Danse Macabre

Funded by the UCLA Arts Initiative and co-presented with the UCLA Film & Television Archive

For Houseguest, a new series of artist-curated shows, Los Angeles-based artist Francesca Gabbiani has selected an eclectic range of works on paper, many from UCLA's own collections, that explore the subjects of witchcraft and sorcery—themes that are often subtly evoked in her own work. The works selected include drawings, prints and illustrated books ranging in date from the Renaissance to the present. To complement this exhibit, the artist and the UCLA Film & Television Archive have co-curated three evenings of film screenings (two with live musical accompaniment) that explore similarly occult themes. Two iconic films about witchcraft will be screened: Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer's haunting Day of Wrath (1943) and the legendary Häxan (1922), by Benjamin Christensen—presented in a gloriously restored and tinted print from Sweden. The program concludes with an eclectic mix of short works from the silent era through the 1960s, including Kenneth Anger's Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969).

In conjunction with Houseguest: Francesca Gabbiani.

Danse Macabre

This program features a compilation of short films focusing on the occult, sorcery, and the macabre, with works ranging from the silent era through the 1960s, including Carl Dreyer’s haunting road safety film, They Caught the Ferry (1943), and avant-garde master Kenneth Anger’s Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969), a mesmerizing brew of sex, Magick, and rock and roll.

Various formats, approx. 80 min.