Projections #5: The genius of the Cantrills
Still from In this life's body
Our Projections series on 28 November 2020 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales featured a rare screening of In this life’s body (1984) by renowned Australian experimental filmmaker Corinne Cantrill, with an introduction by Margot Nash, a filmmaker and visiting fellow at the University of of Technology Sydney.
We delve into the extraordinary work of Australian filmmakers Corinne and Arthur Cantrill, whose oeuvre has been showcased at MoMA, Centre Pompidou and Kino Arsenal, Berlin. Over six decades, the Cantrills have operated (in their words) as ‘a sort of family cottage industry’ to create a filmic universe that is unrivalled in Australian cinema for its bold experimentation and formal dexterity.
In this life’s body reworks the possibilities of autobiographical storytelling, reconstructing a woman’s life through hundreds of photographs. Corinne introduces herself as 'a child of mixed race, destined to be a marginal person, caught in the push and pull of conflicting values.’
‘I try to understand who I am, in this life’s body’ – Corinne Cantrill.
Still from Grain of the voice, 1976–1979