Season V
Program 1: Light, motion and mass
This series ventures into the formal languages of image-making, experimenting with the materialities and physicalities of its process. These experimentations - the interplay of threads, the readjustment of camera lenses, or the assembly of electronic components - allude to a personal journey, entwined within, thus reflective of their time and context. Through repeated gestures and meticulous rearrangement, rhythmic moments of abstraction emerge, interrupted by instances of intense distortion.
Gloria Chung - The Photoplay Obeys the Laws of the Mind (USA 2020)
Using the closest thing we can share for time travel-the moving image-to ask questions of time relative to light, motion, and mass.
Does light create, prolong, reverse time? Does motion alter our experience of time? Does mass warp our sense of time?
Using the closest thing we can share for time travel-the moving image-to ask questions of time relative to light, motion, and mass.
Does light create, prolong, reverse time? Does motion alter our experience of time? Does mass warp our sense of time?
[8 mins]
Bruno Moreno & Renato Sircilli - Cinema for the Dead (Brazil 2023)
In the village of Barra Grande, among appearances and disappearances, the animals keep the dead company.
In the village of Barra Grande, among appearances and disappearances, the animals keep the dead company.
[14 mins]
Abigail Smith - thread (USA 2022)
Smith’s Thread series uses machine sewn techniques to create abstractions on film that explore the medium’s relationship to motion and mechanics, the relationship between passing film through a sewing machine and film passed, or “threaded” through a camera or projector.
Smith’s Thread series uses machine sewn techniques to create abstractions on film that explore the medium’s relationship to motion and mechanics, the relationship between passing film through a sewing machine and film passed, or “threaded” through a camera or projector.
[2 mins]
Michael Lyons - Parts (Japan 2023)
This camera-less silent film examines parts and wholes. Electronic components were photogrammed on 16mm print stock. Displacements in time and space assemble the parts into an abstract dynamic gestalt.
This camera-less silent film examines parts and wholes. Electronic components were photogrammed on 16mm print stock. Displacements in time and space assemble the parts into an abstract dynamic gestalt.
[5 mins]
Charles de Agustin - Interior Shot (USA 2023)
“Interior Shot” is composed of the artist’s recent surgery footage and breathing exam audio, alongside poetry on grief, work, luck, and time.
Brecht De Cock - artifacts of you, artifacts of me. (Belgium 2023)
Combining animation, live action and photogrammetry, this intensely personal document tackles with the universal subject of grief. An audiovisual reflection on the tension between photography and animation, death and digital reality, and the ghostly nature of space.
Jessi Ali Lin & Hsin-Yu Chen - Semiotics of the Home (USA 2022)
Semiotics of the Home is part of a series of a performance video project that was done at RAIR Philly in the summer of 2022. Construction machines were cast as actors in a domestic space, completing daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, eating, and resting. The gentle gestures enacted by large-scale machines subvert our notions of the domestic, imagining industrial equipment as bodies in a home rather than the machines that construct the spaces we inhabit daily.
Semiotics of the Home is part of a series of a performance video project that was done at RAIR Philly in the summer of 2022. Construction machines were cast as actors in a domestic space, completing daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, eating, and resting. The gentle gestures enacted by large-scale machines subvert our notions of the domestic, imagining industrial equipment as bodies in a home rather than the machines that construct the spaces we inhabit daily.
SJ.Ramir - I Found Water (New Zealand)
Experimenting with custom made lens filters to diffuse and distort, I Found Water is an autobiographical film that contemplates memory and experience.
Experimenting with custom made lens filters to diffuse and distort, I Found Water is an autobiographical film that contemplates memory and experience.
[10 mins]
Program 2: tiềm thức khuya mới biết đêm dài / my unconscious woke up sensing the light
Through diaristic contemplation of losses, desires, the elusive yet resurgent nature of memories, these films plumb into the introspective journey of the unconscious, unraveling a whirlwind of emotions and incidents. These explorations substantiate the intrinsic agency of moving images in an ongoing quest to understand and navigate our shared existence.
Francesco Montagner - Asterión (Czech Republic 2022)
Under the burning sun, a solitary bull awaits tireless, whilst a man jumps deep into the darkest waters of his persona, in their common attempt to defeat death.
