Film Matters Magazine

For many, the study of avant-garde film is an intimidating and hard-to-navigate field. When it comes to this kind of cinema, it’s easy to feel out of your depth, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t much beauty to discover and be had if one is willing to look closer. Professor Mirian Tavares is one those people who has taken a closer look. Focusing on avant-garde cinema from the 1920s-1990s, Professor Tavares has a deep understanding of this cinema as well as other topics. I was lucky enough to be able to ask her some questions about her work with film as well as her more recent publications.

Holley Anne Brabble: Please tell me about your work with avant-garde cinema.

Mirian Tavares: I began working with the historical avant-garde during my doctoral studies. My thesis was dedicated to Luis Buñuel’s early films (Un Chien Andalou, L’Age d’Or, and Las Hurdes), relating them to the Spanish avant-garde (Generation of ’27) and the French avant-garde. My thesis was later turned into a book, in which I analyze all the avant-garde movements in their relationship with cinema.

In the world of film, it could be said that none are more recognized than the faces we see on our screens. Actors capture audience attention through their incredible craft, bringing characters and emotions to life. Mehmet Kaynar is one such actor. Having worked on multiple projects, such as Asylum (2015), and in multiple countries, Kaynar has a deep insight in the film industry. I had the pleasure of interviewing him via email. I wanted to know how he approaches his work and what his experience in the field has taught him.

Holley Anne Brabble: Please tell me about yourself.

Mehmet Kaynar: I’m an actor and writer, and originally from Turkiye (as Turkey was known before). I first moved to San Diego in 2000 to improve my English, and later relocated to Hong Kong, where my professional acting career began. My first film was The Hades, and a few projects later I starred in Asylum, my fourth film, which won Best Feature Film at the Los Angeles Film and Script Festival in 2015. I returned to San Diego in 2019 to further my education, earning degrees in Acting and Musical Theatre from Grossmont College. I’m currently preparing to transfer to San Diego State University to complete my bachelor’s degree in Theatre. To date, I’ve acted in over seventeen films and published my first book in 2017. My goal is to continue pursuing creative work that inspires reflection, challenges perspectives, and connects across cultures.

Film Matters: Please tell us about your article that is being published in Film Matters.

Andrew Roberts: My article uses Jane Schoenbrun’s film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) as a framework for discussing how openly trans content creators online use different platforms to explore their gender identities. I used the research of gender theorists such as Legacy Russel, Eliza Steinbock, and Jenny Sundén, who each have their own ideas regarding how identity changes and evolves online as if it were a technological machine. The film’s main character, Casey, explores her identity through the viral horror game The World’s Fair.

Film Matters: Please tell us about your article that is being published in Film Matters.

Alice Alonso Limongi: My article is called “Contradictions in Metal: a comparative analysis of Sound of Metal (2019).” It presents two ways of analyzing the film Sound of Metal (Darius Marder, 2019), which thematizes a heavy metal drummer who suddenly becomes Deaf. I analyze it through a textual and ideological lens when it relates to two of the film’s main themes: Deafness and mentorship. I then compare the two approaches, looking at how an ideological analysis directly contradicts the thesis of the film, which we can deduce through textual analysis.