Whitstable / Strood / Rochester / Chatham / Swale / Len
51zero voyager Tour 2015 launches in Northern France
Whitstable / Strood / Rochester / Chatham / Swale / Lens 51zero voyager Tour 2015 launches in Northern France
51zero Touring Programme
The Other side of here
Lens, 26-28 March 2015
51zero touring programme, 26th – 28th March 2015, is a collaboration between Maison de l’Art et de la Communication in Lens, France and 51zero Festival from Medway and Kent, UK and showcases acclaimed international artists alongside emerging talents over the three days. Its carefully honed programme encompasses work by British and French artist filmmakers, creating out-of-the-ordinary cinematic experiences of the kind you won’t find in traditional cinema.
IMAGE: Sally Troughton, still from Set Aside 2013
The festival launches on the night of Friday 27th of March at Maison de l’Art et de la Communication with a newly curated programme, accompanied by the premiere of Moving Pictures: Artists’ Films from the Film London Jarman Award – British Council International Touring Programme. Moving Pictures is a two part programme of artists’ film which brings together 18 filmmakers who have been nominated for the prestigious Film London Jarman Award over the past seven years. Each part, lasting around 70 minutes, contains a selection of innovative and thought provoking works, programmed in partnership with the British Council and Film London.
The UK strand continues with Turner Prize winner and Jarman Award nominee Laure Prouvost and consists of three films, one of which won the Principal Oberhausen Prize. Known for films and installations characterised by richly layered stories, translation and surreal moments, Prouvost’s seductive and disorienting tales toy with the audience’s ability to become fully absorbed by a single narrative.
Artistic Director Margherita Gramegna says: “51zero Tour extends its brand of moving-image experience to Northern France, linking the artistic communities of Medway, Kent, Lens and Sallaumines thanks to Maison de l’Art et de la Communication and Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Lens, who have enthusiastically embraced our project. This is a groundbreaking moment for 51zero. The Tour has attracted great contributions from many interesting artists and kick-started collaborations with project partners in the UK and France. The collaboration with British Council and University of Kent in particular has enabled us once more to showcase an impressive programme of work.
Image: Alix Delmas, Lalala, 2011
The cross-border collaboration is further reflected through an exhibition of work by prominent French artist filmmakers Alix Delmas, Jivko Darakchiev, Thibault Jehanne and Richard Negre, along with interactive installations by Jean-Louis Accettone and CabSii.
Screenings of work by graduates and students, alumni and lecturers, begin with a pre-festival launch presentation at Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Lens, continuing across the festival tour weekend at Maison de l’Art et de la Communication and Futur Café du Projet, Lens. These include contributions from University for the Creative Arts and University of Kent, including TEA, Sophie Dixon and Georgina Wilcox, together with established and emerging artists from France, Medway and further afield, such as Sally Troughton, Callum Cooper and Amy Dixon.
Exhibitions of work by UK based artist filmmakers Nadia Perrotta and Ben Crawford and installed works by Kathrin Saqui, Aggela Ioanniddu, Karen Cosby, Clarinda Tse and Hannah Millest, also offer an opportunity to see emergent artistic practice from the UK.
Lastly, the public is invited to participate in the closing strand of the tour with Open Projector, at Futur Café du Projet: an evening of films brought in by audiences and screened live during the festivals closing event on Saturday. To kick-start Open Projector, the four finalist films in Eastleigh Film Festival and Bournemouth By the Sea Film Festival, Steven Dorrington, Marina Morales Moya, Louise Schachter and Alice Gautier, will be shown alongside Ipswich Our Town Competition winners.
The festival, made in part possible by the European Regional Development Fund – Interreg IVA France (Channel) England via the Recreate and ICR projects – and by lottery fund from Arts Council England (Grants for the Arts), brings contemporary moving image to new audiences and provides a fertile ground for dialogue between British and French artists, making 51zero a truly cross-border event.
Contact:
51zero Festival
info@51zero.org