Details
The varied films in this compelling programme move through the many ways that documentary can harness the power of archive, from inscribing new meaning onto found footage to inciting ideas through juxtaposing past and present, and as a potent catalyst for exploring personal history.
These thought-provoking films use different forms of archival material to deepen our understanding of human stories, and to unravel the nuanced notion of the archive itself.
Programme details
Murewa | UK | 14 mins | 2025 | dir. Ché Scott-Heron Newton
As Marlon looks back over home movie footage of his relationship with his first childhood friend, Murry, he is forced to reflect on the moments that shaped them. Raw, intimate and honest, MUREWA is a tender coming-of-age story of friendship and a quest to understand what happened along the way.
No se ve desde acá (You Can’t See It From Here) | USA, Columbia | 19 mins | 2024 | dir. Enrique Pedráza-Botero
Using archive and spatial exploration of Miami as a point of departure, this film confronts us with contrasting experiences of migration.
Milk | UK | 25 mins | 2024 | dir. Miranda Stern
While contemplating having a child, Miranda Stern starts to open boxes containing the personal effects of her mother, whom she never knew. Through a moving introspective journey into the past and the future, the filmmaker creates a cinematic work around maternity, loss and addiction, focused on life and healing
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing | UK | 17 mins | 2024 | dir. Theo Panagopoulos
When a Palestinian filmmaker based in Scotland unearths a rarely-seen Scottish film archive of Palestinian wild flowers, he decides to reclaim the footage. This tender film essay questions the role of image-making as a tool of both testimony and violence when connected to entanglements between people and the land.
The film No se ve desde acá (You Can’t See It From Here) contains flickering or flashing lights that may affect those with photosensitive epilepsy.
The screening on Wednesday the 3rd of September was followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Ché Scott-Heron Newton, Ashionye Ogene, Enrique Pedráza-Botero and Theo Panagopoulos. Hosted DocHouse short film programmer Sean Parnell.