San Mei is pleased to present a satellite screening of Film Diary NYC III, featuring festival selections of experimental non-fiction films that capture the personal history and daily experiences of the filmmaker and the world they encounter.  A showcase highlighting the most heartfelt but most overlooked cinema: diary films, home movies, and personal documentary. 

Programme:

Total running time 90 mins.

With filmmakers Matt Feldman and Shirine Shah in attendance.

House of Victories, Matt Feldman, Shirine Shah - UK - 7’

Shot in Suburban London, exploring the local Islamic community of the writer and their musings into socialised identity and the abyss that bridges religion and the fallacy of language.

Windows, Deven Ladson - USA - 6’

An experimental diary that documents the windows into my past year. It’s a representation of the abrupt moments in life as well as the meditative ones.

N/A, Robert Orlowski, Martha Orlowski - USA - 5’

The innocence of a home movie is called into question when consent is unexpectedly denied by the filmmaker’s grandmother.

Why Do Ants Go Back to Their Nest?, Alex Lo - Canada - 12’

An auto-fictional experimental film about the filmmaker digging a hole from Toronto to Hong Kong.

So come the storms of winter (+ other musings), Alexis Parinas - UK - 5’

A mixed media ode to cycles, communal making, communal play, and nurture. Comprised of self-portraits and collages collected over three years, a game of mahjong, and the creation of two dyed fabrics made by many hand.

We Are Named For Our Ancestors, Chassidy David - USA - 2’

An experimental exploration of internalized racism and misogynoir within the diaspora.

Kuj, Iliya Mahboobi Fard - Iran- 5’

We can say that “Kuj” means curved or curved-back.A curvature resulting from the heavy burden of memory and remembering it. When the sole survivor of a feeling and emotion is nothing but noise and image. And there is no solution but to look at it again and again.

默 (To Write from Memory), Emory Chao Johnson - USA - 18’

Opaque memories seep into a quotidian flow despite efforts to move onward.

2022, Harry Wells - UK - 9'

Yearly, semi chronological diary video of 2022.

Ca(r)milla, Kearra Amaya Gopee - USA - 12’

Playing with tropes such as monstrosity, Caribbean folklore and desire that have long served as sites of comfort for me and using fantasy as a method to stave off the anticipatory grief that now inundates the relationship between my mother and I in the wake of my grandmother’s passing in 2021. The inevitability of loss and the application of a queer lens to grief and faith spill forth and alchemize the edges between fantasy and reality. At its core, this video is a wish.

About Film Diary NYC

Founded by Saint Piñero and Sage Ó Tuama in 2021, Film Diary NYC is a festival for experimental non-fiction that captures the personal history and daily experiences of the filmmaker and the world they encounter. Through an annual festival and ongoing special events, we provide a platform for the most heartfelt but most overlooked cinema: diary films, home movies, and personal documentary. Film Diary NYC has been awarded the 2024 Jonas Mekas. Research and Development  Residency at Monira Foundation (Mana Contemporary).

“An organization unparalleled in our current moment within the New York film world.” - Devon Narine-Singh, filmmaker, educator (RISD)

“A community of artists committed to cutting through the bullshit, excited to use any and all media to increase our understanding & create authentic connection.” - Julie Perini, filmmaker, educator (Portland State University)