Soft Opening, London

12 October–28 November, 2021
Piccadilly Circus
Underground Station

Presented in collaboration with
MARFA’, Beirut

1/9. Rania Stephan, *THRESHOLD*
Soft Opening, Piccadilly Circus Underground Station, 12 October–28 November, 2021

Entirely taken from an old Egyptian science fiction film called The Master of Time directed by Kamal el Sheikh in 1987, about an illuminated scientist wanting to extend human life, THRESHOLD is built on the intuition that if the original film were emptied of all its fictional elements, retaining only the transition shots featuring doors, gates and boundary crossings, it would reveal its quintessence: it’s obsession with eternity.

Despite the plot being evacuated from the film, enough of the fiction seeps in for the viewer to grasp the narrative threads. The viewer joins the main character Mr. Kamel in becoming stuck in both space and time, thus fulfilling the scientist’s prophecy.

Artist and filmmaker Rania Stephan (b. 1960, Beirut, Lebanon) graduated in Cinema Studies from Latrobe University, Australia and Paris VIII University, France. She has directed videos and creative documentaries notable for their play with genres, and the long-running investigation of memory, identity, archaeology of image and the figure of the detective. Anchored in the turbulent reality of her country, her documentaries give a personal perspective to political events. She gives raw images a poetic edge, filming chance encounters with compassion and humour.

The work on archival material has also been an underlying enquiry in her art work. Approaching still and moving images like an editor – part detective, part cinephile, she traces the absence and remembrance that are originary to those images. She has had solo exhibitions as well as group exhibitions and participated in residency programs. Her feature film: The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni (2011) was internationally acclaimed and won numerous prizes. Her art work is represented by Marfa’ Gallery Beirut, Lebanon. Stephan lives and works in Beirut.

Filmography: Tribe (1993); Attempt at Jealousy (1995); Train-Trains 1: where’s the track? (1999); Wastelands (2005); Lebanon/War (2006); Smoke on the water: 7 X el- Hermel (2007); DAMAGE, for Gaza ‘The land of Sad Oranges’ (2009); The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni (2011); SAMAR YAZBEK INTERVIEWED (2013); 64 Dusks (2014); Memories for a Private Eye #1 (2015); Train-Trains 2: A Bypass (2017); Riot in 3 Movements (2017); Threshold (2018); In Fields of Words (2021).