Prismatic Ground is a New York City film festival centered on experimental documentary and avant-garde film, co-hosted by Maysles Documentary Center and media partner Screen Slate. 2022 marks the second ever and first hybrid edition of the festival, with physical events taking place at Maysles, the Museum of the Moving Image, and Anthology Film Archives. The majority of films will simultaneously be available free, worldwide on-demand during the festival dates at http://www.prismaticground.com. New Yorkers are encouraged to attend in person; each program will feature live filmmaker Q&As.
Note: “wave” tickets are purchased as a whole, but patrons are free to come and go during the noted breaks. Once sold out, a limited number of tickets for each program will be available on a first-come basis at the door, and seats that are vacated after breaks will be re-sold. All “waves” screen at Maysles Documentary Center.
wave 5: after months of total darkness on 5/6 for $15/$7 reduced.
Pretend You're There (Katie Colosimo, 2 min.)
Pretend You’re There is about how the internet, movies, TV, daydreaming and growing up can influence how your reality feels.
Searcher (in person only) (Divya Sachar, 19 min.)
The artist examines her schizophrenia, and wonders if trauma is passed down through generations.
True Places (Gloria Chung, 7 min.)
Places that exist at the border(s) of memory and physical terrain.
Other Tidal Effects (Sofia Theodore-Pierce , 7 min.)
"And there are other tidal effects, mysterious and intangible." –Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea. Catamenial seizures, tidal correspondences, a sonic EEG, and a lullaby in partial translation.
The Hand That Sings (in person only) (Alex Reynolds, Alma Söderberg, 23 min.)
A voice says ‘bird’ and a bird appears in the eye, when only a second ago it was a hand, or a tree, or a whistle.
Diary (Gillian Waldo, 15 min.)
An essay film seeking to make legible the forces acting upon the city of Baltimore through changes in its landscape and personal reflections.
White Hole (Eavan Aiken, 13 min.)
Human and animal kin are instrumentalised; units of production, their substrate exhausted. Can we conceive a future where technology serves all and look forward with Promethean vigour?
