June 11
8:00 p.m.
Millennium Film Workshop
66 East 4th St.
New York, New York 10003

Hosted by: Millennium Film Workshop

Sarah Pucill is a British experimental filmmaker whose short works explore the magic in images, which is fitting given that her latest film, Phantom Rhapsody, is composed of a series of sideshow magic acts.

Millennium Film Workshop will be screening Phantom Rhapsody, plus a trio of her earlier films. The full lineup is below.

Pucill’s films, one of which is embedded below, are typically composed of staged tableaus that function as optical illusions intricately staged and performed within a tight frame in front of the camera. They mix elements of still life photography, live performance and autobiography.

Phantom Rhapsody is described as such:

Three women stage tricks of appearance and disappearance, punctuated by trumpet, cello and drums.

Interchanging between the roles of magician, nude and filmmaker, they perform the preparation of an image and the prepared or completed image, drawing on iconic paintings. 16mm camera techniques as well as performance techniques with props – such as cloaks, drapery, curtains, wigs, mirrors, frames, wands and lighting – determine what is visible or absent in the film frame.

Learn more about this filmmaker at her official website. The lineup of four films at this screening:

Phantom Rhapsody (2010; 20 min.)
Milk and Glass (1993; 10 min.)
Mirrored Measure (1996; 10 min.)
Cast (2000; 17 min.)

Although the following film will not be screened at this event, You Be Mother is an excellent example of her style: