Mondays at midnight from December 19, 2016 to September 18, 2017

Keimena is a weekly broadcast of films presented by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), and organized by documenta 14. By relying for its presentation on ERT, Greece’s public television broadcaster, the project aims to extend documenta 14’s scope into viewers’ homes, imagining and constituting new and different publics.

Keimena runs on ERT2 every Monday at midnight; the duration of the broadcasts varies according to the running time of the films. Additionally, the films will be available for streaming via webtv.ert.gr for seven days after each broadcast. Further information on the program, short introductory sequences in Greek with English and German translations, as well as the first few minutes of the films will be available on the documenta 14 website after they aired.
Keimena’s program focuses on the fields of experimental documentary and fiction, presenting films whose approaches and topics engage social, political, and poetic concerns and whose concepts, themes, and positions are in dialogue with the overall curatorial visions of documenta 14.

Television, both public and private, is a key factor in Greece’s recent history and development. Its important role in mediating and reflecting upon the country’s current socio-economic predicament cannot be overstated. Despite suffering severe budget cuts which affected its operability, ERT remains the official “public” medium, especially in Greece’s collective consciousness; ERT’s controversial closure in 2013 as part of austerity measures generated immediate and extensive protests nationwide.

While TV viewing can appear to be a solitary activity, it is also—especially when compared to online surfing and streaming habits—a synchronized and therefore collective experience that happens in real time. Like visiting an exhibition, it too requires prior programmatic commitment from the viewer and facilitates the subsequent sharing of the experience. Such structural qualities and the fundamental principles of public service broadcasting—including a sense of community, distance from vested interests, and attention to social minorities—are as essential to Keimena as the individual themes of the many films included in the series.

The films are chosen both for their pertinent subject matter as well as for the singular filmic forms they present. Each provides a reflection on some of the most invisible, fleeting, and quotidian aspects of human social relations as well as those of global structures of power. Each film develops its own unique language to reflect the intangible reality it presents. The program includes films dating back to the 1970s, recent productions, and new films commissioned by documenta 14. All of them tackle contemporary issues pertinent to life in Greece and elsewhere in times of economic hardship and social unrest.

Keimena features filmmakers such as Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran (India), Wang Bing (China), Claire Denis (France), Miklós Erdély (Hungary), Aran Hughes and Christina Koutsospyrou (Greece), Miroslav Janek (Czech Republic), Avo Kaprealian (Syria), Romuald Karmakar (Germany), Parviz Kimiavi (Iran), Narimane Mari (Algeria), Alanis Obomsawin (Canada), Ulrike Ottinger (Germany), Joaquim Pinto and Nuno Leonel (Portugal), Allan Sekula and Noël Burch (USA), Albert Serra (Spain), Susana de Sousa Dias (Portugal), Dimitri Venkov (Russia), and many others.

Given the exceptional quality and rarity of the films presented, the Keimena curators hope that the program quickly establishes itself as a weekly highlight for Greek cinephiles and the broader public. Keimena aims to establish itself as one of the most exciting presentations of film culture on television worldwide, offering direct access to a range of feature-length and short experimental documentary and fiction films by prominent independent filmmakers and artists that have restricted availability elsewhere.

Keimena functions within the guidelines of ERT and of public service broadcasting and its content engages the television viewer over a period of nine months of regular weekly programming. In the same way that a film is introduced before being screened at a film festival, or artworks in a museum exhibition are accompanied by an informative label, Keimena broadcasts are preceded by short introductions that offer a broad reading and contextualization that complements and enriches the viewing session. Written by international authors—film and art critics, philosophers, journalists, filmmakers, and other experts who have a unique knowledge and insight into a particular film—these introductions are as much an integral part of the programming effort as the films themselves. Authors include Candice Hopkins (Canada), Dimitris Kerkinos (Greece), Maximilian Le Cain (Ireland), Gleb Napreenko (Russia), Lívia Páldi (Hungary), Andréa Picard (Canada), Filipa Ramos (Portugal), Rasha Salti (Lebanon), Monika Szewczyk (Greece), Genevieve Yue (USA), and many others.

Keimena is a documenta 14 Film Program, curated by Hila Peleg and Vassily Bourikas.

Watch in December
Keimena # 1
Monday December 19, 2016, 24:00
From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf (Kutchi Vahan Pani Wala), 2013, India / United Arab Emirates, 83 min.
Directors: CAMP (Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran)
Introductory text: Maximilian Le Cain

Keimena # 2
Monday December 26, 2016, 24:00
Sleepless Nights Stories, 2011, USA, 114 min.
Director: Jonas Mekas
Introductory text: Jonas Mekas

Watch in January
Keimena # 3
Monday January 2, 2017, 24:00
Oncle Bernard—A Counter-Lesson in Economics (Oncle Bernard—L’anti-leçon d’économie), 2015, Canada / Spain, 79 min.
Director: Richard Brouillette
Introductory text: Richard Brouillette

Keimena # 4
Monday January 9, 2017, 24:00
The Death of Louis XIV (La Mort de Louis XIV), 2016, France / Portugal / Spain, 115 min.
Director: Albert Serra
Introductory text: Andréa Picard

Keimena # 5
Monday January 16, 2017, 24:00
To the Wolf (Sto Lyko), 2013, Greece / UK / France, 74 min.
Directors: Aran Hughes and Christina Koutsospyrou
Introductory text: Dimitris

Keimena # 6
Monday January 23, 2017, 24:00
Version (Verzió), 1979, Hungary, 54 min.
Director: Miklós Erdély
Introductory text: Lívia Páldi

Keimena # 7
Monday January 30, 2017, 24:00
Voilà l’enchaînement, 2014, France, 30 min.
Director: Claire Denis
Introductory text: Genevieve Yue

Details about the programs for the following months February–September 2017 will be announced via this newsletter on a regular basis. For more details about the films as well as press materials please visit documenta 14’s website.