Earth Day Screening

Event: Saturday 22 April, 10AM-5PM
Location: Lighthouse, Kensington Street, Brighton BN1 4AJ

FREE No booking required.

Join us at Lighthouse for a special screening of short films surveying environmental themes this Earth Day on Saturday the 22 April from 10am-5pm.

As we celebrate our planet, we should also acknowledge the ways in which our actions as humans have affected the environment, our bodies, communities and our cultures. These films invite us to reflect on our relationship with the earth and with each other, to recognise the consequences of our actions, and to strive for a more sustainable and just future.

Through a range of visual storytelling techniques, the films offer a glimpse into the complex web of human - and non human - experiences and emotions. They remind us of our shared humanity and the connections that bind us, transcending boundaries of culture, geography, and language.

In this screening, we hope to inspire meaningful conversations and actions that contribute to a healthier and more sustainable future for ourselves and our planet.

Still from TR333 (2021) courtesy the artist April Lin 林森

CONTENT WARNING:

Scenes and language that viewers may find potentially upsetting. Please email lucie@lighthouse.org.uk or ask the invigilator present for further information.

Artists and organisations along the South-East Coast are coming together to connect with nature through creative activity. You can take part in a workshop, explore a gallery, or even discover a Pocket Park – there’s lots to do and lots of ways to be inspired! Discover the full programme here, which has been put together through collaborative effort by the Southeast Coast Culture Declares Emergency regional hub.

Film Programme

From the forest to the concrete (to the forest) 2019 | 10 mins

Alberta Whittle

From the forest to the concrete (to the forest) (2019) was developed during the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, one of the most powerful cyclones to strike the Caribbean in modern times. Whittle interweaves performance with footage of the cyclone’s destruction, calling upon viewers to reflect upon their relative comfort living in the UK and elsewhere, in contrast to the destructive impact of the weather and societal inequalities affecting other parts of the world.

To Calm the Pig Inside 2020 | 18 mins

Joanna Vasquez Arong

To Calm the Pig Inside is a contemplation on the effects a typhoon leaves on a seaside city. Myths are woven in to try to understand how people cope with the devastation and trauma. A girl divulges remnants of her own memory of her grandmother and mother to tie in the experiences she felt visiting this ravaged port city.

That which is to come is just a promise 2019 | 22 mins

Flatform

Land and water are the protagonists of this work. In a long sequence through Funafuti, one of Tuvalu archipelago’s islands where the sea rises from the ground and floods it due to its unnatural overheating, the state of drought and flooding alternate fluidly, and without interruption. The places and the actions of the people, in the constant and smooth movement from one state to another, set-aside two recurring situations of the island: anticipation and surprise.

By earth, sea and air we came 2021 | 18 mins

Adham Faramawy

By earth, sea and air we came, is a video work intertwining the lives of flowers, parakeets and sailors around a river that flows through the periphery of a city, drawing on history, biology, geography and mythology to think through experiences of migration and the relationship the artist, as a migrant and a person of colour, has to ideas of the land and of place.

TR333 2021 | 10 mins

April Lin 林森

In collaboration with ecologist Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, artist-filmmaker April Lin 林森 presents ‘TR333’, a speculative documentary which imagines a new species of tree based on scientific literature on plants and climate hardiness. Their hybrid forms and body parts a patchwork amalgamation of different tree types, this tree is a climate adaptative response, a lifeform born out of resilience and hope. As the spirit inhabiting the tree emerges to converse with the viewer, they share with us their experiences of ecocidal generational trauma, urging us to reflect around the ways all the beings on the planet are deeply interlinked, and to honour our collective responsibility towards one another. Using a blend of 3D animation, found footage, and a musical score based on data sonification, ‘Rainforest Canopy’ uses the speculative to recast the ecological crisis, asking ‘Why is this important?’ from a multispecies and affective gaze.

Commissioned by Sheffield DocFest and supported by Wellcome.