Session One: Laura Rascaroli Lecture
Essay film specialist Laura Rascaroli will give a talk on lyricism and poetry in the essay film, and introduce Pietro Marcello’s La bocca del lupo
Session Two/ Paris 1900
A classic example of the historical montage film, Paris 1900 is both a visual chronicle of a great city and a meditative essay about the passing of time.
Session Three: Contextualising The Films Of Mani Kaul
This symposium explores the work of Mani Kaul (1944-2011), by combining papers, discussion and a screening of Siddheshwari (Mani Kaul, 1989).
Session Four: Uski Roti/Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul’s first feature, Uski Roti [A Day’s Bread], was a seminal film in defining the formal vocabulary of the New Indian cinema.
Session Five: Mati Manas/Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul’s poetic exploration of the ancient tradition of terracotta pottery and sculpture, its techniques, its legends, and the spirituality of its forms.
Session Six: Dhrupad/Mani Kaul
An experimental documentary by Mani Kaul inspired by the forms and structures of Dhrupad, an ancient form of classical music originating in Northern India.
Session Seven: The Third Part Of The Third Measure/The Otolith Group
UK cinema premiere of the Otolith Group’s latest film, an essay about the work of Julius Eastman, the queer African-American avant-garde composer, pianist, vocalist and conductor.
Session Eight: Luz Obscura/Susana De Sousa Dias
A highly sensitive and beautifully crafted essay film about the lives of political prisoners during Portugal’s Salazar dictatorship, and the devastating effects this repression had on their children.
Session Nine: Jef Cornelis – You Know The Way And The Language
A Symposium with Screenings: ‘You Know the Way and the Language: Public Spaces, Public Buildings, Public Engagement – The Essayistic in the TV work of Jef Cornelis at BRT’
Session Ten: Montgomery Clift (Work in progress)
In this work-in-progress session, filmmakers Robert A. Clift and Hillary Demmon will present and show extracts from their forthcoming documentary project, which scrutinizes the popular image of Clift’s uncle, classic Hollywood film star Montgomery Clift.
Session Eleven: Va, Toto!/Pierre Creton
An experiment in essayistic storytelling in which a baby boar, Toto, is rescued and brought up by Madeleine, an elegant old lady living in rural Normandy… And it’s all true!
Session Twelve: Vivienne Dick Programme
This programme brings three recent films by Vivienne Dick into a dialogue with a key earlier work in her oeuvre. Fusing elements of performance, documentary and home movies, Dick is a filmmaker whose work continues to evade categorisation.
Session Thirteen: Horace Tapscott/Barbara Mccullough
Barbara McCullough’s portrait of the late musical genius and community activist Horace Tapscott reflects on the connections made through black music to local activism in Los Angeles and to questions of pan-Africanism.
Session Fourteen: The Sun Island/Thomas Elsaesser
Film theorist and historian Thomas Elsaesser’s debut film is an essayistic portrait of his grandparents, Martin and Liesel Elsaesser, drawing on home movies, personal correspondence, and contemporary interviews.
Session Fifteen: No Intenso Agora/ João Moreira Salles
A personal and historical essay film about the protest movements and quasi-revolutionary events that nearly turned the world upside down in the summer of 1968.
Session Sixteen: ★/Johann Lurf
A scintillating, brilliantly edited collage of shots of the night sky, lifted from 550 films from the beginning of cinema history right up to the present day.