Screening

Black sun Film Club

Black Sea Files, Ursula Biemann

28.10.2026

Artist
Ursula Biemann

The French Academy in Rome– Villa Medici presents an exceptional film program to complement the exhibition “Black Sun: Petroleum and Contemporary Art” on view from October 9, 2026, to January 18, 2027.

The first event of the Black Sun film club-Three Petrocinema Events features the documentary Black Sea Files by Swiss artist and videographer Ursula Biemann, who captures the invisible geographies of a changing world in the world’s oldest oil-producing region: the Caspian Sea.

Black Sea Files, Ursula Biemann (2005, 43 min)

“Black Sea Files” is a regional study of the oil geography of the Caspian Sea: the world’s oldest oil-producing region. A massive underground oil pipeline crossing the Caucasus will soon transport Caspian crude oil to the West. This pipeline, connecting the outermost reaches of the oil reserves to the terminal of the global high-tech oil distribution system, serves as the central theme of the video.

By bypassing the region’s major players, the video sheds light on a multitude of secondary realities. This oil pipeline is a geostrategic project with significant political implications, not only for the region’s powerful figures but also for a large portion of the local population: farmers, oil workers, migrants, and sex workers—all of whom appear and contribute to a human geography that challenges the symbolic practices, often singular and powerful, of oil companies and politicians in the sector. It is these individuals who appear in the video, transforming the technological endeavor of the pipeline project into a complex human geography.

Black sun Film Club – Three Petrocinema Events

From October 9, 2026, to January 18, 2027, the Villa Medici will present the exhibition “ Black Sun. Petroleum and Contemporary Art “, curated by Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet (Zaman Books & Curating), as well as Caroline Courrioux (Villa Médicis). The exhibition explores the theme of “petromodernity” and its impact on artistic practices and our collective imagination. By exploring the “dangerous liaisons” between art and oil, the exhibition examines the power dynamics between the Global South and the Global North, rooted in extraction policies—particularly during the postcolonial period—to offer a critical perspective on petromodernity in the context of a political and climate emergency.

The “Black sun film club—Three Petrocinema Events” offers an opportunity to explore these ideas more deeply through the medium of film—documentaries, archival footage, and art videos—in a series of events that examine the geographic, ecological, social, infrastructural, and political dimensions of oil extraction, as well as its impacts on daily life. Conceived as an extension of the exhibition spaces, this program takes place in the Michel Piccoli cinema at Villa Medici. These three events invite viewers on a journey through various geographic regions and perspectives on oil, presenting different visions and testimonies that question the dominance of oil in all its forms, as well as the critical spaces fighting against its hegemony.

Program

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Black Sea Files by Ursula Biemann

Wednesday, December 9, 2026

Upcoming

Wednesday, January 13, 2027

Coming Soon

Ursula Biemann

Ursula Biemann is an artist, author, and video artist. Her artistic practice is strongly research-based and involves fieldwork in remote locations—from Greenland to the Amazon—where she studies climate change and the ecologies of oil, ice, forests, and water.

In his multi-layered videos, the artist interweaves sweeping cinematic landscapes, documentary footage, science-fiction poetry, and academic research to depict a changing global reality.

Her early writings and experimental video works focused on the gendered dimension of migration. With *Black Sea Files* (2005), Biemann shifted her focus to natural resources and their situated materiality. In 2010, she co-founded the collaborative project World of Matter, which explores the ecologies of global resources.

Practical Information

Wednesday, October 28,
Screening : 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Michel Piccoli cinema room
Film in English
€5 Tickets

Special late-night opening of the ‘Black sun. Petroleum and Contemporary Art’ exhibition from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm.
The ticket grants access to both the screening and the exhibition.

Please read this before you come

Pets, motorcycle and bicycle helmets, strollers, bulky bags, and suitcases are not permitted inside the Villa Medici.
The Villa Medici does not have a coat check or luggage storage on site.
Some areas of the Villa Medici are partially accessible to people with limited mobility (exhibition halls) or completely inaccessible (the M. Piccoli movie theater). If this applies to you, please consult the “Accessibility and Services ” section and contact us in advance of your visit so that we can ensure the best possible experience for you (select “Visit the Villa”).