The Floating Cinema 2014 presented a summer programme of events devised by artist duo Somewhere (Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie). This unique canal boat, journeyed from east to west London, hosting on-board events such as performances, talks, workshops and screenings, alongside open air ‘Weekenders’ in partnership with leading film festivals and cultural partners from around the world.
‘Extra-International’ focused on themes of migration, and the interpretation of the UK, its culture and its people through the experiences of other nationalities. Taking the waterways as a framework, the programme also explored themes of transient cultures and the shifting context of the canals, rivers and seas both locally and internationally.
Working in partnership with Ambulante (Mexico City), Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (Manchester, UK), and Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival (Jihlava, Czech Republic) the programme showcased global film and cultural highlights with a special focus on Central and South America, China and Central and Eastern Europe.
The Floating Cinema's education programme featured the creation of a new environmental project in partnership with St Paul's Way Trust School and artist collective Guerilla Science, a series of creative workshops and commissions specially created for young people and a volunteers training scheme.
The Floating Cinema was supported by The Legacy List, the Charity of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in partnership with the Canal & River Trust.
Past Events
Open Air Weekender Central
Fri 11 Jul 2014
On-board boat screening & Special Director's Q&A: We went to Wonderland, Xiaolu Guo (2008, 76 mins). Xiaolu Guo’s most intimate film follows an elderly couple’s first and only voyage outside of China. From the Vatican to the Houses of Parliament and the green parks of England, he wants to see the world before he dies, but her heart longs for home. Shot in black and white on the smallest of digital stills cameras, this deeply personal visual poem reflects on life, travel and home.
Open Air Screening: a selection of short animated films by artist Sun Xun: 'Heroes no longer' (2008), 'Some actions which haven't been defined yet in the revolution' (2011), 'Beyond-ism' (2010). Sun Xun's animated films weave reality and fantasy with time and world history, producing haunting visions of mythology in the making. Drawing lies at the heart of all Sun's art. His meticulous hand-drawn animations incorporate text and images, combining traditional materials and printmaking techniques. Following on from a successful exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, The Floating Cinema screens works including 'Heroes no longer' and 'Some actions which haven't been defined yet in the revolution'
Open Air Weekender Central
Sat 12 Jul 2014
Open Air: Zombie Mini - Makeovers with artist Francesca Barnardelle. Francesca is a London based make up artist and model maker. She has both worked, and gained valuable experience at some of the UK’s best-regarded make-up/model-making departments. These include Kristyan Mallett Make Up Effects, Animated Extras, Millennium FX, BBC White City, Sky & Channel 5, and Bloomberg TV. Francesca also involves herself in short-film and music video projects, including the video for Keane’s 2012 release ‘Black Rain’.
On-board boat screenings: Haze & Fog, Cao Fei. 'Haze & Fog' (jointly commissioned by CFCCA & University of Salford) presents a move away from the traditional good versus evil heroic drama of zombie activity. Instead, the film focuses on the chaotic world of what the artist describes as a 'magical metropolis' with cities 'possessed by both the magic's fanciful illusion and its devilish terror'. A clear vision emerges through the struggles of the everyday and mundane daily routine, showing the tipping point between the visible and the invisible sides of life - the current reality in, and of, China.
Open Air performance by The Aleph Project - Part improvisation, part live scoring, The Aleph Project will perform original music in response to Cao Fei's Haze & Fog on the deck of the Floating Cinema to an open air audience.
Open Air Screening: Big Blue Lake (98 min, Director: Tsui-shan Jessey Tsang, 2011, PG). Big Blue Lake, the deceptively simple tale of an actress, Lai-yee, who returns to her home village in an attempt to reconnect with her past. Whilst there, she becomes close to an ex-classmate, Chun, and together they search for the mythical Blue Lake. Set in the village of Ho Chung in Hong Kong’s New Territories, Tsang’s film is a beautifully shot meditation on the past, memory and the encroachment of an almost unstoppable modernisation. Big Blue Lake won its director a very worthy Best Newcomer award at the 2012 Hong Kong Film Award.
Open Air Weekender Central
Sun 13 Jul 2014
On board boat: A River Goes on a Journey led by Mónica Rivas Velásquez - Animation Workshop. Join artist Mónica Rivas Velásquez for an animation workshop on board The Floating Cinema exploring rivers, stop-motion animation and film. Create your own animation about a river journey.
On board boat screenings: Both Sides Now, Jamie Wyld's Video Club (UK) in collaboration with Isaac Leung's Videotage (HK), including talk with Isaac Leung. 25 years on from the Tiananmen Square protests a national tour of contemporary and historical artists’ video from China and Hong Kong explores the impact of three decades of cultural and societal development. Both Sides Now includes animation and documentary works created during the 1980s-2000s featuring imagery and commentary unlikely to have been seen outside of China and Hong Kong.
On Board Artist Talk: Yan Preston: Mother River. Mother River is a long term artistic and research project that Yan Wang Preston has been working on since the end of 2010. Initially driven by a personal desire to reconnect with one’s Motherland, the project focuses on China’s most iconic waterway: the Yangtze River.
On board boat screening: Jorge Mañes Rubio Normal Pool Level Recorded Artist Talk (Recorded during his exhibition in Gallery 2 at CFCCA). The Three Gorges Dam is China's most ambitious construction since the Great Wall. In July 2012 the largest hydroelectric project in the world became fully functional however the project generated a huge environmental and human impact in the Yangtze valley; flooding 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,352 villages, submerging thousands of years of Chinese history. In January 2013, Jorge Mañes Rubio decided to travel off season to along the Yangtze River to collect objects that reflected the complex changes that have happened in the area. Jorge Mañes Rubio has exhibited his work worldwide and is the first Spanish artist ever to obtain a prestigious TED fellowship. His work explores invisible or forgotten places, creating artworks that re-imagine and revive these sites as attention-worthy destinations.
Open Air Screening: Up The Yangtze (93 mins, Director Yung Chang, 2007, Indicative classification PG. At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China.
