Part of Recovered Treasures: Great Films from World Archives
Sunday, January 16, 2011, 1:00 p.m.

Musical magician meets movie magician in this enchanting encounter between the trick-filled movies of the French film pioneer Georges Méliès and the inventive accompaniment of one-man-band Sxip Shirey, who will perform on a dazzling array of handmade instruments.

Méliès’s playful movies, filled with special effects and fanciful sets, are shown in restored archival copies. This hour-long program includes The Conjurer (1899), The Doctor’s Secret (1910), Conquest of the Pole (1912), and Méliès’s most famous movie, A Trip to the Moon (1902). Shirey will also present Statuesque, a short film written and directed by Neil Gaiman. Shirey wrote the music for this whimsical film about a man (played by Bill Nighy) who falls in love with a statue. The film co-stars Amanda Palmer. Shirey will also present the two-minute short film Brooklyn Bridge Song, drawings by Michael Arthur, animation by John Ivy, with a song from Shirey’s album Sonic New York.

Admission to this program is free with Museum admission.

Download the program notes