Bologna in Lettere 2021
Il Festival online
ARTE-FATTI CONTEMPORANEI
a cura di Maria Korporal
Avant Kinema
(Sarahjane Swan & Roger Simian)
MERZFRAU Portraits of the Muse – Anna Blume
AVANT KINEMA BIOGRAPHY
Scottish interdisciplinary artists, Sarahjane Swan & Roger Simian, have collaborated since 2009 on a significant body of works under the names Avant Kinema (films, art, writing) and The Bird and The Monkey (songs, music videos). As well as working with digital technology, the duo’s film work has often featured the use of analogue equipment and processes: vintage Super 8 cameras, long-expired film-stock, hand-processing using household ingredients and handcrafting by scratching, painting and manipulating the film itself. Films by Avant Kinema have screened throughout the UK and Europe, as well as in the USA, Canada and Australia. The short film, “Boy And The Sea”, was awarded the Pauline Fay Lazarus Award for work based on human form in 2019, and “Superfly Super 8 circa Nineteen Seventy-Seven” was shortlisted for the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Short Film Challenge competition in 2016. Songs by The Bird And The Monkey have aired regularly on BBC radio and other stations. The duo have created five full-scale installations since 2012 and an Expanded Cinema Performance and have also hosted community workshops with adults and children on Super 8 Filmmaking and Creating Your Own Installation. Avant Kinema have been awarded grants by Creative Scotland, South of Scotland VACMA, and the Hope-Scott Trust.
Website: www.avantkinema.com