This course explores the intimate, interdependent yet fragile relationship between words and
images and their combined potency for the creation of (cinematic) worlds.

Course Description

Words can often be the starting point for a piece of moving-image, unlocking feelings that gradually
evolve into audio-visual experience. It can also work in reverse, that an image or series of images
emerge first and through writing we can explore the emotional landscapes they open out onto. From
either position, words and images spiral together leading us further into our personal, subjective
experiences to then move us outwards, connecting us to our outer social and political environments.

Over 8 weeks we will draw on the work of experimental filmmakers, extracts from key texts and
through a combination of writing workshops, exercises and feedback sessions will develop a varied
approach to filmmaking practice that moves through personal, autobiographical, documentary, hybrid
and fictional forms. This course intends to cultivate a relationship to our own language that will lead
us to reflect on and shape our differing and shared experience of the living world through filmmaking
practice.

Week 1

Welcome and introductions

A language for return
In our opening session we will explore the elastic space between experience and language, where
thought and motivation arise. This will lead us to an exploration of the somatic, silence and space as a
primary location for the flow and sedimentation of experience. How can we follow this line of inquiry
into the body to make space for a new sense of relatedness to emerge. We will explore the possibilities for images to arise from this place and practices for responsiveness to them.

Nervous Translation by Shireen Seno
Petite Maman by Celine Schiamma
Katasumori by Naomi Kawasi

We will participate in an in-class writing exercise and an image based exercise will be set.

Week 2

Limitation of the image: Working through memory, materiality and melancholia

In this session we will think about the parameters of the image and the word with particular emphasis
on how this pertains to memory. We will begin to explore the alchemical process of writing as
emotional formulating - in what ways it retains feeling, and how it might inherently embody loss. We
will also begin to unravel the dimensionality of images and their making and reflect on our own
position as viewers of cinema - the reciprocal co-animation process taking place between our
perception and the presence of images themselves.

Films:
Lore by Sky Hopinka
Ulysse by Agnès Varda
Divided Island by Bella Riza

An optional guide for writing practice for the week and readings will be provided.

Week 3

Film as Diary

This week we will consider the ways in which writing relates to the unconscious and how structures
for autobiographical language emerge through the intimate space of the journal. Through an in-session writing workshop we will navigate a relationship to ‘inner’ images, exploring the manner in which writing can place us in a transitional state of discovery. Reflecting on the films we will explore the fluidity and motion expressed through the production of images, as well as how their arrangement and an approach to sound can contribute to a rhythmic, layered and embodied film language.

Films:
IWOW: I Walk on Water by Khalik Allah
Fainting Spells by Sky Hopinka
A Month of Single Frames by Lynne Sachs
Points of Departure by Alia Sayed

We will participate in a practical writing workshop within this session. A proposal for a short film,
image series or text based work will be set.

Week 4

We will come together this week to share an aspect of our proposal for group discussion and ideas for
moving forward with our projects.

Week 5

Correspondence: Mapping terrains of distance and placemaking

This session will focus on correspondence and letter writing as a means for transmission and reception
of feeling. Dating from the 18th Century letter writing creates a space where the psyche can find form
and be shared through the hands of the receiver. The letter creates a mobile impression of both
emotional and physical landscapes, allowing us to inhabit spaces and feelings beyond our personal
realm of experience. We will reflect on how correspondence and the form of the letter is explored
through filmic space and consider its invitation for dialogue, friendship and connection.

News From Home by Chantal Akerman
Measures of Distance by Mona Hatoum
Afternoon by Tsai Ming-liang
Correspondence by Carla Simón and Dominga Sotomayor

Practical exercise set and reading for the week provided.

Week 6

Language as action

Language sketches a window into the relationship between the individual and society. In this session
we will consider how filmmaking can offer an exploration of agency that connects us more deeply to
the collective through the creation of new systems of relating. We will explore our understanding of
language, its limitations and (re)-arrangement to include visuality, editing and sound. What are the
inherent power dynamics encoded in language? What are the things we care about and worlds that we long for? How do we cultivate our voice to connect with the collective?

Speech Series Bouchra Khalil
Atlantiques by Mati Diop
Forgetting Vietnam by Trinh T. Minh-ha

In session writing practice, to be refined outside of class and optional readings provided.

Week 7

Writing beyond words, writing the feeling

In this week’s session we will consider writing beyond text. We will explore works that don’t always
rely on a linear narrative, are impressionistic and create a subliminal and experiential film language.
How can we convey a sensation through writing that moves beyond verbal language and dialogue?
How do we write the non-verbal? This session places its focus on the exploration of the atmosphere of
particular emotions through an alternative approach to writing.

Films:
35 Shots of Rum by Claire Denis
Ashes by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige
Ste. Anne by Rhayne Vermette
Blue by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

We will participate in a practical writing exercise within the session, a writing task shall be set and a
reading for the week will be provided.

Week 8

Our closing session will be dedicated to sharing work from the programme and feeding back to one
another on ideas and the materials produced. It’s an opportunity to gain feedback, consider what
methods of practice were beneficial and to plan for development beyond our meetings.

*Please note that the films described are an indication

**The last session in Week 8 will be dedicated to the work of the group, and as such will run for an
extra half an hour, from 7-9.30pm

 

This online course takes place across Eight Weeks, Wednesday 15th October – 3rd December 2025. Please note that the films described are an indication.

 

If you have any enquiries regarding this course, please contact shortcourses@opencitylondon.com or call +442031084774.

 

Course Costs:

For each course, we offer three rates: General, Students/Concessions, and UCL Students. 

For a full breakdown of our costs/concessions, please reach our Terms and Conditions:

https://opencitylondon.com/school/terms-and-conditions/