29th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

24. 10.–2. 11. 2025
Log inČeštinaEnglish
Oil – A Symphony in Motion
Oil – A Symphony in Motion

Oil – A Symphony in Motion

M.G. MacPherson / United States / 1933 / Czech Premiere / 7 min.


synopsis

“I am a commodity that people call oil – and this is my saga,” says the protagonist of this amateur film shot in the spirit of the Soviet aesthetic in Los Angeles. In the intertitles, oil continues to speak to man, leaving him in no doubt as to who the master is. The celebration of a fast-paced, exciting world with the liquid “bones of ages past” running through its veins becomes somewhat bitter.

biography

M. G. MacPherson was an amateur film enthusiast. Together with Jean D. Michelson, founder of Artkino, they made several experimental films in the late 1920s and early 1930s, including War Under the Sea (1929), The Trap (1930), and Oil (1930–1933).

more about film

director: M.G. MacPherson

Film at festival

premiere type:Czech Premiere
festival edition:2022
section:Fascinations: Progress
language:English
subtitles:No Subtitle
colour:Black and white

Info

director:M.G. MacPherson
original title:Oil – A Symphony in Motion
country:United States
year:1933
running time:7 min.

Festival partners

Ministerstvo kultury
Fond kinematografie
Město Jihlava
Kraj Vysočina
Creative Europe Media
GEMO
Česká televize
Český rozhlas
Aktuálně.cz
Respekt
Dafilms

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