The work of the acclaimed British-Argentinean artist Jessica Sarah Rinland, is distinguished by a deeply sensitive approach to filming on 16mm, through which she explores the intricate relationship between humans, their institutions, and the physical world. In Collective Monologue, she delves into intimate moments to reveal the complex relationship between humans and animals within a community of zoos and rescue centers in Argentina. As histories of these institutions unfold, the film raises implicit questions about ecology, colonialism, labor, and violence in these environments. Simultaneously, it invites us to reflect on the often-overlooked lives of both the animals and the caretakers, highlighting the mutual bond that is fostered between them, which transcends imaginary boundaries separating species.
Jessica Sarah Rinland is an Argentine-British filmmaker. She is a recipient of numerous prizes including Special Mention at Locarno Film Festival and Best Film at DocumentaMadrid for THOSE THAT, AT A DISTANCE, RESEMBLE ANOTHER, 2019, Primer Premio at BIM – Bienale de Imagen en Movimiento for BLACK POND, 2018, Arts + Science Award at Ann Arbor Film Festival, for Adeline for Leaves, 2014 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Schnitzer prize for excellence in the arts in 2017. Her work as been exhibited at University of Tennessee’s Downtown Gallery, Southwark Park Galleries, London, Taipei Biennial, Somerset House and Bloomberg New Contemporarie. She has had retrospectives of her films at Anthology Film Archives, NYC (2021), Doc’s Kingdom, Portugal (2021), Aricadoc, Santiago (2021), Eureka Film Festival, Bogotá (2020), Curtocircuito, Spain (2018) and London Short Film Festival (2016), Flaherty Film Seminar (2022). Her films are held in the British Film Institute’s collections.
