Displacement and trauma. Making meaning. A retrospective.
OFFICIAL TRAILER
Never before have so many people been affected by displacement,
having fled persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations
Conceptual artist Emma Willemse works with the powerful and universal themes
of home, displacement and the traumatic experience of the forcibly displaced
Synopsis
An artist explores in her work the nature of the traumatic experience of the loss of a home. Rooted in the personal experience of displacement she has suffered herself, her work resonates in her own country with its history of forced removals and around the world in an age when record numbers of people have been forcibly displaced by conflict, violence and human rights violations.
Documentary
101 minutes
English
UHD 4K
South Africa
Director: Victor van Aswegen
Emma Willemse is a South African conceptual artist who has in her work across a number of genres and media for more than a decade been dealing intensively with the themes of home, the loss of a home and displacement. Apart from the Western Cape where she is based, she has exhibited in Dakar, Florence, Johannesburg and Paris, and her extensive body of work includes moving, magisterial pieces featured in the film.
Often working with the traces of habitation left by the displaced, the marks remaining on the landscape after the departure of those who are now absent, she has sought to explore the connections between land-and-home, identity and memory, and how the trauma of displacement from a home manifests in fractures, lacunae, absences in memory and identity.
Her interest in these themes stems from a personal history of losing several homes in the 1990s, and her work is focused on the subjective experience of displacement. Tracing the arc of her creative output over the years, Displaced reveals the origins of the sequence of artworks in her life story: the creative impulse arising from personal experiences, events in the domestic sphere triggering the development of concepts that are ultimately embodied and expressed in works of art.
Contextualising her oeuvre against the searing local and global realities of displacement, and articulating the harrowing psychological impacts of loss of home, place and land, the film is an empathetic engagement, refracted through art, with the traumatic experience of the forcibly displaced.
Through scenes of the artist at work, cinematic set pieces presenting her work, and interviews with academics, gallerists and critics, the intriguing relationship between materiality and meaning is explored: how we imbue objects with meaning both in the artmaking process and in life, how the layers of meaning can then be unpacked in almost archaeological fashion, and how the deep engagement with an accomplished, richly layered work of art can rank among life’s most rewarding experiences, deepening and enhancing our high-level understanding of the world, and helping to guide our actions through its manifold, daunting complexities.
Through images, words and music, concepts and reflections, story and feeling, Displaced explores a universal human experience and one of the major themes of our time.
Festivals
Athens International Digital Film Festival
Award Winner
2021
Greece
AltFF Alternative Film Festival
Winner: Best Documentary
2021
Canada
Vesuvius International Film Fest
Winner: Grand Prix of the Jury • Finalist: Best Director
2021
Italy
Reykjavik Independent Film Festival
Winner: Best Feature Documentary
2022
Iceland
Canadian Cinematography Awards
Winner: Best Documentary Film
2022
Canada
Onyko Films Awards
Winner: Best Documentary Feature Film
2022
Ukraine
Anticensura Film Festival
Award Winner
2022
USA
Couch Film Festival
Winner: Best Feature Film • Nominee: Best Director • Nominee: Best Cinematography
2021
Canada
Accord Cine Fest
Winner: Best Documentary Feature
2021
India
Pure Magic International Film Festival
Winner: Best Documentary
2021
Netherlands
Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift
Finalist
2021
Canada
Beyond the Curve International Film Festival
Finalist
2021
France
New York International Women Festival
Finalist
2021
USA
Director's Cut International Film Festival
Finalist
2021
Canada
The International Festival of Films on Art
Official Selection
2022
Canada
Hollywood Indie Film Awards
Official Selection
2021
USA
Älvsbyn Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Sweden
Eastern Europe Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Romania
Madrid Indie Film Festival • MADRIFF
Official Selection
2021
Spain
Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Canada
Sands Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
USA
The Jozi Film Festival
Official Selection • Honourable Mention
2021
South Africa
Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Festival • BARCIFF
Official Selection
2021
Spain
València Indie Film Festival • VALÈIFF
Official Selection
2021
Spain
Wallachia International Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Romania
Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
USA
International Migration & Environmental Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Canada
Frostbite International Indie Fest
Official Selection
2021
USA
Kalakari Film Fest
Official selection
2022
India
Sydney Lift-Off Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Australia
Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Australia
Switzerland International Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
Switzerland
London Lift-Off Film Festival
Official Selection
2021
UK
Toronto Film Magazine Fest
Official Selection
2021
Canada
Mosaic Film Festival of Arts and Culture
Official Selection
2021
Canada
Bridge Fest
Official Selection
2022
Canada
San Francisco Frozen Film Festival
Official Selection
2022
USA
Symbiotic Film Festival
Official Selection
2022
Ukraine
RTF Realtime International Film Festival
Official Selection
2022
Nigeria
Niagara Canada International Film Festival
Official Selection
2022
Canada
Sweden Film Awards
Semi-finalist
2021
Sweden
Luleå International Film Festival
Semi-finalist
2021
Sweden
Boden International Film Festival
Semi-finalist
2021
Sweden
Stockholm City Film Festival
Semi-finalist
2021
Sweden
Madrid Film Awards
Semi-finalist
2021
Spain
Dumbo Film Festival
Semi-finalist
2021
USA
NewFilmmakers New York
Semi-finalist
2022
USA
Screen Power Film Festival
Nominee: Best Director • Best Music • Best Documentary Film
2021
UK
Golden Nugget International Film Festival
Nominee
2021
UK
Sotambe International Film and Arts Festival
Nominee
2021
Zambia
Sevilla Indie Film Festival
Nominee / Bronze Award
2022
Spain
London International Monthly Film Festival
Honourable Mention
2022
UK
London Rocks Film Festival
Honourable Mention
2021
UK
Orlando International Film Festival
Honourable Mention
2022
USA
Bedford International Film Festival
Honourable Mention
2022
USA
AFIN International Film Festival
Honourable Mention
2022
Australia
Jury feedback
“Like all great art the film operates on many levels”
“The vocabulary describing fine art is often abstract, self-indulgent and annoying. One of the great strengths of Displaced is that it cuts through, deconstructs and makes concrete that conversation. Like all great art the film operates on many levels. It is a wonderful and clear description of the development of Emma’s work; a beautiful piece of visual art in itself; a thoughtful examination of the relationship of art to social and political issues and challenges; an analysis of the psychological impact of displacement. The music is terrific and the expert commentary – almost exclusively from a group of intelligent and articulate women – holds our attention as an audience, teaches and enlightens us.”
“Has a distinct filmic voice”
“Has a distinct filmic voice, really gets one to engage with Emma’s art, the interviewees work not only with information but bring a meditative quality which places you in a space to experience the art. I also appreciated the silences in the film and the music.”
“An important film for our time”
“An important film for our time. Explores themes of displacement and loss at both the personal, micro and macro level. It provides vital commentary on the displacement and painful predicament of refugees around the world. I found it to be an elevated and cerebral visual sculpture pregnant with meaning. It provokes important discussions on human displacement, loss of home and fragments of our memories.”
“An elevated and cerebral visual sculpture pregnant with meaning”
– Jury members, 2021 Jozi Film Festival
International sales and distribution
Released
11 December 2020
World premiere
1 October 2021
The Jozi Film Festival • Johannesburg, South Africa • 10th edition opening-night film
Sales and distribution representation
Contact: Alex Nohe • alex@bloodsweathoney.com
Blood Sweat Honey, 9595 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
GALLERY
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