Paris Asleep (Paris qui dort, dir. René Clair, France, 1925)
Paris Asleep marks René Clair’s directorial debut and stands among the earliest experiments in cinematic fantasy. It begins with a simple and inventive premise: Paris is suddenly frozen in time by a mad scientist, with only a handful of people unaffected by the mysterious phenomenon. From this situation emerges a visual universe in which the city becomes both setting and character, suspended in an almost dreamlike state.
The film is notable for its visual inventiveness and its portrayal of Paris as a space of imagination, anticipating the style of a filmmaker who would become central to French cinema.
For this cine-concert, Stéphane Scharlé, drummer and founder of the jazz group OZMA, presents a solo performance built around an expanded drum kit equipped with a custom electronic system. This setup allows him to create rhythmic structures and layered sounds in real time, combining repetition, improvisation, and contemporary electronic textures.
Saturday, June 20, 9:30PM, Art Museum.