Experimental or avant-garde film is set to take centre-stage at the Film Archive later this month during This is Experimental: A festival of experimental film and film makers.

The event, organised by Film Archive Exhibitions Manager Mark Williams will be an exciting three days of screenings, talks and a workshop - presented by, and featuring, local and international guests from the outer edges of cinematic adventure.

Highlights include: a screening and workshop by Guy Sherwin, one of the pre-eminent British film artists of the last 40 years; Free Radical: The films of Len Lye, a collection of work by New Zealand's most internationally successful film maker, that returns to New Zealand from a successful North American tour; and The Michael Nicholson Studio Visual Music Project Stage 3: Ops 1-4, a video installation that pays homage to the abstract expression paintings of Wassily Kandinsky. It will be a unique chance for  film makers and writers to share their personal highlights from the world of experimental film making.

Complete programme of events

Thursday 14 August
5.30pm: Opening of The Michael Nicholson Studio Visual Music Project Stage 3: Ops 1-4
92-year-old artist Michael Nicholson presents his latest work: a video of evolving and collapsing forms, inspired by the colour and dynamic energy of abstract expressionist painter Wassily Kandinsky.
In the Pelorus Trust mediagallery
Free entry

7pm: Free Radical: The Films of Len Lye (presented by Exhibitions Manager Mark Williams)
The New Zealand Film Archive and The Len Lye Foundation are pleased to present Free Radical: The Films of Len Lye. A pioneer of direct-to-film animation, Lye used various tools to mark patterns, shapes or images directly onto the surface of the film. Many of his works were propelled into life by lively jazz scores or Pacific-inspired rhythms. Today Len Lye remains New Zealand's most internationally recognised experimental film maker. Free Radical: The Films of Len Lye returns to New Zealand after a highly successful 2007 tour of North American cinematheques.
In the mediatheatre
Entry by koha

Friday 15 August
9am-5pm: The Michael Nicholson Studio Visual Music Project Stage 3: Ops 1-4 An exhibition by Michael Nicholson.
In the Pelorus Trust mediagallery.
Free entry

7pm: Live Cinema: A performance by Guy Sherwin with Lyn Loo
Like a blast of cinematic conceptual art, Sherwin's handcrafted films explore the elements of film's grain, tone, flicker, sound, light and space. Beautiful, enigmatic and sensual, these experimental films question our perception of "light moving in time".
In the mediatheatre
Tickets $8/6

Saturday 16 August
9am-5pm: The Michael Nicholson Studio Visual Music Project Stage 3: Ops 1-4. An exhibition by Michael Nicholson.
In the Pelorus Trust mediagallery.
Free

10am: Live Cinema and Optical Sound: a workshop with Guy Sherwin
Strictly limited: 10 places available.
To register your interest email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

3pm: Scratching the Surface: Experiments in New Zealand animation after Len Lye (presented by Mark Williams)
In 2008 Len Lye stands as the pioneer, inspiration and point of reference for animation in New Zealand. While the influence of Lye's film work remains undisputed, Scratching the Surface reveals a handful of New Zealand animators with their own independent vision.
Entry by koha

5pm: Pragmatic Poetics: a talk by Dick Whyte
Dick Whyte discusses the relationship between the work of New Zealand film maker Joanna Margaret Paul, the ancient art of haiku poetry, and the metaphysics of Gilles Deleuze. The talk includes several of Paul's films, which find 'beauty in the ordinary details of life'.
Entry by koha

7pm: 80s Super 8 Vibration: a collection of 1980s Super 8 Movies from Canada, NZ and USA (presented by Martin Rumsby)
In 1985 film maker Martin Rumsby toured a collection of New Zealand experimental films through North American media arts centres, universities and art galleries. He subsequently spent the next decade in Canada and the United States working as a film maker and critic. This collection features several New Zealand works from Rumsby's original touring programme plus North American experimental films gathered in his travels.
In the mediatheatre
Entry by koha