The Forgotten Space + Q&A

A Film Essay by Allan Sekula and Noel Burch

The maritime economy forms part of one of the most important processes that affects us today, the global supply chain. This essayistic and visual documentary travels around the world, to the ports of Rotterdam, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Bilbao. As poetic as it is polemic the film features interviews, archive stills and clips from classic movies – a testament to Noel Burch’s position as grand old man of film theory.

THE FORGOTTEN SPACE follows container cargo aboard ships, barges, trains and trucks, listening to workers, engineers, planners, politicians, and those marginalized by the global transport system. It visits displaced farmers and villagers in Holland and Belgium, underpaid truck drivers in Los Angeles, seafarers aboard mega-ships shuttling between Asia and Europe, and factory workers in China, whose low wages are the fragile key to the whole puzzle.

As the directors say, “ the sea is still the crucial space of globalization. It is here that the confusion, the violence and the alienation of contemporary capitalism are most evident.”

Followed by Q&A with Noel Burc.

For more information and tickets, please visit the CINECITY website.