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Open City Documentary Festival 2023
Institute of Contemporary Arts
Films
Thu 7 – Tue 12 September 2023

A brown hill against a teal sky
The Dragon is the Frame, dir. Mary Helena Clark, USA 2014

Open City Documentary Festival creates an open space in London to nurture and champion the art of non-fiction cinema. Alongside a rich programme of screenings, it brings together filmmakers and other practitioners to explore and debate the current landscape of documentary. Based at the UCL Anthropology’s Section for Public Anthropology, Open City also delivers training programmes, a bi-annual Non-Fiction journal, and events throughout the year that aim to challenge and expand the idea of documentary in all its forms.

More information on the Open City website
 
Programme

Two brutalist buildings against a bright white sky, looking like stacks of circles

Thu 7 Sep, 6:15pm
The first UK survey of the work from the American artist, including all her completed short films and more.


A man with a beard is being interviewed by a camera crew. A crowd looks on

Thu 7 Sep, 8:30pm
The first programme in the No Master Territories series includes works that challenge the representation and commodification of women’s bodies.


A black person with short hair looks through an old camera

Fri 8 Sep, 6:15pm
The second programme in the No Master Territories series examines the conditions of feminism under socialism.


Three women watch something offscreen with tired eyes

Fri 8 Sep, 8:30pm
Deepa Dhanraj’s film is a chilling examination of the brutal, coercive and corrupt nature of India’s family planning program.


Anne Charlotte Robertson's face against a brick building stairwell. She has dark blonde flowing hair

Sat 9 Sep, 2pm
Haden Guest discusses Anne Charlotte Robertson’s diaristic film practice within the longer history of the diary as an art form.


A group of hands prepare a large mound of dough into strips

Sat 9 Sep, 3:30pm
The third programme in the No Master Territories series brings together two films by Chilean filmmakers in exile in the 1980s.


A person with earrings and a red butterfly hairpiece blows a small bubble gum bubble

Sat 9 Sep, 6:15pm
A selection of avant-garde non-fiction works from the Harvard Film Archive explores documentary’s potential of worldmaking.


A woman lovingly holds the face and neck of a younger man. She stares into his eyes, he looks down slightly away from her gaze

Sat 9 Sep, 8:30pm
A new instalment in Open City’s ongoing series in collaboration with the Non-Aligned Film Archives.


An elderly Japanese couple stand in front of a wooden house, smiling

Sun 10 Sep, 2:15pm
Two Japanese documentary films that look at the issue of care for the elderly.


Two young people sit on the floor, sharing a spread of books and magazines

Sun 10 Sep, 5:45pm
The final programme in the No Master Territories series looks at autobiography, family and selfhood.


An elderly person sits in a balcony on their chair, glasses in hand

Sun 10 Sep, 8pm
Reena Mohan’s portrait of Kamlabai Gokhale, one of India’s first actors, offers a unique perspective on the history of Indian cinema.


A person's portrait stuck to some kind of bureaucratic form, reading 'Particulars Concerning The Driver'

Tue 12 Sep, 6:30pm
Open City Documentary Festival’s Closing Night celebrates the spirit and legacy of Margaret Tait, one of Britain’s original independent filmmakers.