2020 LOCKDOWN

PLAY | PAUSE | STOP | REWIND

DOCUMENTARY

1 - 7 JUNE 2020

Introduction

What is a documentary? “A nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspects of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record.” (Wikipedia)

Documentaries since the early 20th century have been at the forefront of change and development; never afraid to challenge the audience's perception of the world that began when Robert J. Flaherty’s staged Nanook of the North (1922) and the technical achievements of Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera (1929) which gave us a kaleidoscopic view of Moscow. Each decade since then, filmmakers from all different backgrounds have picked up the baton, taking the form into new directions such as Leni Riefenstahl's Olympics (1938) which employed jump cuts, extreme close-ups, and tracking shots from the stands. As Arriflex cameras got smaller and more lightweight, filmmakers were able to record sync sound with the Nagra III which opened up the doors to a host of filmmakers in the 1960s who revelled in “direct cinema” - creating some groundbreaking work by filmmakers including the Maysles brothers and D. A. Pennebaker.

Bill Nichols‘ classic text Introduction to Documentary, outlines the six modes (or “sub-genres” or “types”) of documentaries. While there’s a lot of variation within, these are the six main categories of the genre in which all documentary films can be cast.

Poetic Documentaries first seen in the 1920s - The ultimate goal is to create a feeling rather than a truth. Expository Documentaries - Aim to inform and/or persuade often through omnipresent “Voice of God”  narration over the footage. Observational Documentaries - They aim to simply observe the world around them. The style attempts to give voice to all sides of an issue.

Participatory Documentaries - While having elements of Observational and Expository, they can include the filmmaker within the narrative. Reflexive Documentaries - Again they often include the filmmaker within the film but focus solely on themselves and the act of them making the film.

Performative Documentaries - They often connect personal accounts or experience juxtaposed with larger political or historical issues. This has sometimes been called the “Michael Moore” style, as he often uses his own personal stories as a way to construct social truths.

We are now in such a wonderful period of documentaries where world-class filmmakers such as Kim Longintotto are dedicating their lives to making films which give us access to stories and places that we would never have the chance to see.  

Since 2018 he has programmed the Folkestone Harbour Screen and from 2019, the monthly documentary club at Folkestone Quarterhouse. He is also the festival director of the inaugural Folkestone Documentary Festival which will takes place at The Folkestone Quarterhouse.

Founded in 2012 by Jan Dunn and James Collie, Violet Pictures is a Kent based, documentary film distributor. Violet Pictures has released a number of films, which include Sundance, Emmy, and SXSW award winners. Their partners include Curzon Home Cinema, Mubi and independent cinemas across the country. Their next release is the fascinating Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project which is available on demand from the 24th of July.

James has selected a programme of the following films:  The Driver is Red (15 mins) - Randall Christopher, The Full Story - Daisy Jacobs (8 mins), World Of Tomorrow (17 mins) - Don Hertzfeldt

Programme 1 Documentary

Curated by James Collie

We asked James Collie, Director of the Folkestone Quarterhouse Doc Club and Violet Pictures to curate a series of animated short films and documentaries.

“I was captivated by animated documentaries and feature films once I saw Waltz With Bashir a decade ago. I immersed myself with other films in the canon such as Richard Linklaker's Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. I’m excited to present a programme of animated short docs and narrative films to highlight some fantastic short form work from talented filmmakers.”

James has over 15 years of film industry experience which includes producing, programming and distribution work. His innovative, hands-on approach to distribution encourages innovation and collaboration, helping independent filmmakers navigate a highly competitive marketplace whilst elevating the profile of their projects.

ANIMATION

8 - 14 JUNE

Introduction

Experience reimagined histories, compelling documentaries and curious visions of our future. Director Abigail Addison will present a selection of Animate’s productions which feature a range of animation techniques, including stop motion, collage, charcoal, digital, ink and paint. 

