Portraits in Cinema
United States, 69 min. | Dir. Marie Losier

This Alternate Cinema program is composed of five of Marie Losier’s movie portraits of experimental filmmakers and other eccentrics, plus a narrative short made in collaboration with Guy Maddin. The first, about filmmaker/composer Tony Conrad, was made over a longer period than the others, and it shows. As he performs a little sped-up chicken dance or pickles curly garlands of film stock, Conrad narrates the story of his youth and influences, including early roommate and collaborator Jack Smith. It’s delightful. Electrocute Your Stars, about George Kuchar, is also pretty good, though not as surprising. But don’t come just for the Maddin piece, which is just as mannered as his recent features but far less visually sophisticated.

BY ANNIE WAGNER