I N T E R F A C E S, 2021.
Experimental film-essay published as the cinematic paragraphs of the article InterFaces: On the relationality of vision, face and race in practices of identification. A multimodal intervention – produced in the frame of the RaceFaceID Research Project, University of Amsterdam.
This multimodal paper problematizes vision in practices of identification in Europe. It argues that vision is not a neutral or objective technology, offering a direct window into the world and the “visible” phenotypic variations existing within it. Quite the opposite. Vision is deeply invested in creating these variations itself. I draw on the metaphor of the “interface” to emphasize that vision emerges “in between” the eyes, faces, bodies, objects and ideas of belonging and otherness. This multimodal paper employs the eyes of the reader not only to read but also to watch. Vision itself becomes a technology, this time not to produce or reinforce, but to disturb and perhaps even undo ideas of racial otherness. Through the use of experimental montage, I attend to the complexities and incongruities of seeing faces and race without settling on a single narrative. I actively engage the eyes of the viewer to argue that vision is always relational and partial and therefore, it can also be harnessed to undo racial otherness by fragmenting, multiplying and affecting.
Read the article HERE.
anatomy of anger: a manifesto, 2020.
Contemporary Dance Anthropology Lab, Tranzit Foundation, Cluj/Kolozsvár.
SWAMP DIALOGUES, 2015, 53 min.
anthropological film – part of the MA thesis in visual anthropology, Leiden University
The Danube Delta in Romania – the ‘Last European Sanctuary’ – is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While major efforts are made to protect biodiversity, the plight of local communities is largely overlooked. Social scientists claim that the traumatic nature of the swamp bears heavy on the villagers’ lives. But is Nature really to blame? Swamp dialogues is based on extensive field-research in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Through a careful ‘argument montage’ built entirely on cinematic language the film represents an anthropological analysis formulated in image and sound.
(Awards)
Best Student Film: ASTRA Film Festival 2015, Sibiu, Romania
Best Feature Film: Festival Pêcheurs du Monde 2016, Lorient, France
Prize of the Žilina Region: ETNOFILM Čadca 2016, Slovakia
Best documentary: HERITALES Film Festival 2017, Évora, Portugal
(Festival selections)
Beeld voor Beeld 2015, Amsterdam (the Netherlands) / DEF 2015, Ljubljana (Slovenia) / FIFEQ 2015, Montreal (Canada) / PELICAM 2015, Tulcea (Romania) / NAFA 2015, Warsaw (Poland) / ASTRA 2015, Sibiu (Romania) / Marburg International Ethnographic Festival 2015 (Germany) / Jean Rouch International Film Festival 2015, Paris (France) / EthnoFilmFest 2015, Munchen (Germany) / Athens Ethnographic Film Festival 2015 (Greece) / Intimatelens Festival of Visual Ethnography 2016 (Italy) / Festival International de Films « Pêcheurs du Monde » 2016 (France) / Riga World Film Festival 2016 (Latvia) / International Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF 2016 (Republic of Moldova) / Days of Ethnographic Film 2016, Moscow (Russia) / 19th International Film Festival ETNOFILM CADCA 2016 (Slovakia) / Regard Bleu Film Festival 2016, Zürich (Switzerland) / Festivalul Culese din Balcani 2016, București (România) / Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival 2016, Minneapolis (USA) / EURORAMA, 65th Trento Film Festival 2017 (Italy) / 2nd International Heritage Film Festival 2017, Évora (Portugal) / 26th International Festival of Ethnological Film 2017, Belgrade (Serbia) / Festival International du Film d’Environnement FReDD 2019, Toulouse (France).
Watch the trailer HERE
THE MARKET, 2013, 19 min.
ethnographic film – produced in the frame of the Visual Methods Summer School, Leiden University
In the Netherlands street markets have a long history. The performance of these weekly events set up as on a medieval stage has its specific scenery, props and actors. The stalls, sellers, church bell, birds and customers, all contribute to this fascinating universe. However, the anthropological curiosity takes us behind the scenes. This short documentary gives a glimpse into the market of the historical city of Delft through the eyes of Saskia, a young entrepreneur who recently bought one of its Fruits and Vegetable Stands.
PROTEST AGAINST THE FORCED REMOVAL NEAR THE GARBAGE DUMP, 2011, 4 min.
experimental short film – Desire Foundation, Cluj-Napoca, Romania