In this silent visual poem, the massive body of a bull appears on the table of a meticulous taxidermist, having died in the hot sun in the middle of a bullfighting arena. Working with the body of an untamed animal, the man is inwardly transformed and finds in the animal's skin a way to cope with his own mortality and the transience of life.
“It’s the story of a double fate, the one of the man and the one of the bull, both doomed to succumb to their own restless natures.” Francesco Montagner
Under the burning sun, a solitary bull awaits tireless, whilst a man jumps deep into the darkest waters of his persona, in their common attempt to defeat death.
In this silent visual poem, the massive body of a bull appears on the table of a meticulous taxidermist, having died in the hot sun in the middle of a bullfighting arena. Working with the body of an untamed animal, the man is inwardly transformed and finds in the animal's skin a way to cope with his own mortality and the transience of life.
“It’s the story of a double fate, the one of the man and the one of the bull, both doomed to succumb to their own restless natures.” Francesco Montagner
Felix Klee - Homesick Lungs (Germany 2021)
You can't bring back a dead horse, but there are ways to step into a place that was lost.
"Homesick Lungs" is an experimental farewell. The film delves into the lungs of Sheila, the dying horse, and the history of a sold family farm. 3D animations, screen recordings and documentary footage combine to form an essay on reconstructed memory. In the end, the wind brushes through virtual nettles.
You can't bring back a dead horse, but there are ways to step into a place that was lost.
"Homesick Lungs" is an experimental farewell. The film delves into the lungs of Sheila, the dying horse, and the history of a sold family farm. 3D animations, screen recordings and documentary footage combine to form an essay on reconstructed memory. In the end, the wind brushes through virtual nettles.
[15 mins]
Philip Ullman - What Dying Feels Like (Netherlands 2021)
A mouse finds herself reciting childhood memories in a sterile living room. Shards of an alienating past paint the portrait of a human life. A sense of loss pervades the atmosphere as she's torn between being human and being mouse, between being alive and being in a simulation.
A mouse finds herself reciting childhood memories in a sterile living room. Shards of an alienating past paint the portrait of a human life. A sense of loss pervades the atmosphere as she's torn between being human and being mouse, between being alive and being in a simulation.
[9 mins]
Yuri Muraoka - Transparent, I am. (Japan 2020)
In the year of 2020 when the world was forced to “change”, I wanted to confirm what changed and what did not change in me and wrote a poem “Transparent, I am.”. This film is based on it. The white mask I wore became the screen projected my past. My family are sometimes hurt and suffer, but support me who suffers from schizophrenia. Nonoho, Yuri, Nemu and Hana. The four of us live today to the fullest while looking for the answer to “Who are we?”
This film is an Essay Film.
In the year of 2020 when the world was forced to “change”, I wanted to confirm what changed and what did not change in me and wrote a poem “Transparent, I am.”. This film is based on it. The white mask I wore became the screen projected my past. My family are sometimes hurt and suffer, but support me who suffers from schizophrenia. Nonoho, Yuri, Nemu and Hana. The four of us live today to the fullest while looking for the answer to “Who are we?”
This film is an Essay Film.
[12 mins]
Nicolas Graux & Quý Trương Minh - Porcupine (Belgium 2023)
In an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Brussels, a young streamer, alias "Porcupine", performs a live sex show for an online subscriber. Under the same dilapidated roof, an old woman lights a fire and drinks her sorrows away in the room where her husband stayed until he died. A chance encounter between these two lonely beings will unleash a flood of memories and virtual data. But real-life connections are scarce, and mutual consolation seems a distant dream.
In an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Brussels, a young streamer, alias "Porcupine", performs a live sex show for an online subscriber. Under the same dilapidated roof, an old woman lights a fire and drinks her sorrows away in the room where her husband stayed until he died. A chance encounter between these two lonely beings will unleash a flood of memories and virtual data. But real-life connections are scarce, and mutual consolation seems a distant dream.
[13 mins]
Program 3: shhhhhhh..
The archetype of domination often operates to obscure and suppress, weaving its own web to stabilize hierarchies and regulate the emergence of alternative voices. These films pivot towards the seemingly hidden and unspeakable - invisible ink, stone, the phallus, fetus or silence itself - considering them as potential sites to disrupt existing paradigms and enable other forms of knowledge.
