28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

24. 10.–2. 11. 2025
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Fragments of Barbara McCullough (includes Water Ritual 1 and And Other Bits)

Barbara McCullough / United States / 1980 / 11 min.


synopsis

Fragments of Barbara McCullough is a postscript to the study of various forms of rituals, which were performed by the creator in her feature-length documentary: Shopping Bag Spirits and Freeway Fetishes: Reflections on Ritual Space (1981). Specifically, the film is a juxtaposition of scenes from the 1981 film and never-before-used shots and deleted scenes. Here, Black American artists from the LA area relate verbally and performatively to a process of improvisation and a repeated symbolic act that unleashes the hidden forces of creativity and untaps the subconscious. All in all, it’s a psychedelic, surreal experience embodying the spirit of ritual into the very medium of film through film montage, graphic elements, and applied music.

 

„I like my films to reflect the diversity of my background as a Black person as well as the different influences that affect me. When I do something, I am trying to show the universality of the Black experience.“ B. McCullough

biography

Barbara McCullough (1945) is a director, trick specialist, and producer closely associated with the LA Rebellion movement: a group of Black American graduates from the University of California in Los Angeles who, for years, sought to create a Black alternative to classic Hollywood production. In her experimental work, she focuses on topics related to rituality, the African diaspora, and Black feminism.

more about film

director: Barbara McCullough

Film at festival

festival edition:2020
section:Black Cinema Matters

Info

director:Barbara McCullough
original title:Fragments of Barbara McCullough (includes Water Ritual 1 and And Other Bits)
country:United States
year:1980
running time:11 min.

Festival partners

Ministerstvo kultury
Fond kinematografie
Město Jihlava
Kraj Vysočina
Creative Europe Media
GEMO
Česká televize
Český rozhlas
Aktuálně.cz
Respekt
Dafilms

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