ela kazdal


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Ela Kazdal (b.2001, Istanbul) is an artist and filmmaker based in London. She is a video editor at MUBI.

She has presented her films at Salt Beyoğlu in Istanbul, Æden in Berlin, Everyman Cinema,  Firstsite, Fabrica Gallery, Royal College of Art in the UK and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in the Netherlands.

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thread, chain, beads and  tacks
2024   |    Turkey & UK    |    16mm & 35mm film transferred to video    |    2 minutes 
thread, chain, beads and tacks is an experimental film made on 16mm and 35mm film, alongside materials such as thread, chain, beads, tacks, hex nuts, bolts, steel eye pins, hooks, clasps, tracing paper, prints, IKEA paper measure, bobby pins, 35mm photographic film strip, 16mm film strips, nail polish, screenprint, mesh fabric and lace.

Sound by Bo Deurloo.
viewing copy available upon request


My practice treats film not only as a recording medium but as an object— to be sewn, pierced and exposed. Layering physical material directly on the film strip​, ​I seek to expand lensless filmmaking techniques of Man Ray​ and Annabel Nicolson - particularly ​Ray's Return to Reason and ​N​icolson's 1970 performance Reel Time. Engaging with film as a textured, tactile experience, I use industrial and domestic objects to create a hybrid of analog and digital aesthetics that expand on the material nature of film.