GHost III - Call for Artist Films

A project by Sarah Sparkes and Ricarda Vidal

17th December 2010, 6 - 10pm at St Johns Church on Bethnal Green

200 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA

We are inviting submissions of artist films on the theme of ‘Ghost hunters’. We welcome short films, but will consider films of up to 20 minutes in duration. