Esfir (2020) is a contemporary interpretation of an unrealized script titled Women (1933) by prominent Soviet director Esfir Shub. In her original project, Shub sought to explore the “women’s question” in Soviet Russia by following four heroines from different walks of life. Reflecting on the history of Shub’s unfinished film, Cynthia Madansky puts it in conversation with the stories of four women in present-day Russia. The result is a beautifully crafted experimental documentary that examines the current status of feminism in the country.
The screening takes place in conjunction with the talk by Anastasia Kostina, 'I Want to Make a Film About Women': The Story of One Unrealized Feminist Manifesto.
Speaker
Cynthia Madansky is an artist and filmmaker whose work engages with themes of nationalism, border transgression, nuclear abolition, feminism, and militarism. Over the past 30 years, Madansky has created more than 40 visually distinctive moving image works that foreground human experience and personal testimony within landscapes affected by nationalism, war, and environmental injustice. Her award-winning films have been presented as both single-channel works and multi-channel installations at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul Modern, the Walker Art Center, the Berlin Film Festival, and the Rotterdam Film Festival.
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