Prototype
UW Cinematheque 821 University Ave., UW Vilas Hall, Room 4070, Madison, Wisconsin
press release:
PROTOTYPE 3D
Canada | 2017 | DCP | 63 min.
Director: Blake Williams
Williams’s mind-altering short feature makes the case for 3-D as the most fertile frontier of avant-garde cinema. Drawing inspiration from a 1900 Texas hurricane that remains the deadliest in US history, Prototype combines archival and new materials to create an overwhelming sensory experience, one that can only exist in the theater. “The most significant 3-D film since Goodbye to Language. At once engaged with the history of cinema and situated way out on the medium’s bleeding edge” (Village Voice). “A prescient work in more ways than one… crosses the line from forward-thinking to downright clairvoyant” (Film Comment). Preceded by 10 minutes of early 3D test footage, 1922-1936.
Premiere Showcase is the Cinematheque’s effort to bring the boldest and most exciting new cinema back to the big screen. Crafted with the same curatorial acuity we bring to our repertory series, Premiere Showcase presents exciting new work by contemporary directors that would otherwise have no theatrical venue in the area. Our selections for this calendar begin with a 3D showing of Blake Williams hypnotic 3D feature Prototype. Plus, The Wild Pear Tree, the latest from Cannes prize-winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Birds of Passage and Diamantino, two recent fest-circuit favorites showing as part of our annual LACIS series; and Origin Story, a new road-movie documentary which will be presented in person by director Kulap Vilaysack.