MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO

Dots, Lines and Equanimity

Honestly? For those whose drug of choice arrives in espresso cups or soda bottles, the multitudinous Punto y Raya shorts might be a challenge. Certain other substances — the ones that slow you down, make you notice Every Amazing Detail Of The World or make you, shall we say, ecstatic — might enhance the trip-hoppy experience of watching dancing lines and dots and colors. Especially the dancing lines and dots and colors set to the “non-narrative music” required by the organizers in Madrid.

The actual Punto y Raya festival, a 2007 event/competition in Madrid, included workshops; DVJ sessions in which people spun music and made movies; and historical works like Norman McLaren’s 1971 “Synchromy,” an oddly fascinating morph of the game Frogger, TV test patterns, Ghanaian kente cloth and Mondrian paintings. The full DVD hadn’t made it from Barcelona before press time, but what I saw in the preview included short bits of competition winners. They look both more gorgeous than the older pieces, with lovely references to Abstract Expressionists like Clyfford Still, and more experimental: random light beam patterns, ink spots on toilet paper, wind making patterns on film. I look forward to the entire experience, coming Eugene’s way at 1 pm Sunday, Nov. 16, at DIVA, 110 W. Broadway. $5-$8. — Suzi Steffen