Picture Start

Toronto International Film Festival Program Book
2009

Picture Start
Christopher Doyle

Curated by Noah Cowan
Presented in partnership with INDEXG

“The picture starts... when the trailers are done? When the first shot is ‘in the can’? When something someone says connects an image to a thought that suggests a resolution of that theme that you never could quite find form for. ... and you start to write, to imagine, to project? Pictures start all the time all day long in the way i live and work. They evolve in the making, they grow in unexpected intent, they come back thru the experience shared in the process and the after-process. Your words often restart the picture in a way i never knew.”
—Christopher Doyle, 2009

Legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle has worked on some of the most ravishing films ever made, including the Wong Kar-wai masterpieces In the Mood for Love and Happy Together, and has collaborated with many of the world’s leading directors: Phillip Noyce, Gus Van Sant, Stanley Kwan, Chen Kaige, Barry Levinson, James Ivory, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Zhang Yimou, Neil Jordan and Edward Yang. During this time, he has saved odd scraps—outtakes, camera tests, still photos, mistakes and plain goofs. These “unframed” elements have found their way into Doyle’s art practice, especially his celebrated collages. Picture Start sees a new direction for his work, using enhanced film transparencies from his career behind the camera matched with superimposed text from conventional film leader (words like “Start,” numbers, guidelines, etc.). The domination of printed film directives on top of Doyle’s exquisite (often previously unseen) images suggests a memorialization, like a personal seal or “chop” on history of collaborations. It is fitting, then, that Picture Start—a world premiere here in Toronto—is dedicated to and inspired by Doyle’s long-time friend and Asian cinema champion, Wouter Barendrecht.

The show will also feature a short video loop, expanding on and adding dimension to the collage work.
—Noah Cowan