Summer cinema screenings and film premieres at Tate Modern

Tate Modern today begins its summer season of film screenings. These regular evening events include premieres and previews of new films, as well as rarely-seen work by inspiring and maverick filmmakers. Opening with the world premiere of celebrated artist Rosa Barba’s new film, the programme brings together works from around the world which challenge the conventions of the moving image, from the first and only film made by renowned painter Agnes Martin, to a three-day survey of South African artists on screen.

Rosa Barba: The Hidden Conference
Wednesday 20 May, 18.30
Barba shot this series of three films in the storage areas of renowned museums, including the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Capitoline Museum in Rome, investigating the status of art works when they are not on display. This evening will mark the world premiere of the newest work in the series, shot in Tate’s own off-site store, and will include a discussion with the artist and live sound choreography by Jan St. Werner of electronic duo Mouse on Mars with Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab.

Maciej Sobieszczański and Łukasz Ronduda: The Performer
Saturday 23 May, 18.30
Part of 13th KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival, this screening marks the UK premiere of The Performer, the existential story of performance artist Oskar Dawicki told through his work. The film is the first result of a new annual award in Poland, which grants visual artists the funds to make a feature film.

Agnes Martin: Gabriel
Friday 5 June, 18.30
In conjunction with Tate Modern’s retrospective of Agnes Martin, this evening presents the artist’s only completed and rarely screened film. It follows the wanderings of a ten year old boy in rural New Mexico, where Martin lived and worked, in a contemplative study of landscape and nature.

Sharon Lockhart
Friday 12 June, 18.30
Sharon Lockhart will present her newest body of films and photographs in a unique opportunity to see this ambitious work in progress, followed by a conversation with Tate’s senior curators Catherine Wood and Andrea Lissoni. Created in collaboration with a group of 15 young women in Poland, the project empowers the authority of the girls’ voices and their perspectives on the world.

Parviz Kimiavi
Friday 19 – Sunday 21 June
Spanning four screenings over three days, this will be the UK’s first major survey of maverick filmmaker Parviz Kimiavi. The pioneer of alternative cinema in 1970’s Iran, Kimiavi created surreal and hallucinatory films, using non-professional actors and harsh desert landscapes.

A Night at the Pictures: An evening for Larry Johnson
Friday 26 June, 18.30
Coinciding with an exhibition of his work at Raven Row, this evening will honour the legacy of artist Larry Johnson. Curator Bruce Hainley and writer Wayne Koestenbaum will discuss his work, followed by a specially selected cult film.

Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc: Sector IX B
Wednesday 8 July, 18.30
Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc’s new film, included in Okwui Enwezor’s Venice Biennial main show, addresses political issues alongside scientific and anthropological histories. Drawing on a personal photographic archive, the film presents a young fictional researcher who leads a group between the IFAN Museum in Dakar and the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. The screening will be introduced by a live concert by the electronic music act PAL.

The Film Will Always Be You: South African Artists on Screen
Friday 10 – Sunday 12 June
This three-day series of screenings explores the film work of key artists in South Africa. It begins with a rare showing of William Kentridge and Angus Gibson’s Freedom Square and Back of the Moon 1986 (part of the Johannesburg Free Filmmakers’ Co-Operative) and ends with the UK premiere of Robin Rhode’s Recycled Matter 2015.