A scene from Bill Morrison’s ‘Flood’

(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison will be the subject of a mini-film festival from Thursday, January 16, 2014, through Saturday, January 18, 2014, at Time & Space Limited. The filmmaker will be in attendance on Saturday to screen all three films.

Bill Morrison is best known for his use of archival imagery, an aesthetic of decay, and collaborations with the most influential composers of our time, including John Adams, Laurie Anderson, Gavin Bryars, Dave Douglas, Richard Einhorn, Philip Glass, Michael Gordon, Henryk Gørecki, Bill Frisell, Vijay Iyer, Jóhann Jóhannsson, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Steve Reich. The festival will feature two new works, “The Great Flood” and “The Miners’ Hymns,” as well as his critically acclaimed “Decasia.”

“The Great Flood,” a brand-new work, is a collaboration between Morrison and guitarist and composer Bill Frisell. The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in American history – inundating 27,000 square miles. Part of its legacy was the forced exodus of displaced sharecroppers to Northern cities. Musically, the Great Migration fueled the evolution of acoustic blues to electric blues bands that thrived in cities like Memphis, Detroit, and Chicago and led to innovations in R&B, rock ‘n roll, and, even, jazz. Screenings are Thursday, Jan 16, at 7:15; Friday, Jan 17 at 7:15; and Saturday, Jan 18, at 7:30.

“The Miners’ Hymns,” also new, is a documentary depicting the ill-fated mining community in North East England. The film, which tells its story entirely without words, features a original score by the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Screenings are Thursday, Jan 16 at 6pm and Saturday, Jan 18 at 5pm.

A scene from Bill Morrison’s ‘Decasia’

“Decasia,” a collaboration with composer Michael Gordon, a cofounder of Bang on a Can, was selected to the US Library of Congress’ 2013 National Film Registry, becoming the most modern film named to the list that preserves works of “great cultural, historic or aesthetic significance to the nation’s cinematic heritage.” Morrison created “Decasia” entirely with decaying, old found footage, melded to Gordon’s score as performed by the 55-piece Basel Sinfonietta. The result is a delirium of deteriorated film stock, a moving avant-garde masterpiece that leaves its meaning open to interpretation and, most importantly, to the imagination. Screenings are Friday, Jan 17, at 6pm and Saturday, Jan 18, at 6:10pm.

Morrison’s films are also in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, and the EYE Film Institute. He is a Guggenheim fellow and has received the Alpert Award for the Arts, an NEA Creativity Grant, Creative Capital, and a fellowship from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. His theatrical projection design has been recognized with two Bessie awards and an Obie Award.