World Without End (No Reported Incidents)
Description
The poetic, political imagery that has made Jem Cohen an iconoclastic American treasure is on full display in his recent work. World Without End (No Reported Incidents), a portrait of Southend-on-Sea, a working-class British resort town near London gently leads us into a forgotten Britain where the unspoken specter of Brexit looms over all. Cohen visits the town and finds something typical for him: a poetry of sorts that lets small details—a look, a sound, an impromptu conversation—amplify and transform into something touching and beautiful. The people Cohen interviews—including a young student, aging members of a pub rock band, the owner of a classic hat company, and the owner of an Indian restaurant—and his unique approach to filmmaking, where he lingers on scenes of public passageways, storefronts, and moments of “everyday” doings, elevate the town into something unforgettable. Two equally memorable shorts accompany the feature: In Birth of a Nation, Cohen takes his camera to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration and to the next day’s protests, while in Bury Me Not, Cohen spotlights New York City and its changing vibrancy. —Jonathan Curiel
Jem Cohen has described what he does as “essay films,” but his movies don’t offer overt opinions. Instead, Cohen’s documentaries are collected fragments of a narrative and poetic order, like his acclaimed film Counting (Festival 2016), which subtly addresses such subjects as gentrification, political protests, and global interconnectedness. In a 30-year career, Cohen has won such honors as a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, an Independent Spirit Award, and an Alpert Award in the Arts. PBS and the Sundance Channel have broadcast his movies, which are in the collections of MoMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2013, he received the Festival’s Persistence of Vision Award.
Film Details
Language English
Year 2016
Runtime 77
Country USA
Director Jem Cohen
Producer Gravity Hill, Estuary 2016, Metal
Writer Jem Cohen
Editor Jem Cohen
Cinematographer Jem Cohen