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The Video Essay Podcast

Latest episodes

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Dec 23, 2024 • 36min

Episode 7. How to Measure the World - Filmexplorer’s Video Essay Gallery

Today's episode features the latest collaboration with the Swiss publication, Filmexplorer. For the second time, Filmexplorer has invited guest curators to select video essays to screen as part of their online Video Essay Gallery. In this conversation, Evelyn Kreutzer, Julian Ross, and Volker Pantenburg discuss three videos they curated under the theme, "How to Measure the World." For more, visit filmexplorer.ch. The conversation centers on three works: Volker Pantenburg presents:capricorn sunset [a constellation] (2023) by Johannes Binotto Julian Ross presents:Constant (2022) by Sasha Litvintseva & Beny Wagner Evelyn Kreutzer presents:Xena’s Body: A Menstrual Auto-Investigation Using an iPhone (2024) by Occitane Lacurie Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by Ketsa.
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Dec 2, 2024 • 1h 8min

On "Ways of Doing" w/ Lucy Fife Donaldson, Colleen Laird, Dayna McLeod, and Alison Peirse

Today's episode features an interview with Lucy Fife Donaldson, Colleen Laird, Dayna McLeod and Alison Peirse on their ongoing series of collaborations and methodological practices, "Ways of Doing." They are interviewed by Kevin B. Lee. This episode is the seventh in an ongoing collaboration between The Video Essay Podcast and "The Video Essay: Memories, Ecologies, Bodies," a three-year research project on video essays led by Kevin B. Lee, Locarno Film Festival Professor for the Future of Cinema at USI University of Lugano, with Johannes Binotto and Evelyn Kreutzer, and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. For more on Ways of Doing, visit their website. Learn more about the Scholarship in Sound & Image Workshop here. Listen to the previous episode with Evelyn Kreutzer and Alan O'Leary, and read a response from Miklós Kiss. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by Ketsa.
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Oct 17, 2024 • 48min

Episode 6. Who Owns an Image? - Filmexplorer’s Video Essay Gallery

Today's episode features the latest collaboration with the Swiss publication, Filmexplorer. For the second time, Filmexplorer has invited guest curators to select video essays to screen as part of their online Video Essay Gallery. In this conversation, Evelyn Kreutzer, Julian Ross, and Volker Pantenburg discuss three videos they curated under the theme, "Who Owns an Image?" The conversation centers on the works: A History of the World According to Getty Images, by Richard Misek – 19’ (Evelyn Kreutzer) Maryam Jafri vs Mariam Jafri, by Maryam Jafri – 12’ (Julian Ross) Excerpt from Bitomsky “Das Kino, der Wind und die Photographie” (1991, 55 min), by Hartmut Bitomsky/Volker Pantenburg – 10’ (Volker Pantenburg) Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by Ketsa.
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Oct 11, 2024 • 38min

Alice Lenay on Zoom Aesthetics & 'Twisties!'

Today's episode features a conversation with Alice Lenay, an academic researcher and artist based in Paris. The discussion centers on Alice's recent work Twisties!, made with Théophile Gay-Mazas and recently published in NECSUS. Will and Alice also discuss her ongoing interest in Zoom aesthetics. Learn more about the podcast's collaboration with the Cary Comes Home Festival, and our call for video essays on Cary Grant and the theme of "acrobatics," here. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by Ketsa.
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Aug 22, 2024 • 56min

