Cinematic Migrations Symposium

Cinematic Migrations, as a conjoined designation, poses the notion of “migrations” in relation to “the cinematic” in an intentionally porous juxtaposition, conceived to allow a wide range of questions, interpretations and permutations to emerge. During this initial phase, the work of John Akomfrah, currently with Smoking Dogs Films and previously with Black Audio Film Collective, provides a focal point for examination, in conjunction with presentations of filmmakers, artists, and scholars participating in the related lecture series.

The Cinematic Migrations Symposium developed as a culmination of the first two years of investigations, in which invited guests will discuss facets of what the Cinematic Migrations framework suggests in relation to their work as artists, filmmakers, producers, and scholars, as well as in relation to the work of John Akomfrah.

The symposium is free and open to the public.

Symposium Schedule:

Thursday, March 6th 2014

2 pm: Registration

3 pm
Renée Green
Welcoming Remarks: Come Closer

3:45 pm
Manthia Diawara

5:30 – 7 pm: Reception in Atrium
Refreshments and Light Fare

Friday, March 7th 2014

9 am: Coffee and Light Fare

10 am
Laura Marks
Respondent: Gloria Sutton

11:30 am
Arthur Jafa

1 pm: Lunch Break

2 pm
Fred Moten

3 – 5 pm
Roundtable: John Akomfrah, Lina Gopaul, Renée Green
Screening: The Memory Album

On March 3, as part of the Monday night lecture series, ACT will be screening Transfigured Night, Akomfrah’s 2013 two-screen installation, a work reflecting on postcolonial histories stemming from Akomfrah’s reinterpretation of Richard Dehmel’s poem “Verkärte Nacht”. Additional films will be screened at the Harvard Film Archive March 7 through 10.

Cinematic Migrations, as an ongoing research project, seminar, and lecture series continues to generate a multi-faceted look at the role of cinema’s transmutations over time, stemming from its fractured ontology and its worldwide and circuitous shifts, which include the integrations of its form into online video, film, and television diffusion, spatial installations, performance and dance, as well as its appearance in many formats and portable devices.

More information about the symposium, screenings, and lectures is forthcoming. For an overview of the Cinematic Migrations project, including past lectures, click here.

Speakers:

• Renée Green, Artist, filmmaker, writer, ACT Professor and Director
• John Akomfrah, OBE, filmmaker, and Lina Gopaul, producer, Smoking Dogs Films, UK
• Arthur Jafa, Cinematographer and producer
• Manthia Diawara, Professor of Comparative Literature, New York University
• Laura Marks, Dena Wosk University Professor, Simon Fraser University
• Fred Moten, Philosopher, Poet, Professor of English, University of California, Riverside
• Gloria Sutton, Assistant Professor of Art History, Northeastern University

Presented in collaboration with the MIT Center for Art, Science, and Technology (CAST).