SuperTalk Conferences 

SuperTalk is a “conference company” – just like there are “publishing companies” or “record companies.” Its mission is to spread unconventional wisdom by giving a soapbox to passionate enthusiasts instead of to mandarins. In stand-up mode, with a double helping of sound and image, SuperTalk conferences embrace culture in the broadest sense, from The Sopranos to burger and fries shacks.

Cinema from B-Z 

Pierre Alferi
Watching movies from the last row

What do albino gorillas, a prehistoric sex bomb and a cannibal sacristan have in common? The movies devoted to them do not belong to the same genre, the same era, or the same continent. And yet, they all have common traits giving them a family resemblance, an almost “psychotronic” air: a ludicrous script, risqué subject matter, chaotic filming, not-so-special effects, and ridiculous acting. What came to be known in the 60s as “Z movies” is the vanishing point for several dark corridors of film production. But, today, the term can also be used to pay homage to the imaginative treasure trove of tricks used to hide miserably low budgets, lurid stories taken from the press, explosive themes, strange fashions, and subjects that were far too taboo for the big studios. Preaching in the desert of neighbourhood theatres, a lot of “Z movies” turned out to be quite prophetic.
Their harebrained anticipations, their apocalypses and their monsters often hit their mark and were more inspiring than the all-too-nice fables produced by the majors. Cinema from B-Z offers an illustrated and personal anthology of these marginal, twisted or pathetic prophecies. These are just some of the many outlines for an alternative model of aesthetics and morality from a proudly minor cinema, with its cathartic laughter.

Pierre Alferi is the author of nearly fifteen books of poetry, novels and essays (most of them through French publishing company P.O.L), but also experimental films and sound pieces, image books and posters.

©Visuals: Cédric Scandella

Production: SuperTalk
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