Alan O’Leary and Evelyn Kreutzer on the Importance of Writing on Video Essays

There’s been a lot of debate about what the relationship should be between videographic criticism and writing. Some have wondered if video essays could function as stand-alone scholarship and break free from having to be framed by text-based explanations such as creator statements or peer reviews. But even if one acknowledges the role of writing in advancing videographic scholarship, another question emerges: which writing?  At this year's SCMS annual meeting in Boston, videographic scholars Evelyn Kreutzer and Alan O’Leary observed that several video essay presentations would cite texts from feminist film studies, genre film studies, global film studies, etc.  But there wasn’t so much reference to existing writing about videographic scholarship. And it got them thinking, why aren’t videographic scholars giving more attention to writing about video essays? Haven’t there been examples of written scholarship that are worth referencing, in shaping our thinking about the form? Is it that they aren’t known well enough or established enough to be cited? And how can we start to get a better appreciation of the role of writing in video essay scholarship?  Evelyn and Alan recorded this conversation to get into these questions. Evelyn asked Alan to come up with two written essays that could be especially helpful in understanding videographic scholarship. Alan came up with about 6 or 7, which can be found in the show notes. From those they picked two to discuss in depth, leading to a rich and contentious conversation about what scholars want from video essays, and what role writing has in determining the answers to that question. This episode is the sixth in an ongoing collaboration between The Video Essay Podcast and "The Video Essay: Memories, Ecologies, Bodies," a three-year research project on video essays led by Kevin B. Lee, Locarno Film Festival Professor for the Future of Cinema at USI University of Lugano, with Johannes Binotto and Evelyn Kreutzer, and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Written Essays Discussed Binotto, Johannes. In Lag of Knowledge. The Video Essay as Parapraxis. in: Bernd Herzogenrath (Ed.): Practical Aesthetics. London, New York: Bloomsbury 2021, S. 83-94. de Fren, Allison. ‘The Critical Supercut: A Scholarly Approach to a Fannish Practice’, The Cine-Files, Vol. 15, 2020, http://www.thecine-files.com/the-critical-supercut-a-scholarly-approach-to-a-fannish-practice/. Garwood, Ian. ‘From “Video Essay” to “Video Monograph”? Indy Vinyl as Academic Book’, NECSUS: European Journal of Media Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2020, https://necsus-ejms.org/from-video-essay-to-video-monograph-indy-vinyl-as-academic-book/. Two articles by Susan Harewood:  ‘Seeking a Cure for Cinephilia’, The Cine-Files 15 (2020), http://www.thecine-files.com/seeking-a-cure-for-cinephilia/ ‘Canon and Catalyst in Video Essays’, ZFM 2023, https://zfmedienwissenschaft.de/en/online/videography-blog/canon-and-catalyst-video-essays Two articles by Miklós Kiss: Videographic Criticism in the Classroom: Research Method and Communication Mode in Scholarly Practice. The Cine Files 15 (2020), http://www.thecine-files.com/videographic-criticism-in-the-classroom/. What’s the Deal with the ‹Academic› in Videographic Criticism? ZFM (2024), https://zfmedienwissenschaft.de/en/online/whats-deal-academic-videographic-criticism. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by Ketsa.
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Jul 23, 2024 • 1h 11min

Cinema & Machine Vision: Live at The King's Festival of Artificial Intelligence w/ Daniel Chávez Heras

Today's episode features a conversation recorded live in May at The King's Festival of Artificial Intelligence in London. The event featured as the launch of Cinema and Machine Vision: Artificial Intelligence, Aesthetics and Spectatorship, a new book from Edinburgh University Press by Daniel Chávez Heras, who is a lecturer in the Department of Digital Humanities at King's College London. Before a live audience, Daniel and Will chat about the themes and topics covered in the book, the intersections of AI and Film Studies, and answer audience questions. To learn more about Daniel and his work, click here. Daniel has also agreed to give away two copies of the book to listeners! Learn more here. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by Ketsa.
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Jun 12, 2024 • 31min

THE EXTENDED PLAY: Johannes Binotto & Kevin B. Lee Live at Austellungsraum Klingentalat

