The Film of Her
Bill Morrison • 12m
Directed by Bill Morrison • Documentary • 1996 • 12 minutes
"Morrison's THE FILM OF HER is based on the story of a Library of Congress clerk who saved a vaultful of paper reels, documenting the earliest days of cinema, from the incinerator. A gorgeous tribute to the art form's origins, this 12-minute short is anchored by the memory of this man, who has had fixed in his mind since boyhood the image of a woman he saw in an early porn film. THE FILM OF HER is what drives the clerk to save the films, this collective memory, and it also serves as the focal point for Morrison's thoughts on personal experience and the happenstance of history. Drawing comparisons between the primordial ooze and the elemental flicker of a light projector, or between Lumiere babies, magic a la Melies, and the gears of industry, Morrison reminds us that even the most brilliant and brave creations begin as cherished ideas nurtured in dedicated imaginations and subjected to the whims of chance."
—Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, LA Weekly
Up Next in Bill Morrison
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Ghost Trip
Directed by Bill Morrison • Drama • 2000 • 23 minutes
Ghost Trip is a rare example of live-action fictional filmmaking from Morrison. This supernatural road-movie follows an unidentified driver (played by singer-songwriter Slink Moss) as he moves through highways, railways, abandoned homesteads ...
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The Great Flood
Directed by Bill Morrison • Documentary • 2013 • 80 minutes
The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in American history. In the spring of 1927, the river broke out of its earthen embankments in 145 places and inundated 27,000 square miles. Part of its legacy was ...
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Highwater Trilogy
Directed by Bill Morrison • Documentary • 2006 • 31 minutes
A short film that was part of the evening-length program "Shelter".