Z, Alan Warburton (2012) Shift, Max Hattler (2012) Regarding Gardens, Carolina Melis (2012) We Are Not Amused, Vicki Bennett (2013) Tiny People Tribe, Motomichi Nakamura (2013) Sleepless, Ellie Land (2016) Immunecraft, Eric Schockmel (2016) The Foundling, Leo Crane (2018) 144 Units, Ian Gouldstone (2018) Hold Tight, Jessica Ashman (2018) I’m OK, Elizabeth Hobbs (2018)   Bloomers, Samantha Moore (2019)

Animate Projects works at the intersection of film, art and animation. Led by producers/curators Abigail Addison (Folkestone) and Gary Thomas (Derby), they have worked with more than 150 artists and animators to produce award-winning experimental moving image work since 2007.

Programme 4 Japanese animation auteurs

curated by Nobuaki Doi and Abigail Addison

Experience work by four artist animators who have all won the Japan Grand Prix at New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, the only animation festival held inside an airport terminal building that is directed by curator and critic Nobuaki Doi.

Zdravstvuite!, Yoko Yuki, 2015, 6 mins Wandering Mouse, Nohara Tsukiji, 2019, 6 mins  Self-Honest Me, Kazuki Sekiguchi, 2017, 5 mins Autumn from Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons', Atsushi Wada, 2018, 11 mins

This programme will be screened live at 3 pm on 13 June 2020.

PROGRAMME 5 Paul Bush

Paul Bush

'What is so extraordinary about this body of work is the passionate clarity of the ideas that fuel it and the formal precision of the narrative and cinematographic structures which allow the viewer in.' Leslie Dick

'Paul Bush is part scavenger, part inventor. Nothing is out of bounds and everything is worth trying. This is what makes Bush's work so welcoming; you never know what you are in for but you know it will be smart, funny, provocative and unique.' Chris Robinson

'The secret preoccupation of these films, finally, is beauty. It may be the case that the film-maker, in focusing so relentlessly on issues of time, narrative, history, the intersection of the graphic and the cinematic, and the question of clarity of presentation, doesn't himself see it but the viewer does. As if beauty were a necessary by-product of these investigations, beyond the intention of the artist, yet an inevitable result of his rigorous control and passionate pursuit of meaning.' Leslie Dick

Programme 6 Animation

Astrid Goldsmith

VIDEO ART

15 - 21 JUNE

Introduction

Video art emerged towards the middle of the twentieth century, initially as a direct response to television as a ubiquitous and dominant influence on the domestic landscape. Early work in the genre by artists centred on the rejection of conventional broadcast television and included efforts to create radical alternatives to the one-way diffusion of information and propaganda by governments and large corporations. During the 1970‘s and 80‘s, as television technology developed to include methods for the recording and editing of the video signal, artists and media activists took up the increasingly accessible and affordable equipment to explore the capabilities and potential of this electronic medium beyond the broadcast domain to alternative venues, including galleries and museums. As video technologies and techniques improved to approach the flexibility and capabilities of film- especially once it became possible to process the video image digitally, the two forms have increasingly merged, sharing approaches and cross- fertilising two formerly distinct but related genres into what for many is now perhaps more accurately characterised as Time Based media.

Chris Meigh-Andrews, May 2020

Programme 8 Video Art

Both Sides Now 5: Queer

Curated by Isaac Leung (Videotage) & Jamie Wyld (Videoclub)

Both Sides Now 5 looks at the way in which artist filmmakers are exploring Queer culture, using various film and video techniques, to explore aspects of Queer life in Hong Kong, China, and the UK. 

British colonialism widely affected legal discrimination against LGBT people – specifically homosexual men. As in many ex-colonies, laws criminalising homosexuality were slow to change in Hong Kong, with decriminalisation taking until 1991, as opposed to 1967 in the UK. In 2019, laws regarding equality for LGBTQI+ people are almost equal. Though reception to Queer people in the UK and Hong Kong varies widely geographically, generationally and socially. With the rise of right-wing sentiments globally, the acceptance Queer people have enjoyed feels like it is in descent.

In response to post-colonialism and the rise of right-wing opinions, we have curated this programme to show a range of artworks that explore Queer identity and culture. Filmmakers from both sides explore aspects of LGBTQI+ life – with artists from both the UK and Hong Kong making work that reflects upon Queer identity, life, and creativity.

Artists in the programme include: Jay Bernard, Matt Lambert, Anson Mak, Fan Po Po, Nicole Pun, Lucie Rachel and Kayla Wu.

