April 2021
Registration is OPEN for the
2021 virtual Flaherty Film Seminar
“OPACITY”
Friday, July 9 - Sunday, July 18
Programmed by Janaína Oliveira
REGISTER TODAY see link below
We are very excited to begin this month of April by opening registrations for our 2021 Flaherty Film Seminar “Opacity” programmed by Janaína Oliveira. After a rough year getting our office organized under a new way to experience cinema due to the on going global pandemic we have been able to bring Janaína’s powerful program into a virtual platform that will allow us to connect with so many film enthusiasts out there, that would’ve not been able to make it to our upstate New York seminar home at Colgate University.
We have extended the length of the seminar to spread out the daily sessions to two sessions a day of screenings with discussions. They will be running at a time that is reasonable for the majority of time zones, which will allow for synchronous viewing worldwide, please see our website for timing details. We are very excited to have the opportunity to open the seminar to people from all over the world that can now participate from their homes.
To keep with The Flaherty tradition of no preconceptions, we do not announce the filmmakers or films that we will be screening, but trust us when we tell you that you are in for a very exciting edition of the seminar.
Due to the economic uncertainty we are experiencing, we have cut our registration fees substantially, and there is a very special fee for a large number of countries, so the price of registration is more affordable than ever for everyone.
REGISTRATION PRICING (All prices are in US Dollars):
EARLY BIRD - $350 (+ fees) (SOLD OUT)
REGULAR REGISTRATION - $450 (+ fees)
FRIEND OF THE FLAHERTY (For those that want to support us, this tier will include a Limited Edition Poster) - $550 (+ fees)
SPECIAL PRICING
STUDENT - $350 (Proof of 2021 semester registration required) (+ fees)
REGION & COUNTRY PRICE - $150 (The Flaherty is offering a discount to those participants currently residing in one of these regions or countries. CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST.) (+ fees)
Registration is a two step process.
1 - REGISTRATION - Click to Register
2 - PAYMENT - Once you fill in the registration form you will be redirected to the payment page.
Your spot will only be confirmed once you have registered and paid.
We look forward to welcoming you in July!
Poster design by Nico Bascuñán
OPACITY
Programmed by JANAÍNA OLIVEIRA
Uncertainty, fragmentation, opacity. We live in a time when the transparency of convictions and definitions and the desire for total understanding of differences that historically guided the Western world of images no longer holds. In cinema, the boundaries between center and margin have been loosened and dissolved. Today, the critical issue may no longer be to relocate the center but our perceptions of the margins. More than ever, the traditional geographical boundaries of cinemas have proven unsatisfactory, as cultural and historical connections are continually reworked. Moving images require both filmmakers and viewers to negotiate what is not understood: there is no such thing as a blind spot; there never was. The spots are opaque, and they compel us to shape new tools for describing what we see, feel, and think.
The 66th edition of the Flaherty Film Seminar will inspire us to look defiantly at the opaque places of cinema. As suggested by the writer and philosopher Édouard Glissant, the works presented will “clamor for the rights to opacity for everyone” in their irreducible singularities. Opacity is an unfolding force that creates openings and endless possibilities of cinematic existence, especially for subjects that have been excluded or are less valued on conventional screens. The Seminar will be an opportunity to experience the moving image in its power, beauty, and, most of all, ordinariness. As an invitation for displacement or provocation, it points to an open future, to cultural, formal, aesthetic freedoms, where questioning is prioritized over finding answers.
Due to the current Covid-19 health crisis, this year’s Seminar will be the first virtual iteration of the Flaherty. While we will miss being with new and old friends in person, this Seminar is an opportunity to gather the largest and most diverse Flaherty cohort to date. We will engage in the way we have for over sixty years, with screenings and structured and informal discussions, and also convene new activities that expand the possibilities of the moment... True to the inventive spirit of the Flaherty, the sessions will be led by participating artists to stimulate our minds, our senses, and our collective unconscious.
Flaherty Exposure
The Flaherty’s New Mentorship Initiative
We want to congratulate Aryana Anderson, Ash Goh, Bren Haragan and Jordan Lord for becoming the selected Fellows for this year's new Flaherty Exposure program.
FLAHERTY EXPOSURE is an outgrowth of our annual Robert Flaherty Film Seminar and intended for emerging and mid-career professionals. The program is designed to further the fellow's knowledge of cinema through participation in an array of unique personalized mentorship activities as well as support innovation in the field without the demand of a final deliverable, rather the ability to deeply explore and share an idea or experiment with the moving image.
ABOUT THE EXPOSURE FELLOWS
Aryana Anderson has served as a member of Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Advisory Council and junior board member of the Queens Council on the Arts where she has assisted in developing programs and resources to promote the growth, development, and sustenance of emerging arts professionals both locally and nationwide.
Ash Goh is currently working on a co-created short documentary with Mike Africa Jr: Born on A Move is a film about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr and his mother Debbie Africa—a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE9.
Bren Haragan made it to the last interview round of the Sundance Labs with their first narrative script and worked one-on-one with Michael Lynne, producer of the Lord of the Rings. Bren wants to work hard to help give a voice to those that don't yet see the magic inside of them.
Jordan Lord is a filmmaker, writer, and artist, working primarily in video, text, and performance. Their work addresses the relationships between historical and emotional debts, framing and support, access and documentary. Their video and performance work has been shown internationally at festivals and venues.
THANK YOU
Another wonderful season of Flaherty NYC has come to a close. The Flaherty wishes to thank all of those who made it all possible. This year our Flaherty NYC program went through a lot of changes due to the pandemic. Back in February 2020, we announced Alia Ayman, Suneil Sanzgiri, and Devon Narine-Singh as our inaugural programming team for the redesigned Flaherty NYC program. The “DNA” trio and the Flaherty staff had envisioned a new plan to develop an ambitious screening series in New York City for the fall of 2020. But due to the global pandemic we had to postponed all of our 2020 programs. However, the Flaherty was finally able to present new online programs, three of them curated by Flaherty NYC Programmers-in-Residence: The Unwriting of Disaster (a co-presentation with University of Colorado Boulder & the Mimesis Documentary Festival), Footprints (The Flaherty’s end of the year screening) and the “DNA” trio’s last and main program To Feel To Feel More To Feel More Than. These online screenings wouldn't have been possible without our talented programmers Alia Ayman, Suneil Sanzgiri, and Devon Narine-Singh.
THANK YOU to all of the artists for sharing their work with us: Ho Rui An, Francois Knoetze, Wickerham & Lomax, Kalpana Subramanian, Georges Melies, M. Woods, Miranda Javid, Bassem Saad, Natasha Raheja, Martine Syms, Erica Sheu, Vashti Harrsion, Marie Menken, Shirley Bruno, Teona Galgoțiu, Yann Le Masson, Rene Vautier, Olga Baïdar-Poliakof, Leah Franklin Gilliam, Jessica Ashman, Joyce Wieland, Joanna Priestley, Ngozi Onwurah, Deborah Stratman, Patty Chang, Renée Green, Portia Cobb, Mounira Al Solh, Mary Filippo, Ephraim Asili, Madeline Hunt-Ehrlich and Joie Estrella Horwitz.
Thanks to the poster designers Nicho Reyes and Rebeca Peña Romero for delivering high quality work.
Thanks to distributors Filmmakers Coop, Video Data Bank and Third World Newsreel for helping us obtain excellent digital copies of the films.
Thanks to Eric Coombs Esmail, Director of the Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media to make the co-presentation with University of Colorado Boulder & the Mimesis Documentary Festival possible.
And lastly, THANK YOU to all of you who connected online to join us for the screenings. We look forward to seeing everyone in the fall, hopefully back in person, stay tuned for the new series details.
Book Launch for Flash Flaherty:
Tales from a Film Seminar
Longtime Robert Flaherty Seminar collaborators Scott Macdonald and Patricia Zimmermann, with the assistance of Julia Tulke, are launching their book this month, Flash Flaherty: Tales from a Film Seminar. The much-anticipated follow-up volume to The Flaherty: Decades in the Cause of Independent Cinema, offer's a people's history of the seminar, an annual event where participants confront and reimagine the creative process surrounding multiple document/documentary forms and modes of the moving images, with 102 flash nonfiction pieces. Co-sponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media and the The Flaherty.
This book launch features Scott MacDonald, Patricia Zimmermann, Lucius Barre, Portia Cobb, Laura U. Marks, and Susana de Sousa Dias reading their short pieces from the book reflecting on their seminar experiences.
SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, April 29, 7-8:30 p.m. ET
THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO ALL!
(Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for the Zoom link for this event)
Share your news and submit to our e-newsletter through our website!
We will no longer send a separate email for submissions, please visit our site anytime for instructions to submit your listing for our newsletter through the ‘About’ section of the site’s drop-down menu.
FLAHERTY NYC PROGRAMMERS
Almudena Escobar López, (2014 Flaherty Fellow and 2018 FNYC Co-Programmer) is the Graduate Director of the Hartnett Gallery at the University of Rochester where she is curating the virtual exhibition Sarah Friedland: Assembled Choreographies.
Friedland has designed a new digital interface for CROWDS with new media artist and designer Jonas Eltes to translate the 3-channel installation for an online audience for the first time. The exhibition also includes Murmurations: A Conversation Between Sarah Friedland and Tess Takahashi on CROWDS, a new commissioned writing piece featuring a discussion between Sarah Friedland and Tess Takahashi, a Toronto-based scholar, writer, and programmer who focuses on experimental moving image arts.
