-political climate of its time. Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg's Performance explores identity flips and free love through rock star Mick Jagger, while Stanley Kubrick's dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange delves into mind manipulation. Other films in this programme include Wojciech Jerzy Has' surrealist masterpiece The Hourglass Sanatorium, Ken Russell's outrageous rock opera Tommy, and Gaspar Noé's transcendental epic Enter the Void. These films offer twisted colours, technical wizardry, and mind-bending storytelling across various genres and cinematic styles.
The Qatsi Trilogy by Godfrey Reggio also explores the altered states of consciousness. Consisting of Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation, and Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, these films provide immersive sensory experiences that reflect on the impact of human civilization accompanied by Philip Glass' captivating scores.
Additionally, the Back to the Screen and The Golden Age sections complement the theme of altered consciousness by featuring four frenetic and awe-inspiring films: Gus Van Sant's counterculture classic Drugstore Cowboy, Terry Gilliam's visual extravaganza Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, John Frankenheimer's paranoid psychological thriller Seconds, and John Boorman's hallucinogenic neo-noir Point Blank. Shirley Clarke's ground-breaking debut, The Connection, which fearlessly confronts the harsh reality of drug addiction, completes the line-up.
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