Visual Encounters - Day 3

Why do we say “I see” when we wish to express understanding? Do we understand that what we see is often an expression of someone’s perspective?

Evoking the qualities of presence and feeling we invite you to the second edition of “Visual Encounters”. A film screening created by Visual Anthropology students of the Masters program at the University of Amsterdam for 2023-2024. On the 3rd, 4th and 6th of November at the Ventilator cinema of OT301 we will show 21 graduate films.

As more and more visual information consumes our world and views, we ask questions that seek critical awareness and our collective capacity to express it. Our hope is that our films yield a space for discussion and learning.

SESSION 8 | INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUES

17:00 - 18:00 (followed by a Q&A)

ON ROOTS & ROOTING

(Nadine Haselier 2024, 30‘),

AN ECHOE OF TIME

(Ana Radu, 2024, 29‘)

On Roots & Rooting explores filmmaker Nadine Haselier’s Indo-Surinamese heritage through the story of her grandmother, Radjkoemarie, who left Suriname for the Netherlands in 1975 in search of a better life. Retracing her grandmother’s journey, the film investigates the meaning of home, belonging, and having roots in multiple places. In An Echoe of Time the boundaries between memory and reality blur as a young anthropologist returns to her grandmother’s village in Romania to explore the legacy of Communism. The film uncovers the „cruel optimism“ of a generation that, despite hopes for a better future after the fall of Communism, still grapples with the precarity and disillusionment of the present. Together, these two films offer an exploration of how personal histories intersect with larger social and political narratives, inviting viewers to reflect on how time shapes our understanding of home, identity, and belonging.

SESSION 9 | EMBODIED RESISTANCE: ON BODY POLITICS

18:15 - 19:10 (followed by a Q&A)

TRAUMA(LAND) - WOMEN FROM THE SAME COUNTRY (?)

(Theresa Piorr, 2024, 40‘)

MY NAILS TELL A STORY

(Denae Patterson, 2024, 10‘)

This session explores the body as a site of self-expression, resistance, and empowerment. My Nails Tell a Story dives into the vibrant world of nail salons, where art, beauty, and politics collide. It invites the viewer to consider nails as an arena of intersection between art, beauty and politics, as powerful tools of personal and political expression, reflecting individual identities and larger societal conditions. TraumaLand - Women from the Same Country (?) takes us on an anthropological journey through Eswatini, where gender-based violence and trauma shape the lives of women. The film delves into issues of gender and empowerment, human rights, and social justice, revealing how trauma is both personal and collective. These films offer a thought-provoking examination of how the body becomes a canvas for stories of survival, identity, and empowerment in the face of social and political challenges.

SESSION 10 | ON THE EAST OF EUROPE, THE REST IS STILL REMEMBERED

19:25 - 21:05 (followed by a Q&A)

БАБИНИ ДЕВЕТИНИ (BABINI DEVETINI)

(Daniell Tahor, 2024, 39‘)

THE CROSSROADS

(Jim Brink, 2024, 59‘)

Socialism and communism are still alive in the memories and stories of those who live on the crossroads of political space and time. Visiting a village in Northwestern Bulgaria and hitting the road along the border region between Georgia and Russia, Babini devetini and Crossroads try to visually capture the presence and absence of duality. Between past and present, local and global, European and non-European, personal and collective. Two curious anthropologists in connecting with locals ask how the everyday life with the embedded environmental and political changes can inform the future of two countries on the East of Europe.