Both Sides Now is a tactical programme that uses film and video to explore culture and society between different nations, the UK, China and Hong Kong, and beyond. It is a project developed in collaboration between videoclub (UK) and Videotage (Hong Kong). Supported by Arts Council England and Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

Both Sides Now 5 attempts to reconsider queerness by looking into historical perspectives and its relevance to the present. Through this collection of films, we aim to investigate personal experiences and problematize the various notions of “queer” from local and global perspectives. Isaac Leung (Videotage) & Jamie Wyld (videoclub)

Where We Are Now, Lucie Rachel, 2016, Something Said, Jay Bernard, 2017, God is Watching, Matt Lambert, 2017, The Drum Tower, Fan Po Po, 2016, To Be Brandon, Nicole Pun, 2019, Differences Do Matter, Anson Mak, 1998, A Glass of  Water, Kayla Wu, 2019, 

Total programme run time: 52 mins

Programme 9 Video art

Joyous Dystopia

Curated by David Gryn, Founder & Director of Daata & Leilani Lynch, curator at The Bass

Featuring artists: Bob Bicknell-Knight, Jeremy Couillard, Keren Cytter, Elliot Dodd, Anaïs Duplan, Rosie McGinn, Eva Papamargariti, Scott Reeder.

Curated by David Gryn - Founder & Director of Daata & Leilani Lynch - curator at The Bass Joyous Dystopia was initially launched by The Bass² and Daata, as a dedicated online and Instagram project. The presented and screened by Daata, Bass Museum of Art & New World Symphony, during Art Basel in Miami Beach 2019. A selection of artworks by artists on Daata, originally presented by The Bass², a satellite gallery space of artwork native to the digital realm initiated by Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, in collaboration with Daata in July 2019. All the artworks subtly distort, poeticise and comment on readings, interpretations and postings online and on social media, mirroring views of our daily and sometimes dystopian life. The artists were commissioned by Daata, in tandem with The Bass². 

http://daata.art @thebasssquared @daataeditions

Programme 10 Video art

Climbing Mount Ishizuchi in the Autumn

Chris Meigh-Andrews

In October 2018 I climbed the series of four chain routes to reach the summit of Mt Ishizuchi, the path of the pilgrimage route on Mount Ishizuchi, a holy mountain in western Japan, recording the sounds and images of my ascent in 5.7K video with a Garmin VIRB 360 camera.  The panoramic images and sounds of the mountain landscape I have recorded reflect my fascination with the cross-fertilization of Eastern and Western aesthetic sensibilities, both for the landscape and it’s tradition in art and for the intersection between nature and technology, which has been a major theme in my work for many years.  

Mt. Ishizuchi, located in Saijo City in Ehime prefecture is one of Japan’s Seven Holy Mountains and has been worshiped for around 1300 years. The Ishizuchi Shrine which holds the holy embodiment of the mountain, consists of four shrines: the main shrine at the foot of Mt. Ishizuchi, Jouju Shrine and the Tsuchigoya front shrine on the mountain side, and a shrine at the peak. From Jouju Shrine up to the mountain top is a 3-4 hour (one-way) mountain climbing route. There are four heavy iron chains which are used to climb up the perpendicular rock face. 

Maurice Merleau-Ponty observed in his seminal essay Eye and Mind that “the artist takes his body with him” (sic), and this idea has been influential on my work for many years. The conventional video camera looks out at the world most often via a fixed stare, and in my video work I have often attempted to find ways to counter this to recreate and express the complex dynamics of human perception. “Climbing Mt Ishizuchi...” returns to the subject of the landscape, but by working with immersive display technology I am seeking to make a work which will present images (and sounds) of the landscape in relation to a direct experience of the human body.  In this new work the camera has recorded the relationship between my body and the surrounding environment; the physical activity and effort of climbing the route has been documented in continuous “real-time” and the immersive version will allow the viewer to engage with this experience more directly. As an artist who has chosen to work and engage directly with technological devices, I seek ways to highlight both my fascination with emerging imaging technologies and to expand the potential ways in which the landscape genre can be expanded and redefined. 

