“The thrill of seeing bastions of society crumble in real time, the pervading sense of quiet reluctance as the doomsday clock moves forward, the grimy and unkempt edges of a world whose hope of subsisting is quickly fading away…” Continue reading Contemporary Limbo: Albert Serra’s ‘Pacifiction’
A 10-day streaming program of three films by Esther Shatavsky, alongside the first major interview with the filmmaker. Continue reading Nursery Rhymes: Three Films by Esther Shatavsky
Hole in the Head, the new feature from Dean Kavanagh, is a wonderfully labile rendition of cinematic obsession as a simultaneously profound, absurd, deracinating, and visceral experience. Continue reading Ghost in the Machine: ‘Hole in the Head’ (2022)
“Not all featured works are formally experimental, but presented as experimental ontologically: the landing page of the website bears a curatorial statement that calls this practice “part of an endless repertoire and arsenal of Black survival.”” Continue reading The Uses of Myth | Spectral Grounds: Black Experimental Film
Currency takes even more of a centre stage in some of their lesser-known shorts steeped in acute political commentary: Le Franc (1994) and Tauw (1970) respectively, which delve deeper into many of the context-specific issues of cash—and lack thereof—in Francophone Africa, exposing the incomplete nature of the decolonial project. Continue reading Neocolonial Grip: Ousmane Sembène’s ‘Tauw’ (1970) + Djibril Diop Mambéty’s ‘Le Franc’ (1994)
“Looking at Medina’s earliest work, specifically Semi-auto colours and Time is a sun (2012) reveals much of his ambitious form and preoccupations already set in motion.” Continue reading Cinema is an Open String: Two Early Shorts by Isiah Medina
Anand Sudha writes about oppression and revolution in Shyam Bengal’s Nishant. Continue reading Master and Slave (Masculine) Morality: ‘Nishant’ (1976)
Christian Flemm translates a Cahiers du Cinema interview with Robert Kramer on the occasion of the filmmaker’s birthday. Continue reading Translation: Interview with Robert Kramer
Ioannis Andronikidis traces the importance of passion, pause and desire through two works by the Greek filmmaker, referencing Audre Lorde, Clarice Lispector and Alain Resnais along the way. Continue reading Bodies De/Materialising: “Passion – Pause – Desire” in Frieda Liappa’s ‘Love Wanders in the Night’ (1981) and ‘The Years of the Big Heat’ (1991)
“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
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