PHANTASMAGORIA presents a special screening of Pat O’Neill’s rarely screened masterpiece Water and Power (1989) in 35mm with two short films by Mike Stoltz in 16mm. Introduction by filmmaker Mike Stoltz. Reception to follow.

About the films:

Water and Power

Pat O’Neill | 1989 | 54 minutes | 35mm

Its title comes from the Los Angeles water district. Much of the film was shot in the Owens Valley and in an old office building in downtown LA and is metaphorically about the exchange of energy between two places. It is also about water, in all of its states, and about cyclical motion: the planets, the tides, the implied rotation of the camera on its axis, and the repetitive actions of the performers. There are also quotations from older movies and their soundtracks: at times their landscapes become continuous with those of the present. Human habitation in this wilderness is tenuous and risky.

With Pluses and Minuses

Mike Stoltz | 2013 | 5 minutes | 16mm

“This morning the window blew its glass onto my face. Real morning with pluses and minuses (my symbols for truth)” — Watt

A ground-less and boundless 16mm film in which a wall becomes a window to a swirling landscape.

Holographic Will

Mike Stoltz | 2023 | 5.5 minutes | 16mm

A domestic swirl filmed while the building was being sold. How much longer can we afford to stay? A kaleidoscopic portrait of destabilization during the struggle to stay in a rent-controlled apartment amidst an affordable housing crisis.

Shot frame by frame, moving the camera between every image. Single frames move forward in time, creating afterimage combinations without superimpositions. A phased drum machine soundtrack emphasizes the percussive quality of the image.

With gratitude to neighbors and the Los Angeles Tenants Union Northeast Local.