“So as ex-native colonial subjects, except we train ourselves in the
disciplinary structures to which that Word gives rise, undergo the rigorous
apprenticeship that is going to be necessary for any eventual break with the system of
knowledge which elaborates that Word, we can in no way find a way to think
through, then beyond, its limits.”
- The Re-Enchantment of Humanism: An Interview with Sylvia Wynter, by David Scott
Riar Rizaldi - Neonatal Unit (Indonesia 2021)
A lost video signal transmitted to the past from the future of remilitarised Indonesia archipelago when demographic dividend reached its peak. Narrated by one of the members of the Operation of Sovereignty for Gestational and Surrogate Mothers, the video dissects the dynamic of natalism, nationalism, agency, and reproductive technology as well as questioning the meaning of kita (‘we’ in Indonesian).
A lost video signal transmitted to the past from the future of remilitarised Indonesia archipelago when demographic dividend reached its peak. Narrated by one of the members of the Operation of Sovereignty for Gestational and Surrogate Mothers, the video dissects the dynamic of natalism, nationalism, agency, and reproductive technology as well as questioning the meaning of kita (‘we’ in Indonesian).
Nonoho Suzuki - ABURIDASHI Assortment: Video Letters written in invisible ink. (Japan 2022)
This work is an experimental documentary animation by the traditional Japanese technique of "ABURIDASHI". And it consists of three parts: Beginning, Middle, and End.
"Beginning" is a personal video made to celebrate my friend Hiratake-san.
"Middle" is about Hiratake-san's anger at the government responses to the Great East Japan earthquake.
"End" is about the fear of war in which get involved individuals.
This work depicts how my perspective changes from an individual to a nation over a period of 10 years.
This work is an experimental documentary animation by the traditional Japanese technique of "ABURIDASHI". And it consists of three parts: Beginning, Middle, and End.
"Beginning" is a personal video made to celebrate my friend Hiratake-san.
"Middle" is about Hiratake-san's anger at the government responses to the Great East Japan earthquake.
"End" is about the fear of war in which get involved individuals.
This work depicts how my perspective changes from an individual to a nation over a period of 10 years.
[9 mins]
Keng U - Remote (Macau)
In the post-1999 era of Macau(SAR), the local citizens live a happy life under the leadership of Big Brother. As the city of Macau(SAR) is becoming a part of China’s “Greater Bay Area”, a mysterious man seems to discover a secret of his phallus and the key to the utopia.
In the post-1999 era of Macau(SAR), the local citizens live a happy life under the leadership of Big Brother. As the city of Macau(SAR) is becoming a part of China’s “Greater Bay Area”, a mysterious man seems to discover a secret of his phallus and the key to the utopia.
[12 mins]
Carla Andrade - Amarillo atlántico (Spain 2022)
Atlantic Yellow is the name of the unique variety of granite from Serra da Groba, located on the most rectilinear and southern coast of Galicia, and a passage of initiation paths since the Sumerian culture. This is an area of great Celtic influence that would later connect with Christianism who would appropriate the arcane wisdom to implant its own traditions like the currently Camino de Santiago. Due to its wealth and unawareness, Serra da Groba depicts a great "stone book" in which ancestral pearls of wisdom and powerful cosmo-telluric forces (that have remained as residues of the rustic within the cultural process) are hidden, resisting the orthodoxy-idolatry / truth-falsity division. This fact could explain the mysterious reason why the monks of Cistercian erected one of their monasteries here, face to face with the ocean, despite the dangers that its "outdoors" situation in the 12th century. Perhaps they knew, thanks to the preceding culture the need to live in harmony with nature. Still and moving images combine and are stained by the film material itself, redefining those notions related to the love for the insondability of the wild, but structurally assimilated as illusion and ignorance.
