THE GIVERNY DOCUMENT
(SINGLE CHANNEL)

a film by Ja’Tovia Gary

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FEATURE PRESENTATION

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 • 9 PM
AVAILABLE IN NOVA SCOTIA

2019 / USA / 42 mins

This cinematic poem explores the creative virtuosity of Black femme performance figures, while interrogating the histories of those bodies as spaces of forced labour and commodified production. Directed by the Brooklyn-based artist and filmmaker Ja’Tovia Gary, Giverny was shot on location in Harlem and in Claude Monet’s historic gardens in Giverny, France.

This innovative film is a technical triumph, combining direct animation on archival 16mm film, found video footage, woman-on-the-street interviews, and montage editing techniques. —Tori Fleming

 

TRAILER

Synopsis: Filmed on location in Harlem, USA and in Claude Monet’s historic gardens in Giverny, France, The Giverny Document is a multi-textured cinematic poem that meditates on the safety and bodily autonomy of Black women. Through audacious formal experimentation, filmmaker and artist Ja’Tovia Gary unleashes an arsenal of techniques and materials including direct animation on archival 16mm film, cinema verite, and montage editing to explore the creative virtuosity of Black femme performance while interrogating the histories of those bodies and lives as spaces of forced labor and commodified production. World Premiere at the 2019 Locarno Film Festival, Winner of the Moving Ahead Award North American Premiere at Camden International Film Festival, Honorable Mention Cinematic Vision Award Direction + Edit + Animation by Ja'Tovia M. Gary Cinematographer: Mia Cioffi Henry Sound: Emily Strong Producers: Paige Wood + Artesia Balthrop Music: Dyani Douze + Bandela Bandela

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

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Ja’Tovia Gary

Ja'Tovia Gary is a director and producer based in Brooklyn, New York, known for The Giverny Document (Single Channel) (2019), An Ecstatic Experience (2015) and Cakes Da Killa: No Homo (2013).