‘Voice Under: Desire and Warm Fear’: A Masterclass with Ester M. Bergsmark

In their book, Voice Under (2023), Ester Martin Bergsmark explores the queer potential of film, drawing on their own practice in films such as She Male Snails (2012) and Something Must Break (2014). They consider: “How can the language and imagery of film be used to reach beyond language and imagery? How can a more capacious imagination be activated?” In this masterclass, Bergsmark will talk about the reconfiguration of desire through moments of onscreen queer intimacy that arise in unexpected ways, followed by an extended conversation in which all are invited to participate.

Entrance to the seminar includes a free ticket to the Cambridge Film Festival screening of Something Must Break at 14:30 at the APH.


Cambridge Film Festival, in partnership with Trinity Hall and the Centre for Film and Screen, University of Cambridge.

Tickets

Event map

Additional Information

Ester M Bergsmark, based in Stockholm, is a visual artist and filmmaker ( director, writer, cinematographer) whose work spans documentary, fiction, and experimental film. Bergsmark works across genres and formats, often in close collaboration with other artists. Some of the most notable films are Something Must Break (2014) (Tiger Award Rotterdam IFFR) and She Male Snails (2012), both in collaboration with Eli Levén and Maggie vaknar på balkongen (Guldbagge/ Swedish Film Price for Best Documentary in 2009). Their work is shown in festivals, cinemas and galleries worldwide. Bergsmark completed their PhD project, "voice under," at Stockholm University of the Arts in 2023. Bergsmark has given their quest of developing dramaturgies with the capacity to depict the vulnerability of queer and trans people without the fixation on humiliation or trauma. Instead, the aim is to approach the potential of vulnerability and uncertainty as liberating, transformative and pleasurable.