An evening with Audrey Lam: Us and the Night (Audrey Lam, 2024) + Janitor of Lunacy (Umi Ishihara, 2019)

Join us for a very special evening with filmmaker and curator Audrey Lam!
 

Janitor of Lunacy
Umi Ishihara | 2019 | UK | 12’ | English

Janitor of Lunacy follows a young woman’s descent into a digital wormhole via her obsession with a BDSM account run by an unknown user. The film examines social media’s ability to acquire organicity whilst also distorting subjective reality.

Love and emotions towards others can be projected and built up through spending time on—and even obsessing—over a stranger’s social media accounts. Through browsing bricolages of curated images, GIFS and clips (Tumblr) alongside personal photos (Facebook, Instagram) it’s all too common for people to create narratives around people they’ve never met - distorting reality and feeding fantasy.

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Us and the Night
Audrey Lam | 2024 | Australia | 67’ | English

Night after night, two travellers cross paths in a place full of myths and stories.

A storm summons the memory of a library in the subtropics in this first feature by Australian filmmaker Audrey Lam, filmed on 16mm over a period of 10 years. Non-professionals Umi Ishihara and Xiao Deng play versions of themselves—solitary after-hours workers going about their mundane duties night after night. Imagining themselves as explorers lost in a labyrinth or marooned on an island, they embark on small, playful adventures both together and apart, as the library’s vast yet shrinking collection becomes a playground for their own stories and secrets. (Prismatic Grounds Festival)

Read more on Ultra Dogme.