"Once Within a Time" + two shorts deliver imaginative cinema

Three films in a Webster University program illustrate the creative malleability and aesthetic appeal of film reimagined in skillful ways. First, in “Once Within a Time,” experimental artist Godfrey Reggio explains, “As children of various ethnicities play, an apocalyptic future threatens, reaching back in time through allusions to Adam and Eve, the Trojan Horse, and nuclear destruction.”

He describes this piece as “a comedic apocalyptic vision of the end of the world and the beginning of a new one,” yet explicitly asks, “Which age is this: the sunset or the dawn?” Within his tour-de-force of editing and movement, Reggio unites a fascinating flow of images with Philip Glass’ score alternately communicating hope and despair. Optimistically, Reggio concludes this as a clarion call of hope through action, embodied as Mike Tyson, the only recognizable individual here. Throughout, ethnically diverse children punctuate the proceedings, first enjoying a playground, then reacting to dire, disconcerting events. A work to be experienced visually and aurally, it is also one to ponder.

Equally disarming and captivating, director Jessica Pierce’s “Interim” delivers reconstructed conversations “between loved ones.” Through voiceover excerpts, with no individuals clearly shown, various spotless interiors and appealing exteriors indicate the presence of attentive men and women now elsewhere. In a rich nine-minutes, Pierce prompts attentive listening while withholding explicit context for the overheard exchanges and comments. As Pierce concludes her enticing, elusive work, one woman teasingly repeats four times, “Are you ready?” Through the voices of her grandmother, father, mother, friend, and herself, Pierce calls “Interim” “a meandering short about the idea of an idea. It’s a discerning, shrewd  one.

Also on the program, Matt Amato’s “Harinezumi movies” takes its name from the small Japanese Harinezumi camera that, as Amato writes, beautifully catches color and light. Demonstrating this, Amato’s thirty-nine-minute film consists of assorted music videos, plus the short film, “Growing Pains.” With stylistic choices complementing the moods, each work offers a strong musical interval. This program confirms that the best artists encourage us to look, learn, and think about our world from different perspectives in a reinvigorated way, calling us back to our senses. These three works succeed in unique, appealing ways. “Once Within a Time,” “interim,” and “Harinezumi movies” screen at Webster University’s Winifred Moore auditorium on Tuesday, December 12; Saturday, December 16, and Thursday, December 21, at 7:00 p.m. each of those evenings. Directors Pierce and Amato will attend the December 12 screening. For more information, you may visit the film series website.