FULL FESTIVAL PROGRAMME TO BE PUBLISHED IN APRIL

Fashion in Film Festival’s 8th edition, GROUNDED, takes cinema as a lens through which to consider the complex entanglements between fashion and nature. Spanning cinema's history from the early 20th century up to the present moment – an era marked by escalating ecological crises – the season reveals fashion as both a barrier and a connecting tissue between humans and the natural world. In the Western psyche, humanity and nature are often perceived as distinct entities, with phenomena such as landscapes, oceans, flora, and fauna frequently regarded as passive resources, picturesque mise-en-scenes or, worse, dumping grounds for human activity. Pulling at the threads of conflicting and overlapping viewpoints, GROUNDED seeks to illuminate and renegotiate such an anthropocentric worldview.

The imaginative and sensory world of cinema is our way towards an expanded understanding of themes including production and disposal, hybridity and interdependence, migration, social justice and environmental harm. Taking a decentred perspective, GROUNDED features over 80 films from around the world including many rarely-screened works. Hosted across 16 venues in London, South West England and Scotland, the programme boasts several UK premieres and new archival restorations, as well as talks, introductions, Q&As and ciné concerts. Festival highlights include a musical commission by progressive choral collective Musarc and films by artists, filmmakers, animators and image-makers such as Ulrike Ottinger, Kôsai Sekine, Rosine Mbakam, Wang Bing, Věra Chytilová, Alexandra Gulea, John Akomfrah, Segundo de Chomón, Rocio Mesa, Shireen Seno, Suzan Pitt, Janie Geiser, Brothers Quay, Jan Švankmajer, Osbert Parker and Jack Davison.

Through five distinct but overlapping strands – From the Ground Up, Uncommon Ground, Otherground, Shaky Ground and Pagan Ground – the season attempts to ‘re-ground’ the concept of fashion within a nature that has its own agency and affects. It presents rich narratives spotlighting not only ecological and geopolitical concerns but also imaginative spaces of poetry, comedy, beauty, joy, horror, violence, and transgression.

Programme Curators: Marketa Uhlirova and Dal Chodha

Guest Curators: Christel Tsilibaris, Ray Sims, Cyana Madsen, Isabella Coraça, Elif Kaynaci-Rongen, May Adadol Ingawanij (CREAM), Sarah Cooper, Karen Alexander, Margarita Louca, Susie Evans and Becca Voelcker

Curatorial Assistant: Bambi Harlow

Season Graphic Design: Kia Tasbihgou

Environmental Consultant: George Barker

Interns: Atlanta Anley, Mamady Diana, and Luke Hawthorn

The festival is proud to partner with the following venues:

LONDON BARBICAN CENTRE, CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS, GENESIS CINEMA, RIO CINEMA, GARDEN CINEMA, LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION, REGENT STREET CINEMA

SOUTH WEST ENGLAND WATERSHED BRISTOL, PHOENIX EXETER, PLYMOUTH ARTS CINEMA PLYMOUTH

SCOTLAND GLASGOW FILM THEATRE and GARNETHILL MULTICULTURAL CENTRE GLASGOW and EDEN COURT INVERNESS

Fashion in Film Festival is based at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. GROUNDED: Fashion’s Entanglements with Nature is possible with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery. Additional support is provided by Central Saint Martins, Dana and Michal Malý, Margaret (Katy Louis and Emma Pettit), Czech Centre London and Ian Butler.

With special thanks to EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam, BFI Archive, Národní filmový archiv, Les Archives françaises du film (CNC), FPA Classics Paris, Cinematek Brussels, Gaumont-Pathé Archives, Filmoteca de Catalunya, Deutsche Kinemathek, The Japan Foundation, The Library of Congress, Creative Access, Tamara Anderson, Molly Cowderoy, Abla Kandalaft, Paul Șoptirean, Danielle Knight, Sam Mitchell, Phoebe Davies, John McKnight, Maddy Probst, Tom Gunning, Daniel Morgan, Ben McLaughlin, Reiki Zhang, Laurenz Brunner, Ivana Nohel, Sarah-Jane Meredith, Hywel Davies, Matt Malpass, Renata Clark, Tamsin Blanchard, Agnès Bertola and Caroline Patte.

Big thanks also to Ashitey Akomfrah, Caterina Albano, Regina De Martelaere, Arianna Turci, Tereza Sklenářová, Zuzana Štefunková, Monica Hundal, Heidi Hammond, Melanie Ashley, Celia Kent, Alistair o’Neill, Helen Brooks, Adam Murray, Olivia Oben, Willy Ndatira, Lindsay Pentelow, Josep Calle Buendía, Markus Nornes, Ruth Stella Lingford, Darla Jane Gilroy, Lucy Bolland and Kate Pelen.