WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Thursday, April 18 at 6 pm, the Clark Art Institute shows two films from director Saodat Ismailova, "ARAL: Fishing in an Invisible Sea" and "The Haunted."

 

According to a press release:

 

Journeying across natural, mythological, and sacred spaces, Ismailova's films mark cinematic time through Central Asian songs of everyday survival. The free screenings take place in the Clark's auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.

 

Ismailova's first feature-length film, "ARAL: Fishing in an Invisible Sea" (2004, 52 minutes) follows three generations of fishermen living near the Aral Sea, the site of a Soviet environmental catastrophe and an ongoing water crisis. Like "ARAL," "The Haunted" (2017, 23 minutes) documents the devastating effects of colonialism on the landscape, and the preservation of nature in Central Asian spiritual life. The short film reanimates the Turkestan tiger, an animal that went extinct during Russian colonization, traversing the terrain of collective memory through interviews, dreams, and archival footage.

 

Free.