Super 8mm on video

The flow of time & unseen human relationships are exposed at public amusement facilities in 4 California towns.

The title is a reference to Ray Birdwhistell's ground-breaking anthropological study from 1971, Micro-Cultural Incidents in 10 Zoos in which he employed a "perceptiscope" as a cinematic microscope. 4 Santas utilizes digital tools to interrogate film, and in so doing, to investigate meaning. What can be shown and what can be known? - JCL

"... 4 Santas triggers a sense of wonderment and displays a level of mastery with a fresh and innovative perspective hinting at transgression." - MUFF Jurors

"The Santas are not Clauses, but Monica, Cruz, Rosa, and Clarita, four towns in California. In each town Lipzin filmed a device devoted to spectacle and pleasure...Each of these is a vivid source of light and motion, but also a means to observe people in their private moments of fear, joy, and intimacy. The work combines still and moving imagery to unusual effect--niceties of personal relationships and rituals, that remain hidden in the motion footage, are revealed paradoxically, when we are shown the film material as a sequence of stills. It is a subtle work, humorous, and light, but packed with visual and intellectual surprises." - Grahame Weinbren, Sr. Editor, Millennium Film Journal

View an excerpt on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/91568006

Selected Screenings and Awards:
Second Jury Prize in the 8th Montréal Underground Film Festival (2013)
Director's Choice Award in the 32nd Black Maria Film & Video Festival
CROSSROADS Festival, San Francisco
Antimatter Film Festival, Victoria, Canada
Millennium Film Workshop, New York
Chicago 8 Fest
Cinema Borealis, Chicago
Big Muddy Film Festival
The Exploratorium, San Francisco

This film is available to view on Kanopy: https://www.kanopy.com/product/micro-celluloid-incidents-four-santas

This work is also available to view on Kinescope's Canyon Cinema Foundation channel at: https://kinoscope.org/v/micro-celluloid-incidents-in-4-santas/