March 20: Ali Eslami
Multimedia artist Ali Eslami decided on two themes for his opening program selection. His curated program inevitably features VR works under the theme Fog of War, alongside a short film program under the title Play of Marbles. Both programs examine the many places on earth that are affected by war, and the extent of our knowledge on them.
Ali Eslami tells us of his memories growing up in Iran and playing with marbles. The game was all about winning, but also about building your collection. “They were glass marbles, with a colored piece of fabric on the inside, which made each marble distinct. You could look through them, at the world. But you could also lose yourself in them: In each marble hid its own world.”
The marble turned out to be a good metaphor to summarize the two programs Eslami curated for IDFA. They are about play. About what you can see and what you can’t. And about the many areas affected by war across the globe and all the things we do and do not know about them. Whoever has explored the IDFA DocLab program in recent years will recognize this maker’s name. It comes as no surprise then that he has selected numerous VR and video art works for his opening program.
Exhibition: Fog of War
The exhibition space will be set up to show VR works and video artworks. The title Fog of War does not directly refer to the Errol Morris documentary film of the same name, or the military term; a sort of uncertainty principle that indicates that soldiers on the battlefield cannot oversee all their circumstances (literally and figuratively). Eslami derived the title from war video games, in which the player sees nothing other than the field they are in.
Entry to the exhibition is free of charge and open from 14:00 to 22:00. VR works can be experienced on a first come, first serve basis. All works are English-spoken or subtitled.
The Zoo Hypothesis (2023 - Hsu Che-Yu, video)
Two artists attempt to come up with a performance exploring the relationship between gestures and horrors. With a reconstruction of the Taiwanese Zoo as a backdrop, they relate two events that took place here during WWII.
The Price for Fire (2022 - Rossella Nisio, video)
An audiovisual installation, inspired by the poems of a left-wing activist who died in a fire in 1976. In video footage from an abandoned house, two voices meet. About expectations, disillusionment and the mists of time.
Deconstructing the Bridge (2022 - Total Refusal, video)
The Waal Bridge in the town of Nijmegen features in numerous WWII shooters such as Battlefield V. Within this game, artist Jan-Wieger van den Berg uses his avatar to guide a walking tour, turning the ubiquitous devastation into a pointless distraction.
Deathtoll Experience (2016 - Ali Eslami, VR)
This virtual journey from the refugee crisis in Europe to the bloodbath in Syria immerses you in the meaning of death tolls in news reports, offering an emotional perspective on the dry “data reality.” On-site reservation required.
From the Main Square (2022 - Pedro Harres, VR)
Standing on the main square you watch the creation of a city in this animated VR experience. A society forms, divides and collapses. The rise and fall of a society in a nutshell.
Notes on Blindness (2016 - Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe, Peter Middleton, James Spinney, VR)
What does a world without images “look” like? Notes on Blindness is an enchanting, award-winning interactive VR experience, based on the audio diary that author and theologian John Hull (1935-2015) kept as he was going blind. On-site reservation required.
On the Way to Colonus (2022 - Loukia Alavanou, VR)
Mixing tragedy and farce, this immersive docufiction transposes an almost 2500-year-old drama by Sophocles into the present. In a shantytown near Athens, Roma amateur actors perform a story that reflects their own struggle against fate.
Pavilion Shorts: Play of Marbles
Eslami is interested in works in line with the tradition of experimental film. For the short film program, the Iranian-born maker looked at “that large area referred to as the Middle East.” The films will be introduced by Ali Eslami himself. All films are English-spoken or subtitled.
The House is Black (Iran - 1962 - Forough Farrokhzad - 20 min.)
A black-and-white Iranian classic about a leper colony. The calm, powerful imagery invites us to explore the beauty in the disfigurements.
How to Disappear (Austria - 2020 - Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner, Michael Stumpf - 21 min.)
An original and thought-provoking take on the way war is waged in computer games. The arena for this film essay is the popular game Battlefield, where there’s no room for doubt and no one can desert.
Riddles on Blackstreet (England - 2021 - Hardeep Pandhal, Adam Sinclair - 5 min.)
This absurdist music video in racing-game style accompanies a track by MIDIevil x Vandalorum featuring Mister Ugly. Reflecting on racism in the UK, the song reclaims the disused term BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic).
Two Solutions for One Problem (Iran - 1975 - Abbas Kiarostami - 5 min.)
When Dara returns a borrowed schoolbook to his friend Nader, it turns out to be torn. Will the solution be a fight or a reconciliation? This early short film in the restrained style of the Iranian grandmaster shows his love of working with children.
A Night we Held Between (Palestine - 2024 - Noor Abed - 30 min.)
An eerie soundscape and a cryptic choreography connect mythology with Palestine’s socio-political reality. Ancient caves, underground structures and wild valleys feature as the silent witnesses to what was lost and has been forgotten.
