Little known outside of South Africa, the Johannesburg Free Filmmakers Cooperative was a loose association of filmmakers in the 1980s, among them artist William Kentridge. The very act of filmmaking as a vital outlet for self-expression caused Kentridge to recognise that ‘you yourself will be the film and the film will always be you.’ This three-day programme of screenings launches with Free Filmmakers’ experimental 1986 documentary and is followed by a selection of contemporary artists’ shorts rarely or never before seen in UK. The Saturday and Sunday screenings will each culminate with artists in conversation, reflecting on the changing role of the moving image in art and how the medium expresses new subjectivities. The series, developed in partnership with Modern Art Projects South Africa, demonstrates the substantial legacy of South African artists on screen.
List of Films
Freedom Square and the Back of the Moon
William Kentridge and Angus Gibson, 1986, video, 53 min
Enraged by a Picture
Zanele Muholi, 2005, video, 14 min
Recycled Matter
Robin Rhode, 2015, video, 16 min
The Purge
Athi-Patra Ruga, 2013, video, 2 minutes
Seeking Refuge
Berni Searle, 2008, video, 6 min
The Pilot
Bridget Baker, 2007–2008, 16mm film, 12 min
The Swing (after after Fragonard)
Donna Kukama, 2009, video, 5 min
Should We Never Meet Again
Gregg Smith, 2005, video, 26 min
Iseeyou
Simon Gush, 2013, video, 14 min
LHR–JNB
Michael MacGarry, 2002–10, video, 12 min
The MacGuffin
Doris Bloom & Lazara Rosell Albear, 2013, video, 4 min
Ukungenisa
Nandipha Mntambo, 2008, video, 2 min
Playing Guitar for Goats
Jacques Coetzer, 2010, video, 2 min
MATSOGO
Lerato Shadi, 2013, video, 5 min
Gangster Backstage
Teboho Edkins, 2013, video, 38 min
Border Farm
Thenjiwe Nkosi, 2011, video, 32 min
is I am sky
Dineo Seshee Bopape, 2013, video, 18 min
Alien
Minnette Vári, 1998, video 52 secs, sound 2 min 14 secs; continuous loop
Consciousness Engine 2: absentblackfatherbot
Bogosi Sekhukhuni, 2014, video, 4 min
Projected Identities
Barend de Wet, 2013, video, 4 min
Control Room
Angela de Jesus, 2010, video, 6 min
Terms of Endearment
Johan Thom, 2007, video, 5 min
TRU DAT LCD SCREEN
Tabita Rezaire, 2014, video, 9 min
The Master is Drowning
Penny Siopis, 2010, video, 10 min
Experiments in Black & White #XIII
Neville Gabie, 2014, video, 5 min
