Cydnii Wilde Harris joins the show to discuss her video essay, "Cotton — The Fabric of Genocide." Cydnii and Will also discuss Ian Garwood's "SLAP THAT BASS Zoomed" and Jace Alexander Casey's "New Forms of Racism in the Post-Cinematic Dispositif." They also talk about what it's like to be a student of videographic criticism and how video essays have shaped their own scholarly pursuits.
Black Lives Matter Video Essay Playlist Makes Its Festival Debut
On Saturday, September 12th, selections from the Black Lives Matter Video Essay Playlist will screen at the London-based Open City Documentary Festival. The event, "Seen and Heard: Selections from the Black Lives Matter Video Essay Playlist" will take place at 2 p.m. EST. In addition to the screenings, Cydnii Wilde Harris, Kevin B. Lee, and myself will be in dialogue with the creators. All revenue from ticket sales will be donated to Black Minds Matter UK.
The festival is also offering a bulk discount for classrooms. An educational group ticket is available for £30 when you enter the promo code “EDUC4T1ONALGR0UP2020” at checkout. A hidden ticket type will appear after you type in the promo. Teachers will receive a link to the livestream about an hour before the event which can then be shared with students. More here.
The Journeys of Cary Grant: An Audiovisual Celebration
The podcast is partnering with the Cary Comes Home Festival, the Bristol, UK-based festival honoring the life and work of Cary Grant, to present "The Journeys of Cary Grant: An Audiovisual Celebration."
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Grant’s journey to the United States and international stardom, we are seeking video essays exploring journeys of many types. We are interested in exploring the idea of the journey, not only in terms of geography, place, space and physical travels (both real life and on film), but also in terms of psychological journeys: voyages of identity, self-discovery and self-invention. We are open to all kinds of journeys, including fan journeys, star pilgrimage, set-jetting, movie location tours and rephotography and all forms of audio-visual criticism, including video essays, fanvids, and any kind of video that reappropriates footage of Cary Grant. Videos of any length will be accepted but the ideal length will be between 5-6 minutes.
All submitted work will be featured on the Cary Comes Home website and on The Video Essay Podcast website. Some of the best work will be featured on an episode of The Video Essay Podcast which will be recorded live at the virtual festival in November. Creators will be invited to join the conversation!
The rolling deadline for submissions is Friday, October 16th. Submit here.
P.S. Here's my video!
Notes on Videographic Criticism
Please don't forget that the podcast has a weekly companion newsletter! Each week, you'll get links to videographic news and notes, short interviews with creators, updates on the podcast and a short essay by me. Subscribe here.