Meditation on Violence

Streaming video - 1948

35mm enlarged from 16mm with 2K digital insert from 16mm 1.37:1 black & white sound, 12:27 minutes; production assistance Miriam Arsham, Alexander Hammid; with Chao-li Chi; music a mix of Chinese classical flute and drums recorded in Haiti by Maya Deren; preserved by Bruce Posner and Anthology Film Archives at Cineric, Inc. and Trackwise from camera original, optical negative and composite prints with funding provided by the Women's Film Preservation Fund of Women in Film/Television New York; courtesy of Bruce Posner. The film pivots on the precise movements of a solitary Chinese boxer performing a ritualized dance set against white and black backgrounds. It reaches an epiphany when he abruptly moves outside, jumps and freezes in m...id-air, then resumes the dance in reverse order through the indoor setting. more