Cinenova

Cinenova presents The Work We Share: an international public programme of newly digitised films from the Cinenova collection addressing representations of gender, race, sexuality, health and community. The films are captioned by Collective Text, and supported by response commissions from contemporary artists and writers.

The Work We Share gathers a number of films which previously existed in precarious conditions; in some cases, with negatives being lost or distribution film prints being the only copy. This programme intends to acknowledge our interdependency: from organisation, to filmmakers, cultural workers, communities, and individuals. How can we acknowledge our interdependent relationships? How can we recognise our place in a network of communications, relationships and resources, particularly as an un-funded volunteer organisation? What different strains of labour does our work rely on? How do we sustain this work mutually?

The digitised films include Back Inside Herself by S. Pearl Sharp, A Place of Rage by Pratibha Parmar, Now Pretend by L.Franklin Gilliam, A Song of Ceylon by Laleen Jayamanne, Loss of Heat by Noski Deville, A Prayer before Birth by Jacqui Duckworth, A Question of Choice by Sheffield Film Co-op, Sweet Sugar Rage by Sistren Theatre Collective, Scuola Senza Fine by Adriana Monti, and Women of the Rhondda by Esther Ronay, Mary Kelly, Mary Capps, Humphrey Trevelyan, Margaret Dickinson, Brigid Seagrave and
Susan Shapiro.

With the ambition of encouraging a dialogue between a range of works across time and space, we invited artists and writers to respond to each film through a variety of mediums. The programme includes response commissions from Sarah Lasoye, Onyeka Igwe, Natasha Ruwona, Nicola Singh, Nat Raha, Annie Goh, Carolina Ongaro, Umulkhayr Mohamed, Victoria Adukwei Bulley and Jay Bernard.

Since 2021, the programme has toured the UK at partner organisations including Kettles Yard, Pavilion, Spike Island, Brighton CCA, Modern Art Oxford, Site Gallery, Grand Union, Open School East, and Rule of Threes. A weekend of film screenings also took place in London at the ICA in collaboration with The Essay Film Festival, and at Anthology Film Archives, New York.

A number of community workshops support the screening programme, to continue a commitment of feminist filmmaking as a tool and framework for community cohesion, consciousness-raising and anti-racist education.

The Work we Share is support by Arts Council England and Feminist Review Trust

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