Time flutters, spins, tumbles, and folds in a cycle of films on the ever-fresh theme of laundry. Dóra Maurer transforms an ordinary cloth, the dimensions of the 16mm frame when held between outstretched arms, into a device for measuring cinematic time. Variations in the execution of repeated foldings and in-camera techniques enliven and refresh the geometric rigour of a mundane domestic act. Along with the washing, Roberta Cantow pulls a gamut of mixed emotions along the clotheslines of New York City. From the entanglements of public airing to the private rituals that turn chaos into order, women speak out about the role of laundry in their lives. Tossing a load of systemic race, gender, and class inequities in with the dirty laundry, Lynne Sachs and Lizzie Olesker turn their lens to the overlooked working lives of laundromat employees, entrusted to handle people’s most intimate belongings.

Programmed by Michèle Smith

Timing
(Időmérés)
Hungary 1973–80
Dóra Maurer
10 min. Silent. DCP

Clotheslines
USA 1981
Roberta Cantow
32 min. DVD

The Washing Society
USA 2018
Lynne Sachs, Lizzie Olesker
44 min. DCP

Image: still from Roberta Cantow's Clotheslines, 1981, courtesy of The Filmmakers Coop, NYC