Illegal_cinema
SESSION 113, ILLEGAL_CINEMA
by
Screening of How to Disappear (Total Refusal, 2020, 21’), Palestinian Women (Jocelyn Saab, 1973, 11’) and Mujeres del Planeta (Women of the Planet) (María Barea, 1981, 30’), followed by a discussion. Session proposed by Lorena García.
Disobey disobey disobey
Disobedience arises as an act of resistance facing oppressive power structures in How to Disappear by Total Refusal, Palestinian Women by Jocelyn Saab and Mujeres del Planeta by María Barea. In How to Disappear, the Total Refusal collective explores the Battlefield videogame as a field of military conflict where players must question violence and militarization, challenging accepted rules and revealing the futility of war in virtual spaces. Palestinian Women portrays the everyday life of women who, in spite of the occupation and the violence in Palestine, exercise their right to disobey and resist through popular education, a form of care and a fabric of resilience.
On the other hand, Mujeres del Planeta focuses on Peruvian feminist activists who challenge social injustices by occupying land in order to live internal migration in a dignified way. These works invite us to reflect on whom or what we disobey: the institutions that perpetuate inequality, the system that limits our freedom and the narratives that impose a single path on us, where enjoyment, peaceful demonstrations and education emerge as weapons of resistance facing the oppression imposed by the circles of power.
Lorena García is a Peruvian programmer and filmmaker, who is interested in the research and mediation of expanded experimental cinema and new audio-visual media with feminist and interdisciplinary perspectives. She is currently working on coordinating the Festival de Cine Hecho por Mujeres y Disidencias (Festival of Cinema Made by Women and Dissidents) (Peru) and has experience as a film programmer for festivals and cultural centres in Spain and Latin America (Arts Santa Mónica, Tabakalera, Sala Robles Godoy and others). She has been invited to take part in the Industry Academy and U30 of the Locarno Film Festival and has been a resident/grant-holder at Matadero, Tabakalera and Kinómada. She is the co-founder of AMiXR, a collective dedicated to realizing immersive experiences and extended realities through audio-visuals and performance.