Resisting with Cinema is an evening screening of films curated by Zineb Sedira. The programme, resonating with Zineb Sedira’s 2022 Venice Biennale show, sheds light on the relationship between cinema, anticolonial activism in Algeria and collective memory. It will present Sedira’s short film mise-en-scène (2019), American artist and filmmaker William Klein’s cult documentary Le Festival Panafricain d’Alger (1969), and Italian filmmaker Ennio Lorenzini’s documentary on the birth of the Algerian nation, Les Mains libres (1964-65).
Please note that screenings are ticketed separately.
(SCREENING 1)
Wed 5 July 18.15
mise-en-scène
9 mins
FRA | 2019 | dir. Zineb Sedira
Between the 1960s and the late 1980s, the Algerian film industry flourished in an anti-colonial environment, giving rise to a nation of politically aware film lovers. Since then, however, the film industry and archives in Algeria have suffered due to the political and economic situation. This short video work consists of several sequences of found footage from various militant films made in Algeria from the 1960s onwards.
Les Mains libres
56 mins
ALG | 1964 | dir. Ennio Lorenzini | in French with English subtitles
‘Produced by Casbah Film (who would later finance Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers), Les Mains libres was shot by Italian filmmaker Ennio Lorenzini in 1964 – only two years after Algeria’s independence from French colonisation – and it is the first international Algerian production. As time went by, I became more and more interested in this film, that had not been seen for 57 years! (…) It touched me greatly to discover, not only the newly created Algerian state in colour, a rare sight at the time, but also a multifaceted nation, away from the simplistic view created by the French press and army.
Les Mains libres is a discovery, a political and militant testimony to the enduring traces of colonisation and of the tasks to come once a country has newly gained freedom.’
Zineb Sedira
Followed by a conversation with Zineb Sedira and Gilane Tawadros
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(SCREENING 2)
Wed 5 July 20:20
Le Festival panafricain
90 mins
GER/ALG/ FRA | 1969 | William Klein, with Nina Simone, Archie Shepp, Miriam Makeba | In French and English with English ST
A cult and yet little-known film, William Klein takes us to the first Panafrican Festival of Algiers. This major event gives a feeling of euphoria, exuberance, joy and hope for a free and fraternal African continent. The film focuses on important militant political figures of the time, and on artists who performed in solidarity with Algeria and the anti-colonial movements present at the festival, including Nina Simone, Archie Shepp and Miriam Makeba.
The screening will be introduced by Zineb Sedira and Gilane Tawadros
About Zineb Sedira
Zineb Sedira (born 1963, Paris), lives in London and works between Algeria, Paris, and London. She represented France at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2022) and received a special mention for her exhibition entitled Dreams Have No Titles.
Zineb Sedira first found inspiration in exploring her identity as a woman with a unique personal geography. From these autobiographical concerns she gradually shifted her interest to more universal ideas of mobility, memory and transmission.
She has previously shown in institutions such as Tate Britain, Centre Pompidou, Mori Museum, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art of Algiers, Brooklyn Museum, Jeu de Paume, Gwangju Biennale, among others.