New work published in Rolling Volume 13.1

We are delighted to publish three more pieces in Volume 13.1. Sarah Atkinson’s Double Takes: A Series of Short Video Essays comprises of ten (so far) video essays which individually and collectively examine the experiences of women film performers who have endured demanding directorial approaches where their safety has been endangered, and their wellbeing compromised. Taken from various examples throughout cinema history – from the 1930s to the present day – each essay has a similar structure: the scene in question is played in slow motion, accompanied by the audio or text taken from a subsequent media interview with the actress. Viewed separately, each essay functions as an individual vignette into a specific circumstance. Viewed in succession and cumulatively, they reveal a repetitious pattern of striking similarity which is both timely and important in the era of #MeToo.

Annette Arlander’s video Revisiting the Aspen Tree emerges from a four-year Academy of Finland funded research project titled How to Do Things with Performance (2016-2020). This work revisits locations on Harakka Island that featured in the author’s previous series of year-long performances for camera, filmed between 2002-2014. In the video and her accompany statement, Arlander frames her return to this series as an exploration of the ways that previous artistic practices and materials can be re-activated today. The work combines old and new, revisiting the sites, repeating parts of the performance and recording contemporary images of a familiar landscape. Arlander then inserts imagery from her previous multi-channel installation into the frame, eschewing the essentialism of a singular artwork to reflectively consider the way ideas, bodies, ecology, land, technology and exhibition context change over time.

Cristina Archetti’s video essay Deviations: Poetic Reflections on Method weaves the personal story of a researcher and human being with broader methodological and existential questions. In so doing, it highlights the role of the moving image as a means of engagement with non-academic audiences and as a tool for investigating the depth and complexity of lived experience in a world on the brink. Across five sections, the video essay traces the path from an initial concept and the courage of embarking on unknown enquiry to embracing a sense of transformation and realisation during the course of her research. Reflection and shadows, technology and nature, the human and the non-human are images that illustrate Archetti’s explorative argument and methodology in this poetic film.

This volume of Screenworks is a rolling publication. Each rolling volume runs from September to August. We are still accepting submissions for Volume 13.1. We are also inviting practice submissions for our special issue on New Entanglements: Inter-relations between Film and Philosophy. To submit work please read our Submissions Guidelines and use our Online Submission Form. If you are interested in submitting your practice and want further advice, then please contact us on [email protected] with “Submissions” in the subject line.