Shift (1982) by Ernie Gehr
Thursday, October 27, 1983, 8:00 pm
Ernie Gehr
Ernie Gehr: Untitled, 1977, 4.5 min., premiere; Mirage, 1981, 12 min., premiere; Table, 1976, 16 min., premiere; Behind the Scenes, 1975, 5 min., premiere; Shift, 1982, 5 min.; Untitled, 1981, 30 min.
Ernie Gehr remains one of the most vital and uncompromising forces in the avant-garde film. The creator of Serene Velocity has released several new films during recent years, indicating that even though his subjects and method may change (as in Untitled, 1981), Gehr’s astonishing formal control and sense of shape never weaken. He has written: “Film is not a vehicle for ideas or portrayals of emotion outside its own existence as emoted idea. Film is a variable intensity of light, an internal balance of time, a movement within a given space.” This will be Gehr’s first San Francisco appearance in many years.