Bard Professor Sky Hopinka Named 2022 MacArthur Fellow
Bard College Assistant Professor of Film and Electronic Arts Sky Hopinka has been named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. Hopinka, a filmmaker, video artist, and photographer, is one of this year’s 25 recipients of the prestigious “genius grant” awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In a statement about his work, the MacArthur Foundation says, “Hopinka layers imagery, sound, and text to create an innovative cinematic language. His short and feature-length films traverse both Indigenous histories and contemporary experiences . . . Hopinka is creating a body of work that not only represents the lives of Indigenous peoples but incorporates their worldviews into the strategies of representation itself.”
Bard Professor Sky Hopinka Named 2022 MacArthur Fellow
Bard College Assistant Professor of Film and Electronic Arts Sky Hopinka has been named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. Hopinka, a filmmaker, video artist, and photographer, is one of this year’s 25 recipients of the prestigious “genius grant” awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In a statement about his work, the MacArthur Foundation says, “Hopinka layers imagery, sound, and text to create an innovative cinematic language. His short and feature-length films traverse both Indigenous histories and contemporary experiences . . . Hopinka is creating a body of work that not only represents the lives of Indigenous peoples but incorporates their worldviews into the strategies of representation itself.”
The MacArthur Fellowship is a no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential. There are three criteria for selection of MacArthur Fellows: exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishments, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work. Recipients may be writers, scientists, artists, social scientists, humanists, teachers, entrepreneurs, or those in other fields, with or without institutional affiliations. Although nominees are reviewed for their achievements, the fellowship is not a lifetime achievement award, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential.
MacArthur Fellows receive $800,000 stipends that are bestowed with no conditions; recipients may use the money as they see fit. Nominated anonymously by leaders in their respective fields and considered by an anonymous selection committee, recipients learn of their selection only when they receive a call from the MacArthur Foundation just before the public announcement. Thirteen Bard faculty members have previously been honored with a MacArthur Fellowship.
Sky Hopinka received a BA (2012) from Portland State University and an MFA (2016) from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. He is currently an assistant professor in the Film and Electronic Arts Program at Bard College. His work has been shown at numerous film festivals including Sundance, Park City and Salt Lake City, UT; Courtisane, Ghent; Punto de Vista, Pamplona; Milwaukee Film Festival; Chicago Underground Film Festival; Toronto International Film Festival; and Ann Arbor Film Festival. He has also exhibited work at venues including Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City. Hopinka is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and a descendent of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians.
Bard alumnus and artist Paul Chan MFA '03 has also been named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. "He draws on a wealth of cultural touchstones—from classical philosophy to modern literature, critical theory, and hip-hop culture—to produce works that respond to our current political and social realities, making those realities more immediately available to the mind for contemplation and critical reflection," stated the MacArthur Foundation.
Paul Chan received a BFA (1996) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA (2003) from Bard College. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at such national and international venues as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Drawing Center, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and Schaulager, Basel. He is also the founder and publisher of Badlands Unlimited (established 2010). He received the Bard College Alumni/ae Association’s Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters in 2021.
Sky Hopinka, assistant professor of film and electronic arts, talks with the BBC about his new documentary, Kicking the Clouds, which has been shortlisted for the BBC's LongShots film festival. Hopinka, who is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño people, talks about how a 50-year-old recording of a language lesson between his mother and grandmother sparked the film, which the BBC calls “dreamy and soulful ... a poetic road trip into the history of a family and the disappearing language of a tribe.”
A 50-Year-Old Tape that Speaks My Language: Professor Sky Hopinka on the Inspiration for His New Documentary, Kicking the Clouds
Sky Hopinka, assistant professor of film and electronic arts, talks with the BBC about his new documentary, Kicking the Clouds, which has been shortlisted for the BBC's LongShots film festival. Hopinka, who is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño people, talks about how a 50-year-old recording of a language lesson between his mother and grandmother sparked the film, which the BBC calls “dreamy and soulful ... a poetic road trip into the history of a family and the disappearing language of a tribe.”
From September 8 to September 19, viewers can vote for their favorite film and choose the winner of the LongShots Audience Award. Dedicated this year to the theme of “Journeys,” LongShots spotlights the best short documentaries from the most interesting emerging filmmakers worldwide, handpicked by some of the most prestigious film festivals around the world.
Assistant Professor of Film and Electronic Arts and Director of Film and Electronic Arts Ephraim Asili directed the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2023 Men’s fashion show in Paris. A tribute to Victor Abloh, fashion designer and creative director for Louis Vuitton who passed away in November 2021, the show opened with a cinematic prelude conceived and directed by Asili. Asili’s film, titled Strange Math, explores the relationship between imagination and reality, which are central themes to the collection.
