Three women declaim excerpts from Gerda Lerner’s book Black Women in White America (1972), from memory, to the camera. Shot in the South Side of Chicago, this simple gesture summons up several stories of African-American women during the time of slavery. While confrontational, there is pride in the women’s delivery.
Also in this combined programme
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Crow Requiem
Smith brings together the forced migration of birds, the treatment of people of colour and Syracuse’s connection to the birth of stereoscopic
-
Solar Flare Arkestral Marching Band
A flash-mob performance of Sun Ra’s anthem Space Is the Place, performed by The Rich South High School Marching Band.
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Pilgrim
A recording of a piano performance by Alice Coltrane guides Cauleen Smith through three sites of creativity and generosity across the USA.
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Lessons in Semaphore
A silent film celebrating dialogue. Choreographer Taisha Paggett dances on a grassy empty lot in Chicago, communicating in semaphore.
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Chronicles of a Lying Spirit by Kelly Gabron
Speaking through her alter ego and a male voice, Cauleen Smith’s biography contrasts semi-true fiction with media representation.
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H-E-L-L-O
Greetings to mankind! The five-note sequence from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) is performed outdoors by New Orleans musicians.
Film details
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2017
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2019
- Length
- 10"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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Crow Requiem
Smith brings together the forced migration of birds, the treatment of people of colour and Syracuse’s connection to the birth of stereoscopic
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The Tears of a Mudlark
Live performance with vintage magic lantern and handmade slides tells the story of an outlaw: a science-fiction fable for the Anthropocene.