Side-Splitting introduced by William English

Event information

Side-Splitting : ironic humour, sometimes wry, bordering on the sardonic, with
distressed clowns, derelict funfairs and smoking promoted as pleasure with
dire consequences. An off-piste revue curated by  William
English  accompanied by a post-A.I. narcissistic clown/photographer.
Don't Smoke That Cigarette
Kenneth Anger , 1999, 45 min
A collaged film composed of reappropriated cigarette advertisements, mostly
culled from a film entitled Smoke That Cigarette! from 1988. Takes a side-
swipe at tobacco culture. Known to be Anger's longest film and seldom
screened. "I've invented something called hypno-video. Suppose you have a
hang-up, you bite your nails and you want to get over it. You would have a
hypno-video to stop biting your nails. This is  Don't Smoke That Cigarette "
–  Kenneth Anger
Side-Splitting
William English , 2023, 10 min
A split-screen film composed of discrete films originally intended to be
screened separately; Dam, and Untitled 1988 were both screened in Toronto
as part of  Rose Lowder 's thematic screening at the International Experimental
Film Congress in 1989. "I continued to make some single shot films using a
Beaulieu with an electric motor which allowed the entire 100 feet to be
exposed without interruption. Untitled 1988 was shot on a clockwork Bolex
and therefore consists of several shots. The laughing clown footage was
screened as a one-minute version entitled HAH on BBC2's Late Show. The
dam is in Rhayader, Wales. The cranes, decorated with Christmas lights,
were in Broadgate, London. The dilapidated roller coaster was in Weymouth,
Dorset, as was the distressed clown. The bouncy castle was on a beach in
Aberystwyth. The foghorn is on Portland Bill. The film has been screened as
16mm Kodachrome reels with live accompaniment on cassette tape through a
large wooden horn which produced a distinctive timbre suited to the sound of
the foghorn." –  William English
Sidewinders
Daniel Wilson, 2007, 17 min

A palimpsest of unusual and inadvisable activities shot and edited directly on
DV tape, afforded limited narrative coherence by its soundtracking. Originally
anonymously distributed on DVD-R, randomly dropped in public places for
people to find.
La Palette
Sandra Cross , 2024, 14 min
Two cooks are observed in a tiny kitchen in Paris. From the series 'What Did
You Eat Today?'
Amsterdam
Sandra Cross , 2024, 15 min
Jacques Brel performs his song “ Amsterdam ” followed by a dialogue
with  William English  in which he remembers his time at the Five Flies
restaurant and his encounter with the owner,  Nicolaas Kroese . From the
series 'What Did You Eat Today?'