Open That Door
August 30th - September 1st, 2024
Screening venue
Forum kHaus Basel at Kasernenareal, Basel, Switzerland
Curator: Chantal Molleur for the national/international section and Ana Brankovic for the regional focus.
FILM PROGRAM
The film programme 'Open That Door' presents various aspects of permeability in two sections and is curated by Chantal Molleur (White Frame) and Ana Brankovic
Canadian/Swiss curator Chantal Molleur (White Frame) explores the theme of permeability put forward by Kunsttage Basel with a selection of five national and international films. These films examine the permeability of boundaries—movement and exchange across physical, cultural, social, and conceptual barriers. Her curated selection delves into the multifaceted nature of this theme, highlighting stories of identity and physicality.
Among the films, "45th Parallel" by Lawrence Abu Hamdan examines geopolitical boundaries, revealing their impact on human lives. "Rehearsal" by Michael Omonua follows a Nigerian church drama group, emphasizing the fluidity between performance and reality and the porous nature of cultural and spiritual boundaries. "Dust" by Jakub Radej explores human mortality and the boundary between life and death through the lens of a funeral home, contemplating the transient nature of existence. In "The Car that came back from the Sea," Jadwiga Kowalska tells the story of six friends' journey to the Polish Baltic coast, emphasizing the permeability of time and experience. Finally, "White Shadow" by collectif_fact is a speculative fiction where photos become objects, depicting a world overwhelmed by media saturation and ecological impact, exploring how images invade and transform space.
In the regional focus curated by Basel artist Ana Brankovic, we dive into the multifaceted nature of permeability and explore perspectives on fluidity and the property of liquids to allow something to pass through in three films. Fluidity means moving without a fixed form, changing, and moving flexibly through the world. The selected films tell stories of identity, corporeality, mythical creatures, and people who shift between different spheres and states.
The National/International Focus Film Selection
45th Parallel by Lawrence Abu Hamdan, 15’, 2022, UK/US/CANADA
A library that inhabits two sides of a border, as a space that houses stories as close as they are far apart and that becomes a meeting point, in a central way.
Lawrence Abu Hamdan Lawrence Abu Hamdan is a researcher, filmmaker, artist and activist or as he puts it a ‘Private Ear’. Abu Hamdan has over a decade of experience investigating audio and a doctorate from the University of London on the role of sound in legal investigations and political discourse. In 2023 he founded Earshot the world’s first not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the study of audio for human rights and environmental advocacy. His work has been presented in the form of forensic reports, lectures and live performances, films, publications, and exhibitions all over the world.
Rehearsal, by Michael Omonua, 14’, 2021, UK/Nigeria
How do you stage a miracle healing? Boundaries dissolve between church and theater, faith and credibility.
Michael Omonua is a British-Nigerian film director and screenwriter based in Lagos, Nigeria and London, United Kingdom. A graduate of the University College of the Creative Arts, Farnham and his last short film ‘Rehearsal’ (2021) had its world premiere in competition at the 71st Berlinale.
Dust, by Jakub Radej, 25’, 2017, Poland
Dust is a study of the way that every human body must go through from the moment of death to the funeral.
Radej lives in Warsaw. He’s a graduate of the Film Kindergarten in the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. Currently he studies culture at Radio and Television Department of the Silesian University. An aficionado of works by Krzysztof Kieślowski and Kim Ki-duk.
The Car that came back from the Sea, by Jagwida Kowalska, 11’, 2023, CH
Full of joy and carefreeness, six friends drive to the Polish Baltic Sea and back in a small, dented car. During the journey, their car and their country fall apart, yet life goes on. Their path is filled with memories and snapshots from the past.
Jagwida Kowalska, born in 1982 in Bern, Switzerland, holds both Swiss and Polish citizenship. She pursued her studies in animation and illustration at the Hochschule Luzern (Kunst & Design) and the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych in Krakow. Kowalska has earned numerous accolades for her films and picture books. Her notable achievements include awards at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival and the Swiss Film Prize «Quartz 2009» for Best Animation Film for "TÔT OU TARD" (2008), as well as recognition at the Locarno Film Festival for "THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER" (2016).
White Shadow, by collectif_fact, Annelore Schneider & Claude Piguet, 10’, 2021, UK/CH
In this speculative fiction, all the photos have suddenly turned into the objects they represent. The video depicts a vertiginous architecture, so devastating that it created borders and isolated people. Piles of selfies, cats, and meals are scattered everywhere. Messages evoke a new society suffering from media saturation, sensory overload, and crushing ecological impact. A world where images have taken over, invading and transforming space.
The collectif_fact comprised Annelore Schneider and Claude Piguet. They live and work between London and Geneva, and teach respectively at Goldsmiths MA Design and HEAD Geneva, Image-Sound Pool. Their projects, primarily videos, explore the massive production of images and digital content, as well as their pervasive, alienating, and ecological impacts on our contemporary lives. Their research investigates the role and use of digital tools in the creation of speculative worlds and fiction production.