Through the Looking Glass (Pt 2): NU MFA Doc Media Thesis Showcase

40 Arts Circle Drive,Evanston IL 60208

10 June, 2022

Description

Pt. 2 of the NU MFA Doc Media Thesis Showcase - Oluseyifunmi Akinlade, Desiree Schippers, Guanyizhuo Yao, æryka hollis o’neil, Lily Freeston Through the Looking Glass: Reflecting the World Around Us NU MFA Doc Media Thesis Showcase June 9-10, 2022 @ 7 pm FREE, Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University We're proud to present the thesis films of the Class of 2022! Please join us for two FREE nights of screenings. Doors open at 6:30 pm, screenings start at 7 pm. Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass showed the world that life isn’t always what it seems to be, just as documentary films do in reflecting our realities back to us. Although on the surface a looking-glass could simply be a mirror, it is also a portal in which we are plunged into the unexpected, ultimately finding ourselves at the end and seeing our reflections in their fullest embodiments. Amid a world of staggering unpredictability, “Through the Looking-Glass” showcases short films by MFA Documentary Media students who step into their own looking-glasses of introspection to find themselves and others in their rawest and most intimate forms and truths. Through the Looking Glass (Pt 2): NU MFA Doc Media Thesis Showcase Filmmakers: Oluseyifunmi (Debs) Akinlade, Desiree Schippers, Guanyizhuo Yao, æryka hollis o’neil, Lily Freeston A night of reflexive explorations of relationships: to place, people, one’s self, and with institutions at large. The pandemic radically changed our lives. It altered the way in which we relate to the world around us; to the people in our lives; to our own bodies and minds. These five films reveal much about the recent time we’ve been living in, offering intimate, reflexive explorations of relationships: to place, people, one’s body, and with institutions at large. The evening opens with I See Myself in You, which provides a window into the lives of two autistic black siblings as they navigate a neurotypical world. Next, Fail First follows the personal story of a young woman as she encounters the absurdities and intricacies of fighting her insurance company for access to treatment for her chronic illness. As long as there‘s us reveals the changes in an industrial city with a mysterious spatial transformation, two generations of women cross-narrate their pride and loss in the city. in the interval takes us through an intimate family portrait & cinematic collage of Black and trans collective memory and (be)longing, meditating on themes of safety, bodily autonomy and generations of compounding loss across time and media. The night closes with There’s So Much I’ve Never Told You; an intimate portrait of two childhood friends from Manchester, England, who together navigate love, loss, grief and healing. Post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers About the films: I See Myself In You (Oluseyifunmi (Debs) Akinlade, 20m) A tale about two black autistic siblings as they navigate a neurotypical world on an intersecting journey of self discovery. Fail First (Desiree Schippers, 17m) A young woman navigates the absurdities and intricacies of fighting her insurance company for access to treatment for her chronic illness. As long as there‘s us (Guanyizhuo Yao, 19m) The memories of two generations of women intertwine the past, present and future of a Chinese industrial city in the interval (aeryka hollis o’neil, 20m) Both an intimate family portrait & cinematic collage of Black and trans collective memory and (be)longing, meditating on themes of safety, bodily autonomy and generations of compounding loss across time and media. There’s So Much I’ve Never Told You (Lily Freeston, 19m) Set in Manchester, England, bathed in muted colors and painted in intimate 16mm, a portrait of two friends navigating childhood, womanhood and the precarious cusp between the two ___ Each night of screenings features a selection of new short documentaries, with the opportunity to engage with the makers and celebrate their accomplishments. Discover a new generation who are making exciting films that tackle a wide range of topics. Previous thesis films have gone on to play such prestigious festivals as Locarno, Slamdance, Camden, New Directors/New Films, AFI Docs, IDFA, et al. Co-presented by Northwestern’s School of Communication, The Department of Radio-TV-Film, Jane Steiner Hoffman and Michael Hoffman, and The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art. ___ PART 1 DETAILS HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/through-the-looking-glass-pt-1-nu-mfa-doc-media-thesis-showcase-tickets-337489519237