TALK: DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?
Organisation: Southbank Centre
Time: 29 June 2012 2:00pm -
Place: Hayward Gallery Room 4, Southbank Centre, London SE1
Southbank Centre Presents
Do You Speak English?
A Talk by Bouchra Khalili
Moroccan artist Bouchra Khalili has always been puzzled by the fact that the iconic film Casablanca, which is set in her own birthplace, shows people of all nationalities speaking only English, as if that were their native language. And, needless to say, there is not a word in Arabic, and no Moroccan characters.
This class provides a short exploration of language in films, with a specific focus on Western movies set in or shot in Morocco, such as the Hollywood classics The Prince Who Was A Thief by Rudolph Maté, The Man Who Would Be King by John Huston, as well as Casablanca by Michael Curtiz.
Approximate duration: two hours
Part of the Southbank Centre's Festival of the World.
Bouchra Khalili (b.1975, Casablanca, Morocco)
Bouchra Khalili's videos and installations focus on displacement and migration, and the relationships between physical and psychological geographies. She has mapped the tortuous and clandestine travels of illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and nomads across straits and borders in search of freedom, refuge, work, a better life, or escape from repression. In recreating these journeys, image and sound take different routes; as Khalili explains: 'in my work, the sound is the opposite of the voice-over; the sound does not explain the image, it participates in the making of the image.' She places great importance on documenting refugees' specific languages; their individual narratives of exile and loss are told in their mother tongues. As well as making her own work, Khalili is committed to promoting Arab and innovative international cinema. She is the co-founder of La Cinémathèque de Tanger, whose mission is to develop film culture in Morocco. Khalili's own films have been shown at festivals galleries and museums worldwide, including the Sharjah Biennial in 2010 and New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2011.
Friday 29 June 2012 | 14:00
Hayward Gallery Room 4
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London
SE1 8XX
Tickets: £10\£5conc | book online or call 0844 875 0073.