July 20th, 2022
අතීතය සහ වෙනත් ස්ථාන
The Past and Other Places:
A Conversation with Rajee Samarasinghe
Los Angeles based filmmaker, Rajee Samarasinghe’s works have been deconstructing the cinematic language through lyrical images and hybrid forms for nearly a decade. For July at Shadow Kitchen, we’re excited to present a conversation and retrospective look at 12 of Rajee Samarasinghe’s films from 2014-2021.
In this program, Samarasinghe’s formal explorations experiment with portraiture, narrative structure, silence, aspect ratios, and digital cinematography, to push the boundaries of his ongoing dialogue with the past. Often collaborating and drawing inspiration from his family and friends, these recurring figures in Samarasinghe’s projects offer a sincerity to his visual storytelling. Films such as THE EYES OF SUMMER and MISERY NEXT TIME approach history to reframe his personal experiences of Sri Lanka with the sociopolitical conditions post civil war.
In works such as THE SPECTRE WATCHES OVER HER and IMITATION OF LIFE, Samarasinghe utilizes the filmic medium to subvert the ethnographic image. Abstracted images flicker in and out of recognition as a statement against the Western colonial gaze. Samarasinghe writes, “My work often aims at dismantling hegemonic structures found in the culture of image consumption and exposing oppressive systems of powers.”
Join us next Wednesday 7:30 PM (7/20/22) at Coaxial for an intimate discussion with Rajee Samarasinghe and a look back at his earlier films!
PROGRAM
- The Queen of Material (2014, 2 mins)
- Untitled (Horse) (2014, 4.5 mins)
- black widow summer set (2015, 7.5 mins)
- The Spectre Watches Over Her (2016, 14 mins)
- FOREIGN QUARTERS / 异乡居所 / YI XIANG JU SUO (2017, 14.5 mins)
- everyday star (2018, 9 mins)
- Untitled (2019, 4 mins)
- Imitation of Life (2020, 1 min)
- Gimhanaye Netra / ගිම්හානයේ නෙත්ර / The Eyes of Summer (2020, 15 mins)
- Misery Next Time (2021, 5 mins)
- the past (2021, 5 mins)
- Show Me Other Places (2021, 11.5 mins)
TOTAL PROGRAM TIME: 82 mins
IN PERSON: Rajee Samarasinghe!
FILMMAKER
RAJEE SAMARASINGHE
Rajee Samarasinghe was born and raised amidst the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka. Now based in the United States, his works seek to understand the circumstances around his childhood and often navigate the terrain of memory, migration, and impermanence. Samarasinghe’s films have been exhibited at solo shows and venues internationally including Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Los Angeles Filmforum, BFI London Film Festival, Oberhausen, FIDMarseille, Slamdance, SFFILM Festival, REDCAT, CROSSROADS, Blackstar, among others. Samarasinghe was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2020.