Le Regard - An Evening Celebrating Women in Surrealist Silent Film, Performed With Live Music.
Trailer for Le Regard
2024 Tour Dates:
11/10 - Dundee - Dundee Contemporary Arts
13/10 - Leeds - Hyde Park Picture House
14/10 - Sheffield - Showroom Cinema
15/10 - Liverpool - Plaza Cinema
Supported by Outlander Star Sam Heughan, as winners of the Write Start Award 2024, Hoolan Ensemble brought an electrifying evening of live music and film inspired by the forgotten artistic achievements of women in early cinema to audiences across the UK.
A double feature, the evening began with Germaine Dulac’s ‘The Seashell and the Clergyman’, a 1928 feminist classic which pioneered the use of surrealist filmmaking techniques, before it moved onto a commissioned companion piece ‘Foreign Body’, by emerging filmmaker Sára Ní Eithir.
Two new experimental scores were played by a distinctive instrumental line-up of wind ensemble, guitar and electronics. The evening also included two short talks discussing the history that inspired the project and the process of making the new film.
A double feature, the evening began with Germaine Dulac’s ‘The Seashell and the Clergyman’, a 1928 feminist classic which pioneered the use of surrealist filmmaking techniques, before it moved onto a commissioned companion piece ‘Foreign Body’, by emerging filmmaker Sára Ní Eithir.
Two new experimental scores were played by a distinctive instrumental line-up of wind ensemble, guitar and electronics. The evening also included two short talks discussing the history that inspired the project and the process of making the new film.
Audience Feedback
- Jenny, Treasurer of Women's Equality Party Leeds
"I just wanted to say thank you for letting us know about your event at Hyde Park Picture House last night.
It is not the type of thing I would normally go to but it was a brilliant and thought provoking evening so thank you for helping me to escape my comfort zone for a bit!"
Video Highlights:
Highlights from "Foreign Body" - dir. Sára Ní Eithir (2024), scored by Nancy Johnstone
Split Screen Sequence from "Foreign Body" - dir. Sára Ní Eithir (2024), scored by Nancy Johnstone (2024)
Highlights from "The Seashell and the Clergyman" - dir. Germaine Dulac (1928), scored by Niall Docherty (2024)
Talk: "Woman With A Movie Camera: The Forgotten Female pioneers of Early Cinema". Speaker - Molly Sellors