“The simple gesture of turning a camera towards a woman has become equivalent to a terrorist act.”
This 1981 quote from feminist film scholar Mary Ann Doane captured her frustrations with the objectification and violence which seemed to follow every woman’s portrayal in cinematic narrative.
Two motion picture pieces by Meriem Bennani, a Moroccan-born New Yorker, are on display at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery as part of the Wavelengths section of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Iranian-born New York City resident Shirin Neshat is a visual artist best recognized for her work in photography, and film. Prior to the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1974, Neshat traveled to Los Angeles to pursue her art studies.
Film has a tendency to compress time. In all of the frantic and jagged cuts and perspectives of cinema, its multiplicities suggest and allow for the illusion of a time-elapsed in much greater length than the average running time of a film.
Canadian photographer Ava Margueritte explores different narratives to document physical reactions to other emotional states. Absorbing her surroundings, Margueritte’s placid and contemplative work evaluates the connection between body and mind.