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KINO RELEASES TOM VERLAINE AND JIMMY RIP: MUSIC FOR EXPERIMENTAL FILM (2007) FOR THE FIRST TIME ON DVD

Kino International is proud to release for the first time on DVD TOM VERLAINE AND JIMMY RIP: MUSIC FOR EXPERIMENTAL FILM (2007). Spearheaded by celebrated musician Tom Verlaine in collaboration with producer/guitarist Jimmy Rip, this one-of-a-kind DVD brings seven seminal experimental shorts, by diverse filmmakers such as Man Ray, Fernand Leger and Hans Richter, accompanied by original scores composed by Tom Verlaine and Jimmy Rip. Kino�s TOM VERLAINE AND JIMMY RIP DVD is set to prebook on August 28, 2007, with a SRP of 19.95. Its general street date is September 25, 2007.

Mr. Verlaine was one of the founders of the NY punk group Television, a band that rose to fame with the landmark albums Marquee Moon (1977) and Adventure (1978). In 1992, Television re-united to record a new, self-titled album. Along with The Patti Smith Group, The Talking Heads, Ramones and other bands, Television ushered a new era in independent American music in the late 1970s, and is still remembered by the dueling guitars of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd and also, by their legendary concerts held at the then-unknown New York club CBGB's. Since then, as Rolling Stone has stated, Tom Verlaine has "taken a leisurely approach to his role as a New York guitar god," and among other things, has dedicated his talents to performing live music along silent prints of classic experimental films. Verlaine remains a cited influence on many of today�s new guitarists, ranking number 56 on Rolling Stone magazine�s "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."

Trained as a classical pianist but widely recognized as a revolutionary guitarist, Tom Verlaine has released several solo albums, starting with a self-titled debut in 1979. His 1981 album Dreamtime was referred to by Rolling stone as "a veritable monsoon of guitar playing," and his 1982 album Words From The Front and 1984�s Cover, only increased his already large fan base.

Jimmy Rip, who has played with Verlaine since 1981, is a well respected session guitarist, producer, songwriter and film composer. He has worked with Mick Jagger, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson and a host of other influential names. He has also released one solo record, entitled Way Past Blue, on the House of Blues label.

Kino�s TOM VERLAINE AND JIMMY RIP: MUSIC FOR EXPERIMENTAL FILM provides a rare opportunity for an established musician like Tom Verlaine to add his considerable musical talents to a variety of visionary short films. While incorporating elements of rock, country, ambient and even classical music, many of the scores written for these works have a jazz-like structure, which introduces a melody and then masterfully explores its possibilities � mirroring the visual experimentations taking place in the films.

Whether this unique blend creates the overriding sense of doom found in FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, or the quickened beat reflecting the pace of the mechanical sensibility in BALLET MECANIQUE, Verlaine and Rip have remained sensitive to the intent of the film, while adding their own contribution to these works. Ultimately, at the heart of each score, one finds the very dynamic created by two intertwined guitars providing an audio counterpart to these celebrated experimental films.

Tom Verlaine�s newly written scores have been co-commissioned by The Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio and Tim Lanza of the Douris Corporation through a grant from the Ohio Arts Council. First performed in Brooklyn, NY, on October 15, 1999, this program has since played in a number of film centers, museums and festivals throughout the United States and Europe

Here is a list of the films for which Tom Verlaine and Jimmy Rip provided original scores:

ETOILE DE MER/STAR OF THE SEA (1928)
Directed by Man Ray. Starring Kiki. 12 minutes. B&W. 35/16MM.

"A more integrated and consciously 'surrealistic' work inspired by Robert Desnos' poem, a love affair thematically unites the whole film. The images are more obviously linked by (sexual) association" � David Curtis, Experimental Cinema

FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1928)
Directed and photographed by Dr. James Sibley Watson. Written and designed by Melville Webber. Based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. 12 minutes. B&W.

"Dr. James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber were the first truly avant-garde American filmmakers ... They reduce the story to its essentials, the impact being largely transmitted through the careful use of silhouette, multiple exposure and rhythm, which successfully evoke the disembodied atmosphere of the piece ... Sets are suggested by light and by the patterns made by folded paper rather than by painted or three-dimensional props." � David Curtis, Experimental Cinema

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF 9413 - A HOLLYWOOD EXTRA (1927)
Written, produced and directed by Robert Florey and Slavko Vorkapich. Starring Jules Raucort and Georges Voya. 11 minutes. B&W.

One of the first American films to show the influence of German Expressionism and the French avant-garde films of the Twenties, this is a satiric fantasy about a man who wants to become a Hollywood movie star. Reportedly shot for $96.00, this film was largely shot in Slavko Vorkapich's kitchen using cut-out miniatures.

EMAK BAKIA (1926)
Directed by Man Ray. 13 minutes. B&W. 35/16MM

According to Man Ray, this film was made in strict conformity with Surrealist principles. "It opens with a series of apparently unrelated shots: grain on film; flowers moving; drawing pins in negative; a prism, reflecting bars of light, rotating at different speeds; car headlights, with a huge single eye superimposed over the radiator between them. As the film progresses the car theme becomes dominant ... Individual images are striking for their humor and originality, but Ray still apparently felt it necessary to impose a conventionally readable theme - the car ride - to hold the film together." - David Curtis, Experimental Cinema

RHYTHMUS 21 (1921)
Germany, 3 Minutes, Directed by Hans Richter.

Dadaist Richter?s first film is a study in shape and form, deliberately calling attention to the flatness of the projection surface. Of his own work, Richter said: "The simple square of the movie screen could easily be divided and 'orchestrated.' These divisions or parts could then be orchestrated in time by accepting the rectangle of the 'movie canvas' as the form element. In other words, I did again with the screen what I had done years before with the canvas. In doing so I found a new sensation: rhythm ? which is, I still think, the chief sensation of any expression of movement."

BRUMES D'AUTOMNE/AUTUMN MIST (1928)
Directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff. Starring Nadia Sibirskaya. 12 minutes. B&W. 35/16MM

Almost a poem dedicated to Sibirskaya's face, the film conveys a single mood throughout. A women recalls her past. As she burns some old letters, her memories are shown on the screen. The delicate photography makes a subtle essay in atmosphere.

BALLET MECANIQUE (1924)
Directed by Fernand Leger. Photography by Dudley Murphy. 10 minutes. B&W. 35/16MM

Called one of the most influential works in the history of experimental film by the American Film Institute, this is Cubist painter Leger's only film. It's connection to his two-dimensional work can be seen in the fragmentation and multiplication of images, along with a certain obsession with mechanical objects.