Atlantic Yellow is the name of the unique variety of granite from Serra da Groba, located on the most rectilinear and southern coast of Galicia, and a passage of initiation paths since the Sumerian culture. This is an area of great Celtic influence that would later connect with Christianism who would appropriate the arcane wisdom to implant its own traditions like the currently Camino de Santiago. Due to its wealth and unawareness, Serra da Groba depicts a great "stone book" in which ancestral pearls of wisdom and powerful cosmo-telluric forces (that have remained as residues of the rustic within the cultural process) are hidden, resisting the orthodoxy-idolatry / truth-falsity division. This fact could explain the mysterious reason why the monks of Cistercian erected one of their monasteries here, face to face with the ocean, despite the dangers that its "outdoors" situation in the 12th century. Perhaps they knew, thanks to the preceding culture the need to live in harmony with nature. Still and moving images combine and are stained by the film material itself, redefining those notions related to the love for the insondability of the wild, but structurally assimilated as illusion and ignorance.
[14 mins]
Atefeh Kheirabadi & Mehrad Sepahnia - Blick (Germany 2023)
A silent, emotional parallel Between a couple living in Berlin, and showing the personal impact of life in exile during the Jina Revolution in Iran.
A silent, emotional parallel Between a couple living in Berlin, and showing the personal impact of life in exile during the Jina Revolution in Iran.
[14 mins]
Program 4: vitcon_online
Vịt con ơi khi ta online trên màn hình màu xanh
Anh rất muốn gặp được vịt con để chia xớt nỗi niềm
Buồn vui mà anh và vịt đã vượt qua bao tháng ngày
Dường như anh và vịt đã, đã quen từ thuở kiếp nào
The above mentioned pop song gained widespread circulation in the early 2000s, depicts an online dating experience involving the pseudonym "vitcon_online," which essentially resulted in an instance of catfishing. This peculiar scenario prompts a reevaluation of the dynamics between online and offline realms, its effects on our emotional well-being and interpersonal relationships. Employing various approaches, including music videos, animation and non-linear storytelling,... these films uncover the complexities of our evolving interaction with social media, digital consumerism, and mental health.
Hong Anh Nguyen - GAP | GẶP (Vietnam 2023)
GAP | GẶP, a short dance film directed by Nguyễn Hồng Anh, is a collaboration between two queer performance artists, Harry Maberly from Glasgow, UK, and Hồ Nguyễn Hải Đăng (Dan Ni) from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This digital duet delves into the themes of connection, distance, and the significance of digital intimacy in contemporary UK and Vietnamese queer culture. Set in a stark, unadorned space devoid of geographical or cultural context, the dance unfolds as an online encounter between two strangers. At times resembling a mating dance, casual small talk and a heated exchange, the choreography takes us on a journey through a spectrum of different motions of interaction in this digital realm. Despite the complete absence of physical presence, the intention behind GAP | GẶP is to examine and challenge the boundaries of intimacy. This exploration of intimacy without physicality extends to the creative process itself, as the film was conceived and produced remotely during the pandemic. The artists collaborated from separate locations, coming together to craft an intimate dance duet beyond physical limitations.
GAP | GẶP, a short dance film directed by Nguyễn Hồng Anh, is a collaboration between two queer performance artists, Harry Maberly from Glasgow, UK, and Hồ Nguyễn Hải Đăng (Dan Ni) from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This digital duet delves into the themes of connection, distance, and the significance of digital intimacy in contemporary UK and Vietnamese queer culture. Set in a stark, unadorned space devoid of geographical or cultural context, the dance unfolds as an online encounter between two strangers. At times resembling a mating dance, casual small talk and a heated exchange, the choreography takes us on a journey through a spectrum of different motions of interaction in this digital realm. Despite the complete absence of physical presence, the intention behind GAP | GẶP is to examine and challenge the boundaries of intimacy. This exploration of intimacy without physicality extends to the creative process itself, as the film was conceived and produced remotely during the pandemic. The artists collaborated from separate locations, coming together to craft an intimate dance duet beyond physical limitations.
[7 mins]
Uniqueness - Omnipotent Resolution (N/A)
This is a short film of the song, “Omnipotent Resolution”,
from the band Uniqueness, with a conceptual theme called, reality in dreamscape.
This is a short film of the song, “Omnipotent Resolution”,
from the band Uniqueness, with a conceptual theme called, reality in dreamscape.
[9 mins]
José Miguel Barriga - Impulsive purchases through Aliexpress (Chile 2023)
Back from a honeymoon, a job layoff creates a chain of reactions that end up in impulsive purchases through Aliexpress. Trains of thought submerged in dispair go through topics such as mental health and financial inestability, potraying a journey that searches for closure, no matter the cost.