Bard Film Professor Ephraim Asili Directs Louis Vuitton’s Spring-Summer 2023 Men’s Fashion Show in Paris
Assistant Professor of Film and Electronic Arts and Director of Film and Electronic Arts Ephraim Asili directed the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2023 Men’s fashion show in Paris. A tribute to Victor Abloh, fashion designer and creative director for Louis Vuitton who passed away in November 2021, the show opened with a cinematic prelude conceived and directed by Asili. Asili’s film, titled Strange Math, explores the relationship between imagination and reality, which are central themes to the collection. The show’s soundtrack was a combination of the score for the film, “Enlightenment” by the Sun Ra Arkestra, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee's a live performing marching band The Marching 100, and featured live performance by Kendrick Lamar.
Bard Artist in Residence Kelly Reichardt Wins Carrosse d’Or, Premieres New Film Showing Up at Cannes Festival
Kelly Reichardt, S. William Senfeld Artist in Residence, received the Carrosse d’Or (or the Golden Coach), presented annually by France’s Society of Film Directors at the Cannes Film Festival. The honor pays tribute to “directors of innovative works with an uncompromising and daring spirit in directing and production.” Reichardt’s eighth feature, the “exquisite” art-scene comedy-drama Showing Up, is screening in competition at Cannes—one of only three of the 18 competition selections that are directed by women. The film finds Reichardt collaborating again with the actor Michelle Williams, with whom she began working more than a decade ago.
Bard Alumna Tiffany Sia ’10 and Assistant Professor Sky Hopinka Spoke on the Next Wave of Anticolonial Cinema for Art in America
In conversation with Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Bard alumna Tiffany Sia ’10 and Assistant Professor Sky Hopinka imagined “anticolonial futures for the moving image” for Art in America. Sia spoke to her current interests in the proliferation of moving images on social media and “the idea of film as witness.” “Film is potentially incriminating, if someone is documented doing something that may be considered a criminal act,” Sia said. Hopinka spoke to filmic intentionality, both with respect to its production and its audience. “I’m interested in focusing on very specific things within my own beliefs, family, tribe, or region,” Hopinka said, “not in catering to a white audience or white gaze.”
Three Bard Faculty Pen Reviews for May 2022 Edition of Artforum
Edith C. Blum Professor of Art History Susan Aberth, Critic in Residence Ed Halter, and Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Culture Alex Kitnick were published in the May 2022 edition of Artforum, alongside alumnus Tim Griffin MFA ’99. Aberth reviewed Supernatural America: The Paranormal in American Art, an exhibition on view now at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which includes work Aberth says “inspires us as we depart to contemplate how limited our human perceptions of this world and everything that surrounds it really are.” Halter reviewed the work of the Otolith Group, seeing in their body of work “intimations of a sixth sense that may be cinema’s truly primary role, an inner sense of space and time, of forward motion—that is to say, our deepest sense of orientation in the world, the basis for all image schemas and conceptual mapping.” Kitnick reviewed Lifes, on view now at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, an eclectic exhibition that includes, among other things, “nine marble lions occasionally mounted by dancers” and “a neo-Constructivist monument to interspecies intermingling.” Finally, Griffin reviewed the work of Virginia Overton, noting that her various sculptures “never quite let go of their histories.”
Bard Professor Sky Hopinka Honored with International Center of Photography 2022 Infinity Award in Art
The International Center of Photography (ICP) has honored Sky Hopinka, assistant professor of film and electronic arts, with a 2022 Infinity Award in Art. “ICP’s annual Infinity Awards celebrate visionary photographers and the power of the image,” said David E. Little, Executive Director of ICP. “This year, we honor artists whose bodies of work focus on environmental justice, climate change, conservation, and related environmental issues—among the most critical concerns of our time. We are proud to acknowledge the winners not only for their work, but for their contributions to conversations furthering images and imagemaking as forms of empowerment and catalysts for social change.”
The 2022 Infinity Award Categories and Recipients are: Sebastião Salgado (Lifetime Achievement), Gabriela Hearst (Trustees), Sky Hopinka (Art), Esther Horvath (Emerging Photographer) and Acacia Johnson (Documentary Practice and Photojournalism). Recipients were honored at the 38th Annual Infinity Awards at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. ICP is the world’s leading museum and school dedicated to photography and visual culture. Its annual Infinity Awards are among the leading honors for excellence in the field.
