Film at the Tate Modern

Films exploring the history of intervention and the consequences are showing at the Tate Modern as part of their Project Space exhibit. 

The Tate Modern is one of the most important and prolific cultural attractions in the UK, but their contemporary film offerings often draw in small crowds, despite being well curated and presented in the surprisingly plush Starr Auditorium. Perhaps because of the minimal publicity such evenings receive, they have become truly ‘in the know’ events, which is surely only a benefit to those who are ‘in the know’! This month Culture Whisper would like to remind you about two of the film events that will be showing in the next few of weeks. 

First up is Lucía, which is showing on the 13th of June. Directed by Humberto Solás in 1968, this black and white drama follows three generations of Cuban women, and is an attractive example of revolutionary and soviet art that should interest film enthusiasts and historians alike. Telling the story of these three women, each named Lucia, the film jumps from the Cuban war of independence, to the 1930s, to the then present day. Beyond being a work particular to its regime, this is a beautiful period piece that revels in its glorious score, and marvellous casting and performances. 

A week later, on the 20th of June, you can fly to other corners of the world with Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci’s only feature-length documentary Oil (La via del petrolio) (1967), accompanied by one of his shorts, Canal (Il Canale), Bertolluci shot to fame with his groundbreaking film The Last Emperor, which was the first western film to be made in China and won all nine Oscars it was nominated for in 1987. These documentaries show the aesthetic and politically multicultural interests of Bertolucci, moving from Iran to Italy, the Suez Canal through the Mediterranean Sea, in a way that still subverts the tropes of documentary making and hints at the great features he would go on to make.