Program #1: (dis)location

DAY 1: (dis)location within

What does home look like? What do the spaces we inhabit carry? What myths feed the walls that grow around us? The light traveling through the lens of the camera might not be able to reach into the nuanced lived collective and individual experiences, encouraging experimentation through other media. The “caméra-stylo” manifests itself in drawing, embroidery, collage, found footage; all these techniques form constellations of visual exposure refraining from the canonical categorization of art, articulating the subtleties of recall, summoning memories from hidden intimate spaces, and discovering transcultural mutualities.

 

Program #1: (dis)location

Documentary filmmaking is far from a neutral observation; everyone participating occupies a certain position, assumes power and responsibility. The agency of the subjects is filtered through the constraints the directors impose. What qualifies a narrator as reliable? What does it mean to involve the imagination of Romani children? How does feminism foster solidarities between racialized and white women? Which parts of testimonies are left out? The sacraments lurking behind the fabric of everyday preoccupations accentuate the violent structures ordering societies in the era of coloniality. When we leave homes, when home leaves the spaces we are in, is home even there?

Short film program:

I Like Life a Lot (D: Kati Macskássy, Hungary 1977, 9’; Hungarian, English subtitles)
The Komló settlement showcased the exploitation of unskilled Roma labor in the 1970s. Roma pupils and their art teachers collaborated, using audio interviews and drawings to turn harsh realities into fairytales.

The Stitches Speak (D: Nina Sabnani; India 2009; 12’; Gujarati, English, English subtitles)
Tanko Bole Chhe is a 12-minute animated documentary celebrating Kutch artisans of Kala Raksha, their journey, and life through their appliqué and embroidery art.

Drop by Drop (D: Alexandra Ramires (Xá), Laura Gonçalves; Portugal 2017; 10’; Portuguese, English subtitles)
The last villagers refuse to be forgotten. In a world driven by progress, this house endures. 

Oro Rojo (D: Carme Gomila; Spain 2021; 12’; Spanish, Arabic, English subtitles)
Red Gold is an animated short documentary on Moroccan women's strawberry-picking protests in Huelva, exploring migration policies, global extractivism, and racial capitalism.

Curated by Julia Jesionek and Polina Resnianska