Art Basel will screen a premier program of 34 film and video works presented by the show’s participating galleries. The Film program is curated for the third consecutive year by Cairo-based film curator Maxa Zoller, and will include a special screening of Stanley Tucci's 'Final Portrait' (2017), selected by New York-based film curator Marian Masone. Program highlights include works by John Akomfrah, Kader Attia, Eric Baudelaire, He Xiangyu, Ana Mendieta, Ugo Rondinone and Andy Warhol among others. Filipa César’s new work ‘Spell Reel’ will be shown as part of Art Basel’s collaboration with the Locarno Festival, now in its third year. Art Basel, whose Lead Partner is UBS, will take place at Messe Basel from June 15 to June 18, 2017.
Heavily influenced by today's political events, Maxa Zoller's program gives a glimpse into various international themes, presenting a varied selection of experimental films by a broad range of artists and filmmakers. 'The poetic beauty of these films that examine topical issues such as terrorism, racism and failed revolutions are at once utterly uplifting and deeply thought-provoking,' said Maxa Zoller. 'It was a pleasure to curate this program and to encounter such strong, intelligent films, which shed a brighter light on an ever more conflicted society.'
The Film program will open on Monday, June 12 with ‘Also Known As Jihadi’ (2017), the latest feature-length film by French-American artist Eric Baudelaire (b. 1973), tracing the journey of young Abdel Aziz from his hometown in France to Syria. As the audience is captured by tranquil suburban and rural scenes along the route, the idyllic landscapes are gradually interrupted with excerpts from court documents and police reports, making it apparent that Aziz has joined Islamic State and helped to radicalize other young people. The film never shows its protagonist’s face however, viewer sees what Aziz sees – creating a particular closeness to him. The screening will be followed by a Q&A between Eric Baudelaire and Maxa Zoller.
On Tuesday, June 13, the program will feature the European premiere of He Xiangyu’s (b. 1986) new film ‘The Swim’ (2017), which follows the artist on his return to his native city Kuandian on the border between China and North Korea. Offering complex and intriguing insights into this changed environment, he interviews veterans of the Korean War as well as defectors from North Korea, presenting a conflicting account of his hometown despite the picturesque landscapes portrayed.
As part of its collaboration with Art Basel, the Locarno Festival will present Filipa César’s (b. 1975) ‘Spell Reel’ (2017) on Thursday, June 15. ‘Spell Reel’ is the result of a multi-layered research and digitalization project that César initiated in 2011 with film directors Sana Na N’Hada and Flora Gomes. César’s film brings together restored vintage film from N’Hada and Gomes’ documentations of the liberation struggles in Guinea Bissau, incorporating new footage and commentary from their return to these remote locations. The screening will be followed by a Q&A between Filipa César and Sergio Fant, programmer of the Locarno Festival.
Selected by Marian Masone in anticipation of its international release, a special screening of Stanley Tucci's (b. 1960) 'Final Portrait' (2017) will take place on Saturday, June 17. Featuring Australian actor Geoffrey Rush, 'Final Portrait' peers into the workshop and personality of Swiss painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), two years prior to his death. In his fifth film as a director, actor Stanley Tucci shows how the artist's strengths and weaknesses relate to the chaos of his artistic output, doubts and courageous ability to destroy and begin afresh.
The Short Film program will commence on Monday, June 12 with ‘Phantom Limbs’, presenting works by Egyptian artist Maha Maamoun (b. 1972) and French artist Kader Attia (b. 1970), exploring the theme of phantom pain, both metaphorically and as a medical phenomenon. This will be followed on Tuesday, June 13 by ‘Little Films to Smile to: Focus on Breda Beban’, offering a rare opportunity to see multiple works by the late Yugoslavian-born filmmaker Breda Beban (1952-2012), whose works often centred around interpersonal relationships and the experience of living in exile.
Further Short Film program highlights on Wednesday, June 14 include: ‘Earth Tales: The Politics of Soil’, featuring seven films by artists including Zineb Sedira (b. 1963), Filipa César (b. 1975) and Mohau Modisakeng (b. 1986), whose works concentrate on the conquest, exploitation and recapture of African territories. In a nod to Jean Cocteau’s surrealist 1930s film ‘The Blood of a Poet’, Maxa Zoller brings together works by William E. Jones (b. 1962) and Ugo Rondinone (b. 1964), which focus on the leitmotifs of death, homoeroticism and Andy Warhol.
In ‘Force Fields’, presented on Friday, June 16, two forms of energy are exposed and questioned – the philosophy of Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov, an instigator of the Russian Cosmist movement, and magnetism in the theory of consciousness of the Mexican scientist Jacobo Grinberg. Artists Anton Vidokle (b.1965) and François Bucher (b.1972), from Russia and Colombia respectively, propose alternative epistemologies in order to question our relationship to reality in the late phase of (Post) Modernism. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Anton Vidokle and Maxa Zoller. Also on Friday, ‘Black and Blue’ will present four short films voicing artists’ reactions to racially motivated violence and today’s debates surrounding racism. The program concludes with a documentation of Robin Rhode’s (b. 1976) contemporary take on Arnold Schönberg’s expressionist 'Erwartung' (Expectation), which he restaged in New York’s Time Square.
