Fairy Tales: Early Colour Stencil Films From Pathé

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2012

Labels: Touch, BFI

156-minute DVD featuring newly commissioned scores by Touch Artists, including Philip Jeck, Fennesz and Chris Watson. Includes 24-page booklet of notes and stills

'Fairy Tales' features 29 beautiful early colour stencil films dating to 1901-1922, re-scored by the Touch roster's finest, and students from Sint-Lukas University College of Art & Design in Brussels. The films come from a short period in early cinematic history, the belle epoque in turn-of-the-century Paris, where filmmakers would appropriate classic fairy stories using fantastical visual styles adopted from theatre, mixed with new technology allowing them to apply jewel-like colours to the silent images. Fast forward a century and those bewitching, comical and dreamlike images are recontextualised by electronic and acoustic sounds ranging from Chris Watson's gorgeously delicate accompaniment to 'Métamophose du Papillon' numerous etheric moments by Philip Jeck and Achim Mohné's comical juxtapositions. As they were intended then, the films should appeal to viewers and listeners both young and old, creating an magical and unforgettable experience for all.