7 - 26 February 2026
"A thought that forms a form that thinks" – Jean-Luc Godard
"His is instead a cinema of the cut, of difference, of reconsidering every assumption of more than a century’s worth of filmmaking. In practice, this means that each relationship available to the cinema must be rebuilt; nothing will be taken for granted within the frame." – Phil Coldiron, Cinema Scope
"Reality itself is a gap that isn’t consistent or complete...Since reality is incomplete we make films to be able to make reality complete in different ways." – Isiah Medina
There are few filmmakers working today, who are more committed to the inordinate possibilities of the cut and the transformative power of montage than Isiah Medina. Since he burst into the collective cinephile consciousness with his 2015 film 88:88, he has quietly been building a collection of idiosyncratic, formally arresting and uniquely current films, that move through mathematical theorems, ideological concepts and generic forms with the fleetness of thought in motion.
However, Isiah Medina's cinema is not merely a cinema of thoughts, rather, it is cinema as thought and thus filmmaking as thinking. This commitment to, and manifestation of, cinema-as-thought undergoes manifold revolutions, diversions, and variations of form across Medina's already extensive body of work, from the dizzying intellectual montage of Inventing the Future (2020) to the retooling of a classical genre in He Thought He Died (2023).
Bringing together all five of Isiah Medina's feature films to date, many of which are premiering in the UK for the very first time, alongside a curated selection of his expansive short film work, this retrospective offers an opportunity to trace one's own journey across the landscapes or rather synapses of this remarkable body of work.
The ICA is delighted to welcome Isiah Medina for an in-person Q&A following the UK Premiere of his latest film Gangsterism on the 20 February, as a part of our Off-Circuit series.
"A thought that forms a form that thinks" – Jean-Luc Godard
"His is instead a cinema of the cut, of difference, of reconsidering every assumption of more than a century’s worth of filmmaking. In practice, this means that each relationship available to the cinema must be rebuilt; nothing will be taken for granted within the frame." – Phil Coldiron, Cinema Scope
"Reality itself is a gap that isn’t consistent or complete...Since reality is incomplete we make films to be able to make reality complete in different ways." – Isiah Medina
There are few filmmakers working today, who are more committed to the inordinate possibilities of the cut and the transformative power of montage than Isiah Medina. Since he burst into the collective cinephile consciousness with his 2015 film 88:88, he has quietly been building a collection of idiosyncratic, formally arresting and uniquely current films, that move through mathematical theorems, ideological concepts and generic forms with the fleetness of thought in motion.
However, Isiah Medina's cinema is not merely a cinema of thoughts, rather, it is cinema as thought and thus filmmaking as thinking. This commitment to, and manifestation of, cinema-as-thought undergoes manifold revolutions, diversions, and variations of form across Medina's already extensive body of work, from the dizzying intellectual montage of Inventing the Future (2020) to the retooling of a classical genre in He Thought He Died (2023).
Bringing together all five of Isiah Medina's feature films to date, many of which are premiering in the UK for the very first time, alongside a curated selection of his expansive short film work, this retrospective offers an opportunity to trace one's own journey across the landscapes or rather synapses of this remarkable body of work.
The ICA is delighted to welcome Isiah Medina for an in-person Q&A following the UK Premiere of his latest film Gangsterism on the 20 February, as a part of our Off-Circuit series.
Programme
Saturday 7 February, 2.30pm
Saturday 21 February, 12.15pm
Short films by Isiah Medina
This programme brings together a selection of Isiah Medina's short films tracing a variety of formal and narrative evolutions in his work, spanning an entire decade from 2010 to 2020.
Tuesday 10 February, 6.30pm
Saturday 21 February, 2pm
88:88
Taking its title from the reset that displays on an appliance after the power has been cut, Isiah Medina's debut feature 88:88, is a profoundly humanistic and densely layered exploration of suspension and the running in place reality of contemporary life.
Thursday 12 February, 6.30pm
Sunday 22 February, 4.30pm
UK PREMIERE
Inventing the Future
Following the deeply personal 88:88, Isiah Medina turns to adaptation with his second feature, tackling Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams' 2015 post-work manifesto, to craft another radical work of montage that explores everything from the failings of neo-liberalism to the tactile reality of free time.
Saturday 14 February, 2pm
Wednesday 25 February, 6.45pm
UK PREMIERE
Night is Limpid
Isiah Medina's third feature marks another key evolution in his work, with performance and character coming into greater focus, as he continues to develop his cinema-of-thought through the form of a philosophical hangout movie.
Sunday 15 February, 2pm
Thursday 26 February, 4.30pm
UK PREMIERE
He Thought He Died
Commissioned by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Isiah Medina's fourth feature centres upon a painter staging a heist to steal back his paintings from the vault of a museum, and a filmmaker who just so happens to be conducting research at the museum on the very same day.
Friday 20 February, 6.30pm
More screenings from 21 February
UK PREMIERE
Gangsterism + Q&A
Isiah Medina strikingly reimagines the gangster picture in this profound and ironic examination of both depiction, endorsement, and the morality of making and consuming cinema. Followed by an in-person Q&A with Isiah Medina
Saturday 7 February, 2.30pm
Saturday 21 February, 12.15pm
Short films by Isiah Medina
This programme brings together a selection of Isiah Medina's short films tracing a variety of formal and narrative evolutions in his work, spanning an entire decade from 2010 to 2020.
Tuesday 10 February, 6.30pm
Saturday 21 February, 2pm
88:88
Taking its title from the reset that displays on an appliance after the power has been cut, Isiah Medina's debut feature 88:88, is a profoundly humanistic and densely layered exploration of suspension and the running in place reality of contemporary life.
Thursday 12 February, 6.30pm
Sunday 22 February, 4.30pm
UK PREMIERE
Inventing the Future
Following the deeply personal 88:88, Isiah Medina turns to adaptation with his second feature, tackling Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams' 2015 post-work manifesto, to craft another radical work of montage that explores everything from the failings of neo-liberalism to the tactile reality of free time.
Saturday 14 February, 2pm
Wednesday 25 February, 6.45pm
UK PREMIERE
Night is Limpid
Isiah Medina's third feature marks another key evolution in his work, with performance and character coming into greater focus, as he continues to develop his cinema-of-thought through the form of a philosophical hangout movie.
Sunday 15 February, 2pm
Thursday 26 February, 4.30pm
UK PREMIERE
He Thought He Died
Commissioned by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Isiah Medina's fourth feature centres upon a painter staging a heist to steal back his paintings from the vault of a museum, and a filmmaker who just so happens to be conducting research at the museum on the very same day.
Friday 20 February, 6.30pm
More screenings from 21 February
UK PREMIERE
Gangsterism + Q&A
Isiah Medina strikingly reimagines the gangster picture in this profound and ironic examination of both depiction, endorsement, and the morality of making and consuming cinema. Followed by an in-person Q&A with Isiah Medina
no. 236848.