Northwestern University: Looking at Listening - Films on Women and Experimental Music

Looking at Listening is a program of short documentary films organized around the themes of electronic music, archival retrieval, and audiovisual experimentation. These four films extend the inquiries into the legacy of women in electronic music beyond the figures most often highlighted while experimenting with the audiovisual presentation of archival material, and proposing new ways of relating the history of music and musical practice. The screenings will include a live performance by electronic musician Natalie Chami (TALsounds) and be followed by a panel discussion with Chami and filmmaker Emily Eddy, moderated by guest curator and NU Screen Cultures PhD candidate Jennifer Smart.

Presented with support from MA in Sound Arts and Industries at Northwestern University.

About the Films:

A film about listening

(Sam Green, US, 2020, 33 minutes)

A film about listening is an intimate portrait of the sound artist and composer Annea Lockwood.  Adopting Lockwood’s own listening practices as a formal device, the film marries a close attention to the textures of Lockwood’s sonic universe with reflections on her life and practice.

Hacer una diagonal con la musica

(Aura Satz, UK, 2019, 10 minutes)

Hacer una diagonal con la musica offers viewers (listeners) an introduction to the Argentinian composer Beatriz Ferreyra.  Eschewing traditional biographical presentation, the film centers Ferreyra’s music as the soundtrack to sustained takes of Ferreyra recording and processing her sounds in the studio.

Space Lady

(Sophia Feuer, US, 2020, 17 minutes)

Space Lady recovers the life and music of Susan Dietrich Schneider aka the Space Lady, a former street performer who has been belatedly recognized for her contributions to the history of electronic music. Focusing on her present day life in Colorado the film provides a blunt and poignant look into the reality of artistic life.

Amour Pour Une Femme

(Emily Eddy, US, 2019, 9 minutes)

Amour Pour Une Femme is an experimental essay film. Assembled out of lush archival footage, the film stages a horror-tinged but deeply nostalgic visual landscape fusing images of femininity, nature, and childhood.  The screening of this film will be presented with a live musical accompaniment by Natalie Chami (aka TALsounds)

About the guests:

Emily Eddy is a film, video, and digital media artist and curator based in Chicago. Combining many forms of moving image, her work utilizes strategies of video diaries, archival practices, and experimental documentaries. She directs the Nightingale Cinema where she has curated film, video, and media works since 2013. Emily was the programmer of the Onion City Experimental Film + Video Festival, a project of Chicago Filmmakers, from 2018-2020. Emily has curated screenings and exhibited work at many venues in Chicago as well as in Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Reykjavík, Iceland; and her hometown, Portland, OR. http://emily-eddy.com Natalie Chami (b. January 27, 1987) is a proud Canadian-born Lebanese American who adopted the TALsounds moniker in 2009 for her explorations in the drone, ambient, and improvisational disciplines. Since choosing the TALsounds moniker, Chami has spent over a decade building a brilliant career as a solo artist in Chicago and beyond. Through her masterful synth work, operatic vocals, and nuanced sculpting of mood and atmosphere, Chami’s music strikes a balance between the extremely personal and the selflessly transportive. She spirals effortlessly through a never-ending carousel of solo improvisations and collaborations with other artists, and she seems to evolve with each performance, no matter how lofty and grandiose or humble and intimate those performances may be. More info at https://www.talsounds.com/about