Apricity. 2019. USA. Directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. 16mm. 22 min. Courtesy of Pacific Film Archive.
“The title refers to the warmth of the sun in winter. It is an homage to the writer Jane (Brakhage) Wodening” (Nathaniel Dorsky).
Place d’Or. 2023. USA. Directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. 16mm. 10 min. Courtesy of Pacific Film Archive.
“A rainy autumn afternoon at North Lake in Golden Gate Park. Perhaps the “Square of Gold” is also the screen itself” (Nathaniel Dorsky).
Caracole (for Izcali). 2023. USA. Directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. 16mm. 18 min. Courtesy of Pacific Film Archive.
“I was not prepared for the surprise that took place when I looked through the camera at Linda. I suddenly saw her as never before and asked without hesitation if she were Aztec. She responded enthusiastically that indeed she was, in fact, her middle name is Izcali, after the important Aztec festival month of rebirth” (Nathaniel Dorsky).
Dialogues. 2022. USA. Directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. 16mm. 18 min. Courtesy of Pacific Film Archive.
“The ever-presence of death.” (Nathaniel Dorsky)
Interval. 2021. USA. Directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. 16mm. 13 min. Courtesy of Pacific Film Archive.
“A bouquet from those final arid days of summer.” (Nathaniel Dorsky)
O Death. 2023. USA. Directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. 16mm. 6 min. Courtesy of Pacific Film Archive.
“In the spirit of the times and my own growing older, a brief tip of the hat…” (Nathaniel Dorsky)
Total running time: 87 min.
In the wake of his monumental Arboretum Cycle (2017), Nathaniel Dorsky has time and again returned to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to spawn films whose subject is none other than light itself in its mysterious, transformative being. Using his Bolex camera as a musical instrument, he animates a myriad of ever-modulating visual nuances that summon a singularly human yet disembodied spiritual presence. Brief glimpses of the urban are subsumed in a primal world of foliage, wind, sky, and undulating surfaces. This program presents a selection from the last five years to the world premiere of his latest film, including Apricity and Caracole (for Izcali), two rare examples of portraiture in Dorsky’s recent work.