Machete Gillette… Mama. 1989. Directed by Larry Gottheim Chants and Dances for Hand. 1991–2017. Directed by Larry Gottheim

Film

No upcoming events

Machete Gilette... Mama. 1989. USA. Directed by Larry Gottheim. Courtesy Larry Gottheim.

Machete Gillette… Mama. 1989. USA. Directed by Larry Gottheim. 16mm. 45 min.

Chants and Dances for Hand. 1991–2017. USA. Directed by Larry Gottheim. DCP. 40 min.

Machete Gillette... Mama, which shares its title with a song that was constantly on the radio during Gottheim’s time in the Dominican Republic, is a film about his life and experiences there. Split into four non-chronological sections, with each containing scenes from a ceremony in a batey, a settlement where Haitian sugar cane workers are required to live. The film is a musical, punctuated by darkness and silence, about history, ritual, reflection, and challenging the ethnographic form. Chants and Dances for Hand is made from Hi8 footage shot in Haiti during Gottheim’s prolonged visits over several years, including material from voudou ceremonies in which the artist participated; the film’s complex arrangement of ethnographic and historical documentary material is directly related to the structure of these ceremonies. Hand, it should be noted, is the name of Gottheim’s son.

This film accompanies The Red Thread: Larry Gottheim’s Films.

Past events

Sun, May 25, 4:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
Thu, May 22, 7:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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