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

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.

 

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 relates 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.

 

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.

 

Weeks 4 & 5

We will come together this week to share an aspect of a project/idea we are developing, for group discussion and ideas for moving forward.

 

~Mid Course Break~

 

Week 6
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.

 

Week 7
Language as action

Language sketches a window into the relationship between the individual and society. In this session we will consider how storytelling 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?

 

Week 8
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.

 

Week 9

Our closing session will be dedicated to sharing work from the programme and reflecting on the experience. It’s an opportunity to consider what methods of practice were beneficial and to plan for development beyond our meetings.

 

*Week 4 and 5 are dedicated to the work of the group, and as such may run for an extra half an hour, from 6 - 8.30pm.

**The course will have a midsession break.

 

9 weeks, Tuesday evenings, 3rd February - 7th April 2026

£325.00 | Student/Concession: £275.00 | UCL Student £255.00