AFW + NFSA #74: Light Smith — films by Will Hindle

8pm Tuesday 27 January 2025

The Brunswick Green, 313/315 Sydney Rd, Brunswick

$10 on the door. 16mm projection.

Artist Film Workshop is pleased to present a rare screening of films by Will Hindle (1929–1987), an important yet often overlooked figure in the American avant-garde. While West Coast experimental film is most strongly associated with filmmakers like Bruce Baillie, Robert Nelson, and Pat O’Neill, Hindle’s work played an equally significant role in shaping the distinctive style of that scene. Yet with only eleven completed films, many of which are poorly represented in distribution, his contributions are apparently more spoken of than actually seen. Indeed, the relative scarcity of good exhibition materials has pushed his work toward a kind of mythic obscurity.

Hindle’s films continue to stand out for their inventive use of technique as well as their direct, engaging impact on the viewer. During the 60s, Hindle made himself an optical printer – a feat largely unheard of by his contemporaries. To quote New York’s Light Industry, Hindle ‘...became legendary amongst his contemporaries for both the technical ingenuity of his films, as well as their richly sensuous psychedelism.’ AFW recently located an excellent print of Watersmith in the NFSA collection. This screening provides a rare chance to experience these works as intended: on film, in projection and alive with light!

FFFTCM, 1967, 5 min

Billabong, 1968, 10 min

Chinese Fire Drill, 1968, 24 min

Watersmith, 1969, 32 min