Back from a honeymoon, a job layoff creates a chain of reactions that end up in impulsive purchases through Aliexpress. Trains of thought submerged in dispair go through topics such as mental health and financial inestability, potraying a journey that searches for closure, no matter the cost.
[11 mins]
Ika Schwander & Lizzy Deacon - Precautionary Measure (Netherlands)
After winning a life coaching session in a raffle at her local village hall, Helen is guided through the help she never really needed. Together with her life coach Hazel, they explore healing strategies to cope with fear, rejection and grief, raising the important question as to whom this pain really belongs to.
After winning a life coaching session in a raffle at her local village hall, Helen is guided through the help she never really needed. Together with her life coach Hazel, they explore healing strategies to cope with fear, rejection and grief, raising the important question as to whom this pain really belongs to.
[14 mins]
Jan Otto Ertesvåg - Busy (Norway 2021)
The reality of beach snails is not that much different from human lives, filled with an intricate interplay of social interaction and solitude, curiosity about the world and its rigid rules, fleetingness of life and the resilience to go on.
The reality of beach snails is not that much different from human lives, filled with an intricate interplay of social interaction and solitude, curiosity about the world and its rigid rules, fleetingness of life and the resilience to go on.
[7 mins]
Arlin Golden - Back Yard (USA 2019)
When I moved into a new home I found myself spending a lot of time in the back yard. I quickly learned my neighbor spent a lot of time in his yard too.
When I moved into a new home I found myself spending a lot of time in the back yard. I quickly learned my neighbor spent a lot of time in his yard too.
[7 mins]
Linh Manh Tong - TikTok Rollie Viet Mix MV (Vietnam 2021)
Do you ever wonder how your subconscious mind/un-conscious mind works? In this video, you will see how the mind of an average Joe works, the way he feels, acts, his secret desires, his needs, wants, conflicts, are all on display through the lenses of two AI generated images Da Vinci and Beethoven who happen to be present inside his "house" of thought as the plot is revealed.
In hip hop/rap music, wordplays play an important role. Thus, the song title TikTok Rollie is a wordplay. This has four meanings. First, it could mean showing off a Rollie on TikTok, the social app. It could also mean a fake Rollie because a real Rollie rolls and doesn't make tick tock sounds. Third, it could mean inside/outside as tick-tock sounds come from the inside of a watch, whereas a Rollie is known for its luxury brand name. Fourth, it could mean new/old. In this MV we've decided to explore the meaning of a fake Rollie through multiple levels of plots which contradict one another which is a representation of common human's contradiction. After watching this video, one can't help but wonder we're also a TikTok Rollie at some point in our lives or multiple times in any given day. We may not like that particular person but on the outside we need to pretend we're so fond of him/her. Social norms force us to become a TikTok Rollie. Which social bullet will cause enough pain in our lives that will eventually be the only force that will wake us up from our dream state of mind?
Do you ever wonder how your subconscious mind/un-conscious mind works? In this video, you will see how the mind of an average Joe works, the way he feels, acts, his secret desires, his needs, wants, conflicts, are all on display through the lenses of two AI generated images Da Vinci and Beethoven who happen to be present inside his "house" of thought as the plot is revealed.
In hip hop/rap music, wordplays play an important role. Thus, the song title TikTok Rollie is a wordplay. This has four meanings. First, it could mean showing off a Rollie on TikTok, the social app. It could also mean a fake Rollie because a real Rollie rolls and doesn't make tick tock sounds. Third, it could mean inside/outside as tick-tock sounds come from the inside of a watch, whereas a Rollie is known for its luxury brand name. Fourth, it could mean new/old. In this MV we've decided to explore the meaning of a fake Rollie through multiple levels of plots which contradict one another which is a representation of common human's contradiction. After watching this video, one can't help but wonder we're also a TikTok Rollie at some point in our lives or multiple times in any given day. We may not like that particular person but on the outside we need to pretend we're so fond of him/her. Social norms force us to become a TikTok Rollie. Which social bullet will cause enough pain in our lives that will eventually be the only force that will wake us up from our dream state of mind?
[5 mins]