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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Decasia’ makes art out of film ruin

Dan Webster

Last week I posted an announcement for a fund-raising event for the Spokane International Film Festival. It involves a special showing of the documentary "The Return to Homs," which will be shown at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Magic Lantern.

But SpIFF isn't done. A special screening of the art film "Decasia," in partnership with the Spokane Film Project and also planned as a fund-raiser, will be shown at 7:30 tonight at The Big Dipper. "Decasia," which was released 2002 and was added to the National Film Registry in 2013, is described as "a beautiful, non-narrative film that is like looking at a fascinating, kinetic, abstract painting." Filmmaker Bill Morrison compiled the film from "decomposing found footage," 35mm prints gone bad, and paired it with an original score by Michael Gordon.

Writing in the New York Times, Dave Kehr described Morrison's film this way: " 'Decasia' seizes on those transitional moments, when the readable images of nitrate film are slipping into the many odd and curious distortions caused by the decay of the physical medium. Some images seem to flake away; some blossom into glowing effects that suggest the solarization that was a popular technique for evoking the psychedelic experience of the ’60s; others suffer distortions like those of a fun-house mirror; still others seem to be invaded by swelling masses of bacteria, like something you would observe in a petri dish."

Commenting on the irony of film giving way to digital technology, Kehr wrote, "No simple nostalgist, Mr. Morrison comes to emphasize the cyclical nature of creation. The new devours the old, which will be devoured in its turn."

Tickets to this special showing of "Decasia," which has a 70-minute running time, are a suggested $5 and will be available at the door. The Big Dipper is located at the northeast corner of Washington St. and 2nd Ave.