Migrating Forms
December 10–18, 2014
BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn
“Among the highest revelation-per-event ratios of any festival in New York.”
–Film Comment
“The reason you attend a festival like Migrating Forms is to break preconceptions about what film is and can be.”
–frieze
BAMcinématek announces the complete lineup for the sixth annual Migrating Forms festival of film and video (December 10–18). Bringing together moving image work from a wide range of venues—from film festivals and biennials to museums and microcinemas—Migrating Forms bridges the gap between the film and art worlds by presenting a diverse collection of programs in the common context of the cinema. The 2014 program features new work and retrospective screenings by artists representing a broad spectrum of contemporary film and video practices.
Opening the festival on Wednesday, December 10, is the New York premiere of Soon-Mi Yoo’s Songs from the North, following acclaimed screenings at the Toronto and Locarno Film Festivals. Inspired to make a documentary about daily life under one of the least transparent governments in the world, Yoo crafted this sui generis portrait of contemporary North Korea. Recalling Chris Marker’s empathic photographs of the country and Andrei Ujica’s deft explorations of archival footage, Yoo combines images from her three trips to North Korea with scenes from popular films and state-sponsored spectaculars, making a personal connection to a culture shrouded in ideology. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director.
Migrating Forms closes on Thursday, December 18, with the New York premiere of Fruit Chan’s delirious The Midnight After, which finds 16 minibus passengers alone in an eerily empty Hong Kong after a late night ride home. Reluctantly united against an unknown enemy, Chan’s stellar cast of unwitting survivors set up headquarters in a cafe and attempt to figure out what force has changed their city overnight. Like George Romero, Chan mixes social satire with serious fun—including the spectre of an unrecognizable Hong Kong and David Bowie-inspired musical numbers.
Other highlights include the North American premiere of Cory Arcangel’s Freshbuzz (www.subway.com), a hypnotic and hilarious surf through sandwich purveyor Subway’s web content empire; a spotlight on acclaimed moving-image artist Rachel Rose; Lance Wakeling’s first-person travelogue Field Visits for Chelsea Manning,commissioned by Rhizome; and five additional programs of short work.
The festival features three world premieres, four US premieres, 10 New York premieres, and more recent favorites culled from the Berlinale, the Locarno Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Biennial of Moving Images (Geneva), the Gwangju Bienniale, the Taipei Biennial, and others, and showcases films and videos by 30 artists from 12 countries:
Sarah Abu Abdallah, Gabriel Abrantes, Jennifer Allora, Cory Arcangel, Robert Breer, Guillermo Calzadilla, Alexander Carver, Fruit Chan, Jacob Ciocci, Heinz Emigholz, Joey L. DeFrancesco, Barry Doupé, Rolf Forsberg, Jonah Freeman, William Greaves, William E. Jones, Stanya Kahn, Justin Lowe, Stefan Moore, Park Jung-bum, Mario Pfeifer, Jon Rafman, John Reilly, Rachel Rose, Jean-Claude Rousseau, Daniel Schmidt, Jeremy Shaw, Gina Telaroli, Lance Wakeling, and Soon-Mi Yoo
For tickets, call T +1 877 789 MOVIE, or visit bam.org/migratingforms.
The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor for BAM Rose Cinemas and BAMcinématek.