The exhibition program of Assembled Choreographies includes:
April 12 at 8pm (EST), the Hartnett Gallery will present a onetime online screening featuring Drills (2020) and Home Exercises (2017), followed by a conversation with the artist and gallery directors. To receive the link to the webinar, please register in advance at Hartnett’s website.
Excerpts from the first channel of CROWDS will be screened in public spaces across the University of Rochester: from March 29 until April 26: at the Shops area outside of the Common Market, located in Wilson Commons on the first floor, across from the Ruth Merrill Center and on April 9, and April 22 on the screens in the Richard Feldman Ballroom located on the second floor of the Frederick Douglass Commons building.
FLAHERTY FELLOWS
We are happy to announce that Christina Phoebe’s (2018 Flaherty Seminar Fellow) first feature film Amygdaliá (2019, Greece), was recently awarded 4th place at the 2020 Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF). Last October it also took home the award for Best First Film at its international premiere at the 1st Mostra Internazionale del cinema di Genova FLIGHT.
For International Working Womxn’s Day, six new texts were published discussing Christina Phoebe’s film "Amygdaliá". Lauretta Macauley & Esther Oko (United African Women Organization Greece members), Alexandra Saliba (documentary filmmaker), Anna Tzakou (director, performer, researcher), Nur Sheikh & Marina Lykovounioti (Hearing Voices Network Athens members) discuss the film by reflecting on questions around the female gaze, handmade cinema, racism and citizenship struggles in Greece and experiences of hearing voices. The texts are available in greek through the online cinema and culture platforms Flix.gr, Athinorama, and Cinemagazine.
The Faithful, the long-awaited film about the images and legacies of Princess Diana, Elvis Presley, and Pope John Paul II by Annie Berman (2016 Flaherty Seminar Fellow) is now streaming at www.the-faithful.com.
“An epic journey, both intimate and global. A work of art." -Anne Flatté, filmmaker
CALL FOR ENTRIES
SPANISH FILM CLUB
The Spanish Film Club offers Grants to bring a selective roster of new awe-inspiring productions from Latin America and Spain to university campuses, through virtual and in-person screenings. Grants to screen these award-winning titles representing 25 countries cover up to 50% off the costs. Apply by April 12.
MacDowell seeks applications for the Fall 2021 and Winter Spring 2022 Residency Seasons
MacDowell provides time, space, and an inspiring environment to artists of exceptional talent. A MacDowell Fellowship consists of exclusive use of a studio, accommodations, and three prepared meals a day for two weeks to two months. There are no residency fees. Artists are responsible for materials and travel expenses: financial assistance is available to artists in residence based on need. MacDowell encourages applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics. The deadline is April 15 and the residency programs will take place in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
SUBMISSIONS OPEN FOR THE WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL
The Woodstock Film Festival is accepting submissions for its 22nd anniversary this fall. Located just two hours north of New York City at the foothills of the beautiful Catskill Mountains, this "fiercely independent" festival is a haven for established and emerging filmmakers alike. Regular deadline is May 7, late deadline is June 4, final deadline is June 18.
virtual office
We are currently working remotely. If you have any inquiries please email us info@theflaherty.org, as we are not answering our phone calls at our 80 Hanson Pl office in Brooklyn.
SUPPORT the Flaherty
With your support, we will continue to bring filmmakers and audiences of all levels together. All contributions, whether large or small, help ensure the excellence of Flaherty programs for many years to come. Every donation makes it easier for us to support the artists in their art and to inspire others to create. Any amount you are able to donate will have a big impact.
If you prefer to donate by check please make it out to: The Flaherty, 80 Hanson Place, #603, Brooklyn, NY 11217.
Add the 2019 Robert Flaherty Seminar Catalogue to your library!
The 2019 Seminar Catalogue includes detailed information about the 65th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar. This publication is the result of a collaboration between Flaherty / International Film Seminars, Inc. and World Records, in conjunction with the Action: the 2019 Flaherty Film Seminar, programmed by Shai Heredia.
Thank you to all our contributors: Shai Heredia, Jason Fox, Abby Sun, Joel Neville Anderson, Lakshmi Padmanabhan, Priya Sen, Ani Maitra, Pooja Rangan, Aparna Sharma, Jim Supanick, Tenzin Phuntsog, Jheanelle Brown, Chet Pancake, and Carl Elsaesser.
Edited by World Records
Design by Dan Schrempf
Copy Editing by Nadine Covert
About the Flaherty
The Flaherty is a media arts organization that brings together diverse, curious minds to foster an in-depth discourse on film and the creative process. We believe in the transformative power of the moving image and its ability to change how we think about film, and the world we live in. Since 1954, our unique Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, has provided an unparalleled opportunity to explore beyond known limits of the moving image and renew the challenge to discover, reveal and illuminate the ways of life of peoples and cultures throughout the world.
