The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in partnership with Anthology Film Archives presents :: Crossing the Line 2009: Metamkine in a “film live” performance piece :: Friday, September 18, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. :: FIAF, Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street (between Park and Madison Avenues), NY, NY :: $15, FIAF Members; $20 Non-Members :: Tickets: fiaf.org | 212 307 4100 (Ticketmaster)Information: fiaf.org | 212 355 6160

“Their performances have a visceral impact that does not bypass the brain.” - Cellist and composer Tom Cora

The genre-morphing, musico-cinematic ensemble Metamkine arrives from France fully amped for their latest “film live” performance piece. Presented by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in partnership with Anthology Film Archives, the event is part of FIAFís Crossing the Line 2009 festival, celebrating French and American artists working to transform cultural practices on both sides of the Atlantic.

Through the magic of mirrors, multiple projectors, and highly ingenious live on-stage editing, the Grenoble-based multimedia trio (known in French as La Cellule díIntervention Metamkine) produces and directs a new film live with each of their performances. Musician Jérôme Noetinger collaborates with filmmakers Christophe Auger and Xavier Quérel to create a series of situational vignettes accompanied by a live soundtrack of tape fragments and analog synthesizer sounds.

A sensory immersion that must be experienced to be believed, Metamkine’s self-termed “musico-cinematic” creations explore the relationship between image and sound, resulting in work that is at once a performance and its document. Appearing in a posture reminiscent of a band before the film screen, Metamkine aims to liberate music from the servitude of cinema, and the important moment becomes the confrontation on stage.

“Metamkine create a completely irreproducible, ingenious live cinema experience that cannot be contained on a DVD, and which barely fits in a theater,” said Andrew Lampert of Anthology Film Archives. “Working with an army of 16mm projectors, analog sound equipment, large mirrors and jerry-rigged doodads, Metamkine manages to construct something spectacular from the most unlikely of sources. Abstract yet concrete, as aggressive as it is lulling, a performance by Metamkine lives and grows in the memory long after the show has ended.”

“An event both anachronistic and futuristic,” said Simon Dove, Crossing the Line co-curator. “Metamkine use all manner of old analogue sound and film projectors to propose an exhilarating future for both concert and cinema,” added Lili Chopra, Artistic Director of FIAF.

About Metamkine
La Cellule d’Intervention METAMKINE is an open-ended group including musicians and filmmakers researching the dynamic between image and sound. Founded in 1987 by musician Jérôme Noetinger and filmmakers Christophe Auger and Xavier Quérel, Metamkine’s concepts have been carried out and performed in festivals, galleries, rock clubs, cinemas, and contemporary art spaces, in France, Europe, Canada, and the US. Since 1995, they have developed collaborations with other groups or artists like Nachtluft (Switzerland), Kinobits (France), Loophole Cinema (England), Tom Cora (USA), Le Cube (France), la Flibuste (France), and Voice Crack (Switzerland).

About Anthology Film Archives
Founded in 1970, Anthology’s mission is to preserve, exhibit, and promote public and scholarly understanding of independent, classic, and avant-garde cinema. Anthology screens more than 900 film and video programs per year, publishes books and catalogs annually, and has preserved more than 800 films to date.

About Crossing the Line
Crossing the Line is FIAF’s fall festival, conceived as a platform to present vibrant new works by a diverse range of transdisciplinary artists working in France and New York City. Initiated, conceived, and produced by FIAF in partnership with leading New York cultural institutions, the third annual edition of this inter-disciplinary contemporary arts festival further develops its focus on artists who are transforming cultural practices on both sides of the Atlantic. Over three intensive weeks this fall, whether by performing shopping, watching sounds, composing films, or reading movements, audiences will join in exploring and tasting a unique collection of outstanding new works and experiences, and discovering new revelations from each of these extraordinary artists.

The third edition of Crossing the Line is co-curated by Lili Chopra (Artistic Director at FIAF) and Simon Dove (Director, School of Dance at Arizona State University), and runs from September 12 through October 3, 2009. A number of the programs and events will utilize FIAF’s own spaces, including Florence Gould Hall, the FIAF Gallery, Tinker Auditorium, and Le Skyroom. Established partners in New York City will also host events, including Cabinet, CPR-Center for Performance Research, Dance Theater Workshop (DTW), Danspace Project, Luxe Gallery, Macyís, the New Museum, and Performance Space 122 (P.S. 122). Additional partners for Crossing the Line 2009 include Anthology Film Archives, the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC), Omnivore New York, and the Whitney Museum.