Voyage III: The Final Installment

From the crypts of The Velaslavasay Panorama & The American Egypt:

Voyage to the Land of Speaking Blood III
The Final Installment

“It's called 'radioactive flesh'! It's the latest dance – the final dance."
 

Simon & The Sacred Cenote: 16mm Selections from the Archive of The American Egypt
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Tickets: $15 General Admission / $13 VPES Members
Doors open at 7:30 P.M. / Screening begins at 8:00 P.M.

Jesse Lerner returns to the Velaslavasay Panorama to present a collection of 16mm films from The American Egypt.

Our feature film is Simon of the Desert (1965), the last film Luis Buñuel made while exiled in Mexico. Other 16mm films include a 1950s homemade travelogue through Mexico made by Mr. Smith, the operator of a sugar plant in Denver, a 1960s military educational film on the expedition of the Sacred Cenote (a well of treasure in the Yucatan) and a behind-the-scenes trailer for Kings of the Sun, the 1963 film about a Mayan kingdom starring Yul Brynner, George Chakiris and Shirley Anne Field.

Simon of the Desert
 

Throughout this blood-tingling voyage, many questions have been asked and many remain unanswered. As thus, a thorough investigation in the form of a live Q-and-A session was originally planned to follow the night's screenings. Unfortunately, on the Monday the 13th, the bodies of the Velaslavasay Curatorial Team were found mauled by what we can only imagih̴͖̍́e̵̪͗l̴͚͗̐p̷̗̿ͅ u̴͍̭̾s̸̪̐͝ ö̷̻͓́n̴͈͐̚l̸̲͘y ̸̨̯̿yo̸̠̻͝ù̸̺̰ ̸̪̚ċ̷̢a̷̯͂ǹ̶̫̀ r̸͓͐e̶̮̰͌ș̴̢̂ol̷̲̈́̈ve̶̮͉͗ p̵̪̀ut̶̪̃̎ ̴̝̀ù̸̻̋s̸̯̲̀ t̷̢̻̊o r̷̞̉͋ɘs̵̮͉͊ẗ̷̡͎́ ̵̖͌las, the typewriter has jammed and the candle left to burn. On this final night, the Nova Tuskhut will hold a very special authorial-ethereal presence in honor of this hardworking crew. We hope they will join us in spirit to explore the themes and ideas culled over the course of the "Voyage to the Land of Speaking Blood" series.

As usual, the Velaslavasay Gardens & Grounds will be open for an evening soirée replete with refreshments and polaroids at the Touristic Photo Booth. 
 

EXPEDITION!
 

Our Evening of 16mm Projections Includes:

EXPEDITION! -  Treasure of the Sacred Well
1961, 16mm (for Television broadcast),  b/w, 27 min. English

Two Weeks South of the Border
1958-59, 16mm Home Movie by Mr. & Mrs. Smith (likely only copy in existance), color, 20 min. English

SIMON OF THE DESERT
Directed by Luis Buñuel. With Silvia Pinal, Claudio Brook, Enrique Álvarez Félixa
Mexico 1965, 16mm, b/w, 45 min. Spanish with English subtitles

Perched atop a pillar in the middle of the desert in eternal penance for six years, six months, and six days, Simon – inspired by 5th century Saint Simeon Stylites – seeks spiritual purification through spectacular means. Reluctantly doling out occasional miracles, prophesies, and words of muttered wisdom to his fickle followers, Simon’s encounters elicit a string of blasphemous comedy routines occasionally anticipating those of Monty Python. His faith is ritually tested by the devil who reappears in various feminine incarnations all portrayed by the beguiling Silvia Pinal - accounting for most of the matter-of-fact surrealist moments that would become signature late Buñuel. With as ascetic an aesthetic as Simon’s, the film is a richly compact allegory. The cynical tone – balancing somewhere between mockery and sympathy – is consummated by a whirlwind ending which is as incredulously shocking as it is completely appropriate.

Simon of the Desert is presented in partnership with the Luis Buñuel Film Institute.