S.W.L.A.

A mysterious film – as of this writing, its maker unknown and unfound. <![CDATA[<i>]]>S.W.L.A.<![CDATA[</i>]]> is a sort of unexpected discovery, a film made by a talented UCLA student who remains an unsolved mystery himself. (Rob, if you’re out there, would you contact me?) Found among the remnants of the Creative Film Society collection housed with The iotaCenter at the Academy Film Archive, the film merited viewing based only on a quick inspection of the print, which seemed to promise some unusual images likely inspired by Pat O’Neill’s <![CDATA[<i>]]>7362<![CDATA[</i>]]> (1968). The film turned out to be quite a strong work, with a bold visual sense and a surprising restraint and elegance, its images and sound interacting in an exciting and unexpected way. A high-contrast urban portrait, its dissonant score and brutal industrial setting evoke a sickly city symphony of a landscape (and culture) in traction.

This film is part of the program <filmlink id=\"3016\">Falling Apart</filmlink>.