Nottingham Contemporary

Cancelled: The Screen - A Subversive Art: King Kong

Past, The Screen
a still of King Kong atop a skyscraper with planes in the sky around
Wed 9 Mar, 6.30pm

Please note that this screening is cancelled.

A SUBVERSIVE ART

Raiding the archives of Amos Vogel’s legendary film club, Cinema 16

King Kong (1933) Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 100 mins. Cert U. BFI.

The Screen at Contemporary returns. This season we celebrate the act of people gathering in a darkened room to watch films together. We present a selection of shorts and features from the infamous film society Cinema 16 (1947–63), run by Amos and Marcia Vogel, which proposed an alternative canon of avant-garde, underground and commercial film. Cinema 16 strived to show only the most pioneering films, and in the process was a major influence on postwar cinema.

A filmmaking crew discovers a giant ape on a mysterious island, they capture and bring him to New York with disastrous results. The early special effects used in making King Kong utilised stop-frame animation, and this mixed with Fay Rays’ performance and dramatic score make its classic film status.

A relic of old Hollywood, the film idealises white beauty, depicts the islanders in crude, racist ways and the stand-in for Kong as black man is steeped in racist stereotypes and fears. These problematic depictions are jarring to watch and show the historical and social time it’s made within.

For the full programme of films, please click here

Event:
Cancelled: The Screen - A Subversive Art: King Kong
Dates:
9 Mar 2022, 6.30pm
Visit Safely:

Viewing conditions tickets will be sold at 50% capacity. Guests will be asked to leave space in between each other.

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