Mambar Pierrette: All of Cameroon’s Cares on Her Shoulders

by Abiba Coulibaly Mambar Pierrette continues Roisin Mbakam’s exploration of the confessional function offered by informal businesses and the entrepreneurial African women who man them—following the thread of her previous film Chez Jolie Coiffeur (2018), about a sliver of a Belgian hair salon. Until now, Mbakam’s steady output has focused largely on the diaspora of her native Cameroon (Chez Jolie Coiffure [2018], Delphine’s Prayers [2021]) … Continue reading Mambar Pierrette: All of Cameroon’s Cares on Her Shoulders

Celluloid Now, More Than Ever

by Olivia Hunter Willke On my way home from the first program of the all-analog avant-garde film festival organized by the Chicago Film Society, Celluloid Now, I received the call that my grandmother was dying. The next evening, as I sat watching the beautiful 35mm program unfold, my grandmother was read her last rights and I was confronted by the film III. (2022) by Alexandre … Continue reading Celluloid Now, More Than Ever

Around The World in 14 Films: ‘When The Waves Are Gone’, ‘EO’ and ‘Trenque Lauquen’

by Florian Weigl One way to test the cinephile mettle of a country is to go to its most prominent festival of festivals. Canada and Toronto have TIFF, the U.S and New York have NYFF, Austria and Vienna have the Viennale and Germany and Berlin, well, we have Around The World in 14 Films. Founded by Bernhard Karl, Kathrin Bessert and Nikola Mirza in 2005 … Continue reading Around The World in 14 Films: ‘When The Waves Are Gone’, ‘EO’ and ‘Trenque Lauquen’

Prismatic Ground 2022: Select Films of Love and Memory

“Both editions of Prismatic Ground have done well in being an inviting festival space for submitting filmmakers, and in turn this allows for the wide array of programming that necessitates the “wave” format. Online and cinematic presentation together means that while enjoyment of this festival will continue worldwide, presentations on projected film prints will become its newest element, intertwining the global availability of the internet and the togetherness of film screenings for those able to attend.” Continue reading Prismatic Ground 2022: Select Films of Love and Memory

“What a Way to Run a Railroad”—Nothing is Real, not even Cinema, in Tulapop Saenjaroen’s ‘Squish!’

Over the last decade, filmmaker and video artist Tulapop Saenjaroen has been stretching cinema and the short form. Exploring some of the fundamental quandaries of experience: work, play and freedom with a sharp and puckish sense of their history within this long century of moving images. Continue reading “What a Way to Run a Railroad”—Nothing is Real, not even Cinema, in Tulapop Saenjaroen’s ‘Squish!’

“The skeleton of what you’re making” — An Interview with Richard Forbes-Hamilton

In his latest work, (Third Study for) Swedge of Heaven (2020), multi-disciplinary artist Richard Forbes-Hamilton presents us with the precise image of his beat: a digitally animated individual with an oversized yellow whistle for a head – complete with a stoic ‘have a nice day’ smiley for a face – arrhythmically pounding on a drum with glow sticks. Continue reading “The skeleton of what you’re making” — An Interview with Richard Forbes-Hamilton