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AESTHETICS OF A PERSONAL LANDSCAPE: FAT CHANCE BY STEPHEN BROOMER

José Sarmiento Hinojosa

I would like to make a case for the aesthetics present in Stephen Broomer’s appropriation films, but particularly in his latest film to date, Fat Chance (2020). One might be inclined to appreciate this work as a continuation of the possibilities for found footage in experimental cinema, following in the steps of other greats like Bill Morrison and Peter Tscherkassky (and yes, there is something to say -aesthetically and in its poetics*- about certain similarities between the film, and, let’s say, others like Outer Space or Light is Calling).

2021.06.21

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NOTES ON 2551.01 BY NORBERT PFAFFENBICHLER

by Claudia Siefen-Leitich

“Touch“, “shame”, and “disgust” have a multiple meaning in film. Not only do the protagonists touch each other, but the film touches the viewers. Trapped in their cinema seats, captivated by the events on the screen and integrated into the identity machine of cinema, the individual separates himself or herself in order to be involuntarily touched by the so called heroes.

2021.06.21

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SARAH FRIEDLAND: ASSEMBLED CHOREOGRAPHIES AT HARNETT GALLERY

By Monica Delgado

The proposals of American artist and filmmaker Sarah Friedland have been based on materializing some concepts of choreographic art as an organized practice, but transferred to the realm of the everyday and familiar, which transforms the nature of the action and does not necessarily make it obvious

2021.04.19

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TRANSPARENT! THE BODIES OF YURI MURAOKA

by Claudia Siefen-Leitich

Filmmaker and poet Yuri Muraoka, born in 1981, describes her films, videos, photographs and texts as “self-portraits”, but above all she shows the modern image of a woman within contemporary Japanese society. Writings and drawings as well as her collaboration with the “Video Research Laboratory” consolidated the cinematic work of the internationally established artist. Perversion, illness, and corporeality form the framework for her self-documenting art. In 2019 I was able to pair two of her films with a screening of Koji Wakamtsu, and here I would like to take a closer look at this her very individual and personal form of artistic self-expression.

2021.04.09

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MALMKROG: A GRACEFUL FEAR OF DYING

By Rodrigo Garay

I wanted to compare some of Vladimir Solovyov’s original passages from War and Christianity with its counterparts in Puiu’s film to try to reveal a modern reading of an old moral debate. Then I thought it would be better to focus on mise-en-scène and the thoughtful support of dialogue that intertwines the characters through its fluid panning shots.

2021.04.08

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CINEMATIC LETTERS TO WUHAN AND BEIRUT: INTER-IMAGES OF A MNEMONIC RIVER AND AFTER-IMAGES FROM A MEMORY BOX

By Dina Pokrajac

Letters have been sent and received since antiquity. But what is the relation of the epistolary practice to cinema? Is every film an open letter inventing its addressee or is it a missive intended for a very specific reader? If the epistle is a form of documenting the past, can it truly capture the exquisite intricacy of its repressed insinuations and remerging indications, or is it merely “rescuing” the banal and otherwise soon to be forgotten fragments of our quotidian?

2021.04.03

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CRYSTAL Z CAMPBELL: FROM THE CORNER OF MY EYE @ HARNETT GALERY

By José Sarmiento Hinojosa

One of the most impressive achievements of the curational experience is the dynamics of hybridity between the curator and the artist. Some of the most stimulating experiences of the gallery, museum, online platform, come alive when this dynamic channels the real interest for the artist in a collaboration that merges efforts not only for a platform of exhibition, but with a collaborative effort when the artist is allowed to roam free through innovative experiences of the aesthetic experience, aided skillfully by a professional whose effort involves the formal act of creation.

2021.03.19

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BERLIN CRITIC’S WEEK: A LOOK AT ITS DOUBLE PROGRAMS

By Monica Delgado

A new (online) edition of Berlin Critic’s Week (Woche der Kritik) took place from March 7 to 27. Woche der Kritik is organized annually by the German Film Critics Association (Verband der deutschen Filmkritik), within the framework of the Berlinale, in order to contribute to the debate on cinema.

2021.03.15

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THE HUMAN BEING IN HIS DARKEST CONDITION – ABOUT IMAI TADASHI

by Claudia Siefen-Leitich

In his films, people are at the center of events – as one reluctantly and often reads about directors. Except that in his case it is true. Imai Tadashi (1912-1991), the people-watcher. From a naïve enthusiasm for suffering, whether this arose from poverty or illness, he developed an intense preoccupation with this unchanging point of view.

2021.02.21

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DESISTFILM ROUND-UP: BEST OF 2020/ LO MEJOR DEL 2020

After counting all the votes from our different friends, staff and collaborators from around the world, these are the best films of 2020:

2020.12.30