'Think Like a Filmmaker' Opens at Sag Harbor Cinema

A new gallery exhibit from acclaimed filmmaker Alan Berliner opens Friday, November 8, on Sag Harbor Cinema’s third floor featuring materials of filmmaking’s “bygone era” repurposed as sculptural art objects

The exhibition, “Think Like a Filmmaker,” is offered in conjunction with the cinema’s annual Preservation Film Festival, which runs November 8 through 11, and it includes a collection of pieces by Berliner, an acclaimed documentarian (“Nobody’s Business,” “Wide Awake,” “Letter to the Editor”), experimental filmmaker, film essayist and fine artist.

The exhibition will feature extraordinary art objects created using Berliner’s own collection of old motion picture film, leader, reels, splicers, synchronizers and projectors. These items are reimagined, reinvented and transformed into sculptural forms, translucent collages, constructivist compositions, color field studies, conceptual gestures, found objects, time capsules and sometimes simply as unexpectedly beautiful things.

“‘Think Like a Filmmaker’ lives in a post-motion picture film world where projection bulbs have gone dark, mechanical gears have stopped turning, shutters have stopped spinning, and metal tools have slowly begun to rust,” Berliner said. “All that’s left is the heavy silent stillness of the basic objects and materials of filmmaking, now relics of a bygone era — sold and collected around the world as ‘mid-century’ antiques.

“I have tried to breathe new life into my collection.”

“Alan and I started talking about this exhibit over two years ago,” explained Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, the cinema’s founding artistic director. “The fact that it is finally happening is first and foremost a testament to the power of Alan’s artistic vision and his kindness. It is also a sign of how much our little 3rd floor gallery has evolved since we opened. In its mix of depth, exuberance, ingeniousness and sheer craft, ‘Think Like a Filmmaker’ is the perfect embodiment of the magic combination of material and immaterial that lies at the heart of the notion of preserving cinema, as reflected by our festival.”

Berliner’s “Audiofile” (1993), shown at Walter Reade Theater Gallery at Lincoln Center and at Anthology Film Archives (Seoul/Nymax), will also be featured as part of the exhibition. The interactive audio installation consists of 108 individual drawers each containing a continuous loop recording of a unique sound element. At rest, the work is silent; when engaged, any number of drawers, from 1 to 108, may generate sound simultaneously. From Gregorian Chants to Rap Music, from water torture to crocodile tears, from a chorus of frogs to piano chords, the range of rhythms, textures, subjects and references contained within “Audiofile” is diverse and eclectic and allows the participant to compose their own unique sound collage. By giving sound a “spatial” dimension, within the physical domain of a filing cabinet, “Audiofile” attains a sculptural presence not generally found within the growing body of audio/installation artworks.

“Think Like a Filmmaker” opens on the cinema’s third floor on Friday, November 8, at 5 p.m. with a toast to Berliner and is offered in conjunction with Sag Harbor Cinema’s Festival of Preservation which is dedicated to preserving film and its culture and runs November 8 to 11. The exhibit will remain open to the public through January 2025.