Marcel Duchamp's 1926 Film 'Anémic Cinéma' Restored in 2K

Marcel Duchamp's 1926 experimental film 'Anémic Cinéma' has been digitally restored in 2K, commissioned by Aeon, and now features a soundtrack by composer William Pearson. The film, attributed to Duchamp's female alter ego Rrose Sélavy with Man Ray as cinematographer, is a milestone of 1920s experimental cinema. It presents 19 hypnotic rotating discs called 'rotoreliefs'—circular painted designs spun on a phonograph to create optical illusions of depth. These clockwise-moving images alternate with French phrases rotating counterclockwise, featuring Dadaist wordplay and sexually allusive, obscene expressions. Originally a silent film, the restoration adds Pearson's score. The hypnotic rotating circles were referenced by Alfred Hitchcock in the opening credits of his 1958 film 'Vertigo'.