NOVEMBER 19 - December 03, 2021
barbican cinemas | ica | curzon soho | soas
DOUBLE BILL: RENEWED NARRATIVES (+ SCREEN TALK)
THE RETURN OF OSIRIS | MAPPING LESSONS
THURSDAY 25 NOVEMBER | 20:30
BARBICAN CINEMA, SILK STREET, EC2Y 8DS
This double bill brings together two films that use found footage to explore collective, political pasts.
The Return of Osiris
Essa Grayeb | 2019 | 14'
After the loss of the 1967 War, then-Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, appeared in front of the world and gave an iconic speech. There he announced the defeat, as well as his resignation. For many, this marked the doom of an Arab nationalism that Nasser himself had led and inspired. The Return of Osiris re-examines this moment through its dramatization in dozens of films produced between 1976 and 2016. By collecting, cataloguing, and rearranging visual materials from popular culture, director Essa Grayeb simultaneously highlights the challenge of conveying historical and political events in art and the power that cinema has in building a collective memory.
Mapping Lessons
Philip Rizk | 2020 | 61’
We follow K on her journey to colonial Levant. We go through time and place to other anti-colonial struggles of the 20th century: from 1936 Spain, to early Soviet experiments, resistance in Vietnam and uprisings in Argentina. Her encounters along the way bring valuable lessons of self-governance, independent education, and life outside of the nation-state framework. Sitting between a dream, a historical document and plan for a looming future, Mapping Lessons is an essay film made up almost entirely of found footage. Impeccably stitched, the outcome is a visual dialogue between images and audience. The soundtrack, featuring a recording session from 1972 Cairo, forms an ambiance of caution. Inspired by the political devastation of 2011, K attempts to inform us for the next uprise.
This session will be followed by a screen talk with Philip Rizk, Berlin-based director of Mapping Lessons and Gareth Evans, Curator of Moving Image, Whitechapel Gallery.