ACF PRESENTS: THE FILMS OF JOHN COOK at Anthology Film Archives, Dec 3 - Dec 5

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ACF PRESENTS: THE FILMS OF JOHN COOKDec 3 – Dec 5

Anthology presents a long-overdue retrospective devoted to John Cook, a key figure in Austrian cinema whose films – several of which have recently been restored by the Austrian Film Museum – are virtually unknown in the U.S. The Canadian-born Cook almost single-handedly introduced a type of freewheeling auteur cinema in his adopted homeland, reminiscent of both Italian neorealism and the works of the French nouvelle vague. A truly independent artist, Cook never repeated himself – his four feature (or medium-length) films (three of which are screening here) are each made in an entirely different register, running the gamut from relatively straightforward cinema-vérité-inflected non-fiction to full-on narrative drama, with perhaps his greatest film, SLOW SUMMER, a particularly striking hybrid of documentary and fiction. Thanks to the Film Museum’s efforts, Cook’s work is currently enjoying a revival in Europe, and this retrospective will hopefully spread the word on this side of the Atlantic as well.

“One of the crucial figures of Austrian cinema was Canadian: John Cook, self-confessed ‘Viennese by choice’ made only four films in his adopted country, which have achieved nearly mythical status in Austrian film circles. It is easy to see why: the groundbreaking, unforced realism of [his films] still startles, even as ‘realistic’ filmmaking has become the national cinema’s norm. You could even call it a cliché, since your average Austrian slice of depressive realism is clearly geared toward certain expectations of the arthouse and festival circuits – by comparison, the almost preternatural pull of Cook’s unprejudiced vérité seems even more exceptional.” –Christoph Huber, MOVING IMAGE SOURCE

All three prints in the series were preserved and loaned by the Austrian Film Museum, Vienna; SLOW SUMMER was jointly preserved by the Austrian Film Museum and the film’s producer Michael Pilz in 2006. A DVD featuring all three films is available from the Austrian Film Museum (www.filmmuseum.at/en); institutional sales in North America are handled by Gartenberg Media Enterprises (www.gartenbergmedia.com).

The new print of SLOW SUMMER will have its NY premiere as part of the Museum of Modern Art’s TO SAVE AND PROJECT series on November 3 & 5, immediately preceding our retrospective.

Special thanks to Martin Rauchbauer & Andreas Stadler (Austrian Cultural Forum NY), Alexander Horwath, Regina Schlagnitweit, Markus Wessolowski & Michael Loebenstein (Austrian Film Museum), and Josh Siegel (MoMA).

Upcoming Screenings

John Cook

I JUST CAN’T GO ON / ICH SCHAFF’S EINFACH NIMMER

Dec 3 at 7:15 PM

Dec 4 at 9:15 PM

John Cook

SLOW SUMMER / LANGSAMER SOMMER

Dec 3 at 8:45 PM

Dec 5 at 6:30 PM

John Cook

CLINCH / SCHWITZKASTEN

Dec 4 at 7:00 PM

Dec 5 at 8:30 PM

THE FILMS OF JOHN COOK  Available on DVD for INSTITUTIONAL SALES

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  SLOW SUMMER / CLINCH / I JUST CAN'T GO ON

(1972 - 1978)       2-Disc Set

  Format: DVD PAL / Region 0, No Regional Code.

  Institutional Sale Price: $300.00 plus shipping & handling.

These DVDs are available on an exclusive basis for sale to educational organizations in North America (universities, libraries, & other cultural institutions), and include public performance rights. Public performance rights extend to use in classrooms and in other non-commercial settings where no admission is charged.

For more information on the titles we proudly represent visit here.

For information on ordering by fax, email or post visit here.

To order by phone please call: 212.280.8654