From movies to television, YouTube to TikTok, it’s a big world of audiovisual media out there. How many videographic works have tried to take them all in? A new installation work has tried to do just that. The Extended Play is a collaboration between artists Anina Müller and Jennifer Merlyn Scherler, which was exhibited at the Austellungsraum Klingental in Basel. The piece consists of four videos, or tracks, that function like a musical EP. Collectively they explore how moving images influence the ways humans inhabit their bodies, an extended play if you will. Track 1: The Portal borrows from stereotyped cinematic, dreamy imagery to explore the moment of exiting the cinema in a daze, where on- and off-screen worlds bleed into each other. In Track 2: The Main Character, two characters enter a medieval fantasy world cosplay inspired by Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, music videos and TikTok. Track 3: crying selfies <3 reflects on the selfies people, especially young femmes, take when they cry – as a refusal to participate in the capitalist, neo-liberal “girlboss” mindset.  Track 4: No Pose No Rose is a YouTube style talk show on bodybuilding, exploring its exaggerated presentations of gender and an image-based understanding of the self. As part of the exhibition, the artists invited Kevin B. Lee and Johannes Binotto, co-leaders of the SNSF project “The Video Essay: Memories, Ecologies, Bodies” to share their reflections on the themes of their work in a joint conversation. They talk about their own relationship to different modes of media experience, from movies to social media, and the effects of these experiences on their own sense of embodiment. The Extended Play was supported by the Fachausschuss Film und Medienkunst BS/BL. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Ketsa.
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May 17, 2024 • 53min

Krista Calvo & Colleen Laird on Doing Women’s (Global) (Horror) Film History

Today's episode is the first in a series of conversations on videos created as part of the project, Doing Women’s (Global) (Horror) Film History (DWGHFH), a year-long video essay mentoring and training program that culminated in a videographic special issue of MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture.  Led by Alison Peirse, DWGHFH features the work of thirty contributors on "women horror filmmakers in non-anglophone countries, with a particular focus on filmmakers from the Global Majority." This episode features a conversation with Krista Calvo, the creator of "Dos Hermanas: Uncanny Femininity, Grief & Childhood in Carillo's Animations," and Colleen Laird, creator of "Kūki." Support the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠. Subscribe on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠. Will DiGravio hosted, edited and produced this episode. Emily Su Bin Ko is the show's associate producer. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Ketsa⁠⁠⁠⁠ and _HEAVYLEG.
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May 1, 2024 • 35min

Making Video Essays About Alice Diop

Today's episode is the fourth in an ongoing collaboration between The Video Essay Podcast and "The Video Essay: Memories, Ecologies, Bodies," a three-year research project on video essays led by Kevin B. Lee, Locarno Film Festival Professor for the Future of Cinema at USI University of Lugano, with Johannes Binotto and Evelyn Kreutzer, and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In this episode, Kevin talks with project members Libertad Gills, Marine de Dardel, and Silvia Cipelletti about the experience of making video essays on the work of Alice Diop, the featured filmmaker at this year's L'immagine e la parola, the spring edition of the Locarno Film Festival. The event for the group to produce original video essays on Diop's films. In this conversation, the group discusses how they approached the films for their video essays, knowing that they would be screened with Alice Diop in the audience. You can learn more about the project on their Instagram page. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Ketsa.
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Apr 21, 2024 • 1h 2min

Episode 44. Remixing George W. Bush w/ Christopher Jason Bell

Today's episode features a conversation with filmmaker Christopher Jason Bell, who joins the show to discuss Miss Me Yet, his ten-part found footage series on the presidency of George W. Bush and rehabilitation of Bush's image in recent years. The series is available to stream for free via Means TV. Also, check out an essay on Miss Me Yet written by Will in the latest issue of Millennium Film Journal. Support the podcast on ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠. Follow the show on ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at the pod's ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠. Get the ⁠⁠⁠free newsletter⁠⁠⁠. Subscribe on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠. Will DiGravio hosted, edited and produced this episode. Emily Su Bin Ko is the show's associate producer. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Ketsa⁠⁠⁠⁠: "Live It," "Anvil," and "Refraining."

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