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Visions From The Wake (12A)

Emerging Film Curators Film Series

,Cinema 2
A man and a woman look solemnly forward from a landscape.

Loss is a part of life, yet we often feel so isolated in our grief. These short films give form to our emotions, exploring alternative modes of mourning from filmmakers of the diaspora.

Composed of experimental, fiction and non-fiction shorts from the UK, Senegal, Cambodia and the US, the programme explore the radical potential of grief, dismantling capitalist and colonial narratives that frame grief as an emotion to be handled and hidden, a process in which you ‘get over’ mourning to return to prior order and productivity. Instead, these films look at the afterlives of grief and how it returns to us constantly.

Moving from a beachside in Dakar to a Google Maps view of Palestine, each film reveals how profound grief is a symptom of our love and dependence on one another. Rituals, digital landscapes and ghostly returns explore imaginative ways we can bear witness to loss and forge a new politics of empathy.

Tagged with: Cinema Emerging Curators 2023

Curated by Cici Peng.

Programme

Further and Further Away

2022, dir. Polen Ly | 23.41 mins | Cambodia:

Before their impending departure for the capital city, two siblings must first bid farewell to the place they called home and the resting place of their family, each in their own way.

 

Atlantiques

2009, dir. Mati Diop | 15.39 mins | Senegal:

A group of young men gather around a fire to share the stories of their harrowing journeys on pirogues, trying to get to Europe.

 

now I close my eyes, the world I see is so beautiful

2020, dir. April Lin 林森 | 3.45 mins | UK

A music video for experimental rapper OHYUNG samples lines from Taiwanese New Wave film Yi Yi, in which a young girl speaks to the ghost of her grandmother. Arpil Lin responds with an imaginary encounter between them and their grandfather across space, time and digital dimensions.

 

T

2019, dir. Keisha Ray Witherspoon | 13.50 mins | USA:

A film crew follows three grieving participants in Miami’s annual T Ball, where folks assemble to model RIP T-shirts and innovative costumes designed in honor of their dead.

Une Forteresse 

2018, dir. Miryam Charles | 6 mins | Canada/Haiti

Miryam Charles' poetic short A Fortress explores the landscapes of Haiti, as a mourning couple seek out a DNA specialist rumoured to be able to resurrect their recently deceased adoptive daughter.

 

Your Father was Born 100 Years Old, and So was the Nakba

2017, dir. Razan AlSalah | 7 mins | Canada/Palestine

This doc-fiction is a (re)construction, a (re)collection of the memory of returning to Haifa. It is an imaginary memory of retuning to Haifa. Razan AlSalah is imagining her grandmother was able to return to Haifa when she was still alive, through Google Streetview, which today is the only way she could see Palestine, the only way Razan can see Palestine.

 

Blessed Land

2019, dir Pham Ngoc Lan | 18.30 mins | Vietnam

In the dune landscape of a cemetery, or is it golf course? Past and present converge in the search for a grave.

Reading and Meditation

The event will be accompanied by an introductory reading from curator Cici Peng, a 10-minute guided meditation led by the musician and artist Rieko Whitfield, and a reading by writer and editor Suyin Haynes.

Postcards will be handed out at the end as an optional exercise for reflection and personal writing.

Cinema 2

Location
Barbican Cinema 2 & 3 are located on Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican’s Silk Street entrance. From Silk Street, you’ll see a zebra crossing that will take you across the road to the venue. 

Address
Beech Street
London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.