Discursions in Time: Slow and Poetic Cinema(s) — A Guided Film Club

"In this guided film club, we will explore the world of slow cinema(s) from the Lumière brothers through the early 2020s. We will hold each other accountable as we finally work through mammoth runtimes on films like Lav Diaz’s Evolution of a Filipino Family (10 hours and 43 minutes). We will learn together and from each other about diverse cinema traditions and filmmakers. And we will even debate whether or not there even is even an identifiable movement or aesthetic that we can accurately call “slow cinema.” 

Each meeting will have recommended (not required) short readings, optional viewings, and required viewings. All films will be reasonably accessible to view from home at free or low costs. Each group meeting will be scheduled for 90 minutes over Zoom." 

Discursions in Time: Slow and Poetic Cinema(s) — A Guided Film Club (There Were No Gods Left)

Program (March 8th - May 31st 2026)

Meeting 1: Short(s) Introductions (March 8 at 7pm EST)

• The Execution of Joan of Arc (1898) by Louis Lumière - 1'
• At Land (1944) directed by Maya Deren - 15'
• White Bells (1961) directed by Ivars Kraulītis - 24'
• Berlin Horse (1970) directed by Malcolm Le Grice - 7'
• Journey to the West (2014) directed by Tsai Ming-liang - 56'
• Father and Sons (2014) directed by Wang Bing - 87'
• MCI-LAX (2023) directed by Jane Evelyn & Elaine Fuentes - 14'

Optional viewing for cinemaholics: A Man Escaped (1956, directed by Robert Bresson) - 101'; Prologue to the Great Desaparecido (2013, directed by Lav Diaz) - 32'

Meeting 2: Memory, Boredom, and Longing (March 22nd at 7pm EST)

• News From Home (1979) directed by Chantal Akerman - 89'
• OR The Turin Horse (2011) directed by Béla Tarr - 155'

Optional viewing for cinemaholics: Seven Songs from the Tundra (2000, directed by Anastasia Lapsui & Markku Lehmuskallio) - 90'

Meeting 3: Experimental Aesthetics (April 6th at 7pm EST)

• Oxhide (2005) directed by Liu Jiayin - 110'
• Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (2023) directed by Anna Hints - 89'

Optional viewing for cinemaholics: Wavelength (1967, directed by Michael Snow) - 45'; Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972, directed by Jonas Mekas) - 81'

Meeting 4: Baltic Poetic Documentary (April 19th at 7pm EST)

• 235 000 000 (1967) directed by Uldis Brauns - 102' 
• A Life / The Trace of the Soul (1972) directed by Herz Frank - 22'
• Baltic Poetic Documentary (2025) Klassiki Introduction by Sam Goff - 7'

Optional viewing for cinemaholics: Pikk Street (1966, directed by Hans Roosipuu) - 10'; Year of the Dragon (1989, directed by Andres Sööt) - 58'; The Corridor (1989, directed by Šarūnas Bartas) - 85'; Bridges of Time (2018, directed by Audrius Stonys & Kristine Briede) - 80'

Meeting 5: Long-form documentary (May 11th at 7pm EST)

• Youth (Spring) (2023) directed by Wang Bing - 212'

Meeting 6: Time, Politics, & the Poetics of Life (May 31st at 7pm EST)

• Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004) directed by Lav Diaz - 625'

Full list of the program can be browsed at my Letterboxd

* All scheduled viewings are subject to alteration with club interest and changes to availability.