The ninth annual Canadian Art Reel Artists Film Festival (RAFF) will feature both Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present and Rebecca Horn's Moon Mirror Journey. The focus of this year's festival is revolutionary artists. The festival runs from February 22–26, 2012, at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Canada.
For its opening night on Wednesday, February 22nd, RAFF will host the Canadian premiere of Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present. In addition to providing unprecedented access to Abramović's preparation for her retrospective at the MoMA, the film weaves archival footage of the artist's early works together with interviews with MoMA PS1 Director and MoMA Chief Curator at Large Klaus Biesenbach; Whitney Museum of American Art curator Chrissie Iles; and performance artist and Abramović's early partner and creative collaborator Ulay, to name a few. The screening will be introduced by Ann Webb the Executive Director of the Canadian Art Foundation
. The artist, director and producers will be present.
On Saturday, February 25th, RAFF will host the Canadian premiere of Rebecca Horn's Moon Mirror Journey (2011). Directed and narrated by the artist herself, the film is, in her words, “a sufi’s journey” through some of her most compelling, site-specific large-scale installations and exhibitions, including the Concert for Buchenwald (1999) and the Spiriti di Madreperla installation in Naples (2000). The film features interviews with critic and curator Stephen Madoff and philosopher Boris Groys as well as music by Hayden Chisholm. The screening will be introduced by Paulette Phillips, professor at OCAD University in Toronto.
For further information on the festival and to purchase tickets, please visit the Reel Artists Film Festival Website.