Discussion: Seeking Maya Deren. Preview of the Avant-garde Film Academy


Sunday 12th May | 1:00 p.m. | Iluzjon Stolica
Discussion: Seeking Maya Deren. Preview of the Avant-garde Film Academy after screenings of “Meshes of the Afternoon” and “Ritual in Transfigured Time” by Maya Deren, as well as “In the Mirror of Maya Deren” by Martina Kudláček

In Polish only
Partner: Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

Called the founding mother of American avant-garde film, Maya Deren was an eminent film theorist, a student of Vodou, and a feminist activist. She remains an inspiration to female filmmakers and artists seeking non-mainstream modes of expression. The screenings will be followed by a discussion of her work moderated by Małgorzata Radkiewicz PhD, serving as an introduction to the upcoming series of lectures and movie screenings at the Avant-garde Film Academy starting in October 2019, organized by the Okonakino Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. The weekly screenings and lectures will be open to students of the University of Warsaw and the Academy of Fine Arts as well as to anyone with an interest in film history, art, cinematic language, film editing, artistic creation, contemporary art, photography, and music. Experts on various aspects of avant-garde cinema will explain why avant-garde traditions remain relevant to this day and how studying them can help us understand our times.

Małgorzata Radkiewicz, PhD – film scholar, researcher of cultural identity issues in contemporary cinema and visual arts. Studies women’s work in film, photography, and art. Her books include Władczynie spojrzenia. Teoria filmu a praktyka reżyserek i artystek [Mistresses of Regard. Film theory versus the practice of female directors and artists],  Oblicza kina queer [The Faces of Queer Cinema], W poszukiwaniu sposobu ekspresji. O filmach Jane Campion i Sally Potter [Seeking a Means of Expression. On the movies of Jane Campion and Sally Potter], Derek Jarman. Portret indywidualisty [Derek Jarman. A Portrait of an Individuality], ’Młode wilki’ polskiego kina. Kategoria gender a debiuty lat 90. [The “Young Wolves” of Polish cinema. Gender and the debuts of the 90s.].