Trieste: In Between States by Tereza Stehlikova and Deborah Levy
An impressionistic documentary about Trieste, with its unique history of fluctuating fortunes, positioned on cross roads of different cultures and political states, what Jan Morris described “a hallucinatory city, where fantasy easily brushes with fact”. The film embodies this search for utopia, a “mythical homeland” , a point of arrival which by definition remains forever out of reach, while the powerful impulse behind it becomes the fuel for the filmmaker’s own artistic process.
Directed by Tereza Stehlikova
Creative collaborator: Deborah Levy
Music: Yumi Mashiki
Year of completion: 2016
Duration: 18:51 min
An exploration of how 20th century poetry, rooted in the modernist and avant-garde, has interwined, intersected and collaborated with its equivalent in film and cinema culture in general. With a focus on London and with screenings, live performance, events, multiple new commissions, talks, panels and readings, Enemies Close Up will be a dynamic programme of cross disciplinary events.
Curated by SJ Fowler and Joshua Alexander, with support from Gareth Evans.
November Saturday 26th at Close Up - The Wormwood Pilgrimage
A premiere screening of Tereza Stehlikova and SJ Fowler's collaborative film about disappearing West London - in the shadow of the ominous Old Oak Development, a conceptual, poetic exploration of Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow, Willesden, Wormwood Scrubs and the Grand Union canal.
January 21st at Whitechapel Gallery - Cinematic Ekphrasis: a one day festival / symposium.
Drawing on the rich history of British avant-garde cinema and literature, and its collaborations, intersections, interruptions and overlaps, a day of talks, performances, screenings and readings. Featuring films and talks by Iain Sinclair, Lotje Sodderland, Dave Spittle, Asta Fanney Sigurtharsdottir, Tereza Stehlikova and Deborah Levy and the launch of the limited edition poetry collection Cinema Poems by SJ Fowler.
February Saturday 4th at Close Up - The Animal Films
A premiere screening of Josh Alexander and SJ Fowler's ongoing experimental film project, calling on the miserabalist, absurdist traditions of post-war European avant garde theatre and poetry, Short biting films that explore the sad, macabre, abstract threat of contemporary London culture and psychological geography.
March Saturday 4th at Close Up - Celebrating bp nichol and The Complete Works
To mark the English premiere of Justin Stephenson's remarkable, experimental filmic celebration of the Canadian avant-garde poetry legend and pioneering figure in experimental literature, poets and writers will read works from nichol's extensive canon in a unique event matching cinema and poetry. https://thecompleteworks.ca/
March date to be announced - Blindness by Sam Winston
An interactive experience of sensory deprivation, an art installation as event and experience, responding to specific environment of the cinema and with a specially designed sound experience by Jamie Perera.