Preceded by Air.

(Dal Polo all'Equatore). In their first film to attain international recognition, Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi re-edit a remarkable collection of footage from travels around world - Antarctica, Eritrea, India, Italy, Tangiers, Uganda-shot almost entirely by the early Italian cinematographer Luca Comerio (1874–1940). But, in a manner central to their method of working, they not only present this fascinating material, they examine it and artistically rework it to bring forth its suppressed ideological content. As J. Hoberman notes, "Seldom has the imperial nature of photography been more frankly acknowledged. The cameraman is transparently the great white (image) hunter." Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi comment, "Our film was centered on the metaphor of amnesia: the amnesia of Comerio's last years, the general 'amnesia' about primitive cinema, and the desire of early audiences for exotic spectacles, which reflected their dreams of conquest and cultural pillage (their 'amnesia' about early cultures). When we analyzed the frames of Comerio's film, we were irritated and disturbed by Comerio's sanctification of imperialism, colonialism, and war. We wanted to make a film on the violence of colonialism as it plays itself out in different situations and spheres."

Air (Aria) (Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi, Italy, 1994). Primarily constructed from scientific films about the atmosphere from the turn of the last century. (7 mins, Color/B&W, 16mm, From the artists)