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A specially-curated edit of John Berger's television appearances. Gareth Evans will be in conversation with Matthew Harle.
Part of John Berger at 100 - a film and event series
Film series 03: Go Closer: John Berger on Television
A programme in two parts. Matthew Harle will be in conversation with Gareth Evans alongside a specially-curated edit of John Berger's television appearances, including clips from a number of long-unseen programmes early in his career. This will be followed by a very rare screening of Germinal (1973), directed by Nuala O'Faolain and written / hosted by Berger. Exploring Zola's novel, it places itself in the heart of a Derbyshire mining village, with reflections on the everyday life of a typical pit community. Berger grapples with the politics of witness as he studies the miners’ labour and the wider community shaped in service to this work. Reflecting on their precarity, he goes back to Zola’s novel for hope that "a new world is germinating underneath the ground. And when it arrives, it will crack open the earth." This work lies at the core of the book The Underground Sea (2024), co-edited by Harle and Tom Overton (appearing at Arts on the Green on 28th October).
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Matthew Harle is a writer and curator from London. He has written and edited books on writers and artists, mythic television plays, miners strikes, lost address books, and football. He also makes exhibitions, film programmes, video essays and artists’ books that draw upon documents of everyday life, subcultures and the history of ideas. Harle is Curator of Artistic Programmes at The Warburg Institute. Matthew is a founding trustee of the Rita Keegan Foundation, originally part of the team that assembled and curated Keegan’s artworks and archive (matthewharle.com).
The writer John Berger was born 100 years ago this 5th November at 1 Filey Avenue, Stoke Newington. The author of more than 60 books, a Booker Prize-winner, filmmaker and artist, he is one of the most influential and loved writers of our times.
Gareth Evans is a Hackney-based writer, editor, film / event producer, creative consultant and host / presenter. He works on special projects for the London Review of Books and curates / hosts their 'Screen at Home' series (garethevans.org.uk/).
John Berger image credit: Wikimedia Commons, user Ji-Elle, shared under license 3.0.