Dreams Have No Titles

Tuesday, October 3, 7:00 pm
Salle cinéma Michel Piccoli, Villa Médicis
Presentation in English
Free event

Screening of Zineb Sedira ‘s film installation Dreams Have No Titles and Ennio Lorenzini‘s film Les Mains libresfollowed by a discussion between Zineb Sedira and Luca Peretti.

Event organized in partnership with the British School at Rome.

At this meeting, Zineb Sedira presents her project for the Venice Biennale 2022: Dreams have no titles , a work centered on militant cinema and co-productions between Algeria, France and Italy. It was during her research for the Biennale that she discovered Les Mains libresa little-known film shot in 1964. It was the first Algerian production on the international scene, directed by Italian filmmaker Ennio Lorenzini (1934-1982). On the occasion of the screening of Dreams Have No Titles and Les Mains libres, Zineb Sedira discusses her work with Luca Peretti, historian of Italian cinema and culture.

Restoration of the film Les Mains libres

Several months after his investigation began, a 35 mm print was found at the AAMOD – Archivio Audiovisivo del Movimento Operaio e Democratico and was restored thanks to the Bologna Cinemathequein collaboration with Casbah Entertainment and the Cinémathèque d’Alger. The restoration work corrected the technical problems associated with the copy and restored the original black and white of the archive sequences shot in color.

Les Mains libres

This film reveals a multifaceted Algeria, newly created in color and far from the simplistic clichés conveyed by the French press and army. For the first time, it is possible to see images sweeping the whole of Algeria, bearing witness to the richness of its landscapes and the diversity of its traditions. Using the aesthetics of militant cinema, Les Mains libres features precious archive material from the Algerian war, bearing political testimony to the lingering traces of colonization and the negotiations that followed Algeria’s independence.

Running time: 56 min
VO French, ST Italian

Dreams Have No Titles

This film installation won Zineb Sedira a special mention at the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. In it, the artist addresses a major turning point in the history of cultural, intellectual and avant-garde production in the 1960s, 1970s and beyond, particularly in France, Italy and Algeria. Continuing her artistic practice, Zineb Sedira articulates her work around an autobiographical narrative, halfway between fiction and documentary, highlighting international solidarities, past and present, linked to historic liberation struggles.

It focuses on a corpus of co-productions and cinematographic productions, particularly of a militant nature, that have had an impact on postcolonial movements.

Running time: 24 min
VO English, no ST

Zineb Sedira

Zineb Sedira lives in London and works between Paris, Algiers and London. Over the past 25 years, Zineb Sedira has developed a sensitive artistic approach focused on migration, narrative and the biases of official history.

For her, artistic creation is an act of resistance: against oblivion, against hegemonies and against the status quo. This is particularly evident in her project Dreams have no titles (2022), which received a special mention from the jury at the Venice Biennale, where the artist represented France. In 2021, she gave a lecture at Villa Medici to present her project, accompanied by Yasmina Reggad (co-curator of the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale).

His work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions at Tate Britain (London, 2002); Centre Pompidou (Paris, 2004, 2009); Photographer’s Gallery (London, 2006); Musée d’Art Moderne d’Alger (2007); Palais de Tokyo (France, 2010); Prefix-Institute of Contemporary Art (Toronto, 2010); Blaffer Art Museum (Houston, 2013); Smithsonian (Washington, 2015); Beirut Art Center (Lebanon, 2018); Liverpool Biennale (UK, 2021); French Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (Italy, 2022).

Zineb Sedira lives in London and works between Paris, Algiers and London. Over the past 25 years, Zineb Sedira has developed a sensitive artistic approach focused on migration, narrative and the biases of official history.

For her, artistic creation is an act of resistance: against oblivion, against hegemonies and against the status quo. This is particularly evident in her project Dreams have no titles (2022), which received a special mention from the jury at the Venice Biennale, where the artist represented France. In 2021, she gave a lecture at Villa Medici to present her project, accompanied by Yasmina Reggad (co-curator of the French Pavilion at the Venice Biennale).

His work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions at Tate Britain (London, 2002); Centre Pompidou (Paris, 2004, 2009); Photographer’s Gallery (London, 2006); Musée d’Art Moderne d’Alger (2007); Palais de Tokyo (France, 2010); Prefix-Institute of Contemporary Art (Toronto, 2010); Blaffer Art Museum (Houston, 2013); Smithsonian (Washington, 2015); Beirut Art Center (Lebanon, 2018); Liverpool Biennale (UK, 2021); French Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (Italy, 2022).

To extend the meeting

Discussion with Zineb Sedira and Morad Montazami
Wednesday, October 4, 6:00 p.m.
British School at Rome

Zineb Sedira to talk with Villa Medici resident Morad Montazami at the British School at Rome on Wednesday, October 4. They will discuss the more technical and methodological aspects of his work, from the start of his career to the present day.