Women Artists at the Intersection of Documentary, Video Art, and Avant-garde, 2018

This curatorial project—a screening and speaker series—zoomed in on contemporary video and experimental cinema artists that broadly engage the documentary form. The series brought together three women filmmakers working at the intersection of documentary, experimental cinema, and video art. The project was co-organized and co-curated with Joshua Malitsky and presented by IU Cinema.

Luz Obscura (2017) by Susana de Sousa Dias

Taking the material gathered in archives of the Portuguese political police, Luz Obscura (2017) mines the psychological aftermath of António Salazar dictatorship. The film is composed of still images, often mug shots and other official photographs of identification—images produced by and in service of the state—with intimate voiceover commentary. Through modes of testimony, witness, and archive, the films explore and reveals how overarching structures of power operate within and mold family and community. 

Stand in the Stream (2017) by Stanya Kahn

Fast-paced, personal, and urgent, Stand in the Stream (2017) weaves together the narrative of Kahn’s activist mother’s physical and mental deterioration and death, the birth of Kahn’s son, and Kahn’s own role as a mother and child, all amidst the changing political landscape. The narrative lines shift from macro to micro in one breath, marrying intimate family-movie footage with to live steams from Tahrir Square, protests at Standing Rock, and Trump’s inauguration. Shot on multiple cameras and formats the film itself is a document of the ever-changing digital medium.

What I’m Looking For (2004) and A Strange New Beauty (2017) by Shelly Silver

Rooted in the tradition of a film-essay, What I’m Looking For (2014) documents the adventure of a woman who sets out to photograph moments of intimacy, posting a request to an on-line dating service: “I’m looking for people who would like to be photographed in public revealing something of themselves…” The video is a rumination on the nature of image making, seeing, desire and control. A Strange New Beauty (2017) is an experimental documentary that offers a disturbing intrusion into luxurious homes of Silicon Valley.