Date: 26 November, 2015
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: The Singapore Theatre (B120), Melbourne School of Design. (See Map).
Free. All welcome. RSVP here.
Post screening panel:
Charles Zika (History & CHE, University of Melbourne)
Alexia Kannas (Cinema Studies, RMIT University)
Fincina Hopgood (CHE, University of Melbourne)
Sarah Ferber (History, University of Wollongong)
Jacqueline van Gent (History & CHE, University of Western Australia)
Häxan (The Witch), a silent film of 1922, and re-released with English subtitles in 2001, was written and directed by the Danish director, Benjamin Christensen. The film is considered one of the most innovative of the period of silent film and explores the links between witchcraft in European history and the treatment of hysteria.
A hybrid of documentary and fiction, the film blends argument and spectacle in exploring the history of witchcraft, demonology and satanism. Based on Christensen’s researches in the three years before he made the film, it displays representations of evil and witchcraft in a variety of ancient and medieval artworks, offers vignettes illustrating a number of superstitious practices and presents a narrative about the persecution of a woman accused of witchcraft. The film ends by suggesting that the modern science of psychology offers important insight into the beliefs and practices of the past. It offers an engaging insight into many of the debates of the 1920s about rationality and fantasy.
The screening will be followed by a discussion panel on witchcraft and cinema, with time for questions from the audience.
This screening is part of the Witchcraft and Emotions Symposium hosted at The University of Melbourne.
Image: Still from 'Häxan', directed by Benjamin Christensen. Courtesy of The Criterion Collection.