London’s Open City Documentary Festival is back for its 13th edition from 6th to 12th September, showcasing the art of non-fiction filmmaking. This year, the festival will feature In Focus programmes dedicated to filmmaker Mary Helena Clark and artist Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley. Audiences can also look forward to two special screening series: «No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image», curated by Erika Balsom and Hila Peleg, and «The Invisible Self», curated by Shai Heredia, which explores feminist films made in India between 1985 and 1991.
Mary Helena Clark, an American artist renowned for her enigmatic and dreamlike films, will take center stage in the In Focus segment. Her works, ranging from 16mm film to video and installations, employ collage techniques to create a puzzle-like experience, inviting viewers to decipher the interplay of sounds, images, and texts.
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, a London-based artist working across various media, will also be featured in the In Focus programme. Their practice, which includes moving image, animation, performance, and print, utilizes digital tools, particularly early 3D game engines, to construct immersive worlds that serve as archives of black trans experiences.
The festival will present «No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image», an exploration of non-fiction works that revolutionised the representation of gendered experiences. Curators Erika Balsom and Hila Peleg have selected films from the 1970s to 1990s, a period marked by global women’s liberation movements, aiming to acknowledge the diverse contributions of women to film history on a global scale.
Curated by Shai Heredia, «The Invisible Self» programme focuses on feminist films created in #India between 1985 and 1991. These films offer a profound exploration of the struggles faced by women who challenged patriarchal structures, revealing the complexities of their roles as reproductive machines, sexual objects, homemakers, and preservers of tradition. By emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual and collective liberation, these films highlight diverse forms of feminism.
