This pic from the local newspaper was in my Facebook Memories.
Showing posts with label Metropolis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metropolis. Show all posts
At the first Art Deco Festival
Copyright has gone wrong
Last year I screened Metropolis as part of the Leeton Art Deco Festival and one of the reasons I chose the film was knowing it was out of copyright. As the screening approached I decided to double-check whether it was really out of copyright and discovered it was actually under consideration to return to copyright.
Earlier this year Metropolis returned to copyright. The Golan v Holder decision of the US Supreme Court saw a range of works yanked from the public domain, including Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf -- which will impact on the opportunities for orchestras to play this popular piece.
Copyright and its enforcement is out of control. Recently there have been reports of a video uploaded to YouTube that was taken from the owner on the basis of a spurious claim to copyrighted material within the clip.
Copyright currently exists for a minimum of 70 years beyond the death of the author, which seems over the top if it's meant to exist to ensure authors benefit from their creations. But, of course, contemporary works are complex creations with multiple 'authors' and many of these seem to be corporate entities if you believe Alex Cox:
It's so corrupt. Now they want to have longer copyright periods because they say the young artists are relying on this money. The young artists never see any money because they sign away that money to big media corporations, like Universal and Viacom. We, the artists, lose all of our rights to these massive corporations, who then come down heavy on these kids for downloading films and music that we never see a penny from. It's complete bullshit. I want to encourage your audience to go and pirate a bunch of my stuff right away.
Laws are meant to reflect the societies they govern and I don't think copyright law reflects contemporary usage of copyrighted materials because copyright extensions have rendered them irrelevant.
If you consider the secretive way in which copyright laws like ACTA are written then I think more people should be concerned at the way governments have been lobbied by business interests to create laws that don't reflect social attitudes.
However, it's great to see that more people than ever are created content via the internet these days because there are alternatives to copyright available with many of these services. Creative commons is one very adaptable alternative and the beauty of it is the way it encourages people to extend your content. I've been very flattered by remixes that others have done of my recordings, although sometimes I've appeared less than flattering in my remixes of others.
Metropolis
A free screening of the film Metropolis will be held in Chelmsford Place on Saturday 2 April as part of the Leeton Art Deco Festival. "If you haven't seen this classic, then this is a great opportunity to see a film that is the 1920s equivalent of Avatar," said organiser Jason Richardson.
Released in 1927, Metropolis has had an influence on science fiction films like Star Wars and Bladerunner. In 2001 the film was included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and in 2010 Empire Magazine ranked it at number 12 in a list of The 100 Best Films of World Cinema.
The film bankrupted the UFA studio with a budget of over five million Reichsmark, estimated to be worth over $200,000,000 today. "Metropolis was possibly the first cult film," explains Mr Richardson, "as it had an underwhelming response at the box office on its release and took many years to find an audience but is now screened widely
"Metropolis and Avatar share in common is their criticism of contemporary politics. Where Avatar can be viewed as a comment on the US-led invasion of Iraq, Metropolis can be seen as criticising on the rise of the Nazi party in Weimar Germany, as well as promoting unionism and the achievements in establishing modern working conditions.
"It's a Romeo and Juliet-type story that's complicated when the Juliet-character, a community leader, is replaced with a robot manipulated by the Romeo-character's capitalist father," said Mr Richardson.
The silent movies were never silent, cinemas of the 1920s and '30s would have an organist or maybe even a full orchestra to accompany screenings. For the Leeton Art Deco Festival screening, Metropolis will feature a soundtrack drawing on the work of Duke Ellington.
Duke Ellington is one of the foremost figures in American jazz music, with a career that began in 1923 and ended with his death in 1974. "He is arguably the greatest composer of the twentieth century and the Art Deco period was known for big bands, like the orchestra Ellington led," said Mr Richardson.
It's sure to be a great night. "Bring chairs or a blanket to sit on, pack a meal or fill your Thermos and see a film that continues to resonate with audiences nearly 75 years after its release."
Metropolis is rated PG and will start around 7.30pm on Saturday 2 April, projected onto the main water tower in Chelmsford Place as part of the Leeton Art Deco Festival.
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