In the fourteenth edition of S8 Mostra de Cinema Periférico, which will be held from May 26 to June 4, more than 180 pieces from a dozen countries will be screened. One of the main figures in the new edition will be Anthony McCall, known worldwide for his “solid light” works, a series that he began in the 1970s with his famous Line Describing a Cone. The British artist will be the protagonist of a focus in which his collective films Argument and Sigmund Freud's Dora will be screened. The filmmaker will also be the protagonist of the closing of the festival with a simultaneous staging of his lighting works in analogue format. In addition, Anthony McCall will give a master class, aimed at professionals and the general public, where he will deepen his idea of cinema and the evolution of his performative actions.
Canadian artist Barbara Sternberg will be another of the international guests, whose work stands out for highlighting the properties of photochemical film, exploring all the possibilities of color, mechanics, chemistry and film optics. Sternberg's work can be compared in richness and importance to that of artists such as Barbara Hammer or Carolee Schneemann. The focus on her work will be developed in two programs that represent the premiere in Spain of a large part of her filmography, shown in its original 16 mm format.
The Desbordamientos (Overflow) section, dedicated entirely to film performance, brings two of the festival's highlights: proposals by Canadian John Price and South Korean artist Hangjun Lee. Listed as one of the "new impressionists" of cinema, John Price has produced experimental films, dance and film diaries since 1986. His passion for photography has led him to the world of experimentation, working with traditional cameras and expired emulsions, to reveal reality by and with other means. Investigation and visual enjoyment are mixed in his work, as can be seen in There is Light at the Top of the Tower!, the performance inspired by the Tower of Hercules that he has designed exclusively for the (S8). A proposal around the sea and the lighthouses, whose mechanism Price equates to that of the film camera. A unique experience that will also feature a live sound intervention by the Galician sound artist TORSO. In addition, Price's cinema, which addresses themes such as nature, time and the human condition, will also have a space at the festival, throughout two programs in which he will also premiere three new pieces, including the last of his Sea Series, a set of films that are close to the pictorial concept of seascapes.
Hangjun Lee, a dynamic figure in the experimental film scene in his country, as well as a filmmaker, is a researcher and was responsible for programming the EXIS festival, a leading avant-garde event in Korea. Hangjun Lee will carry out a staging that combines the projection in 16 mm of his works Film Walk and Phantom Schoolgirl Army, with the use of the film projector as a sound creation instrument. Manipulating the film through the mechanisms of the projector, he is able to generate a quadraphonic sound and thus create a unique visual and sound spectacle that will surely surprise the people attending the festival.
The (S8) continues to work in the line of building bridges with the experimental cinema developed on the other side of the Atlantic. To that end, this year brings one of Argentina's most exciting current creators: Benjamín Ellenberger. The festival will take a broad tour of his work, including the world premiere of the latest piece in his Reflejo Nocturno series, a set of films that create a record of the space in Buenos Aires. In them, Ellenberger uses various techniques to push the sensitivity of film a step further and capture the night, which has rarely been accurately captured in photochemical format without the use of lighting. In addition, the retrospective will also feature the performative work of Ellenberger.
