Video Data Bank

VDB is excited to share that Dublin's aemi will travel to the Midwest this week for a presentation of their touring program THE SAID AND THE UNSAID on Sunday, November 16 at 6pm at Chicago Filmmakers. Employees Only will welcome VDB artist Frank Sweeney in person!

THE SAID AND THE UNSAID includes work by VDB artists Frank Sweeney and Stephanie Barber, alongside films by Jonathan O’Grady and Maryam Tafakory. The program is curated by aemi, a Dublin-based initiative that supports and regularly exhibits moving image works by artists and experimental filmmakers. aemi co-founder Daniel Fitzpatrick will be in attendance to take part in a Q&A after the screening.

This eclectic program of work shifts from an act of deliberate and playful obfuscation (Stephanie Barber’s 3 PEONIES) to a process of attempted rediscovery as Jonathan O’Grady attempts to navigate a largely inaccessible heritage site (IN SEARCH OF THE FORENAUGHTS LONGSTONE). Elsewhere Maryam Tafakory’s video essay is an uncovering of media artifacts that speak to both deliberate and discrete forms of articulation in the face of censorship (NAZARBAZI) while Frank Sweeney creates a compelling docudrama out of events surrounding the broadcasting ban (FEW CAN SEE). Collectively these works describe a variety of creative means of expression born out of the necessity to speak, however indirectly. Link in bio!

Total Runtime: 76 mins
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The screening is co-presented by Employees Only and Chicago Filmmakers. This touring program is supported by Culture Ireland and Arts Council Ireland. Employees Only is an itinerant curatorial project focused on experimental documentary and short-form video from both emerging and established filmmakers in Chicago and beyond.

Colombian–French artist and filmmaker Laura Huertas Millán returns to CATE on Thursday, November 6 with a program entitled PHARMAKON ECOLOGIES.

Join us for an evening of films tracing decolonial histories, indigenous knowledge, and the coca plant through the lens of the pharmakon—a substance that can both poison and cure.

Followed by a conversation with artist Claire Pentecost, co-founder, Watershed Art & Ecology, and an audience Q&A.

LAURA HUERTAS MILLÁN: PHARMAKON ECOLOGIES
Thursday, November 6
Tickets at siskelfilmcenter.org/pharmakon-ecologies
FREE for SAIC students.
Event includes real-time captions (CART).

Conversations at the Edge is presented with the Siskel Film Center, SAIC Film Video New Media and Animation, and Video Data Bank.

"Join the artists and game developers of KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO — Jake Elliott, Tamas Kemenczy, and Ben Babbitt — for a one-of-a-kind evening of live performance, unique scene tours, and rare materials from the game widely regarded as one of the most significant of the past decade.

Followed by a conversation and audience Q&A with the artists, moderated by James Connolly.

“One of the most thoughtful, heartbreaking and yet fantastical looks at modern life in America.” —Todd Martens, LA Times

“KRZ really is the masterpiece critics have been lauding it as for years.” —William Hughes, AV Club

Presented in partnership with of Chicago Year of Games

Thursday, October 16, 6:00 p.m.
Tickets are going fast — get yours at 🔗🔝
✨ FREE for SAIC students.✨
This event will include real-time captions (CART).

Tickets are going fast — get yours at 🔗
Conversations at the Edge is a collaboration between the Siskel Film Center, SAIC Film Video New Media and Animation, and Video Data Bank.