Cinetracts ‘20

In 1968, a group of French filmmakers including Jean-Luc Godard and Chris Marker crafted short, quickly made cinematic responses to the political and social upheavals that shook Paris in May of that year. Inspired in part by this project, called Cinetracts, the Wexner Center commissioned 20 short films by 20 filmmakers from around the world as part of Cinetracts '20.

Watch the program now and read interviews and essays by many of the participating artists.

Commissioned filmmakers included:
Natalia Almada (Mexico/San Francisco, CA)
Tony Buba (Braddock, PA)
Charles Burnett (Los Angeles, CA)
Tamer El Said (Egypt/Germany)
Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria/US)
Su Friedrich (Brooklyn, NY)
Kelly Gallagher (Syracuse, NY)
Cameron Granger (Columbus, OH)
Christopher Harris (Iowa City, IA)
Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk Nation, WI)
Karrabing Film Collective (Australia)
Bouchra Khalili (Morocco/Germany)
Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil)
Rosine Mbakam (Cameroon/Belgium)
Natasha Mendonca (India)
Sheilah and Dani ReStack (Columbus, OH)
Beatriz Santiago Muñoz (Puerto Rico)
Cauleen Smith (Los Angeles, CA)
Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)
Želimir Žilnik (Serbia)

Each filmmaker created a work in response to the turbulent sociopolitical climate of 2020, a reflection on or reaction to the zeitgeist as the artist perceived and defined it. As with the original Cinetracts project, participating filmmakers worked within a set of guidelines that included a running time of no more than two minutes, a schedule of one day to make the piece, and an explicit reference within the film to the date and geographic location. The completed project acts as dynamic index of places and a compelling record of our time—and perhaps a provocation for what comes next.

The project debuted on this website Thursday, October 8, 2020, accompanied by online interviews with many of the participating filmmakers as well as additional work by a selection of the filmmakers.