ARTHUR LIPSETT: 16MM FILMS FROM THE NAC ARCHIVES
A selection of four 16mm films by Canadian filmmaker Arthur Lipsett from the film archive of the Niagara Artists Centre. Lipsett’s pioneering work in the 1960s influenced a generation of filmmakers and is celebrated for its dark humor, formal experimentation, and rhythmic energy.
His avant-garde collage films, which he described as "neither underground nor conventional”, contain elements of narrative, documentary, experimental collage, and visual essay.
The screening is hosted by filmmaker and author Stephen Broomer, whose recent book Secret Museums: The Films of Arthur Lipsett (2025), examines Lipsett’s life, struggles, and artistic vision. This program includes a short introduction by Broomer, a 40 minute screening of four Lipsett shorts, and is followed by a discussion lead by the author.
films:
Very Nice, Very Nice (7 min)
21-87 (9 min)
Freefall (10 min)
Trip Down Memory Lane (13 min)
Stephen Broomer is a filmmaker, film preservationist, and author of Hamilton Babylon: A History of the McMaster Film Board (2016), Codes for North: Foundations of the Canadian Avant-Garde Film (2017), and Secret Museums: The Films of Arthur Lipsett (2025). He co-authored Moments of Perception: Experimental Film in Canada (with Michael Zryd, 2021) and co-edited Imprints: The Films of Louise Bourque (with Clint Enns, 2021) and Exovede in the Darkroom: The Films of Rhayne Vermette (with Irene Bindi, 2023). A Fulbright visiting scholar and former International Council for Canadian Studies postdoctoral fellow, he is a sessional lecturer at the Cinema Studies Institute, University of Toronto.
Broomer returns to MNFF 2025 as guest juror, and expert host of the Arthur Lipsett program, after hosting the Bruce Elder program in 2023.