shorts

BAVO DEFURNE - SHORT FILMS

Bavo Defurne’s rich and beautiful short films have achieved the unique distinction of being released as a compilation collection on DVD by commercial distributors in several countries including the UK, USA and Germany. Defurne’s highly cinematic examinations of gay love and loss mark the emergence of one of Europe’s most exciting young filmmakers.

One of the many pleasure in Defurne’s work is the playful and unforced way in which he references the work of other artists – from Dreyer and Eisenstein to photographers Herbert List and Pierre et Gilles. Defurne and his regular team have created an allegorical and headily romantic gay aesthetic that draws on a wide range of influences but is uniquely their own. Defurne’s choice of using largely unprofessional actors brings a charming innocence to the performances that complements the magical, overwrought worlds that they inhabit.

CAMPFIRE (Kampvuur)

Belgium / 2000 / 21 mins / col / Dutch language
A lovesick boy scout is forced to choose between his girlfriend and his best friend as their camping trip turns into a tension filled journey of self discovery.

SAILOR (MATROOS)

Belgium / 1998 / 17 mins / col / no dialogue
A teenage boy falls in love with a sailor and imagines his adventures across a mythical star-lit sea, whilst awaiting his return.

SAINT

Belgium / 1996 / 10 mins / b&w / no dialogue
The violent death of a scantily clad Saint Sebastian is rendered as a simultaneously seductive and horrific event.

PARTICULARLY NOW, IN SPRING

Belgium / 1995 / 8 mins / b&w / English dialogue
Athletes competing at a school sports day are framed like characters from Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia, and we suspect that what bonds them so closely may be unspoken or even unconscious desire.

THE FILMS OF JAMES BROUGHTON

James Broughton (1913 - 1999) poet and dramatist was a leading member of the post-war generation of American experimental filmmakers, and Wavelength Pictures are international sales agents for his lifetime output of 22 short films.

His first solo effort Mothers Day (1948) became an immediate classic of experimental cinema showing widely at film festivals and winning awards. Three more films followed to similar acclaim, The Adventures of Jimmy (with Broughton himself playing the protagonist), Four in the Afternoon and Loony Tom the Happy Lover. This period culminated with The Pleasure Garden (1953) made when he exiled himself in the UK to avoid the McCarthy era witchhunts, which received a special award created by Jean Cocteau at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.

 During 1967’s "summer of love," after a 14 year gap Broughton made The Bed, a celebration of the dance of life which broke taboos against frontal nudity and won prizes at many film festivals. With his desire to make films re-kindled he followed it up with many more films, including tributes to the human body (The Golden Positions) and to the eternal feminine (Dreamwood).

In the late 70’s another burst of energy came with his meeting the 25 year old Canadian student, Joel Singer who became his partner for the rest of his life.

With Singer, Broughton travelled and made more films – Hermes Bird (1979), a slow-motion look at an erection, The Gardener of Eden (1981), filmed when they lived in Sri Lanka, Devotions (1983), which takes delight in friendly things men can do together from the odd to the rapturous, and Scattered Remains (1988), a cheerfully death-obsessed tribute to Broughton’s poetry and filmmaking