From December 11-17th, BAMcinématek will be hosting the 5th annual Migrating Forms Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Migrating Forms brings together short and long-form films that challenge classical exhibitions of the cinematic form through the examination of cultural and physical existence. Programmed by Nellie Killian of BAMcinématek & independent writer/curator Kevin McGarry, the week-long festival includes works by 36 artists from 15 countries, including a film retrospective directed by Nam June Paik, a performance by Xavier Cha, and a series of digitalized emotional responses created by Ed Atkins, who also directed the trailer for this year’s event. Ryan Trecartin kicked off the festival last night with the premiere of 4 new movies: Junior War, Comma Boat, Item Falls, and Center Jenny, featuring Aubrey Plaza of ‘Parks & Recreation’.
Here are some highlights from the upcoming Migrating Forms lineup:
The Salad Zone, by Saudi Arabian director Sarah Abu Abdallah makes its US Premiere on Thursday, December 12th as part of Migrating Forms Program 1. The film follows a Saudi Arabian woman as she records her life, and the lives surround her through a diary film.
Without You I’m Nothing, directed by John Boskovich, is the film adaptation of Sandra Bernhard’s one-woman show of the same name. “Part stand-up, part monologue, part singing-dancing revue”, the film captures the celebrity as the height of her self-realization, as she stages her successes through the established forms of her predecessors, such as Barbara Streisand and Nina Simone. The film will be screened on Saturday, December 14th by Bernhard herself.
Juan Gris Dream House, directed by Jon Rafman is one of two works from Rafman’s Brand New Paint Job project. Rafman uses famous paintings as wallpaper and textile print of objects in 3D models of houses and offices. Juan Gris Dream House and Popova-Lissitzky Office Complex both make their New York premiere on Sunday, December 15th as part of Migrating Forms Program 3.
Merce by Merce by Paik, directed by Nam June Paik with Charles Atlas and Shigeko Kubota, the retrospective film features American choreographer Merce Cunningham, who experimented with the limitations of human movement as examined through the cinematic lens. Cunningham collaborated with experimental filmmakers and artists such as Paik and Atlas to create his unique hybrid art “video-dance”. The complete Merce Cunningham for Camera program will screen on Sunday, December 15.
Visit the BAM website to see a complete Migrating Forms slate and schedule, as well as the Migrating Forms Facebook event page for more information.