PANORAMA EPHEMERA
Rick Prelinger | Canada | 2004 | 89m
Collage of sequences drawn from a wide variety of ephemeral (industrial, advertising, educational and amateur) films, touring the conflicted landscapes of twentieth-century America. The films' often-skewed visions construct an American history filled with horror and hope, unreeling in familiar and unexpected ways. Panorama Ephemera focuses on familiar and mythical activities and images in America (1626-1978).
Many creatures and substances that we hardly notice because we feel so used to them take centre stage, including pigs, corn, water, telephones, fire, and rice.
At first resembling a compilation, it soon reveals itself as a journey through the American landscape over time, and the story begins to emerge between the sequences. The film consists of 64 self-contained film sequences ranging from 5 seconds to 4 minutes in length arranged into a narrative. Unlike many films made using archival footage, it's primarily a combination of sequences rather than a collage of individual shots. The film is populated by American children, animals, farmers, industrial workers, superheroes, pioneers heading West, crash test dummies, and many others.
Rick Prelinger is an American archivist, writer, and filmmaker. Prelinger is best known as the founder of the Prelinger Archives, a collection of 60,000 advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur films acquired by the Library of Congress in 2002 after 20 years' operation. He is also professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz.