“The music, ‘Blues in B-flat’ by Volker Heyn, performed by cellist Anton Lukoszevieze, provides the framework for The Oblique. The title comes from an instruction in the score: ‘oblique down stroke’ — a call to the cellist to use an oblique bow. In the film branches of magnolia extend into the empty cavity of the cello, the space where sound resonates.” (JP)

The title refers to the phonetic vocalisation of Lapwing bird- song, one of the most frequent visitors to Rainham marshes in Purfleet, Essex. Situated on the edgeland between city and countryside in the transient landscape of the Thames Estuary, this is a place layered with the traces of ever-shifting global narratives of empire, industry and movement of people and goods. Anastassiou explores how this pocket of nature is contained and consumed by focusing on the figure of the bird watcher. The film follows a walk from day to night along the inner and outer peripheries of the reserve, shot on a hand-cranked 16mm camera.

In this film Lowder moves away from her meticulous frame- by-frame compositions in order to approach the temporal dimension of a pond full of frogs. In front of creatures that tend to be elusive, how can the filmmaker capture a meaningful moment? How to render the living moment visible?

“In astronomical terminology ‘redshift’ is a term used in calculating the distance of stars from the earth, hence determining their age. Redshift attempts to show the huge geometry of the night sky and give an altered perspective of the landscape, using long exposures, fixed camera positions, long shots and timelapse animation techniques to reveal aspects of the night that are invisible to the naked eye. It takes these formal concerns into an emotional realm and uses the figurative to express philosophical ideas about our relationship to the world.” (ER)

“A film of a sloth, using three-colour separation to show sloth time.” (BR)