26 November – 6 December 2026
Found in the realm between awe and fear, these films lay bare the ineffable through an engagement with the philosophical sublime. Bridging cultures, eras, and genres, the programme celebrates that which escapes the limits of human comprehension.
“The sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.” – Immanuel Kant
This season explores the immensity that defines the sublime, venturing into awe-inspiring encounters with something greater than ourselves. Whether it is through August in the Water’s cosmic epiphanies, Devi’s boundary-blurring between human and goddess, or Jauja’s traversing of a mystical land; each film bears witness to a collision of two vastly different worlds – the ordinary, and the incomprehensible.
As we enter a new era of the ecological and technological sublime, engagement with this philosophical notion becomes increasingly relevant. This short season asks us to question the sublime, viewing it as a potential experience we may one day – if not already – find ourselves acquainted with as we veer closer towards the great unknown. What can the artificial encounters these films simulate teach us about our own experiences of a world that bends beyond our understanding?
Found in the realm between awe and fear, these films lay bare the ineffable through an engagement with the philosophical sublime. Bridging cultures, eras, and genres, the programme celebrates that which escapes the limits of human comprehension.
“The sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.” – Immanuel Kant
This season explores the immensity that defines the sublime, venturing into awe-inspiring encounters with something greater than ourselves. Whether it is through August in the Water’s cosmic epiphanies, Devi’s boundary-blurring between human and goddess, or Jauja’s traversing of a mystical land; each film bears witness to a collision of two vastly different worlds – the ordinary, and the incomprehensible.
As we enter a new era of the ecological and technological sublime, engagement with this philosophical notion becomes increasingly relevant. This short season asks us to question the sublime, viewing it as a potential experience we may one day – if not already – find ourselves acquainted with as we veer closer towards the great unknown. What can the artificial encounters these films simulate teach us about our own experiences of a world that bends beyond our understanding?
This programme is curated by Aisha Rattan in partnership with the National Film and Television School and the ICA.
Programme
Thursday 26 November, 8.30pm
August in the Water + Introduction
When two meteorites strike Fukuoka, teen athlete Izumi suffers a diving accident that leaves her with a supernatural attunement to the universe. Teenage malaise spirals into ocean-tinted fever dreams in this rarely screened cosmic coming-of-age.
Sunday 29 November, 2.00pm
Devi + Introduction
An upper-class man dreams that his daughter-in-law is an earthly incarnation of Hindu goddess Kali. As her devotees increase, so does her unease, as she struggles with the prospect of existing as a living deity.
Sunday 6 December, 4.30pm
Jauja + Introduction
A man ventures into a realm existing beyond the limits of the human mind, in a desperate attempt to find his runaway daughter. Mythology meets existential perplexity in this painterly Patagonian period-western.
Thursday 26 November, 8.30pm
August in the Water + Introduction
When two meteorites strike Fukuoka, teen athlete Izumi suffers a diving accident that leaves her with a supernatural attunement to the universe. Teenage malaise spirals into ocean-tinted fever dreams in this rarely screened cosmic coming-of-age.
Sunday 29 November, 2.00pm
Devi + Introduction
An upper-class man dreams that his daughter-in-law is an earthly incarnation of Hindu goddess Kali. As her devotees increase, so does her unease, as she struggles with the prospect of existing as a living deity.
Sunday 6 December, 4.30pm
Jauja + Introduction
A man ventures into a realm existing beyond the limits of the human mind, in a desperate attempt to find his runaway daughter. Mythology meets existential perplexity in this painterly Patagonian period-western.
