LIFT co-presents Black Radical Imagination 2015 in Toronto
Swimming in Your Skin Again by Terence Nance
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is proud to co-present
THE BLACK RADICAL IMAGINATION 2015
Swimming in Your Skin Again by Terence Nance
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is proud to co-present
THE BLACK RADICAL IMAGINATION 2015
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto
2 Sussex Avenue
Starts 6:00pm
Tickets are free. First come, first served.
The notion of the Black Radical Imagination stemmed from a series of discussions around the boundaries and limitations that are historically given to people of color in the realm of the cinematic.
Black Radical Imagination is a touring program of visual shorts that delve into the worlds of new media, video art, and experimental narrative. Focusing on new stories within the Diaspora, each artist contributes their own vision of post-modern society through the state of current black culture. An artistic movement and school of thought, Black Radical Imagination focuses on aesthetics of futurism, surrealism, and the magnificent through the context of cinema.
Curated by Amir George and Erin Christovale.
With films by Cauleen Smith, Lauren Kelley, Ja’Tovia Gary, Terence Nance, and Amir George.
Program:
Many Thousands Gone, Ephraim Asili (7:39m, 2014)
Filmed on location in Salvador, Brazil (the last city in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw slavery) and
Harlem, New York ( an international stronghold of the African Diaspora), Many Thousands Gone draws
parallels between a summer afternoon on the streets of the two cities. A silent version of the film was given
to jazz multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee to use an interpretive score. The final film is the combination of
the images and McPhee’s real time “sight reading” of the score.
Swimming in Your Skin Again, Terence Nance (25:12m, 2015)
Produced and commissioned by Borscht 9, SWIMMING IN YOUR SKIN AGAIN is a film about motherhood,
banality, Miami, the water, the divine feminine, and how to sing in church in a way that calls forth your own
adulthood.
Burlap Interior, Lauren Kelley (3m, 2013)
Burlap Interior is a jittery, nonlinear, animated short that depicts everyday life situations in the interiors of
automobiles.
Froufrou Conclusions, Lauren Kelley (1:30m ,2011)
Froufrou Conclusions presents a series of fluffy voiceless vignettes and explores the emotional sliver
existing between wants and needs; the obscure gap between what is acquired versus what is desired and
the surreal manner of daily life. A meditation on economy, at the center of each storyline is a dense, cream
adorned cake. Subtitles are employed. Hungry subjects and viewers are teased in an attempt to empathize
with the notion of needing/wanting more than what you have.
Crow Requiem, Cauleen Smith (11:09m, 2015)
Crows are well known for their mythological reputation as tricksters and harbingers of death, but less for
the reality that they are creatures of remarkable intelligence who lead complex social lives. Smith became
fascinated by these misunderstood animals when she noticed the massive flock of crows roosting outside
her bedroom window during her artist residency at Light Work. She learned that the native population of
crows circulates between Syracuse and nearby Auburn, NY; and that this m igration is partly in response to
harassment and, at times, state-sanctioned violence at the hands of a human population who view them as
a nuisance. Smith interweaves the figure of the crow through the histories of these two cities, both of which
were key stationson the Underground Railroad and innovators in early cinematic and 3D optical
technologies. “Crow Requiem” connects this history to recent and ongoing violence against people of color
at the hands of the state. Shot on location in Central New York, and featuring selections from Onondaga
Historical Association’s extensive archive of 19th century stereoscopic images.
An Ecstatic Experience, Ja’Tovia Gary (6m, 2015)
To be beside oneself.
This screening is made possible by the generous support of Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC), The Harriet Tubman Community Organization, The Images Festival, Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), The Regent Park Film Festival, and WoodGreen Community Centre.
Wednesday 25 November 2015 –
Non-members: Free
Members: Free
Location:
Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex Avenue
Toronto ON Canada