Harn Museum announces RISK Cinema season

February 10, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Five evenings this spring, the Harn Museum of Art will host RISK Cinema, an ongoing experimental film series featuring lectures by three of the featured films’ directors. Titled “Crossing Over,” this season is presented as a counterpart to Project Europa: Imagining the (Im)Possible, the contemporary art exhibition that opened at the Harn Feb. 7.

“We are especially excited about having three of the filmmakers present at the screenings,” Kerry Oliver-Smith, curator of contemporary art, said. “This unique opportunity will provide many interesting insights, questions and lively discussions.”

The season begins with a lecture by director Amie Siegel and a free screening of her film “DDR/DDR.” The screening will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 9 at the Harn Museum. Siegel’s film combines interviews and dialogue conveying the traumas of East Germans under the rule of a socialist state and during reunification. Siegel teaches in the department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University. She has been a guest of the DAAD Berliner-Künstlerprogramm and is a recent recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship. The film will be introduced by Barbara Mennel, associate professor in the University of Florida’s department of English and Germanic and Slavic studies. This event is co-sponsored by the Center for European Studies and the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere with support from the Rothman Fund and the Harn Museum.

At 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 21, director Helga Fanderl will discuss her work prior to a screening of her short films. Working exclusively in the small-gauge super 8mm film format and editing entirely in camera, Fanderl has directed more than 400 short films during the last several decades. The films range from observational documentary portraits to more abstract, poetic works. Fanderl’s work has been the recipient of numerous awards and has been presented in major film museums and film festivals since 1990, including “Views from the Avant Garde” at the New York Film Festival. The films will be introduced by Roger Beebe, director of FLEX Films and associate professor in the UF department of English. This event is co-sponsored by FLEX Films and the Center for Humanities and the Public Sphere. Admission is $4 for the general public, $3 for students and free for museum members.

Johan Grimonprez’s second film essay, “Double Take”, will be shown at 7 p.m. Feb. 23. Grimonprez will be present to discuss his work prior to the screening. The film questions how the public’s view of reality is held hostage by mass media, advertising and Hollywood. Written by award-winning British novelist Tom McCarthy, the film addresses the global rise of fear-as-commodity. Grimonprez has exhibited his work at institutions such as Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; the Santa Monica Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the XXIV São Paulo Biennial; and the Tate Modern, London. Grimonprez was the 2006 recipient of the Carnegie Art Award. “Double Take” will be introduced by Oliver-Smith. This event is co-sponsored by FLEX Films and the Center for Humanities and the Public Sphere. Admission is $4 for the general public, $3 for students and free for museum members.

Short films by director Deimantas Narkevičius will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on March 23. The work is a critical look at film, its ability to communicate, and its importance in a primarily visual culture. He connects the past with the present and history with personal experience while pitting documentary truth against potential fiction. He has gained recognition at the highest level within the international art scene and represented his country at the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001. He has a solid record of exhibitions worldwide and held solo exhibitions in France, Belgium, Lithuania and at the Munchner Kunsverein. The films will be introduced by Shepherd Steiner, visiting assistant professor of art history at the University of Florida. Admission is $4 for the general public, $3 for students and free for museum members.

UF students in film and media studies will present their work to close the RISK Cinema season. The event will be held at 7 p.m. April 20. Admission is free.

For more information call 352-392-9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.