24 HOUR CINEMA
Today, Cinema Year Zero presents a new essay by Ellisha Izumi, reflecting on the unique position of participating as both programmer and audience member at Double Wonderful’s 24 HOUR CINEMA experiment.
Ellisha is a freelance film historian based in London (she/they).
24 Hour Nostalgia
From 12 noon Friday 10th April to 12 noon Saturday 11th, curator-provocateurs Double Wonderful hosted a 24 hour, non-stop film screening. Like a screening of Bela Tarr’s 7.5 hour Satantango or a Scala overnight movie marathon, this was endurance cinema. But with no advertised programme, no start times and no billed collaborators there was an added twist: ‘embrace the unknown’.
My role shifted throughout the event. I co-curated and introduced one of the films, I worked shifts on the door checking tickets (while stealing glances at the screen behind me) and stayed on as an audience member. Despite my involvement behind the scenes, the rest of the programme was kept a mystery to me.
When I walked in and started watching, I had missed the start and I didn’t know if what was on screen would be on for another 2 minutes or 2 hours. Waiting to the end of the film to find out what it was felt familiar. As a viewer surrendering control and practising patience I was reminded of watching TV as a child, with no access to a remote or TV guide. I fondly recalled the curios I would find as they unfolded in front of me, in contrast to the highly individual experience and control when streaming or channel surfing today. At 24 Hour Cinema if I missed something I couldn’t rewind, press the info button or try the +1 channel. Going along for the ride and accepting the unknowability changed my relationship to what I was watching, forcing me to reflect on my spectatorship.
