Paris qui dort (The Crazy Ray). 1923. France. Directed by René Clair. With Albert Préjean, Henri Rollan, Madeline Rodrigues. 16mm. Silent, with musical accompaniment. English intertitles. Approx. 62 min.
“The frank use of familiar exteriors recalls not only Feuillade but Zecca; though only Clair thought of using the Eiffel Tower as his setting. And, throughout the film, he continues to express his conviction that the function of the cinema is to teach us to look.”
Ballet mécanique. 1924. France. Written and directed by Fernand Léger. 35mm. Silent, with musical accompaniment. French titles. Approx. 12 min.
“Ballet mécanique employs a minimum of drawn or painted geometrical forms and a preponderant amount of photographic images. Even in the repeated scenes of the woman mounting the steps, it nevertheless remains abstract.”
Ménilmontant. 1925. France. Directed by Dmitri Kirsanov. With Yolande Beaulieu, Guy Belmont, Jean Pasquier. 16mm. Silent, with musical accompaniment. Intermittent French titles. Approx. 38 min.
“Made at a minimum expense and with poor equipment by a young Russian émigré who had previously been a violinist in a movie theatre in Paris, this is unquestionably one of the most remarkable of amateur films.”