And (film)

“and–” is an experimental film by Dorothy Fowler and Margaret Roberts, who made it in Vancouver, British Columbia, circa 1940–41. Fowler and Roberts were members of the Vancouver Branch of the National Film Society of Canada (VB/NFSC). "and–” is the earliest known experimental film made in Vancouver, and among the earliest produced in Canada.

Production

"and–” is a collage film; it utilizes some pre-existing film footage by amateur filmmaker Oscar C. Burritt, another member of the VB/NFSC. (For instance, the “producers” credit in "and–" runs over an out-take from his midget-racing-car film "Bats Out of Hell," shot in July 1940.) This found footage—including negative film stock, inverted (reversed) images, and random camera movements—was combined with Fowler and Roberts' newly hand-painted and scratched stock. In some cases, their hand-painting carried over onto the found footage as well.The technique of painting and scratching directly onto film stock later became widely identified with Norman McLaren of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). However, "and–" was clearly inspired by the earlier work of Len Lye, whose pioneering short A Colour Box (1935) had been screened by the film society. "and–" is particularly significant because it was made before (or simultaneously with) McLaren's arrival at the NFB. The found footage and the hand-painted material were brought together by Oscar Burritt, who served as the editor of "and–" but didn't take credit for his role.

Presentation

The only published mention of the film from the period it was made refers to a screening at the University of British Columbia on 30 January 1942. It seems likely that the film was also shown at a regular screening of the VB/NFSC. Preserved today in silent form, the film was originally presented with a soundtrack of swing music from phonograph records, mixed “live” on a dual turntable set-up owned by the film society. The tracks used included Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” and Bud Freeman’s "China Boy" and “The Eel."

The Burritts

Dorothy Fowler and Oscar Burritt were married in January 1942.