Perspective Film Series:
Leviathan (2012), dir. Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor
May 18
5:30 PM | Dome Theatre
On a fishing boat leaving New Bedford, Massachusetts, directors Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor follow a group of unnamed men as they venture out to sea. The film’s pacing mirrors the rhythm of the ocean and the daily routines of the crew, blurring the lines between day and night. The camera follows fish as they are hauled from the ocean in large nets, moving over the deck with waste from the sea, and climbing to the boat’s highest points. Through its experimental style and innovative use of technology, the film challenges traditional documentary filmmaking and redefines what the genre can achieve.
87 minutes.
FREE for members. Non-members: $10—your ticket to this screening includes admission to Contemporary Calgary. Our galleries are open from 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the program.
About Perspective Film Series
The 2025 edition of Perspective is curated by Muriel N. Kahwagi, Associate Curator at Contemporary Calgary. Drawing on Calgary's proximity to the Bow and Elbow Rivers and the role that each of them plays in the city, the series considers the ways in which bodies of water are used and weaponized as markers of land, becoming sites through which power is negotiated, practiced, and enacted. Featuring filmic works from a wide range of geographies and genres – including ethnographic films and artists' films – this year's edition reflects on water as a site of refuge; as a border; as a means to an escape; and as a character in and of itself.
About the Curator
Muriel N. Kahwagi ((she/her)) is a writer and curator, working primarily across publishing and programming. Her research is centered on the politics of collecting and archiving the performative; and the act of listening as a form of preservation in and of itself. In 2023, she was the TD Curatorial Fellow at Art Windsor-Essex, and a curator as part of Vtape’s Curatorial Incubator, v.19. She is currently the Assistant Curator at Contemporary Calgary, and a programmer at the Toronto Arab Film Festival.
