Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You
Lehigh Valley Cinema Club presents the Pennsylvania premiere of KEEPING SECRETS WILL DESTROY YOU, the visual album of Bonnie "Prince" Billy's 2023 album of the same name, a collaboration between filmmaker Ryan Daly & musician Will Oldham.
We go to the cinema to see movies. Can we also go to hear records? This is what Will Oldham and film/visual artist Ryan Daly are eager to explore with this special presentation of Bonnie "Prince" Billy’s newest album Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You. The album was recorded in the winter of 2022–23 and is composed of songs which date back to the harrowing lockdown year of 2020. Many of us experienced an unprecedented focus of intention and energy during this period, and Oldham found a way into distilling songs and presenting them with newfound clarity and candor.
Echoing the spirit and themes of the album, Ryan Daly utilizes his vast archive of 16mm film prints—working in the avant-garde tradition of ‘found footage’ film making—to assemble a tour de force visual juxtaposition of Will Oldham’s new album. Drawing from the techniques and theories of Soviet montage, Daly’s footage recalls, re-imagines, and suggests an alternative, timeless counterpoint to the era of the most recent pandemic.
About the filmmakers
As an actor, Will Oldham (born 1970 in Louisville, KY) has worked with a diverse scope of directors including John Sayles (Matewan, 1987), Harmony Korine (Julian Donkey Boy, 1999), Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy, 2006 & Wendy and Lucy, 2008) and David Lowery (A Ghost Story, 2017). As a songwriter, Oldham has released over 20 albums—first as Palace and since 1998 as Bonnie “Prince” Billy—throughout his nearly thirty-year career. He has received praise from The New Yorker, New York Times, American Songwriter, NPR and Rolling Stone, to name a few. His most recent album, Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You, was released on August 11, 2023 via Drag City Records, and he recently completed tours with Quebecois singer-songwriter Myriam Gendron and Welsh musician Jon Langford.
As an archivist, Ryan Daly (born 1979 in Louisville, KY) maintains a vast collection of 16mm film prints. His library consists of rare, often one of a kind, ephemeral home movies, newsreels, television commercials, educational and industrial film prints. Having been the source of several 16mm prints for leading national archives, Daly turned to digitizing his collection prior to the pandemic. As a filmmaker, Daly's understanding of the history of filmmaking, provides unique insight to magic of montage. Having graduated from Pittsburgh Filmmakers in 2003, Daly was among the last of a generation to learn the craft of filmmaking on celluloid.
Thanks to Drag City Records (Kathryn Wilson, Bailey Davis, Sue Ng), Civic Theatre of Allentown (Drew Swedberg), Ryan Daly and Will Oldham.
Lehigh Valley Cinema Club is a new, monthly film screening series presenting adventurous works of cinema from yesterday and today, presented by Love's Devotee and curated by Herb Shellenberger. This is a self-funded, roving series which is open to partnerships and collaboration, and will evolve over the course of 2024.
