Tag: Writing

Choreoscope 2023 — special programme on butoh

November 1st, 2023

I was invited to curate a special short film programme focused on butoh for the 2023 edition of the Choreoscope International Dance Film Festival (Barcelona). We have selected a diverse range of films by artists including naoto iina, Emiko Agatsuma, and Karolina Bieszczad-Stie. My own film “A Crooked Path Through The Dark” will also be presented as part of a programme that aims to show the diversity of approaches that butoh encompasses. The programme will be screening online on the streaming platform Filmin from the 23rd of October until the 31st of December, here: https://www.filmin.es/festival/choreoscope-2023
In addition, I wrote a text for the festival which gives an introductory overview of butoh and the selected films from the programme, which can be read in English here, and in Spanish here.

Paratext 36 — text by David Franklin

November 19th, 2019

I wrote a text for the Paratext series of articles commissioned by Hangar.org. Chopped-up dialogues and voices which bubbled up out of a witch’s brew suggested by presentations of three artists in residence at Hangar — David Ortiz Juan, Mario Santamaria, and Francisco Navarrete Sitja.

You can read it here in English, Spanish, and Catalan: https://hangar.org/en/blocs/bloc-paratext/english-paratext-36-by-david-franklin/

Projections from the Underground blog now online

September 19th, 2019

A while back I was running a series of public film screenings at an art centre in Barcelona, showing cult films and experimental works, called Projections from the Underground.

In addition to curating and presenting the series, for each session I wrote a short critical essay introducing the films, giving background on the director, genre, or artistic movement, as well as the cultural and historical contexts the films were made in. I’ve revised and expanded these texts and I’m putting them up for you to read (in English and Spanish) on a new blog, which is here: http://projections.davidfranklinonline.com/en/

The first text, Hallowe’en Hangover: Crisis and disorientation in “Possession” and “Cure”, looks at two of the most startling horror movies that may not even be horror movies, and how they reflect a decaying relationship and a fracturing society, respectively.

Upcoming essays will focus on a classic of Russian cinema from the 80s, Chinese cinema in the new millennium, Japanese Pink Movies and V-Cinema, and a multi-part look at the post-war art scene in Japan through the independent film production company, Art Theatre Guild. Enjoy!