Taking place between 12-16 January 2022, the 11th edition of Norient Film Festival brings together an international pool of audio and visual talent to the Swiss capital of Bern, spanning both online and in real life events encircling live performances, concerts, panel discussions and DJ sets.
For the first time ever, Norient have appointed London-based video artist Rebecca Salvadori and Lebanese film critic Chafic Tabbara to spearhead the festival as artists directors, joined by a team of curators from India, Lebanon, Switzerland and the UK.
For the occasion, they have created a program that speaks the language of diversity, hand picking fiction and documentary films from South and North America, Africa, India, the Arab world and Europe that emphasises ideas of sensation, perception, and the senses.
Music wise, an array of multi-talented artists have been selected to perform at the festival, including Mark Fell & Julian Sartorius, Rian Treanor, Giant Swan, Leah Walker, Sandro Mussida, Voicedrone b2b James Newmarch, Anabel Arroyo, Jack Dove, Phrex and singer-songwriter-duo Ruth and Res Margot from Bern.
The festival kicks off on January 12 with a performance from London-based audiovisual duo Sculpture and the Oscar-awarded film ‘Sound of Metal‘ by Darius Marder, a fictional film about a heavy metal drummer who suddenly turns deaf.
Further highlights include a documentary about Indonesian punk rockers ‘A Punk Daydream‘, a film about the struggles of a female background singer in Bollywood ‘Shut Up Sona‘, and an archive-documentary on the Italian cantautore Lucio Dalla ‘For Lucio‘.
Chafic Tabbara will also discuss present-day filmmaking in the Arab World with Lebanese sound designer Rana Eid ‘Beirut: Traces of a City – a Pod Poem‘, and Moroccan director Ali Essafi ‘Before the Dying of the Light‘ and Delhi-based co-curator Radha Mahendru will present histories of resistance from India through words and songs in an afternoon performative lecture.