Over the course of a year, two artists-in-residence (at the Atelier Cinéma of the GSARA and the production studio of the CVB) focus on writing and developing a documentary film – via postal correspondence. This is already the fourth edition of this artistic correspondence, which will blossom into three open events in 2019 in collaboration with Beursschouwburg, bringing together the filmmakers Rebecca Jane Arthur and Eva Giolo.

Rebecca and Eva gather many common interests in their filmmaking practice: portraiture, the role of women in the family and in society, emancipation, communication, connection and separation. In their most recent works, they have been questioning their respective ‘homes’ and each one enters into a dialogue with their mothers, who confront them with their role as daughters and as (female) directors.

Their two films are connected but focus on different stories. One studies the socio-political structures that shape a young woman’s life (education and social structures), while the other focuses on cultural and physical heritage (language and gesture). One is a film of stories and songs, while the other looks at the physical aspects of learning one’s mother tongue. In this dialogue, Rebecca and Eva question the production process of their artistic practice and establish connections between their own work and that of other filmmakers, thinkers, feminists and women.

Rebecca and Eva propose an evening of screenings and conversation that will address the concerns of filming personal spaces and stories and of observing intimate bonds. They will screen Ute Aurand’s Butterfly in Winter (Der Schmetterling im Winter) (2006), on which Rebecca Jane Arthur will share excerpts of writing adapted from her publication Streaming Consciousness (2017), and Eva will present her last film A Tongue Called Mother (2019).

For this evening presentation, they invite fellow filmmaker and programmer Ingel Vaikla in order to share their views on these works and anchor it in a broader reflection of present-day independent cinema.

Rebecca Jane Arthur (1984, Edinburgh) is an audiovisual artist who works mainly with writing and moving image. She is currently in residence at WIELS and is taking part in a 16-month programme with SoundImageCulture (SIC). In parallel with her artistic work, Arthur works in Brussels as a producer, writer, editor and translator. She is co-founder of the production and distribution platform Elephy and the independent cinema Monokino. She also works for Auguste Orts as coordinator of the project On & For Production and Distribution, financed by Creative Europe (2018-2021).

Eva Giolo (1991, Brussels) is an audiovisual artist and filmmaker. Her practice consists primarily in creating portraiture that straddles the genres of fiction and documentary. Eva Giolo is one of the founders of the production and distribution platform Elephy. As a videographer and video editor, she works together with institutions, galleries and other artists. She lives in Brussels and is currently an artist-in-residence at the HISK in Ghent (2018-2020). 

Ingel Vaikla is a visual artist and filmmaker from Estonia. In her work she questions the relationship between architecture and its users, and the representation of architecture in camera based mediums. Ingel was part of the team representing Estonia at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. Ingel has been curating film programmes for Tallinn Photo Month Biennale and for the International Interior Architecture Symposium SISU. Her documentary film The House Guard (2015) has been screened at numerous international film festivals and exhibitions. She recently finished her latest film Roosenberg (2017), which had its World Premiere at IDFA in Amsterdam. She is currently based in Gent, Belgium at the 2-year artist residency HISK.

GSARA and CVB are two film production studios supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

Butterfly in Winter

Ute Aurand & Maria Lang, DE, 2006, 16mm, colour, 29'

“Ute Aurand films Maria Lang in her daily activity as she cares for her mother. The presence of the filmmaker is visible in the camera movements and in the editing rhythm. Admiration and discretion are sensed. We enter into the intimacy of mother and daughter through the eyes of a friend. The silent images create an occasion for attentive observation and balanced awareness.” (Robert Beavers)

Part of NORMAL SCHNORMAL, a multidisciplinary programme on normality and other deviations.