This screening has been curated by filmmakers Phil Collins and Oleksiy Radynski to accompany their 3-month installation Intervention, which re-contextualises the decommissioned statue of Friedrich Engels that stands in the centre of Manchester through the perspectives of writers and activists from Ukraine.
Films screening in this programme are:
Incident in the Museum (Dir Oleksiy Radynski) – A fly-on-the-wall depiction of an unexpected visit at a Kharkiv museum probes the relationship between art, politics and religion in the post-Soviet era. Produced by Visual Culture Research Center, with the support from Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle.
Ceremony (Dir Phil Collins) – Friedrich Engels – philosopher, writer, radical thinker – is coming back home. Turner Prize-nominated artist Phil Collins returns Engels to the city where he made his name in the form of a decommissioned statue from Ukraine, driven across Europe and permanently installed in the centre of Manchester.
Labour Safety in Dnipropetrovsk Region (Dir Daniil Revkovsky & Andriy Rachynsky) – Consisting of found footage shot by workers of large industrial enterprises in the Dnipropetrovsk region and residents from nearby areas, this short film reveals the precarious, deteriorating and sometimes grotesque working conditions of today’s proletariat.
Ceremony was commissioned by Manchester International Festival, 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions and HOME. Produced by Manchester International Festival, HOME, Shady Lane Productions and Tigerlily Productions