GOODBYE THELMA / THE GIVERNY DOCUMENT (SINGLE CHANNEL) / À L'USAGE DES VIVANTS

There’s the road, and there’s walking. Dialogue, and boxes. Images from the film Thelma and Louise are intercut with footage shot by the filmmaker, and the fictional characters’ voices strangely echo her silent thoughts. After The Blazing World (RIDM 2013), Jessica Bardsley explores another facet of femininity: solo travel. Worry, looks from others and ruminations mix with memories and fantasies borrowed from the fictional imagination. Comprising mainly images in negative, the film no longer seems to make a distinction, even in its form, transforming into a mysterious and disturbing meandering. An inner exploration that broaches a seldom-discussed topic in sensitive and inspired fashion.

In this superb cinematic poem, artist Ja’Tovia M. Gary presents a reflection on the safety and physical integrity of black women. Combining different materials and textures, the film juxtaposes Harlem street interviews with excerpts from a Nina Simone concert, experiments with 16 mm archival footage and a performance in Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, where she puts her own body on-screen. “Do you feel safe in your body and in the world?” the filmmaker asks female passers by of all ages. Evoking a history of racism, violence, exploitation and objectification of black women’s bodies, The Giverny Document (Single Channel) also celebrates their resistance, strength and artistic creativity.

In 1998, Nigerian refugee Semira Adamu died, smothered by a pillow during a deportation from a Belgian detention centre. Documenting the tragedy and exploring its cruel relevance, Pauline Fonsny develops a stunning approach, combining past and present testimonials, archival footage and re-enactments with mock-ups. While the use of re-enactments skirts the prohibition against filming in the detention centres, Semira’s writings and stories, juxtaposed with a tribute written by a Belgian poet, provide a powerful evocation of Semira’s tragic fate, as well as an exposé of the grim conditions in which today’s asylum-seekers are held. Part activism and part unforgettable portrait, the film sounds a sadly essential alarm.