Programme 2015
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.