Film Love presents: Andy Warhol's Empire Brought to Atlanta by the Hambidge Center and The Works Upper Westside ATL
Free to the public. Seating is limited, so please get your free ticket through Eventbrite.
The screening of “Empire” will be held in conjunction with a free mask-making workshop in preparation for the October 26th Hambidge Art Auction + Masquerade Bash.
Made at the height of Andy Warhol’s underground notoriety, the legendary film Empire is many things. This nearly eight-hour, unmoving nighttime view of the Empire State Building – then the world’s tallest – can be an outrageous provocation, a major statement of Pop Art, the ultimate example of a film where “nothing happens,” an absorbing moment-to-moment meditation on the experience of time, an ambivalent critique of capitalism, a deep dive into the paradoxical nature of moving images, an existential confrontation with boredom, an unknowable enigma, a revelation, a cheap joke, a great prank, and much more.
Above all, then, Empire is an event. Few films have ever been discussed so much while seen so little, for a true screening of Empire at its full length is a rare occasion indeed. For this screening, Film Love curator Andy Ditzler will present (and project!) the entirety of Empire in its native format of 16mm film and in the slow-motion projection that Warhol himself favored. Empire does not exist on consumer video, so this screening is a unique chance to experience the film. During this Atlanta engagement, it will screen only once, beginning at 12 noon on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at The Works. Ditzler will introduce the film and facilitate discussion at the film’s conclusion later in the evening.
During this screening, viewers may come and go, dip in, leave and return later to see the film’s progress, or camp out for the whole thing. There are many entry points, from the spectacular sunset in the opening reel, to the long middle stretch where the iconic building keeps watch over 1960s Manhattan, to the mysterious darkness of the film’s final minutes. Whichever part you see, be prepared to be surprised. Characteristically, Andy Warhol’s Empire continues to confound, delight and provoke – sometimes all at once. It’s an essential experience of the outer limits of cinema.
“…[‘Empire’] turns out to be gripping. If great works of art can be thought of as machines for thinking, triggering ideas by the dozen, then ‘Empire’ is a Rolls-Royce: It keeps us thinking about what film is and does, what great buildings are all about and even how and why we look at things.” – Blake Gopnik, The New York Times
About the curator As part of the Film Love series, curator Andy Ditzler has researched, written about and screened Warhol’s films for many years. The Film Love series provides access to great but rarely-screened films, especially important works unavailable on consumer video. Through public screenings and events, Film Love preserves the communal viewing experience, provides space for the discussion of film as art, explores diverse forms of projection and viewing, and illuminates connections between the moving image and other art forms.
HOW TO GET THERE: This event will be held in Selig's new retail complex, The Works - Upper Westside ATL. FREE PARKING is available on Maker's Way NW, behind Ballard Designs. The entrance to the building will be marked with signs and volunteers to assist you to the event.
