Screening of the restored documentary 'Nova '78', with never-before-seen footage of the 1978 New York poetry convention, part of 'Poetry on Screen'.
Nova '78 screens at the Electric Palace on Sunday 15 November, from 11:00 to 12:30. It's a 78-minute film directed by Rodrigo Areias and Aaron Brookner, and it's part of Poetry on Screen, a programme curated by Chris McKenna.
The film itself is a bit of a rescue job: it's been brought back through a UK-led archival restoration, and it shows never-before-seen footage of a legendary New York convention where William Burroughs, Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, and Allen Ginsberg collided in an explosion of ideas, art and rebellion. It's that specific kind of cross-pollination you only get when people from completely different corners of the underground end up in the same room. On screen you'll see Frank Zappa, Philip Glass and Patti Smith appearing, so it's as much a music and art document as it is a record of the convention itself.
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The Electric Palace is an independent 48-seat cinema on the Old Town High Street in Hastings, so it's a small room for a morning screening. The film is rated 15, and it runs from 11:00 to 12:30, which puts it well within a Sunday morning slot if you're out and about in the Old Town. It's part of the Poetry on Screen programme, so it sits alongside other work curated by Chris McKenna. If you've got a soft spot for the New York avant-garde, this is one of those rare chances to see footage that's stayed in the archives until now.
