In what could be considered a follow up to Al Qasimi’s 2020 work Mother of Fire, she once again invokes the figure of the jinn (spirits in Islamic mythology) to explore the ghosts of British imperialism in the UAE. As its spectre lingers on the horizon, two teenage girls seek to liberate a pirate damned to spend purgatory on a site now being developed into a hotel. Originally commissioned for Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, Al Qasimi entangles historical narratives with contemporary notions of piracy. In examining how it has been historically and culturally represented, new perspectives of old mythographies come into focus. (Myriam Mouflih)
Noura
Meitha
Majid Bin Rashid
Sir Henry William Clarke
Um Al Dhabaab
Jusab Channa/Jack Sparrow
An oneiric moment in the contradictory sensations that arise when experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic.
A children's film about the largest mass suicide of the 20th century reconstructs the 1978 event. The Reverend Jim Jones forced nearly a thousand followers of his People's Temple sect to drink poison in the settlement of Jonestown, Guyana, South America. A third of them were children. Jan Bušta gives sadists, voyeurs, and necrophiliacs one minute to leave the cinema. His self-reflective documentary, which is the result of ten years of time-lapse filming, does not depict dramatic scenes. To the sound of an audio recording from that fateful day, we see a collage of child ghosts preaching about escaping the corruption of the world.
Seeing himself as a form unable to experience intimacy, he is given the chance when brought to the household of twin sisters.
A poetic story of a proletarian couple’s relationship during the years of economic crisis and unemployment – of all the films directed by E. F. Burian, the film Chceme žít (We Want to Live, 1949) is probably his worst. The intention to create a powerful work of cinema that would combine modern means of expression with the ideological canons of socialist realism failed completely. Ježek and Tarnovski discovered these „shambles“ and tried to rebuild a structure out of the hopelessness and futility of life. Ježek has photochemically “transcribed” selected passages with the greatest possible degree of humility towards the work of the great avant-gardist, Tarnovski similarly makes the soundtrack visible. The improvised encounter of sound and image in dialogic mode can lead to various misunderstandings resulting in ambiguous compromise.
Acoustic Ocean is an artistic exploration of the sonic ecology of marine life in the North Atlantic. Located on the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, the video centers on the performance of a marine-biologist diver who is using a life-size model of a submersible equipped with all sorts of hydrophones and recording devices. In this science-fictional quest, her task is to sense the submarine space for acoustic and bioluminescent forms of expression.
A wandering young woman explores the crevices of her apartment, of her corporeal creases, as well as the shadows made up of those things. Through her journey, she comes into contact with fellow vagrancies: a nondescript man of around similar age; a young girl with similar, even familiar, eyes; streets that can only exist during those brief moments of glazing stares. The rain comes and goes, but the A/C never turns off.
In this short experimental film, three friends are waiting for their train to arrive.
"Soap Opera of a Frozen Filmmaker" project is a series of seven episodes of cinematic diaries. It is the unique point of view of an anonymous artist whose entire essence of existence is to make films, but he is rejected on every front time after time. During the process he ponders his life as an artist, the nature of material society and life in general, in which his owm life eventually become a tragedy.
This experimental short traces the lifespan of the graffiti and murals present at the occupation of NYC’s City Hall in June and July of 2020. The encampment formed to demand the abolishment of the NYPD and the reallocation of its resources to housing, education, and other social programs.
Daily observations and reflections of the second year of living in a pandemic. Our lives are limited to visits to the local Windmill Hill City Farm where animals and humans seem to live in harmony. I came across articles and videos about horseshoe crabs and their amazing survival through centuries and their impact on our survival. The farm shuts down and reopens as the vaccines roll out. The horseshoe crabs are on the verge of being added to the endangered species list. Like the old Farsi rhyme that Jonah tries to learn, we are in a circle tightly entangled.
The Tragedy of an Artist, is an experimental short shot over the course of a week. This film is meant to illustrate who Hero Foltz is as a person and his struggles with self identity
Sabine is looking for a missing image: a day that has left its mark forever and that everyone remembers but her. But maybe this absence is what allows her to move on with her life?
To cope with a grieving process, Eli creates his own pink musical paradise, full of neon lights and a lot of gayness.
In this anxious and hectic time, Happy Life explores those unusual outlets that soothe the turmoil of the body and mind. In a meditative journey through these analgesic places, this documentary essay paints a portrait of a society in seek of meaning and relief.
Hansjürgen Pohland's short documentary is an audiovisual study that captures events and people on the streets on film. The special feature of the work is that the people and objects are portrayed exclusively through their shadows.
Experimental movie, where a man comes home and experiences LSD. His kaleidoscopic visions follow, with readings inspired by the Tibethan Book of the Dead.
In the dining room of the abandoned house a white, faded entity feeds on her pieces. Memories keep her here and time transforms her into something new.