Film Programme curated by Anne-Sophie Dinant | Cinéma Lumière London
Where is the Friend’s House + Shorts
28.06.2026
Abbas Kiarostami, with shorts by Agnès Varda, Takahiko Iimura, Stella F. Simon and Miklós Bándy
In collaboration with Bordeux based, Iranian artist Armineh Negahdari, in conjuction with her solo exhibition The Living River at Cell Project Space, open from 3rd June – 9th August 2026.
Sunday 28th June, 4pm
Ciné Lumière - Institut Français
17 Queensberry Pl, South Kensington, London SW7 2DW
Introduced by curator Anne-Sophie Dinant this film programme extends Armineh Negahdari’s exhibition The Living River into the cinematic realm, reflecting the poetic foundations of her drawing practice. It unfolds around the idea that her work is deeply shaped by an instinctive dialogue with cinema.
Cinema plays a significant role in Negahdari’s thinking and artistic process, and the films included in the programme invite the viewer to make direct connections with the drawings presented in the exhibition. Central to the programme is Where Is the Friend’s House? by Abbas Kiarostami, a film that formally resonates with Negahdari’s aesthetics and profound link to poetry; so important to Kiarostami himself, also a visual artist and poet.
Negahdari’s work like Kiarostami’s cinema is grounded in minimal forms, creating a free space for emotion and imagination. Kiarostami’s use of repetition, texture and natural elements echoes poetic structures such as rhythm, silence and metaphor, and closely resonate with the compositional logic of Negahdari’s drawings. Subtly, she explores how instinctive forms can carry political meaning, suggesting broader reflections on lives shaped by repression and forced erasure.
More widely, the programme reflects Negahdari’s interest in experimental artists’ films that embody poetic forms. In Persian culture, poetry holds a central place in daily life as vital artistic expression shared among family and friends, also as a way of dealing with current political tensions. This sensibility informs Negahdari’s practice, shaping her openness to absorb and transform personal and collective experiences into a distinct artistic gesture.
Kiri (A Tree in the Fog) by Takahiko Iimura is a cinematic haiku: a tree echoes Negahdari’s ability to reveal the potential of a single form.
In Hands by Stella F. Simon and Miklós Bándy, gestures and abstraction merge to create a language where forms lead to reflections on bodies relating to one another.
Between documentary and fiction, Plaisirs d’Amour en Iran by Agnès Varda explores the relationships between two individuals. Details of Persian architecture become a vehicle for poetic expression, with humour and detachment.
Across these works, the programme traces a common language to two distinct artistic practices. A language rooted in poetry, allowing for minimal, instinctive representation and the evocative power of images.
Negahdari’s work like Kiarostami’s cinema is grounded in minimal forms, creating a free space for emotion and imagination. Kiarostami’s use of repetition, texture and natural elements echoes poetic structures such as rhythm, silence and metaphor, and closely resonate with the compositional logic of Negahdari’s drawings. Subtly, she explores how instinctive forms can carry political meaning, suggesting broader reflections on lives shaped by repression and forced erasure.
More widely, the programme reflects Negahdari’s interest in experimental artists’ films that embody poetic forms. In Persian culture, poetry holds a central place in daily life as vital artistic expression shared among family and friends, also as a way of dealing with current political tensions. This sensibility informs Negahdari’s practice, shaping her openness to absorb and transform personal and collective experiences into a distinct artistic gesture.
Kiri (A Tree in the Fog) by Takahiko Iimura is a cinematic haiku: a tree echoes Negahdari’s ability to reveal the potential of a single form.
In Hands by Stella F. Simon and Miklós Bándy, gestures and abstraction merge to create a language where forms lead to reflections on bodies relating to one another.
Between documentary and fiction, Plaisirs d’Amour en Iran by Agnès Varda explores the relationships between two individuals. Details of Persian architecture become a vehicle for poetic expression, with humour and detachment.
Across these works, the programme traces a common language to two distinct artistic practices. A language rooted in poetry, allowing for minimal, instinctive representation and the evocative power of images.
Anne-Sophie Dinant is an independent curator based in Bordeaux and Paris. Past projects include 'Through the Unfolding Glass', (2023) curated and presented at the Palazzo del Podestà in Fabriano, Italy, for the inaugural Fabriano Contemporanea art biennale; and 'Adapting to Invisibility' (2022) a collaborative experimental film screening series presented during the Printemps de l'Art Contemporain in Marseille. Dinant previously served as curator-at-large at CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux (France) and associate curator at South London Gallery 2007-2012. Her curatorial work includes organising film and video screenings at public institutions including Tate Modern, The British Film Institute (BFI) and ICA,London and notably 'Mimicry—Empathy' at the Lajevardi Foundation in Tehran in 2018. Institutional Exhibitions include a solo exhibition of Alice Theobald at South London Gallery, 2022, solo exhibition of Babette Mangolte, CAPCmusée d’art contemporain Bordeaux, 2018, and 'Toujours, the museum as witness, works from the CAPC collection', Amparo Museum, Puebla, Mexico, 2017 and Contemporary Art museum Monterrey, Mexico, 2016.
Armineh Negahdari, (b.1994, Tehran) lives and works in Bordeaux. The artist is co-currently presenting solo exhibition ‘What Colour Is Your Sky Today?’ at OPEN SPACE #18, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris from April to end of August 2026, presented in partnership with S.M.A.K. Ghent, which will feature a solo exhibition by the artist in 2027. Her works are held in public collections; Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR, SMAK, Ghent, BE, and MAMC+ Saint-Etienne, FR
For all press and access related inquiries, please contact Annabelle Mödlinger, annabelle[at]cellprojects[dot]org.
Generously supported by Elephant Trust and Fluxus Art Projects, and Cinéma Lumière, London