New Red Order, the Indigenous Art Collective Cofounded by Bard Alumni Adam Khalil ’11 and Zack Khalil ’14, Will Both Curate and Produce Work for Counterpublic Triennial
Bard alumni Adam ’11 and Zack Khalil ’14, cofounders of the Indigenous art collective New Red Order, worked with Counterpublic on their upcoming triennial, which will run May 15 to August 15, 2023, “pulling double duty as both participating artists and curators,” writes Taylor Dafoe for Artnet. The triennial will be installed along a six-mile stretch of Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. New Red Order will produce work focusing on “what is locally referred to as Mound City, partnering with the Osage Nation to make a film documenting the tribe’s efforts to repatriate the landmark.” Alumna Diya Vij ’08 will also curate the exhibition.
Bard Sophomore Sydney Oshuna-Williams ’24 Honored as a Newman Civic Fellow
Sydney Oshuna-Williams ’24, who is majoring in film and electronic arts and philosophy, has been recognized for her commitment to solving public problems. Campus Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities working to advance the public purposes of higher education, has named Oshuna-Williams one of 173 student civic leaders who will make up the organization’s 2022–2023 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows. The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes students who stand out for their commitment to creating positive change in communities locally and around the world.
As the founder of the Me In Foundation, Oshuna-Williams seeks to increase artistic education opportunities for underrepresented youth through social and cultural awareness year-round programming. In her first semester at Bard College, Oshuna-Williams created the Me In Foundation as a Trustee Leader Scholar project. The Foundation allows youth scholars to share their stories through a variety of different art forms and currently works with over one-hundred and fifty K-12 students in Upstate New York and Atlanta. Oshuna-Williams is also a Mogul in Training at Usher Raymond’s non-profit organization, Usher’s New Look, where she facilitates conversations centered around college and career readiness as well as financial literacy. Oshuna-Williams continues to use her passion for storytelling to bring untold truths to the surface because, as she says, “Every story deserves to be heard by the characters who live it."
Through the fellowship, Campus Compact will provide these students with a year of learning and networking opportunities that emphasize personal, professional, and civic growth. Each year, fellows participate in numerous virtual training and networking opportunities to help provide them with the skills and connections they need to create large-scale positive change. The cornerstone of the fellowship is the Annual Convening of Fellows, which offers intensive skill-building and networking over the course of two days. The fellowship also provides fellows with pathways to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities.
The fellowship is named for the late Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, who was a tireless advocate for civic engagement in higher education. In the spirit of Dr. Newman’s leadership, fellows are nominated by Campus Compact member presidents and chancellors, who are invited to select one outstanding student from their campus each year.
“Sydney Oshuna-Williams, a second year Posse scholar at Bard College, is a very active student addressing mental health healing in our student body (as a peer health educator specializing in the healing of BIPOC students) and securing pathways to creative careers for kids in our neighboring communities. Sydney is currently serving as a peer counselor (Bard's version of residential advisor) to support students in their living environments and a Sister2Sister mentor (a student-led mentorship program providing guidance and opportunity to young women of color). Sydney also partners Bard's neighboring school districts with schools in her home state of Georgia to bridge opportunity across geographical limitations,” said Bard President Botstein.
Pasolini and the Sacred: A Lecture/Discussion by Professor Karen Raizen
Chapel of the Holy Innocents6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EST/GMT-5 PASOLINI AND THE SACRED
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) was an Italian filmmaker, poet, journalist, and public intellectual. Contradiction defined his life and work: he was a communist who rejected and was rejected by the Italian communist party, a gay man who refused to be a spokesperson for the gay community, a bourgeois intellectual who idealized the subproletariat. He was also an avowed atheist whose gaze was turned obsessively toward representations of the sacred. He sought out the sacred in lands far removed from his own—places like Yemen and Tanzania—while still hoping to find traces of it in the fast-paced world of his native Italy during the post-War economic boom. The figure of Christ was omnipresent in his works, as was the ambiguous specter of the Catholic Church. He invested in the sacred as a language, an aesthetic, a currency, a lost past, and a fading present. In this discussion, we will explore Pasolini’s complex, often contradictory views on the sacred.
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Chapel of the Holy Innocents
12/08
Thursday
Thursday, December 8, 2022
American Avant-Garde Film, 1940-1970: Around 1970
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
(nostalgia) (Hollis Frampton, 1971, 36 mins) 4891 (Toney Merritt, 1970, 5 mins) I Change I Am the Same (Alice Ann Parker aka Anne Severson, 1969, 1 mins) Dufus (Mike Henderson, 1970, 8 mins) Serene Velocity (Ernie Gehr, 1970, 23 mins) Near the Big Chakra (Alice Ann Parker aka Anne Severson, 1972, 17 mins, digital)
Please note that tonight's screening will include material some might consider sexually explicit. Approximate running time 106 mins.
