“Guardians of the Night” selected for Urban Audio-visual Festival, Lisbon
Author: Richmond American University London
Professor Eleonora Diamanti (Richmond in Rome) will present her ethnographic film, “Guardians of the Night”, at the Urban Audio-visual Festival, Lisbon, 28-30 June.
The film is an Official Selection in the Shorts Film Category. “Guardians of the Night” (Cuba/Canada, 15’, 2018) was co-directed with Dr. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier, University of Victoria).
GUARDIANS OF THE NIGHT is an experimental and sensorial short-length ethnographic film about the cyclical and spontaneous life activities that emerge at nighttime in Guantánamo, Cuba. The film engages with the synesthetic aspect of practices associated with the night in Cuba, from the post-revolutionary guardia sessions of neighborhood night-watching, to nocturnal activities related to technology, media infrastructure, and nighttime economy.
The senses are at the center of the night experience along with reduction of visibility. This creates a perfect focus to reinvigorate discussion and promote an innovative approach around sensory visual ethnography, in a time when audio-visual methods generally remain marginal within social sciences, and the idea of multisensorial anthropological film is often criticized for not being able to fully capture the sensorial world. With a keen eye and acute ear, “Guardians of the Night” contributes to the growing body of sensory ethnography, illuminating our grasp of the feeling of a Cuban city at night.
The Urban Audio-visual Festival, 2nd edition, is organized by: (des)Calçada Association with the academic and scientific support of Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (University of Lisbon), Institute of Sociology (University of Porto), Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Sciences (Nova University of Lisbon).
Dr. Diamanti conducted research and field-work in Cuba with Dr. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier (University of Victoria – Anthropology).
The Urban Audio-visual Festival – UAF is a scientific meeting that aims to promote dissemination of quality audio-visual work carried out by researchers and filmmakers in the field of urban studies and audio-visual production, as well as other related disciplines. The UAF is a cultural project developed by (des) Calçada Association with the academic and scientific support of Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (University of Lisbon), Institute of Sociology (University of Porto), Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Sciences (Nova University of Lisbon).
Dr. Diamanti’s presentation at the Urban Audio-visual Festival is funded by the Research Centre for International Visual Arts and Cultures at Richmond University.
