Apparition of the Eternal Church - Messiaen independent documentary
Event Type:
Performance
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Apparition of the Eternal Church
A film by Paul Festa
Independent Film Screening with Live Organ Accompaniment
Post-performance Q&A with Paul Festa, filmmaker
Free Admission
THE ARTS AT SAINT JAMES CATHEDRAL announces an exhilarating film and live music event in celebration of the Olivier Messiaen Centennial. Anyone interested in the art of independent filmmaking, the music of Messiaen or the contemporary conflict of secular and sacred will be blown away by this groundbreaking work that the Village Voice hailed as "a bravura performance, not to be missed," and New Yorker critic Alex Ross called "mesmerizing." This is an excellent documentary about how a powerful piece of programmatic conveys content to a non-target audience.
Trailer, high-resolution stills, film transcript, press clips and more information: www.apparitionfilm.com
Synopsis:
Paul Festa’s award-winning and internationally acclaimed first film Apparition of the Eternal Church captures the confrontation between thirty-one mostly nonreligious artists and the music of French Catholic composer Olivier Messiaen. Putting Messiaen’s apocalyptic music into words, listeners including literary critic Harold Bloom, filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell, Pulitzer-nominated playwright and Passing Strange star Eisa Davis, Tony-nominated drag artist Justin Bond (Kiki & Herb), Scissor Sisters singer Ana Matronic and the late harpsichord virtuoso Albert Fuller spin a virtuoso fantasia that ranges from scenes of torture and hellfire to sex and spiritual ecstasy. Also available at the screening will be OH MY GOD: Messiaen in the Ear of the Unbeliever (book based on the film).
When: 7 PM, Wednesday, October 8
Where: Saint James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron, entrance on Wabash Avenue
Presented in partnership with the Loyola University Museum of Art and The University of Chicago Presents
Who: Paul Festa, independent filmmaker
Bruce Barber, organist and Director of Cathedral Music
Details: Film – 52 minutes
Q&A – 1 hour
Doors open 6:30 PM
Contacts: Filmmaker: Paul Festa
paulfesta@gmail.com
Saint James: Nathan Mason
artssaintjames@gmail.com
A second screening, without live organ, will be held at the Loyola University Museum of Art (820 N. Michigan Avenue) at 1 PM, Sunday, October 12 for those unable to attend the Wednesday evening event.
