\nZero to Twenty and back to Zero:<\/strong><\/span>
\n“Zero” a feature 16mm film by James Fotopoulos<\/strong><\/span>
\nQ&A w\/ the artist follows the screening<\/span>
\nIntroduced by Bradley Eros<\/span><\/p>\n
Microscope is excited to present a screening of James Fotopoulos’ first feature film \u2018\u2019Zero\u201d in its original format on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, introduced by Bradley Eros who along with Brian Frye presented the work in its first \u201creal screening\u201d in the US on November 21, 2000 at the Robert Beck Memorial Cinema (RBMC), which took place \u00a0the Lower East Side space Collective Unconscious.<\/span><\/p>\n The nearly 2 1\/2 hour long film – shot by Fotopoulos with his 16mm Bolex camera at the age of 18 – \u00a0is a decadent story of isolation, sentimental and sexual repression where “primordial dreams of humanoid sex and violence manifest in his [the main character\u2019s] everyday reality as cancer, abuse and mannequin love\u201d, mixing realism and dreamlike states depicted through the lyrical rhythms and physicality of celluloid film.<\/span><\/p>\n “Zero”\u00a0features the same actor and location of his earlier shorts\u00a0“Substitute”\u00a0(1994) and\u00a0“Tranquility”\u00a0(1995) and was completed in 1997 while Fotopoulos was shooting his next and break-through film “Migrating Forms\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Described as “America’s foremost poet of sexual anxiety”, the artist whose subsequent works range from 17 seconds to 7 hours can already be seen in\u00a0“Zero”\u00a0embracing the full spectrum of filmmaking, from script writing to shooting, production and editing, from sketching storyboards to painting on film and building set props. <\/span><\/p>\n This film marks the first time that Fotopoulos altered his footage through hand-painting, scratching and color toning, stationing for weeks at a professional lab to employ other alternative printing techniques:<\/span><\/p>\n “There was a lab that was run by the two guys that learned how to process film etc in the Navy in World War II. They were only doing industrial film but that business was dying – and they needed the job and also were interested in what i was talking about doing from a technical standpoint\u00a0\u2026 \u00a0they told me at the end that if they knew i was going to show pubic hair they wouldn’t have taken on the project.”<\/em> –\u00a0JF<\/span><\/p>\n A special\u00a0Zero\u00a0pin-back button produced for the occasion based on the original 1997 button will be given to the audience members. Film series of James Fotopoulos’ films take place later in July at\u00a0Facets Cin\u00e9math\u00e8que<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Nightingale<\/u><\/a>\u00a0in Chicago. <\/span><\/p>\n The screening is introduced by Bradley Eros. James Fotopoulos in attendance and available for Q&A following the screening.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> General admission $8<\/em><\/span>![\"Zero](\"http:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Zero-by-James-Fotopoulos_1.jpg\")
\nStill from “Zero” by James Fotopoulos (1997) – Image courtesy of the artist<\/span>
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\n“Grisly, abrasive and one of the few truly underground features we’ve seen in a good while, ZERO plays like a Brakhage\/Morrisey directorial collaboration on a screenplay by Pasolini. A profoundly disturbing study in abjection and squalor, ZERO offers its own version of redemption. It’s not to be missed.”<\/em>\u00a0– Robert Beck Memorial Cinema (Bradley Eros, Brian Frye)<\/span>
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\nStudents w\/ ID $6<\/em><\/span>
\nFree for Members!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
![\"Zero](\"http:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Zero-by-James-Fotopoulos_2.jpg\")