27 March – 2 April
Eleven Miles (Egaro Mile), dir. Ruchir Joshi, India 1991, 160 min.
The Essay Film Festival returns to the ICA for its sixth edition, presenting a global range of contemporary and restored essayistic works which explore the critical and creative zones of possibility that lie between experimental and documentary modes of filmmaking.
New work by the Otolith Group and restored essay films by Ruchir Joshi engage with the cultural history and politics of India, providing imaginative and insightful perspectives on the educational projects of Rabindranath Tagore, the wandering Baal musicians, and the changing cities of Ahmedabad and Kolkata.
From Argentina, France, UK and the Philippines come challenging found-footage experiments by Leandro Listorti, Frank Beauvais, Sarah Wood and John Torres, which critically examine the status and uses of images today.
And US artists Garrett Bradley and Cauleen Smith investigate and celebrate the depth and diversity of African American lives past and present with works that, like all good essay films, invite the viewer into an ongoing conversation.
The Essay Film Festival is a collaboration between the ICA and
Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image, with support from the CHASE Doctoral Training Partnership.
The full programme of this year’s festival, including screenings and discussions at Birkbeck Cinema, the Goethe-Institut and the Institut Français, can be found
here.
