The filmaker and installation artist Isaac Julien CBE RA, who currently lives and works in London and Santa Cruz, California, was featured in the Center's recent exhibition Migrating Worlds: The Art of the Moving Image in Britain. His multiscreen film installations and photographs incorporate different artistic disciplines to create a poetic and unique visual language. Julien's haunting film The Leopard (Western Union: Small Boats) (2007; 18 minutes), which was on view in the exhibition, will be screened.
The single-channel video takes its title from the 1963 film The Leopard, by Lucino Visconti. It is based on the celebrated novel of the same name by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, published in 1958. Made on the islands of Sicily and Lampedusa, Julien’s film explores the movement of people across the Mediterranean Sea, specifically African refugees making the treacherous crossing by boat to reach Europe to escape war and famine. A discussion follows the screening with Julien and the Center’s director, Courtney J. Martin.
