Programme 2015

Programme 2015


grinningcat

Session 1: Why the Essay Film Now?

Tuesday 24 March 2016, 13.00pm Birkbeck, B20 Malet Street
Tickets FREE

For this opening conference we asked leading scholars to debate the vibrancy of the essay film tradition in contemporary film and moving image culture.


Hellsinki, Forever (film still), 2008 by Peter von Bagh. Courtesy and copyright Illume.

Session 2: Helsinki, Forever

Tuesday 24 March 2016, 6.30pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

Screening of Helsinki, Forever by Peter von Bagh with an introduction by Olaf Möller.


Remembrace (film still), 2013 by Peter von Bagh. Courtesy and copyright Illume

Session 3: Remembrance – A Small Film about Oulu in the 1950s

Tuesday 24 March 2016, 6.30pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

Part two of the evenings double bill features Remembrance by Peter von Bagh with an introduction by Olaf Möller.


tumblr_mrxmkxksUd1qehojao1_1280

Session 4: Rediscovering Esfir Shub: the Compilation Film and the Art of the Editing Table

Saturday 19 March 2016, 12.45-2.30 pm, Birkbeck Cinema
Tickets FREE

This event combining screenings and discussion will explore the work of Esfir Shub (1894-1959), often considered the inventor of the compilation film, and undoubtedly a major figure in the history of documentary filmmaking.


thoughtsthatoncewehad

Session 5: The Thoughts That Once We Had

Wednesday 25 March 2016, 8.45pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

This UK Premiere will be followed by a discussion about the film between Thom Andersen and Michael Witt, author of Jean-Luc Godard: Cinema Historian, Indiana University Press, 2014.


Los Angeles Plays Itself (film still), 2003 by Thom Andersen. Courtesy and Copyright the artist and LUX.

Session 6: Los Angeleas Plays Itself

Thursday 26 March 2016, 5.30pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

Masterfully edited by Andersen out of hundreds of film excerpts, Los Angeles Plays Itself is constructed in three thematic sections: the city as background, the city as character, and the city as subject.


INVISIBLE-PRODUCERS--CHAPTER-1-PANORAMIS-PARAMOUNT-PARANORMAL-(2015)-by-Constanze-Ruhm-and-Emilien-Awada

Session 7: Constanze Ruhm, Re-staging the locations of film history

Friday 27 March 2016, 12.30 – 16:30pm, Birkbeck Cinema
Tickets FREE

Constanze Ruhm is an artist and author, whose work, exhibited internationally, encompasses installations, film/videos, publications and curatorial activities.


People-to-be-Resembling-(film-still),-2012-by-The-Otolith-Group,-original-photography-by-Isio-Saba

Session 8: The Otolith Group

Friday 27 March 2016, 6.30pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

A special presentation of three essay films by London-based The Otolith Group (Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun).


The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni (film still), 2011 by Rania Stephan. Courtesy and copyright the artist.

Session 9: The Otolith Group Presents…

Friday 27 March 2016, 8.30pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

Lebanese director Rania Stephan’s found-footage essay film explores the life and work of Souad Hosni, the most important actress in post-independence Egyptian cinema.


Red Hollywood (Film Still) 1996, Directed by Thom Andersen and Noël Burch Courtesy and copyright LUX.

Session 10: Red Hollywood

Saturday 28 March 2016, 11.00pm, Birkbeck Cinema
Tickets FREE

Screening of Red Hollywood followed by a Q&A with Thom Andersen.


Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (film still), 1975 by Thom Andersen. Courtesy and Copyright the artist and LUX...

Session 11: Thom Andersen Shorts

Saturday 28 March 2016, 5.00pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

Screening of two short films followed by a conversation between Thom Andersen and Kodwo Eshun of The Otolith Group.


x

Session 12: Profession: Documentarist

Saturday 28 March 2016, 7.00pm, ICA Cinema 1
Tickets £7.00 to £11.00

Seven female filmmakers make a film together about what it is like to be documentary-maker in Iran today.


Lost Book Found (film still) 1996, by Jem Cohen. Courtesy and copyright LUX.

Session 13: Contemporary Essay Film Programme

Sunday 29 March 2016, 11.00am – 5.30pm, Birkbeck Cinema
Tickets FREE

On this final day of screenings and discussion, and to close this inaugural Essay Film Festival, the focus is on contemporary essay filmmakers who are engaging with current political struggles and complex historical memories from around the world.