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    [EFF16S13] Session 13: The Host

    Cite as: Temple, Michael and Barrington, Matthew (2023): [EFF16S13] Session 13: The Host. Birkbeck College, University of London.

    Description

    Wednesday 23 March 2016, 17:00, ICA Cinema

    Film: The Host, Miranda Pennell, UK, 2015, digital, 59 minutes, English

    Filmmaker and visual artist Miranda Pennell presented her latest film, The Host, and discussed the archival research that went into the making of it. She showed some archive films about Iran sponsored by British Petroleum – Persian Story (1952), Full Circle (1954), Oil: The Two-Way Benefit (1970) – and she discussed oil narratives and the cultural politics of oil with Mika Minio-Paluello (researcher at Platform, co-author of The Oil Road) and Morad Montazami (research-curator for the Middle East and North Africa, Tate Modern, supported by Iran Heritage Foundation).

    “While investigating her late parents’ involvement with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (BP), filmmaker Miranda Pennell came across the letters of a petroleum geologist in Iran in the 1930s, who would later embark on a search for the origins of civilisation. Setting out on its own exploration to decipher signs from the fragmented images buried in the BP archive, The Host interweaves stories drawn from both personal memory and from the records of an imperial history. Pennell’s immensely compelling film is about the stories we tell, the facts and fictions we live by – and their consequences.” (Independent Cinema Office)

    In collaboration with the Independent Cinema Office, and with support from Birkbeck School of Arts.

    Previews


    1 - EFF16S13 Introduction Laura Mulvey (EFF16S13 Pennell The Host PT1 23-3-2016.MP3)

    2 - EFF16S13 Laura Mulvey and Miranda Pennell Conversation (EFF16S13 Pennell The Host PT2 23-3-2016.MP3)

    3 - EFF16S13 Talk: Miranda Pennell, Mika Minio-Paluello, Morad Montazami (EFF16S13 Pennell The Host PT3 23-3-2016.MP3)

    Collection Method

    The Essay Film Festival ran between 2015 and 2023, and presented a global range of contemporary and restored essayistic works. The events are now archived here for research purposes.

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    Metadata

    Dataset Title:

    [EFF16S13] Session 13: The Host
    Creators:

    Temple, Michael and Barrington, Matthew
    Dataset Contributors:

    ContributionNameEmailORCID
    CollaboratorMcCabe, Janetj.mccabe@bbk.ac.ukORCID logohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2916-9876
    CollaboratorYapp, Emmaeyapp01@student.bbk.ac.ukUNSPECIFIED
    Subjects:

    Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    Data collection method:

    The Essay Film Festival ran between 2015 and 2023, and presented a global range of contemporary and restored essayistic works. The events are now archived here for research purposes.
    Collection period:

    FromTo
    23 March 201623 March 2016
    Statement on legal, ethical, and access issues:

    All film stills were provided by participating artists.
    Depositing User: Emma Yapp
    Date Deposited: 06 Aug 2026 10:54
    Last Modified: 06 Aug 2026 10:54
    Publisher: Birkbeck College, University of London

    Export / Share Citation

    Cite as: Temple, Michael and Barrington, Matthew (2023): [EFF16S13] Session 13: The Host. Birkbeck College, University of London.

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