Today I had the great pleasure of seeing two of my favorite avant garde movies projected on film.
First was La Jeteé by Chris Marker who just passed away after his 91st birthday last month. The woman who introduced the movie at SFMOMA told the audience that Chris is notoriously shy and answered e-mailed questions about his work with a picture of a cat. This film was projected in it's original 35mm format.
Meshes in the Afternoon by Maya Deren was projected in it's original 16mm format with the audio she added in 1959. This movie is one that I first saw in the late eighties while an undergrad, but it wasn't until watching it through the eyes of a performance artist that it really spoke to me.
Both movies were chosen by Cindy Sherman as part of a series playing along with her retrospective. Watching them on your computer won't be nearly as beautiful, but if you've never seen these two films, I would highly recommend a look.