We are delighted to welcome Edwin Rostron and Edge of Frame back to LIAF with two programmes of stunning films at the fertile intersection of animation, experimental film and artists’ moving image.
A selection of films to rearrange your senses and re-energise your soul. From visceral intensity to exquisite reverie, these works provide a thrilling journey into the far reaches of contemporary abstract animation. The range of processes on display include contact printing, painting on film, experiments with optical sound and laser etching onto the film strip, with films made using adhesive tape, gift bags, a photocopier and a handcrafted camera with 293 lenses. Whilst these works are rooted in a DIY approach, the results are frequently virtuosic and transcendent.
This is the second of two Edge of Frame programmes at Close-Up Cinema. Find out about our first – Edge of Frame: Exit Strategies here.
Works in this programme contain flashing lights and strobing.
Bentwaters Frequency Test – Lewis Heriz, UK, Latvia
A rural military outpost: a transmission – semantic collapse encoded – an emergency.
2025 4’00 min
Pigment-Dispersion Syndrome – Jennifer Reeves, USA
The diagnosis of an eye disorder incited this meditation on fear and beauty. Glimpses of curious and creative souls peek out of countless hand-painted film frames. Infinite colors and textures burst, blend, and challenge the primacy of uniform vision.
2022 6’00 min
Dot Matrix – Lauren Cook, USA
A sound and image composition of two 16mm film tracks, made by hand in a darkroom using only light and chemicals without any cameras or digital equipment.
2017 4’00 min
Yarwood Trail – Richard Reeves, Canada
Inspired by the paintings and sculptures of Walter Yarwood. Created for the Toronto Animated Image Society ’11 in Motion: Abstract Expressions in Animation’ commemorating the Painters 11. Both sound and picture are drawn onto film.
2009 4’00 min
Errata – Alexander Stewart, USA
An animation made by copying copies of copies. Each frame is a photocopy of the previous frame.
2005 6’00 min
Framelines – Sabine Gruffat, USA
Framelines is an abstract scratch film made by laser etching patterns on the film emulsion of negative and positive 35mm film. The strips of film were then re-photographed on top of each other as photograms. The soundtrack filters and layers the noise made by the laser etched optical track.
2017 10’00 min
Glistening Thrills – Jodie Mack, USA
A shiny otherworld of holographic reverie pairs dollar store gift bags and haunting resound, unfolding an effervescent melancholy in three parts. Featuring compositions for bowed vibraphone by Elliot Cole.
2013 9’00 min
Tape Generations – Johan Rijpma, Netherlands
Large groups of tape rolls slowly unwind under the force of gravity, revealing a process normally hidden from the naked eye. As they unwind at different speeds, geometric patterns slowly transform into unpredictable choreographies that seem to follow a will of their own.
2011 3’00 min
Toward a Fundamental Theory of Physics – Victor Van Rossem, Belgium
Shot on 16mm film using a handcrafted Time-Slice camera with 293 lenses – a modern reinterpretation of the original device built by Tim Macmillan in the early 1980s – toward a fundamental theory of physics offers a unique, tactile exploration of time and light as the raw materials and fundamental paradoxes of cinema.
2025 13’00 min
Our Funding Partners
With Special Thanks to The Elf Factory, official sponsor of LIAF 2026.
With Special Thanks to the Arts Council England
Event supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.
Venue
Close-Up makes film culture and history accessible through its cinema programmes and Library. Established in 2005, Close-Up is the most comprehensive independent film resource in London. Find out more about Close-Up.
Close-Up Cinema, Online
