Alex Reuben’s debut feature Routes is a road movie through the dance and music of the American Deep South. Inspired by Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music and evocative of Maya Deren’s seminal Meshes Of The Afternoon, Reuben’s film offers an idiosyncratic documentation of lesser-known forms of American culture, and the extraordinary dancing Americans of the Deep South. From North Carolina to the holy grail of his childhood hero Fats Domino, and the Jazz of New Orleans, Reuben captured on the road Appalachian Bluegrass, Clogging, Mississippi Fife and Drum Blues, Krumping, Memphis Hip-Hop, Indian Smoke Dance, Louisiana Cajun, Zydeco and Swamp Pop, all in a vivid stream of sound and vision.
Routes was selected in the Top 20 Films of the Decade by critic Geoff Andrew (BFI/Time Out) & in the Top 5 Cinematic Moments of the Year (Little White Lies).
Event/ This screening will be accompanied by Alex Reuben‘s short films Que Pasa, Line Dance and Real Time plus a Q&A with the director, chaired by Professor Dee Reynolds of Manchester University.
Que Pasa
2001, GB
Alex saw Louise James dancing at Simply Boogie, a club night in Brixton. Louise did the film for a bottle of Jack Daniels. A one minute evocation of a dancing and abstract painting without edits, Que Pasa is inspired by club dance, classic Blue Note Jazz cover design and the abstract expressionist painting of Elsworth Kelly. The soundtrack Que Pasa (Trio version) is by The Horace Silver Quintet. It was also the winner of a Choreographic Captures Prize 2008.
Line Dance
2004, GB
Line Dance is inspired by dancing in a Brixton nightclub with dancer Afua Awuku and the dynamic paintings of Jackson Pollock. It combines state of the art, 24 camera, computer game technology, with the pioneering animation techniques of Norman McClaren and Stan Brakhage. Nominated for Best British Short Film (Encounters) and part of the British Council’s Best of British Dance Film’s DVD, Forward Motion.
And introducing Real Time (29’), part of Cinderella (RockaFela), a current movie project, supported by Arts Council England and a Wellcome Trust Small Arts Award.