Véronique Aubouy Olin, Room 1025:30 pm – 7:00 pm EST/GMT-5 In this performance, I try to summarize Proust's beloved In Search of Lost Time with my own words, as a story of another time which reveals itself contemporary.
Véronique Aubouy has directed numerous short fiction films and documentaries (Albertine a disparu, 2018; Micaëla Henich, 2017; Je suis Annemarie Schwarzenbach, 2015, among many others). Since October 1993, she has been working on Proust Lu, and films people from all walks of life as they read Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, page after page, in a large array of settings. The first six volumes have been recorded to date, for a total of 140 hours and more than 1300 readers. Since 2011, Abouy has performed various versions of “Proust in One Hour”, in French and in English, in France, Italy, the UK and the USA.
Thursday, December 1, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
--- ------- (aka Short Line Long Line or Rock and Roll Movie, Thom Andersen & Malcolm Brodwick, 1966-67, 11 mins) Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1966-7, 45 mins) Hand Tinting (Joyce Wieland, 1967, 6 mins) T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G, (Paul Sharits, 1968, 12 mins) Surface Tension (Hollis Frampton, 1968, 10 mins) Hand Catching Lead (Richard Serra, 1968, 3 mins) Runaway (Standish Lawder, 1969, 6 mins)
Please note that some films will include extensive use of strobe effects. Total running time approximately 93 mins.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
Remembrance: A Portrait Study (Edward Owens, 1967, 6 mins, digital) Walden (Jonas Mekas, 1968-69, 180 mins)
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
Schmeerguntz (Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley, 1965, 15 mins) The Flicker (Tony Conrad, 1966, 30 mins) Piece Mandala / End War (Paul Sharits, 1966, 5 mins) Film in Which There Appear Edge Lettering, Sprocket Holes, Dirt Particles Etc. (George Landow aka Owen Land, 1965-66, 4 mins) Third Eye Butterfly (Storm de Hirsch, 1968, 10 mins, double projection) Additional film TBA
Please note that tonight's screening will include extensive use of strobe effects. Approximate total running time 89 mins.
Thursday, November 3, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
Rat Life and Diet in North America (Joyce Wieland, 1968, 16 mins) Invocation of My Demon Brother (Kenneth Anger, 1969, 12 mins) My Name is Oona (Gunvor Nelson, 1969, 10 mins) Experiments in Motion Graphics (John Whitney, 1968, 12 mins) Permutations (John Whitney, 1968, 8 mins) Billabong (Will Hindle, 1969, 9 mins) Blazes (Robert Breer, 1961, 3 mins) 69 (Robert Breer, 1969, 5 mins) 70 (Robert Breer, 1970, 5 mins)
Bard's first ever student film showcase with Upstate films will be held November 2 at 7:45 pm at the Starr Cinema in Rhinebeck! It's your friends films on the big silver screen—come out and support 'em! The showcase will last approximately 69 minutes. How great is that? Seating is limited, so arrive 15–20 minutes early if you can. Entry is free. Yes, free. Can't wait to see you there!
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
Please note that tonight's screening includes sexually explicit material. Approximate total running time 110 mins.
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
Puce Moment (Kenneth Anger, 1949, 7 mins) Kustom Kar Kommandos (Kenneth Anger, 1965, 4 mins) Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1963, 30 mins) Blow Job (Andy Warhol, 1963, 40 mins, 18 fps) Screen Tests, Reel 25 (Andy Warhol, 1964-66, 10 mins, 18 fps) #1 Beverly Grant (Hair) (1964) #2 Chuck Wein (1965) #3 Peter Hujar (1964) #4 Ed Hood (1966) #5 Ivy Nicholson (1964) #6 Jane Holzer (1964) #7 Brooke Hayward (1964) #8 Sally Dennison (1964) #9 Susanne de Maria (1964) #10 Ann Buchanan (1964)
Approximate total running time 90 mins
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
The Last Clean Shirt (Alfred Leslie, 1964, 40 mins, digital) Meat Joy (Carolee Schneemann, 1964, 11 mins, digital scan of 8mm) Christmas on Earth (Barbara Rubin, 1963, 30 mins, double projection)
Please note that tonight's screening includes sexually explicit material. Total running time approximately 78 mins.
