The Cathedral of New Emotions

Description courtesy of Lightbox Film Center:
On a shortlist with Eiichi Yamamoto’s Belladonna of Sadness and René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet as one of the most surreal, psychedelic and truly cosmic animated features ever made, German director Helmut Herbst’s utterly insane The Cathedral of New Emotions follows a commune of Berlin stoners and intellectuals who get set adrift in space in 1972 in a packing container clutched in a giant flying hand. Various space flotsam smashes into the windshield – enormous insects, Mighty Mouse, a Bird Man from “Flash Gordon” – while hypnotic Krautrock drones in the background moaning “Where am I??”, and a naked man bounces up and down off a massive red pepper. So begins our descent down the psychotic rabbit hole of Cathedral, a true hallucinogenic Space Freakout if there ever was one: imagine Ralph Bakshi animating an R-rated version of John Carpenter’s Dark Star, or the cartoon equivalent of Can’s “Ege Bamyasi” or Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine.” In other words: set the controls for the heart of the sun. (Helmut Herst, Germany, 2006, 60 min.) In German with English subtitles restored and released by Deaf Crocodile Films.

Preceded by:
Labyrinth (Jan Lenica, Poland, 1963, 15 min.)
Techno Cracked (Ub Iwerks, USA, 1933, 8 min.)
Cosmic Zoom (Roberd Verrall, Canada, 1968, 8 min.)
Up is Down (Millie Goldsholl, USA, 1969, 6 min.)
The Green Child (Sky David, USA, 1992, 5 min.)
A (Jan Lenica, Poland, 1965, 10 min.)

MovieJawn will be slinging zines and cinematic goodies in the lobby before and after the showing. Stop by and say hi to your friendly MovieJawn staff.

Location: Lightbox Film Center, The Living Room at Bok, 800 Mifflin Street Philadelphia, PA 19148
Showtime: Wednesday, November 13, 7pm
Tickets available here