A Celebration of Doug Jones: The Sounds of The Sounds of Science

Opens on March 23

Director: Jean Painlevé Run Time: 78 min. Format: Digital Release Year: 2001

A Celebration of Doug Jones

As many of our friends, members, and supporters know, Vidiots lost our dear friend and colleague Doug Jones on November 1, 2023. To celebrate our love for Doug and his incredible commitment to Vidiots, to cinema, and countless members of the film community, Vidiots is proudly hosting a day of public programming in Doug’s honor on Saturday, March 23. The titles selected for this very tender and special day are films Doug loved, and that he cherished sharing with audiences. We hope you’ll join us for a day of watching and talking movies, just as our Doug would have wanted.

The Sounds of the Sounds of Science is a score written by Yo La Tengo for a series of surrealistic science shorts from filmmaker Jean Painlevé. Doug organized the original event for the 2001 San Francisco International Film Festival and it remained one of his proudest professional achievements. Below is the lyrical note Doug wrote for the Festival’s program in 2001.

Encompassing melodic harmonies, atmosphere soundscapes and everything in between, the music of Yo La Tengo is always compelling and evocative, making it the perfect band to accompany the films of Jean Painlevé, a cinematic pioneer whose films revealed an underwater world of abstract beauty and wonderfully bizarre creatures. To complement his impressionistic images, Painlevé used a remarkable range of music, from Chopin to Duke Ellington to electronic pioneer Pierre Henry. Keeping with Painlevé’s tradition of sonic experimentation, Yo La Tengo has composed new music exclusively for this special event, which they will perform live as Painlevé takes us below the sea’s surface into a world we never knew existed.

Sea urchins are prickly creatures that sway and explode to the rhythms of the sea. —Doug Jones