Practice research film screenings: The Man Who Built the Waldorf Astoria and 1922

Join us for a screening and discussion of two practice research films made by members of the Centre: The Man Who Built the Waldorf Astoria, by Professor Paul Cooke, and 1922 by Dr Libertad Gills.

While very different in production method and tone, both films explore the role of archival materials, film aesthetics/poetics and memory in relation to political and sometimes deeply personal histories.

The Man who Built the Waldorf Astoria, by Paul Cooke

A poetic documentary uncovering the myths about a man bringing up a family in Mayo (the West of Ireland) at the start of the 20th Century, his experience of the Irish War of Independence and Civil War and his exile as a labourer in New York. It features an original soundtrack, the poetry of Belinda Cooke and a variety of archival photographs and footage from Ireland and America. (Trailer here.)

1922, by Libertad Gills

What do you do when there’s no film archive of a major historical event? 1922 looks at Ecuador’s workers’ strike and massacre on November 15, 1922 — for which no known archival moving images exist. By reworking another film from that year (Fiestas del Centenario) and mixing in international footage, Libertad Gills builds an imagined archive, exploring what cinema was in 1922 — and how it might serve class struggle today.

Social

The screenings will be followed by an informal social at Old Bar in LUU. All welcome!