Event

Beethoven's Hair / Mozart Minute

Beethoven's Hair-Winner of three Canadian Emmy awards, Beethoven's Hair delves into one of the most contentious subjects in the sedate world of classical music: was Ludwig Van Beethoven's famous mane the literal root of many of his hardshipsfi Opening with a modern day Sotheby's auction where a pair of enthusiasts purchase a lock of the composer's hair, the film traces the fascinating and sometimes macabre journey those folicles have taken over the last century. The iconic tuft has passed through the hands of academics, art lovers and even Nazi officials on its way to the auction block, and it has generated no small amount of speculation along the way. Could the toxin levels found in Beethoven's hair explain the madness and hearing loss that plagued him in his final daysfi The jury is still out on that question, but the hunt for the truth makes for some fascinating fodder. Mozart Minute-The Mozart Minute is a film comprised of miniature artistic statements on the subject of Mozart, of one-minute duration, by 26 Austrian filmmakers. The producers have wide-ranging fields of experience such as animation, experimental film, short film, documentaries and feature film. Taken as a whole, these Mozart Minutes demonstrate an impressive cross-section of Austrian filmmaking. A multi-faceted sampler has been created, comprising quite diverse positions in terms of form and contents as to Mozart as a person and his infiuence on today's society, art and culture. The spectrum ranges from experi-mental-conceptual statements to socio-criti-cal and documentary observations, through to pointed short feature films. (The contribution of one director, Ulrich Seidl, may be considered inappropriate for minors.)