Tabakalera and International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) have announced the upcoming opening of the exhibition Extramission. Begi distiratsuen ehizan (Extramission. On the hunt for bright eyes), created by the Argentine-British filmmaker Jessica Sarah Rinland. This exhibition, in collaboration with the San Sebastian Festival, will be launched at Tabakalera's Exhibition Hall 2 on 17 September. A few days later, during the San Sebastian Festival, Rinland will participate in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section with his latest film Monólogo colectivo / Collective Monologue.
Jessica Sarah Rinland is an artist and filmmaker, internationally renowned for her experimental approach and unique storytelling style in documentary filmmaking. On this occasion, in collaboration with Tabakalera and International Film Festival Rotterdam, she will be making the leap to the exhibition hall with an audiovisual installation that she has created specifically for this event. After its exhibition at Tabakalera, the installation will move to Rotterdam, where it will also be showcased next January as part of its film festival.
Meanwhile, Jessica Sarah Rinland's latest film, Monólogo colectivo / Collective Monologue produced during her residency as part of the sixth edition of the Ikusmira Berriak programme in 2020, is preparing for its premiere at the Locarno Festival next week and in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section of the San Sebastian Festival. The film and the installation, have been supported by the Tabakalera audiovisual laboratory throughout post-production and received Development support from IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund in 2020.
Rinland's filmmaking experience and the fruits of her creative process, alongside the screening of her film at various festivals and the presentation of her artistic installation, demonstrate how important the system of support for creation and artists has been for Tabakalera, the San Sebastian Festival and the Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola for many years. In addition, the inter-institutional collaboration between Tabakalera and International Film Festival Rotterdam to support the production of new audiovisual installations reinforces the centre's commitment to the crossover between film and contemporary art.
An example of this was Vive le cinéma! an exhibition that in 2022 presented the audiovisual creations of film directors Dea Kulumbegashvili, Isaki Lacuesta, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese and Jia Zhang-ke. The four filmmakers adapted their usual filmmaking practices with a view to creating audiovisual pieces to be shown in an exhibition hall. Captives, the project created by Kulumbegashvili specifically for the exhibition, was selected to participate in International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2023.
Likewise, in that same year, Tabakalera dedicated an exhibition to the creation process of the film Sultana's Dream by the artist and film director Isabel Herguera. The director and her team have worked occasionally at the Tabakalera Artists' Space since 2016 and the exhibition was organised as if it were the artist's own studio. Sultana's Dream was nominated for the Goya Award for Best Animated Film and was the first European animated film to compete in the Official Selection of the San Sebastian Festival.
Jessica Sarah Rinland´s new video- installation pairs new moving images and audio recordings with pages from early 20th-century National Geographic magazines. The acts of conservation and repatriation in Rinland’s work suggest that contemporary acts of care can expose violences past.
Intimate and fragmented moments unfold in a community of zoos and animal rescue centers across Argentina. As histories of these institutions are uncovered, dedicated workers commit both day and night to caring for the remaining enclosed animals, fostering a mutual bond that transcends imagined boundaries between human and animal.