Celebrating the launch of volume 4 of the journal World Records, “In the Presence of Others,“ UnionDocs and the Vera List Center gather artist and activist MTL Collective (Nitasha Dhillon and Amin Husain), 2018-2020 Vera List Center Fellow Helene Kazan, and theorist and curator Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, author of Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism. In their conversation, they present new work and deep cuts to engage MTL Collective’s essay “Principles for Decolonial Film,” which explores the writings of Hannah Arendt and is published in “In the Presence of Others.” Investigating the role of film in what Azoulay calls “unlearning imperialism,” they open up a dialogue around whether filmmaking can move beyond showing and telling toward building, breathing, and living.
“Volume 4: In The Presence of Others” is edited by Jason Fox and Nicholas Gamso and published by UnionDocs. World Records explores how the documentary may provide a platform and grounds for collective action. World Records is a peer-reviewed documentary journal that aims to bring together the voices of scholars, critics, makers, and curators who offer new and complex perspectives on documentary to challenge and extend its margins.
This event is co-presented in partnership with UnionDocs. UnionDocs will gather with a small group in the new UNDO LEAN-TO with MTL Collective and broadcast online for far-away guests and online viewers.