Pulp guitarist Mark Webber is to revive his film club Little Stabs At Happiness for a one-off event at the Institute of Contemporary Arts tomorrow night (January 15).
The programme shows three short experimental films alongside quiet music, followed by a full-length feature and late-night DJ set. The club originally ran from 1998 to 2000 and was revived in 2012 with a screening of Roberto Rossellini’s The Machine That Kills Bad People.
It returns once more with 1960 ‘dramatised documentary’ The Savage Eye, directed by Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers and Joseph Strick, which is preceded by three 16mm short films, Thom Andersen’s Olivia’s Place (1966), Lewis Klahr’s Pony Glass (1998), and Laida Lertxundi’s My Tears Are Dry (2009)
Webber said: "We’re keeping it real with all films showing on 16mm and the reassuring sound of the projector at the back of the room. Tonight’s feature, The Savage Eye from 1959, is an amazing, often brutal, journey through the seedier side of Los Angeles. A similar era is also evoked by the three short films screening earlier in the evening. It’s not just about film though – when the movies are over, classic Little Stabs power pop and disco anthems will rise again so bring your dancing shoes.”
In its original run Little Stabs Of Happiness was brought overseas by the British Council to Bologna and to Shanghai as part of a cultural exchange, and was part of the launch of the Scala in 1999. For more details on tomorrow night’s event, click here.
