In 2013, True/False began Neither/Nor, an open-ended project to map a history of what we call “chimeric cinema”. Chimeras are films which enthusiastically embrace the paradox at the heart of all cinema, the medium’s capacity to document authentic slivers of the reality it necessarily manipulates, distorts and enhances. Film culture generally appears uncomfortable with this tension, preferring instead to assign films easy labels like “documentary” and “fiction”. Chimeras are works which emphatically defy all such attempts at categorization.
Every year, Neither/Nor explores a different region and period in cinema history in collaboration with a visiting film critic, who selects important works from this milieu to screen at the Fest. The critic also writes a special monograph with essays and interviews on the films. All three of these monographs are now available in digital versions online.
This whole undertaking is made possible by the generous support of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Below you’ll find a complete outline of Neither/Now to date, organized by year, with images from the films and links to each of the individual essays and interviews from the monographs. Take a look around and discover what cinema is capable of.
Neither/Nor 2013: New York City, 1967-1968, Essays and Interviews by Eric Hynes
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm (dir. William Greaves, 1968)
Maddening Method: Essay and interview with sound recordist Jonathan Gordon
1 P.M. (dirs. D.A. Pennebaker, Richard Leacock, Jean-Luc Godard, 1972)
The Liminal States of America: Essay and interview with D.A. Pennebaker
The Fall (dir. Peter Whitehead, 1969)
The Apocalyptic Tourist: Essay and interview with Peter Whitehead
David Holzman’s Diary (dir. Jim McBride, 1967)
Reflections in a Cinematographic Mirror: Essay and interview with Jim McBride
Neither/Nor 2014: Iran, 1990-1998, Essay by Godfrey Cheshire
Close-Up (dir. Abbas Kiarostami, 1991)
A Moment of Innocence (dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1996)
The Mirror (dir. Jafar Panahi, 1997)
The Apple (dir. Samira Makhmalbaf, 1999)
Neither/Nor 2015: Poland, 1970s-1990s, Essays and Interviews by Ela Bittencourt
Front Collision (dir. Marcel Lozinski, 1975), How to Live (1976), 89mm from Europe (1993), Anything Can Happen (1995), So It Doesn’t Hurt (1998)
So It Doesn’t Hurt: Truth, Ego, and Ethos: Essay and interview with Marcel Lozinski
Through and Through (dir. Grzegorz Królikiewicz, 1973), The Case of Pekosinski (1994)
The Cinema of the Rejected: Essay and interview with Grzegorz Królikiewicz
Arena of Life (dir. Bogdan Dziworski, 1979), Biathlon (1978), A Few Stories about a Man (1983), Szapito (1984)
Polish Warholia: Essay and interview with Bogdan Dziworski
Wanda Goscimska, a Weaver (dir. Wojciech Wiszniewski, 1975), Carpenter (1976)
History Returns as a Farce: Essay and interview with editor Dorota Wardeszkiewicz
Rat Catcher (dir. Andrzej Czarnecki, 1986), Hear My Cry (dir. Maciej Drygas, 1989)
History as Trauma: Essay and interview with Maciej Drygas
