In the City: A Trilogy
1978, dir. Rufus Butler Seder
In the City is a trilogy of three acclaimed short films by Rufus Butler Seder and the Boston Black and White Movie Company.
Live in Fear (1978) features Seder's original character Personable Eyeball: a giant eyeball atop a human body who has to deal with a giant cat and a huge parrot before falling from a skyscraper into an enormous hand.
In Sun Run (1978), a woman sunbather is thwarted in her attempts to get a tan as the creeping shadows of nearby buildings put her in the shade. Expanding on his early stop-motion experiments, Seder uses the same technique to maintain full control over the central character, as well as the encroaching shadows.
Phantom Subways (1977) is the study of an underground railway station, in stark high-contrast black and white. Dissolving, transparent people enter and exit a ghostly train, highlighting the transient nature of individuals within the structure of our cities.
New 4K restorations by Rufus Butler Seder.
In the City is offered gratis with any screening of Seder's Screamplay and is also available on its own.
