Category: Uncategorized

On the occasion of the online screening of Kathleen Collins’ Losing Ground on 3 June 2021, jointly organized by Courtisane and Sabzian, Sabzian published several writings and interviews.

► Oliver Franklin: An Interview: Kathleen Collins
► David Nicholson: A Commitment to Writing. A Conversation with Kathleen Collins Prettyman
► Kathleen Collins: “I refuse to create mythological characters”
► Kathleen Collins: A Place in Time and Killer of Sheep: Two Radical Definitions of Adventure Minus Women

Ninth episode of “Shadows of the Unseen” for movement_radio Athens. Aired 27 June 2021.

TRACKLIST

1. David Toop – 21st Floor Discotheque at 4am
From Mondophrenic installation (Herman Asselberghs, Els Opsomer, Ronny Vissers, 2000)
2. Excerpt from Guadalcanal Requiem (Nam June Paik, 1977)
3. Jean Guérin – Maochat
From Bof… Anatomie d’un Livreur (Claude Faraldo, 1971)
4. Excerpt from Still / Here (Christopher Harris, 2000)
5. Simon Fisher Turner – Sloane Square
From Sloane Square: A Room of One’s Own (Derek Jarman, Guy Ford, 1976)
6. Ennio Morricone – Humanity (Part II)
From The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
7. Laurie Spiegel – Untitled
From Guadalcanal Requiem (Nam June Paik, 1977)
8. James Kirby – Untitled
From Hellhole (Bas Devos, 2019)
9. Clint Mansell – Waves Crashing on Distant Shores of Time
From Black Mirror: San Junipero (Owen Harris, 2016)
10. Excerpts From Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
11. Terry Riley – In the Summer
From Lifespan (Alexander Whitelaw, 1976)
12. Philippe Besombes – Ceremonie
From Libra (Groupe Pattern, 1975)
13. Charlotte Van Gelder – Karkalou
From Karkalou (Stavros Tornes, 1984)
14. Mark Leckey – Dream English Kid, 1964 – 1999 AD, Part 1
From Dream English Kid, 1964 – 1999 AD (Mark Leckey, 2015)
15. Excerpt from Brief Encounter (David Lean, 1945)
16. Hikaru Hayashi – Untitled
From Kôshikei [Death by Hanging] (Nagisa Ōshima, 1968)
17. Egisto Macchi – Prime Luci
From Nucleo centrale investigativo (RAI TV series, 1974)
18. Vangelis Katsoulis – Closed Window
From Closed Window (Ermis Velopoulos, 1977)
19. Brecht Ameel – Their Eyes Blaze with Happiness
Recorded for Outcasts (Elena Fokina, never realized)
20. Dimitris Papadimitriou / Dimitris Lekkas – The Dance of the Hands / Love at Sea
From Elektrikos Angelos(Thanasis Rentzis, 1981)
21. Milton Nascimento – Tema Dos Deuses
From Os Deuses e os Mortos (Ruy Guerra, 1970)
22. Godiego – Yes, I Thank You
From Hausu (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)
23. Excerpt from Je Tu Il Elle (Chantal Akerman, 1974)

Eighth episode of “Shadows of the Unseen” for movement_radio Athens. Aired 30 May 2021.

TRACKLIST

1. Leo Dolgan – Ocean & Prayers
From Island of the Hungry Ghosts (Gabrielle Brady, 2019)
2. Michèle Bokanowski – Battements Solaires
From Battements Solaires (Patrick Bokanowski, 2008)
3. Excerpts from Histoires d’Amérique: Food, Family and Philosophy (Chantal Akerman, 1989)
4. Aaron Cupples – Sand Return
From Island of the Hungry Ghosts (Gabrielle Brady, 2019)
5. Teizo Matsumura – Apart From Life
From Apart From Life (Kei Kumai, 1970)
6. Mora Dukhua – untitled
From Subarnarekha (Ritwik Ghatak, 1962 – 1965)
7. Michèle Bokanowski – Battements Solaires
From Battements Solaires (Patrick Bokanowski, 2008)
8. Ron Geesin – ExpoZoom 1969
From audiovisual installation produced for British Pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan, 1969
8. Loopsel – Soft Fabrics + Tears Run Out
From audiovisual installation The Spiral (Last Oblivion, 2019)
9. Michel Magne & Les Swingle Singers – Largo
From Galia (Georges Lautner, 1966)
10. Michel Magne – Par Un Beau Matin D’été
From Par un beau matin d’été (Jacques Deray, 1965)
11. Charles Gross, Robert Frost
From Robert Frost, A Lover’s Quarrel with the World (Shirley Clarke, Robert Hughes, 1963)
12 Albert Ayler, Don Cherry – Don’s Dawn
From New York Ear and Eye Control (Michael Snow, 1972)
13 Jim O’Rourke – Headlight Like The Sun
From Jitsuroku Rengo Sekigun: Asama sanso e no michi /United Red Army (Kôji Wakamatsu, 2007)
14. Bo Harwood – A Woman: Composite Themes
From A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
15. Marlene Dietrich – Just A Gigolo
From Just a Gigolo / Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (David Hemmings, 1978)
16. Jack Nitzsche – We’re Old Enough
From Cutter’s Way (Ivan Passer, 1981)

