Cinemal: the Becoming-Animal of Experimental Film is artist, writer, and senior lecturer at the Victorian College of Arts at the University of Melbourne Tessa Laird’s latest book.
Inquisitive, passionate, and attentive is Laird as she traces the ways in which experimental films mimic the mystery and magic of animals, examining how they’re depicted in film and the animal qualities that transpire in cinema, like scratching and sniffing, vibrant colours, and voices.
With a focus on films from Aotearoa, Australia, and South America, Laird’s energetic, observant, and illustrative prose brings together personal anecdotes with art theory and philosophy. In identifying these cinematic animal tropes, readers are encouraged to rethink what it means to be human and our own animal nature, reminding us that we, too, are animals.
To launch Cinemal, there will be a special screening of films by Nova Paul, Corinne and Arthur Cantrill, Sriwhana Spong, Tina Stefanou, and Peter Waples-Crowe with Glynn Urquhart, featuring a live soundtrack by Phil Dadson tonight at the Audio Foundation in association with Melanie Roger Gallery.
Sofia had a kōrero with Tessa Laird about Cinemal: the Becoming-Animal of Experimental Film and the film screening tonight.
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