Filipa César

Born - Porto, Portugal

Filipa César is an artist and filmmaker interested in the fictional aspects of the documentary, the porous borders between cinema and its reception, and the politics and poetics inherent to the moving image and imaging technologies. Since 2011, she has been researching the origins of the cinema of the African Liberation Movement in Guinea Bissau as a laboratory of resistance to ruling epistemologies. The resulting body of work comprises 16mm films, digital archives, videos, seminars, screenings, publications, ongoing collaborations with artists, theorists, and activists, and is the basis for her Phd thesis at FCSH-New University of Lisbon. César’s genre-bending film and video work bridges contemporary and historical discourses, also apparent in her writings, such as her essay Meteorizations, published in the Third Text special issue: The Wretched Earth: Botanical Conflicts and Artistic Interventions, edited by Shela Sheik and Ros Gray.

César premiered her first feature-length essay film Spell Reel at the Forum section of the 67th Berlinale, 2017. Selected exhibitions and screenings have taken place at the 29th São Paulo Biennial (2010); Manifesta 8, Cartagena (2010); Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2011-15); Jeu de Paume, Paris (2012); Khiasma, Paris (2011-2015); Kunstwerke, Berlin (2013); SAAVY Contemporary, Berlin (2014-15); Tensta Konsthall, Spånga (2015); Mumok, Vienna (2016); Contour 8 Biennial, Mechelen, Gasworks, London, MoMA, New York (2017); The Harvard Art Museums, Boston (2018); HKW, Berlin (2019).

Artist Collection List

Title Year Runtime Collection
Berlin Zoo 2003 12 minutes 47 seconds Single Titles
Cacheu 2012 10 minutes 8 seconds Single Titles
Conakry 2013 10 minutes 43 seconds Single Titles
Mangrove School 2022 35 minutes 16 seconds New Releases, Single Titles
Mined Soil 2014 33 minutes 48 seconds Single Titles
Morel's Yellow Pages 2012 11 minutes 5 seconds Single Titles
Porto 1975 2010 10 minutes 23 seconds Single Titles
Quantum Creole 2020 40 minutes 25 seconds Single Titles
Rapport 2007 16 minutes 40 seconds Single Titles
Spell Reel 2017 1 hour 36 minutes Single Titles
Sunstone 2018 35 minutes Single Titles
The Embassy 2011 37 minutes 6 seconds Single Titles
The Four Chambered Heart 2009 28 minutes 42 seconds Single Titles
Transmission from the Liberated Zones 2015 30 minutes Single Titles