I have been exploring the potential of panoramic imagery in my work for some time. Previous video installations that feature digital panoramic camera devices include “Interwoven Motion” (2004), “The Monument Project (Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumspice)” (2009-2011) and “In Darwin’s Garden” (2010-2013). Each of these works is concerned with different aspects of the application of panoramic technical devices and seeks to examine the possibilities of spatio-temporality in diverse ways, but for the most part from a fixed- or at least quite limited geographical location, and all have been limited to the visual aspect. “Climbing Mt Ishizuchi in the Autumn” is the first of my landscape works to incorporate spatial sound as an integral element, and the first to directly engage with the spiritual dimension of the landscape, specifically the Buddhist acknowledgement of the transitory nature of existence. In my approach to this new work I would also like to acknowledge or reference the Japanese tradition of Sansui-ga, (“Mountains and Water”) an approach to the art of landscape in which the human figure is just a random and transient phenomenon within the more timeless landscape.

CM-A, 2020

EXPERIMENTAL FILM

22 - 28 JUNE

Programme 11: Experimental Film

Experimental film has a long and complex history; emerging during the inception of film technologies during the end of the 19th century and growing up in parallel with the more dominant forms of narrative and documentary. Whilst drawing on both these traditions, experimental film-makers and artists also sought to establish their own unique techniques and tropes, firmly rejecting what might be perceived as literary forms, in favour of the poetic and rhythmic potential of the medium as well as exploring the possibilities of abstraction and non-representation and the expression of alternative political ideologies. A survey of the multiple approaches and forms of the genre includes a complex diversity of approaches and themes and features a rigorous experimentation with the formal qualities of the medium, as well as a celebration of the potential of film (and sound) as a fluid and plastic medium with extraordinary expressive and persuasive emotional power.

Video art emerged much later, towards the middle of the twentieth century, initially as a direct response to television as a ubiquitous and dominant influence on the domestic landscape. Early work in the genre by artists centred on the rejection of conventional broadcast television and included efforts to create radical alternatives to the one-way diffusion of information and propaganda by governments and large corporations. During the 1970‘s and 80‘s, as television technology developed to include methods for the recording and editing of the video signal, artists and media activists took up the increasingly accessible and affordable equipment to explore the capabilities and potential of this electronic medium beyond the broadcast domain to alternative venues, including galleries and museums. As video technologies and techniques improved to approach the flexibility and capabilities of film- especially once it became possible to process the video image digitally, the two forms have increasingly merged, sharing approaches and cross - fertilising two formerly distinct but related genres into what for many is now perhaps more accurately characterised as time based-media.

Chris Meigh-Andrews, May 2020.

Experimental film, experimental cinema or avant-garde cinema is a term used to define film-making that explores non-narrative forms and alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working.

The writer and artist Chris Meigh-Andrews has selected works by Andrew Demirjian (USA), Robert Cahen (France), Narsica Hirsch (Argentina) and Ruben Guzman (Argentina), Tessa Garland (UK), Masayuki Kwai (Japan), Vince Briffa (Malta), Madelon Hooykaas (Netherlands), Jacques Perconte (France), Stuart Moore & Kayla Parker (UK), Visual Brains (Sei Kazama & Ohtsue Hatsune) (Japan), Terry Flaxton (UK).

CINEMA: STORY TELLING

28 JUNE - 5 JULY

David Austen  | Sarah Beddington |  Andrew Kötting | Joel Snowman | Oona Grimes

Introduction

The final category that concludes Part 1 of Strangelove Online looks at Cinema. In the all the previous sections from Documentary, Animation, Video Art, Experimental Film we have outlined some of the possible strands of the area referred to as time-based media, and in particular over these last five weeks, have focused on the moving image. We are interested in the crossover, the place where boundaries are blurred and where barriers breakdown.  We placed these different categories, not to in-prison works with these narrow confines but rather to try and outline the edges. All art, in some degree or another deal with documentation, exploration, truth and fiction. 

Perhaps one of the ways that we define cinema in contrast to video art for example, is that cinema has a base in story telling,  Unlike video art which has roots in performance and sculpture, cinema has a greater relationship with both literature and painting. 

