Alex somers mines musical gold for documentary dawson. Discovered buried under a hockey rink in a former klondike gold rush town, their story reveals the links between the movie business and manifest destiny in north america. Frozen time may sound like a time capsule on paper, but its something altogether more profound in motion. Part fever dream, part historical record, dawson city. The documentary offers a unique perspective both on the eponymous canadian gold rush town and the shifting economics of film distribution. Filmmaker bill morrison decasia deftly combines excerpts from this lm nd, including rarely seen hollywood features, with historical. Frozen time is a 2016 american documentary film written, edited and directed by bill morrison and produced by morrison and madeleine molyneaux.
Frozen time tells the bizarre true story of some 533 silent lm reels, buried for almost 50 years in a subarctic swimming pool, deep in the yukon permafrost. Dawson city tracks the true history of over 500 film reels from the 191020s that were lost for over 50 years until they were discovered buried in a subarctic swimming pool deep in yukon territory. Like his elegant decasia 2002 and the great flood 2012, dawson city is a hypnotic mashup of narrative cinema filtered through bill morrisons fascination with the history of decomposing nitrate celluloid. Compelling documentary about dawson city and the unique relationship between this little canadian town with its cinema and the gold fever that briefly engulfed the sleepy fishing village. Frozen time, pieces together the bizarre true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a subarctic swimming pool deep in the yukon territory, in dawson city, located about 350 miles south of the arctic circle. Frozen time pieces together the bizarre true history of a longlost collection of 533 nitrate film prints dating from the early 1900s. Set to an enigmatic score by sigur ros collaborator and composer alex somers, dawson city. Swimming tank nyff54 by film society of lincoln center on youtube. Frozen time depicts the unique history of this canadian gold rush town by chronicling the life cycle of a singular film collection through its exile, burial, rediscovery, and salvation. Both a symphony and a time capsule, consisting of fragments from the perfectly preserved silent films found in a dump. This bizarre and fascinating film essay chronicles how hundreds of silent films from the early 1900s were discovered frozen and buried in dawson city, yukon, dug up by a bulldozer in 1978. This meditation on cinemas past from decasia director bill morrison pieces together the bizarre true history of a longlost collection of 533. Filmmaker bill morrison has pieced together some of these cinematic relics into a sprawling, hypnotic rumination on a longforgotten past, called dawson city.
The history of dawson city, the gold rush town that had a historical treasure of forgotten silent films buried in permafrost for decades until 1978. Frozen time begins with a brightly colored, completely intact clip from a television show about baseball in which mr. Fashioned mainly from a cache of old films found frozen and forgotten in the once booming goldrust outpost in the yukon, the story of the town and cinema history unfold. Dublin, where it won a prize for extraordinary achievement. Frozen time tells the story of one of the greatest film finds in history by using the discovery itself. And while director bill morrison bookends dawson city. Frozen time pieces together the bizarre true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a subarctic swimming pool deep in the yukon territory in 1978. Frozen time premiered at venice, rotterdam, doclisboa, and new york. Dawson city frozen time a treasure trove of silent film buried under the swimming pool of an exboomtown.
Frozen time will screen as part of the spotlight on documentary section of the 54th new york film festival september 30 oct. Frozen time, a feature length film by bill morrison u. Frozen time is a complete astonishment from beginning to end. Located just south of the arctic circle, dawson city was settled in 1896 and became the center of the canadian gold rush that brought 100,000 prospectors to the area. In a very short time, hordes of prospectors flooded in, creating dawson city, a wild west mining town that reached its peak population of 40,000 within months. The discovery of the dawson city find is legendary and this acclaimed documentary tells the story of a town through the footage that was discovered there. Culture centuryold film treasure unearthed in dawson city. Frozen time is a cold but crucial story of how film history was literally buried in 1978, 533 reels of. Somers did not look to period music or folk songs to recreate life in the klondike from the. Located just south of the arctic circle, dawson city was settled in 1896 and became the center of the canadian gold rush that brought 100, 000 prospectors to the area. A more evocatively poetic title, say gold and silver, might suggest the extraordinary double helix of north american history and movie lore that bill morrisons foundfootage documentary contains the film owes its existence, first of all, to the.
The chicagoborn filmmakers astonishing documentary dawson city. The lyrical but consistently staggering dawson city is a wholly other manner of foundfootage film, 533 lost reels of nitrate film from the 1910s to twenties unearthed in the yukon territory where the cache of newsreels and bits of fiction had been buried for fifty years in permafrost in a subarctic ice rink near diamond tooth gerties gambling hall in a gold rush. Using archival footage to tell the story, dawson city. Frozen time bill morrisons new work strings together incredible footage, long buried under an old yukon ice rink. Frozen time, despite a title evoking either a 1980s apple ii adventure or a wevelostcount blockbuster sequel, proves to be morrisons best film in yearsa bona fide adventure through history, hopscotching across the turn of the 19th century. The confluence of a gold rush in the yukon and the birth of cinema in the waning days of the 19th century form the basis for this masterful, revelatory film, which uses film footage that was long feared lost to tell these interconnecting stories. Frozen time monday, april 16, 2018 bill morrison decasia, the great flood pieces together the bizarre history of a collection of 500 films from the 1910s and 20s, lost until they were unearthed from a subarctic. Frozen time is a oneofakind curio of a movie that captures, through a collage of photographs, silent documentary footage, and. This meditation on cinemas past from decasia director bill morrison pieces together the bizarre true history of a longlost collection of 533 nitrate film prints from the early 1900s. With kathy jonesgates, michael gates, sam kula, bill ofarrell. Bill morrisons wondrous, almost indescribable documentary dawson city. Frozen time is more than a story of the discovery of 500,000 feet of film buried and forgotten in a town on the yukon river of canada.
Frozen time depicts the unique history of this canadian gold rush town by chronicling the life cycle of a singular film collection through its exile, burial, rediscovery, and. It was screened in the orizzonti competition section at the 73rd venice international film festival. Frozen time by talking to those who made the discovery and laying out what it means, he has ambitions for the film that make it far more. Frozen time is a rather clunky and uninspiring title for a film thats both revelatory and deeply fascinating. Frozen time 120 min, 2016, usa north american premiere at the 54th new york film festival. Dawson saison 1 episode 1 streaming vf 4kstreaming. Bill morrisons twohour documentary recollects the unburying of a collection of nitrate film stocks from the early 1900s. Almost entirely comprised of archival footage and monochromatic stills, the film tells the story of its own existence and does so in exhaustive detail.
702 166 1167 77 1443 20 687 1292 999 153 195 940 37 303 707 48 433 437 939 147 741 533 110 1174 1344 371 1363 454 1174 607 1347 821 1246