“The Sharp Amnesias” Explores Maddin Filmography

“There’s a feverish quality to a lot of his films,” says Haden Guest, director of the Harvard Film Archive, of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin. “There’s a sense in which the story itself is less important the the kind of emotions it generates.” He is discussing the works that are screening at the HFA every Friday and Saturday until Nov. 14. These screenings, combined with Maddin’s attendance at two of the shows, presents an opportunity for students and Cambridge residents to interact with both the films and the filmmaker himself.

According to Jeremy M. Rossen, assistant curator of the HFA, the cinematheque hoped to create this archive for some time, and the anticipated arrival of Maddin (who is here as a guest professor in the Visual and Environmental Studies department) served as a motivator for the HFA to create the film screenings. “With some people it’s easier and with some people it’s a little more work, but this programme came together organically and quickly,” Rossen says.

Maddin’s enthusiasm helped the program come together more quickly. “I'm totally honoured to be programmed at the HFA. I've been receiving hard copies of their calendars in my snail mail way up in my arctic home for many years now,” he says referencing his roots in Canada.

The HFA is showcasing works of Maddin’s that range from three to 128 minutes long, from the years 1985-2015, spanning from his very first work (the short “The Dead Father”) to his most recent (“The Forbidden Room”). Guest selected the full-length features in collaboration with Rossen, who curated Maddin’s lesser-known shorts and paired them with the longer films based on aesthetics and length. “[The HFA] was trying to present a programme of work that was balanced with newer and older work [along] with the features and the shorts as well,” Rossen says.

At the last two screenings on Nov. 13 and 14—“My Winnipeg” and “The Forbidden Room”—Maddin will hold question-and-answer sessions. Although he will be present only at two screenings, both the HFA and Maddin encourage anyone interested to attend all of the shows. “I believe—I know for a fact—that watching the kind of films the HFA programs is good for all filmmakers,” Maddin says. “I plan on living there once my busy schedule permits. If Haden Guest permits me to bring my little tent downstairs, I'll be first in line every night.”

The films in this collection seek to provide a glimpse into the mind of Maddin and his signature filmmaking. “There are clearly thematic and formal preoccupations that can be seen across practically all his films; the look, the texture, the feeling, the pulse of Guy Maddin’s films is very distinct,” Haden says.

The HFA’s collaboration with Maddin will not end with these screenings. In December, his newest film, “The Forbidden Room,” will have a theatrical run with multiple showings within a two week block. Also, from January to March, Maddin will be selecting a series of about eight to ten films to screen at the HFA.

These events reflect both the HFA’s and Maddin’s interest not only in showcasing films that have already been made, but also in inspiring budding filmmakers to shoot their own footage. “It's always been my strongest desire that people find themselves in my movies somehow, identify with its situations, or...maybe make their own films as a result,” Maddin says.