National Gallery of Art

image by Kelly Gallagher

ARMed MANIFESTO – Call to ARMs
AGAINST RACISM & MISOGYNY in Experimental Cinema

AGAINST: RACISM AND MISOGYNY IN ALL FORMS WITHIN THE EXPERIMENTAL FILM COMMUNITY

AGAINST: HISTORIES OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM THAT PROBLEMATICALLY EXCLUDE POC FILMMAKERS ENTIRELY AS WELL AS EXLUDING MANY WOMEN AND GENDERQUEER FILMMAKERS

AGAINST: WHITE SUPREMACY PERPETUATED WITHIN THE EXPERIMENTAL FILM COMMUNITY

AGAINST: EXPERIMENTAL FILM CURATING THAT FEATURES ONLY CIS WHITE MEN FILMMAKERS

AGAINST: MEN AT EXPERIMENTAL FILM SCREENINGS GETTING UP AND ATTEMPTING TO COMMANDEER THE FILM PROJECTOR FROM WOMEN AND GENDERQUEER PROJECTIONISTS (YES THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENS)

AGAINST: WHITE MEN IN ACADEMIA PERPETUATING MORE SCHOLARSHIP ONLY & SOLELY ON CIS WHITE MEN EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKERS

AGAINST: THE CANON

FOR: DECOLONIZING EXPERIMENTAL FILM CURATING & EXPERIMENTAL FILM HISTORY

FOR: EXHIBITING EXPERIMENTAL FILM IN PLACES OTHER THAN ONLY THE ACADEMY, GALLERY, AND FESTIVAL

FOR: EXPERIMENTAL FILM MADE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO VIEW FOR THE MASSES, IN THEIR COMMUNITIES

FOR: MORE RADICAL FILM CURATORS, MORE POC FILM CURATORS, MORE WOMEN FILM CURATORS, MORE GENDERQUEER FILM CURATORS

FOR: MORE WOMEN AND GENDERQUEER FILM PROJECTIONISTS

FOR: CREATING MORE ACCESS TO FILMMAKING EQUIPMENT

FOR: CREATING INCLUSIVE TEACHING SPACES FOR BEGINNER FILMMAKERS

FOR: MORE FILMS FOR REVOLUTION & MORE FILMS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO BOTH THE ABOLITION OF CAPITALISM & THE STRUGGLE AGAINST WHITE SUPREMACY

FOR: EXPLICITLY CALLING OUT RACISM AND SEXISM IN THE EXPERIMENTAL FILM COMMUNITY

FOR: FILMMAKERS WHO HAVE BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, SUPPORTING AND UPLIFTING EACH OTHER’S WORK

FOR: RADICAL CONTENT AND RADICAL FORM

This manifesto first organized and compiled by Kelly Gallagher with the assistance of feedback, suggestions, and edits from many filmmakers and comrades within the experimental film community.

Kelly Gallagher is an experimental animator, filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Media Arts at Antioch College in Ohio. Her theoretical work investigates the radical and feminist possibilities of experimental animation. Her animations, experimental films and documentaries have screened internationally at venues including: Ann Arbor Film Festival, London ICA Artists’ Biennial, LA Film Forum, Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, Traverse City Film Festival, and Anthology Film Archives.