Welcome to the 15th edition of Open City Documentary Festival.
Open City was set up, in 2011, to provide a space to sustain commonality and reciprocity, “to hear the stories that matter”, to “foster a culture of tolerance.” In her welcome note for the 10th anniversary edition, which took place online during the global pandemic in 2020, then festival director Chloe Trayner wrote: “More than ever, we want to extend a hand into a world of nuanced narratives and distinctive voices alongside the reflective discussion that this work deserves.”
Festivals come and go, especially in the fragile cultural landscape of contemporary Britain. Thanks to University College London, where we are based, Open City is still here, our hand remains extended and our arms open, inviting you to join us. We will continue – for as long as we can – to provide a space for gathering, debate and contemplation.
From the dedication of Corinne and Arthur Cantrill towards developing an experimental film practice in their native Australia, to Jocelyne Saab’s lasting commitment to justice and freedom, or the Sanrizuka movement as an enduring model for solidarity and defending territory, this year’s edition is one that posits cinema as an act of resistance. Films such as Dimitris Athiridis’s epic exergue – on documenta 14 and Joseph Hillel’s At All Kosts (Koutkekout) reflect on what it means, in times of moral crisis and political turmoil, to organise a cultural event, such as a film festival. Throughout the festival week, Saeed Taji Farouky and the architecture collective AK48 will stage The Land of Common Disgrace, a public, participatory, collective act of resistance against the arrest and prosecution of pro-Palestinian protesters in Britain.
Ours is a small festival – minuscule in the grand scheme of things – but we attempt to make as large an impression as possible within the local film community in London. This year’s programme is more interdependent than ever, devised in collaboration with partner organisations and individuals including Elhum Shakerifar, Mathilde Rouxel, Keegan O’Connor, Audrey Lam, Ricardo Matos Cabo, Hyun Jin Cho, World Records Journal, the Austrian Film Museum, the London Community Video Archive, Film Flamme, T A P E Collective, MIRAJ, Tate Modern, Sine Screen, Majazz project, Sarha Collective and Doc Society. We are grateful to them all, and to our associate programmers Siavash Minoukadeh, Elizabeth Dexter, Marta Calderón, Emily Mason and Abiba Coulibaly for a proudly eclectic programme of screenings, talks and participatory events that invite us to consider non-fiction cinema in all its radicality, diversity and complexity.
In memory of David Powell (1959-2025)
In January, our film community in London lost one of its true unsung heroes, David Powell. Chief projectionist at the ICA, where he worked for over 42 years, David was responsible for so many of our significant cine-memories. He was one of the last remaining career projectionists, and so much knowledge has been lost with him. We loved working with David and have been missing him terribly as we prepared our 15th edition. This year’s festival is dedicated to him.