On May 9, Film Comment Editors Clinton Krute and Devika Girish sat down with Amy Taubin, Genevieve Yue, and Ayanna Dozier, some of the best critics of the avant-garde working today, to discuss the history of the craft, the nitty-gritty of this niche beat, what good writing on avant-garde cinema looks and sounds like, and what to even call the genre—avant-garde? Experimental? The other cinema? The talk took place at DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema in Downtown Manhattan as part of this year’s edition of Prismatic Ground, an exemplary and boundary-pushing festival dedicated to experimental documentary. Throughout the inspired conversation, the group referred to a few exemplary passages written by the esteemed panelists. Read them here: Amy Taubin (“Oceanic Feeling: Arthur Jafa’s new wavelength,” Artforum) Genevieve Yue (“Re-Vision: Robert Beavers and The Sparrow Dream,’” Mubi Notebook) Ayanna Dozier (“Risks and the Senses: Black Women in Experimental Film,” Screen Slate)
