Meet Katie Spooner, our digital marketing manager, and founder and curator of The Electric Palace's brand new film strand: Strange Frames.
Ahead of Strange Frames' inaugural screening of The Fall of The House of Usher, here's what Katie had to say about what to expect from the new addition to our programme!
What is Strange Frames all about?
Strange Frames is a film strand that celebrates the offbeat, grotesque or arcane films and concepts that lurk in the shadowy recesses of cinema; with a focus on viewing cinema through the lens of history, folklore and fairytale.
I hope that Strange Frames can illuminate some of these dark corners and explore the unexpectedly transgressive visual aspects of the medium, and revel in the stranger frames of cinema.
Why did you start Strange Frames?
I have always enjoyed strange films; the work of Ken Russell, Jan Svankmajer, David Lynch, Derek Jarman, Stan Brakhage and Maya Deren are some of my favourites; the early cinematic experiments of Georges Méliès, James Williamson and George Albert Smith - that sometimes seem closer to a magic show than cinema - really shaped my taste.
"It was very important to me to celebrate outliers that have been overlooked for being at odds with ‘good taste’"
During my masters in film programming and curation I had the opportunity to write about the ‘Great British Phantasmagoria’, a concept introduced by critic Raymond Durgnat that highlighted the surreal and manneristic films that came out of the UK – but were never really accepted into the national canon with the same enthusiasm as realism.
While Strange Frames isn’t limited to British cinema or surrealism, it was very important to me to celebrate outliers that have been overlooked for being at odds with ‘good taste.’
What inspired you to programme your first screening of The Fall of the House of Usher?
I’d classify myself as a low commitment goth (I wear a lot of black and listen to 1980s darkwave bands but don't have the patience for eyeliner), and having met Harriet of Tadgh Mae Projects we got chatting about our common interests - most importantly Edgar Allen Poe and all the amazing early adaptations of his work that deserve to be seen more.
She put me in touch with local author Antony Clayton whose new book very serendipitously explored the many adaptations of The Fall of The House of Usher – including one filmed right here in Hastings in the 1940s (and released in 1950).
In the end I selected this version on Antony’s advisement and due to its local poignance; despite its (very) low budget there are some very haunting images that deserve to be reappraised.
To accompany it, I selected an earlier version of The Fall of the House of Usher from 1928. There are some fantastic expressionistic interpretations of Poe, particularly from the 1920s – it was hard to choose just one!
This pairing should be a really interesting illustration of the adaptive process. So in short – my programming inspiration was in part my wonderful collaborators, and in part an interest in gothic literature.
Sunday 19 January, 3pm
What's coming up?
Strange Frames and Jarman Now present an afternoon of magic and mystery, with Derek Jarman’s spellbinding adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, starring punk icon Toyah Willcox as Miranda, and poet, Heathcote Williams as Prospero. With talk from Jarman Now's Elisa Oliver.
Further into the future expect anything from Ingmar Bergman to Kenneth Anger - from the experimental and esoteric to cult classics seen anew through the looking glass...
Past screenings:
The Fall of the House of Usher: Strange Frames inaugural screening is a double bill of Poe adaptations, from the expressionistic to the unbelievable.
Witches: Elizabeth Sankey's urgent investigation of post partum mental health, as seen through the history of witchcraft.
Magick Hastings: a poetic exploration of our town’s occult history with filmmaker intro and post screening Q&A from Michael Smith.
Cult Cinema Weekend - The Lair of the White Worm: Ken Russell's wild tale of sex, archaeology and snakes.
Cult Cinema Weekend - Penda's Fen: Alan Clarke's iconic Play for Today is the ultimate in queer folk horror. With short film The Estrogen Gospel.
Donkey Skin: The bizarre and beautiful French fairytale from Jacques Demy.
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