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.
Prelude to Dog Star Man (Stan Brakhage, 1962, 25 mins) Window Water Baby Moving (Stan Brakhage, 1962, 13 mins) Mothlight (Stan Brakhage, 1963, 4 mins) Little Stabs of Happiness (Ken Jacobs, 1959-63, 15 mins) Flaming Creatures (Jack Smith, 1963, 43 mins) Filmmaker’s Showcase (Francis Lee, 1963, 3 mins)
Total running time approximately 103 mins
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Film screening and discussion with director Ghassan Halawani Upstate Films, Rhinebeck4:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 “Thirty-five years ago, I witnessed the kidnapping of a man I know. He has disappeared since. Ten years ago, I caught a glimpse of his face while walking in the street, but I wasn’t sure it was him. Parts of his face were torn off, but his features had remained unchanged since the incident. Yet something was different, as if he wasn’t the same man.”
Director Ghassan Halawani takes the viewer on a forensic chase, uncovering, layer by layer, the darkest chapters of Lebanese history on walls, in documents and urban architecture.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Sabine El Chamaa, filmmaker and a current CHRA research fellow.
The event is free and open to the public.
Copresented with the Middle Eastern Studies Program at Bard.
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm film format unless otherwise noted.
A Movie (Bruce Conner, 1958, 12 mins, digital) Early Abstractions (Harry Smith, 1947-47, 23 mins) What Is a Man? (Sara Kathryn Arledge, 1958, 10 mins) Heaven and Earth Magic (Harry Smith, 1959-61, 66 mins)
Total running time approximately 111 minutes
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Avery Room 1167:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm film format unless otherwise noted.
Geography of the Body (Willard Maas, 1943, 7 mins) Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, 1947, 20 mins) Visual Variations on Noguchi (Marie Menken, 1945, 4 mins) Hurry! Hurry! (Marie Menken, 1957, 3 mins) The End (Christopher MacLaine, 1953, 38 mins) Eaux d’Artifice (Kenneth Anger, 1953, 15 mins) Desistfilm (Stan Brakhage, 1954, 7 mins)
Total running time approximately 94 mins
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Avery, Room 116 Avery Art Center7:00 pm – 10:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Part of a semester-long Thursday night series presenting classics of American avant-garde cinema. All films will screen on their original 16mm film format unless otherwise noted.
Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943, 18 mins) At Land (Maya Deren, 1944, 15 mins) A Study in Choreography for Camera (Maya Deren, 1945, 4 mins) Ritual in Transfigured Time (Maya Deren, 1946, 15 mins) Petrified Dog (Sidney Peterson, 1948, 19 mins) Lead Shoes (Sidney Peterson, 1949, 18 mins) The Potted Psalm (Sidney Peterson & James Broughton, 1946, 18 mins)
Total running time approximately 107 mins
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Yemane Demissie (filmmaker, NYU) Olin, Room 1026:30 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 The Quantum Leapers, filmmaker Yemane Demissie’s forthcoming multimedia project, focuses on the buoyant and tumultuous experiences of Ethiopians during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Drawing from narratives of more than 500 interviews and thousands of images unearthed from the interviewees’ collections and dozens of international archives, the project considers how the 1935-1941 Italo-Ethiopian War and Occupation compelled the country to reevaluate its age-old traditions in the face of war, fascism and modernity.
At this lecture, Yemane will present stories revolving around the airplane—long an emblem of modernity—to explore the interlinked lives of four individuals who confront, embrace or glide with the sudden and immense changes brought about by war, occupation, and liberation.
Yemane Demissie teaches narrative and documentary filmmaking in the Department of Film & TV at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Please note: Due to copyright reasons, the presentations (in particular, the images) cannot be filmed. Photographs of the images/slides also cannot be taken by audience members during the presentation.
Olin, Room 1026:30 pm – 8:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Based on the play Boris Godunov by Alexander Pushkin, Stage Russia’s cinematic version of Dmitry Krymov’s Boris (2019) is a metaphor about the fate of Russia, its rulers, and eternal values. Krymov is one of the world’s most renowned stage directors. His theatrical production draws tragic parallels between Pushkin’s text and the current Putin government with its fascination with the imperial past, nationalism, censorship, human rights violations, and blatant propaganda, as well as between the early 17th-century Russia and all the myths on which Russian identity now rests. A flying raven, a poet, a folk choir, saints and sinners, living and dead — all come to life in the twilight of the Provision Warehouses of the Museum of Moscow, the play’s mesmerizing setting.