Screened at Stadtkino Basel, the Film program will run from Monday, June 12 to Saturday, June 17, 2017.
DETAILED FILM PROGRAM
Monday, June 12, 2017
8pm | Eric Baudelaire: Also Known As Jihadi
Running time 99'. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Eric Baudelaire and Maxa Zoller.
Eric Baudelaire, Also Known As Jihadi, 99', 2017, Barbara Wien, Galería Juana de Aizpuru, Galerie Greta Meert
10.15pm | Short Film program: Phantom Limbs
Running time 72'
Maha Maamoun, Dear Animal, 24', 2016, Gypsum Gallery Kader Attia, Reflecting Memory, 48', 2016, Galleria Continua
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
8pm | He Xiangyu: The Swim
Running time 96', The screening will be followed by a Q&A with He Xiangyu and Maxa Zoller
He Xiangyu, The Swim, 96', 2017, White Cube
10.15pm | Short Film program: Little Films to Smile to: Focus on Breda Beban Running time 67’
Breda Beban, Jason's Dream, 10', 1997
Breda Beban, May 98, 10', 1998
Breda Beban, My Funeral Song: Dusan, 7', 2008-2010 Breda Beban, My Funeral Song: Irena, 6'26'', 2008-2010 Breda Beban, Angel (from Little Films to Cry to), 12’30'', 2003 Breda Beban, Walk of Three Chairs, 10', 2003 Breda Beban, Let's Call It Love, 7'30'', 2000
Breda Beban, Monastic Calling (from Little Films to Cry to), 6', 2003
Breda Beban, Imagination is Funny (from Little Films to Cry to), 5’20”, 2003 Breda Beban, Love Itself (from Little Films to Cry to), 6’20'', 2003
All films are presented by Kalfayan Galleries and the Estate of the Artist
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
8pm | Short Film program: Earth Tales: The Politics of Soil Running time 62'
Ana Mendieta, Untitled: Silueta Series, 3'14'', 1978, Alison Jacques Gallery, Galerie Lelong
Zineb Sedira, Les Terres de mon Père, 6', 2016, kamel mennour Filipa César, Mined Soil, 33', 2015, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art Mohau Modisakeng, To Move Mountains, 9', 2015, Jenkins Johnson Gallery Edgardo Aragón, La Encomienda (The Assignment), 4’45”, 2012 La Ribot, Travelling Olga /Travelling Giles, 3’37”, 2003
Ana Mendieta, Birth (Gunpowder Works), 2'59'', 1981, Alison Jacques Gallery, Galerie Lelong
10pm | Short Film program: The Blood of a Poet Running time 78'
William E. Jones, Fall into Ruin, 30', 2017, David Kordansky Gallery, The Modern Institute
Ugo Rondinone, thanx 4 nothing, 19'48'', 2015, Esther Schipper, Galerie Eva
Presenhuber, Gladstone Gallery, Sadie Coles HQ Andy Warhol, Sunset, 33', 1967
Thursday, June 15, 2017
8pm | Locarno Festival Special Screening | Filipa César: Spell Reel
Running time 96'. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Filipa César and Sergio Fant, programmer of the Locarno Festival.
Filipa César, Spell Reel, 96', 2017, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art
10.15pm | John Akomfrah: The Stuart Hall Project Running time 95'
John Akomfrah, The Stuart Hall Project, 95', 2013, Lisson Gallery
Friday, June 16, 2017
8pm | Short Film program: Force Fields
Running time 90‘. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Anton Vidokle and Maxa Zoller.
François Bucher, The Man Who Disappeared, 26', 2011, joségarcía ,mx Anton Vidokle, This is Cosmos, 28'10'', 2014, Vitamin Creative Space
Anton Vidokle, The Communist Revolution Was Caused By The Sun, 33'36'', 2015, Vitamin Creative Space
10.15pm | Short Film program: Black and Blue
Running time 90'
Carrie Mae Weems, People of a Darker Hue, 14'58'', 2016, Jack Shainman Gallery Carlos Javier Ortiz, We All We Got, 9', 2014, Jenkins Johnson Gallery
William E. Jones, Shoot Don’t Shoot, 2012, 4'33'', David Kordansky Gallery, The Modern Institute
Robin Rhode, Erwartung, 33', 2015, Lehmann Maupin
Saturday, June 17, 2017
8pm | Special Screening selected by Marian Masone | Stanley Tucci: Final Portrait Running time 90'
Stanley Tucci, Final Portrait, 90', 2017, selected by Marian Masone
Admission
Film tickets are CHF 17.
Holders of Art Basel VIP cards, Art Basel tickets and exhibitor passes can pick up a free ticket at the Stadtkino Basel box office. The Stadtkino Basel box office opens 30 minutes prior to the screenings. As seating is limited, please email film@artbasel.com for advance ticket reservation or visit the Film information desk at Art Basel, entrance area of Hall 2.
Address
Stadtkino Basel, Klostergasse 5, 4051 Basel
Tram number 1 (direction SBB) or 2 (direction Binningen) from Messeplatz to Bankverein.
From Bankverein it is a three-minute walk to Stadtkino.