Out of the Shadows
Assia Djebar, Jocelyne Saab, Heiny Srour, Selma Baccar, Atteyat Al-Abnoudy

All of us, all of us who come from the world of women in the shadows, are reversing the process: at last it is we who are looking, we who are making a beginning.
– Assia Djebar

Exploring a cinematic history as extensive and rich as that of the Arab Mediterranean, one is faced with an exhilarating range of forms and manifestations. From the era of silent film up to the present, the regional cinema cultures of the Maghreb and the Mashriq have produced a myriad of remarkable works. Yet, when poring over the canonical historiographies of cinema, one cannot help but being struck by their relative obscurity, which is even more striking when it comes to films that have been made by women. Although there has been a notable rise of Arab female film directors in recent decades, the work of many pioneers tends to remain painfully neglected.

The Out of the Shadows film programme, originally conceived for the Courtisane festival 2020 in Ghent, was intended to revitalize the work of a diversity of filmmakers whose films remain overlooked and barely screened. Five of these filmmakers are presented in this Dossier: Atteyat Al-Abnoudy, Selma Baccar, Assia Djebar, Jocelyne Saab and Heiny Srour. Coming from different backgrounds and regions, these filmmakers all began to produce films in the 1970s, at a moment of great political and cultural ferment. Often working against the grain, they set out to attend to voices and stories that were at risk of being drowned out by official History. While each of these filmmakers developed their own bold approaches to cinema, their works explore shared themes such as memory and identity, oppression and liberation, violence and exclusion, and the social and political role of women in Arab societies and histories.

Each of these filmmakers has been shaped by different traditions and realities, for the Arab woman filmmaker exists no more than the Arab woman. Accordingly, this programme seeks to follow Assia Djebar’s appeal “not to presume ‘to speak for’ or, even worse, to ‘speak on’, barely speak near to, and if possible, to speak right up against”. In this vein, this publication brings together a selection of writings and interviews that speak “right up against” the films in the programme. The texts, most of which have been translated for the first time in English, are a testament to the women’s singular practices. They have been brought together here, right up against one another, in the hope of illuminating their rich and inspiring work and widening its reach and appreciation.

Stoffel Debuysere (Courtisane) and Gerard-Jan Claes (Sabzian)

Compiled on the occasion of the Out of the Shadows programme, originally conceived for the Courtisane festival 2020 (Ghent, 1-5 April).

Programme curated by Stoffel Debuysere, in collaboration with Reem Shilleh and Mohanad Yaqubi (Subversive Film), Christophe Piette and Céline Brouwez (CINEMATEK), with the support of AFAC – The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.

Copy editing by Rebecca Jane Arthur, Sis Matthé, Heiny Srour, Michel Euvrard, Richard Wagman, Suzanne Kallalá

Thanks to Mai Abu ElDahab, Mireille Calle-Gruber, Sylvia Dallet, David Depestel, Marjolijn de Jager, Yasmin Desouki, Asmaa Yehia El-Taher, Olivier Hadouchi, Mary Jirmanus Saba, Lucien Logette, Natasha Marie Llorens, Monique Martineau Hennebelle, Colleen O’Shea, Mathilde Rouxel, Reem Shilleh, Heiny Srour, Wassyla Tamzali, Stephanie Van de Peer, Katrien Vuylsteke Vanfleteren, Magda Wassef, Mohanad Yaqubi, Debra Zimmerman, and many others without whom this publication would never have come to fruition.

Seventh episode of “Shadows of the Unseen” for movement_radio Athens. Aired 25 April 2021.

TRACKLIST

1. Excerpts from Accident (Martin Duckworth, Patrick A. Crawley, 1973)
2. Jacques Bekaert – Mon Petit Album
Recorded for Mon Petit Album (Akiko Limura, 1974)
3. Michèle Bokanowski – Personnages Dans les Escaliers
From L’Ange (Patrick Bokanowski, 1982)
4. Mort Garson – The Untamed World
From TV Series The Untamed World (1968–1969)
5. Mario Nascimbene – Quando l’uomo scoimparsa (1970)
From TV series Quando l’uomo scompare (1970)
6. Bruce Gilbert – Push
From Signature (Martyn Pick, 1990)
7. Gunter Schickert – Untitled
From In den Zeichen (Sabine Franck-Koch, 1981)
8. Excerpt from Anti-Clock (Jane Arden, Jack Bond, 1979)
9. Ennio Morricone – La Spaggia
From Veruschka: Poetry of a Woman (Franco Rubartelli, 1971)
10. Jane Arden – Sleepwalking
From Anti-Clock (Jane Arden, Jack Bond, 1979)
11. Cyclobe (Ossian Brown, Stephen Thrower) – Each And Every Word Must Die II
From Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (George Barry, 1977)
12. Saule – Lido
From Lido (Mirco Santi, Xavier-Garcia-Bardon, 1998 – 2003)