Ethnographic Film Series

Organised by SOAS Department of Anthropology & Sociology in conjunction with Royal Anthropological Institute

Wednesday 18 October 1pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS

The King of the Cockroaches by Timothy Cooper 70 min / 2016

The degraded surfaces of mass-copied films - the glitches, scanlines, errors, and coding artifacts - rather than the filmmaker’s imprint, reveal the material culture and social life of film consumption. The film studies the informal infrastructures, practices, technologies and institutions that, in the absence of a national film archive, have kept Pakistani film heritage alive. Looking to both cinema distribution and the conditions of its circulation, the film is a found-footage journey through orphaned VHS master copies, grey-market VCDs, and lossy YouTube transfers, celebrating the indestructible archive of Pakistani cinema.

For further information on the films please contact: RAI Film Officer, Caterina Sartori, film@therai.org.uk

All are welcome, booking not required.