For this selection, we have chosen five films that deal with story telling in different ways.  Andrew Kötting and Sarah Beddington tell their stories within the backdrop of landscape. Each film explores narration as a tool to reveal the story. In Kötting, we see something that links to a Becket landscape with a Becket like character. In Beddington’s film, she explores the relationship between place and people using the parable of birds, taking a poem as its main narrative drive.

In the work of David Austen, the action is focused on a comic corpse. (to corpse in theatrical terms is to forget your line,) a story which also tips a hat to Beckett. Austen is a picture maker and the work plays with the idea of a still life. This links to Oona Grimes, also a visual artist, this animation works on the idea of a kind of post-storyboard and uncovers the act of memory, which is an important aspect of all film making.  Finally the work of Joel Snowman, who describes himself as a skateboarder/director, Whiskey Lemonade is a gentle and pragmatic observation about his hometown of Folkestone. Using a documentary format he records the changing and developing city scape and the people who occupy the streets and beaches.

Programme 12 : Their rancid words stagnate our ponds

Andrew Kötting

THEIR RANCID WORDS STAGNATE OUR PONDS 2018 8 minutes, 40 seconds

In a hinterland within the ‘elsewhere’, a lone character meanders in search of meaning and understanding. Hither and dither doth he wander reflecting upon all things that came before and all things hereafter. The work is a companion piece to Kötting’s latest feature film LEK AND THE DOGS and was shot in the Atacama desert in Chile. Produced to run on a loop in a gallery ‘space’ or as a single screen the film exemplifies Köttings ability to take an idea and run with it until it spills over into the expanded cinematic ‘elsewhere’. With the beguiling presence of French performance artist Xavier Tchili and sublime cinematography by Nick Gordon-Smith the work is designed to be experienced within the pitch black and the sound up high.

Programme 13: The Logic of the Birds

Sarah Beddington

The Logic of the birds, 2017 (17’55) was filmed in Palestine.

The narration includes texts from the poem, Mantiq Al-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds) Sholeh Wolpé, in the foreword of her modern translation of this work writes says

The parables in this book trigger memories deep within us all. The stories inhabit the imagination, and slowly over time, their wisdom trickles down into the heart. The process of absorption is unique to every individual, as is each person’s journey. We are the birds in the story. All of us have our own ideas and ideals, our own fears and anxieties, as we hold on to our own version of the truth. Like the birds of this story, we may take flight together, but the journey itself will be different for each of us. Attar tells us that truth is not static, and that we each tread a path according to our own capacity. It evolves as we evolve. Those who are trapped within their own dogma, clinging to hardened beliefs or faith, are deprived of the journey toward the unfathomable Divine, which Attar calls the Great Ocean.

Programme 14 : The Story Of My Death As Told To Me By Another

David Austen

The Story Of My Death As Told To Me By Another 2013-19 (4’04”)

Black and white 16mm film transferred to video, sound, 2 minutes and 40 seconds Story : Rupert Thomson Camera : Benjamin Pritchard, Sam Austen Sound: Kate BlandThe story of my death as told to me by another, we see the artist in minimal clown make up and nautical attire, lying still and floating in blank space,

As the camera draws closer to him we hear a voice-over script written by Austen’s friend, novelist Rupert Thomson, inspired by a dream the writer had of the artist’s inexplicable death. Like his painting, drawing, and sculptural works, the films craft surreal new realms for us to step into and linger a while, before emerging back into reality.

Programme 15: Whiskey Lemonade

Joel Snowman 

Whiskey Lemonade 2018 (1’ 34”)

The film is a sort of visual diary from March 2017 - March 2018, logging changing landscapes, people, weather, animals and collected conversations from Folkestone's bus passengers. Soundtracked by local musicians and friends. 

Joel Snowman, has lived in Folkestone all his life; (so far) Joel’s first entries into filmmaking were skateboarding films on super 8 and a series of music videos

Programme 16: murd story board: moving 2020

Oona Grimes

murd story board: moving 2020 (2’24”)

Mis-remembering and re-inventing Fellini's La Strada [1954]. Rapid fire images and actions create unplanned collisions and flashes of accidental animation.

La strada ("The Road"') directed by Federico Fellini from his own screenplay co-written with Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman (Giulietta Masina) bought from her mother by Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a brutish strongman who takes her with him on the road.