Making Kin(o)! Remote in New York: a letter to you was a slice of my reflection

A film program organized by Erica Sheu (in-person) of Taiwan-based experimental film group/collective ReaRflex.

Since 2021, Taiwan-based experimental film group/collective ReaRflex has been hosting a series of screenings titled, Making Kin(o)!, borrowing the phrase from Donna Haraway’s “making kin, not babies.” Making Kin(o) focuses on artist-organized screening events, reflecting a grassroots spirit tracing its history back to the beginning of the avant-garde cinema community. ReaRflex also hosts visiting artists to present work when they visit Taiwan.
ReaRflex’s main members, Johan Chang, Erica Sheu, and Tzuan Wu, travel with film screening programs. Past engagements include Worm (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Center Kanuma (Tochigi, Japan), Tamagawa University (Tokyo, Japan), Whammy! Analog media (Los Angeles, USA), among others.

One of ReaRflex’s longest-running programs, 台日實驗電影自主放映, Taiwanese and Japanese Experimental Film Screenings, is an annual screening presented in collaboration with Ground Level/Rebel Cinema (GLC). GLC is a self-organized volunteer cohort from Image Forum Institute (Tokyo, Japan) that presents new work or work in progress. The screenings are hosted concurrently in Taipei and Tokyo, while filmmakers reunite in person and online from both venues. Many participants, whether working in a film-related job or elsewhere, use this opportunity to make their work more personal and reflective of the films they aspire to make.

“The films featured in this program are from the Taiwan side of this collaborative screening series. They reveal a personal ritual, a letter to a newborn, exchanged film diaries, and fresh and curious eyes behind a film camera. Shot on film and hand-processed, they are tactile approaches to personal whispers, or a happy spinning around.” – Erica Sheu