Friends & Strangers, a documentary on the dynamic stories and creative journeys of contemporary artists today, will be screened on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD).
Produced by the non-profit organization Art 21, the episode is the culmination of Art in the Twenty-First Century, the first and only nationally broadcast public television series in the US which introduces viewers to a diverse group of emerging and established creators around the world.
Since its premiere in 2001, it has produced 11 seasons and featured 240 personalities, to include painters and sculptors, as well as performance, installation, video, and new media artists, who have shared their personal reflections, sources of inspiration, and working processes.
For the much-awaited finale, Friends & Strangers presents the stories and perspectives of the guests as they discover empowerment in their respective artistic identities.
The one-hour film tackles how celebrated filmmaker, performer, and writer Miranda July embraces the risks of art-making while staging an impromptu performance at a gas station in Los Angeles.
It explores Deaf sound artist Christine Sun Kim’s collection of talks, openings, and exhibitions as it reveals the biting humor and political commitment that fuels her signature drawings.
It likewise depicts interdisciplinary artist Cannupa Hanska Luger, a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold of the Native American background, renowned for his interventions at the 2016 Standing Rock protests, as he engages indigenous and nonindigenous audiences with interactive projects which acknowledge colonial histories and direct a path toward an optimistic future.
Filmmaker and activist Linda Goode Bryant, on the other hand, recalls the communal energy and anarchic spirit of her legendary New York City art space Just Above Midtown, which was recently celebrated by the reputable Museum of Modern Art.
Major writing of the Friends & Strangers was courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts, Lambent Foundation, The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Toby Devan Lewis, Robert Lehman Foundation, and Nion McEvoy & Leslie Berriman.
It will be screened as part of the MCAD x Moving Image: World We Are, a program that showcases a succession of critically acclaimed hybrid documentaries, video essays, narrative experiments, filmed performances, and archival audiovisions.
It is free and open to the public from November 22 to 25, 2023 every 12 noon to 1 p.m. at MCAD at the Benilde Design + Arts Campus along Dominga Street in Malate, Manila.
Interested participants may register through https://forms.gle/xzAkCZ2FELnyuw7o6.
For more information, call 82305100 local 3897 or send an email to mcad@benilde.edu.ph.
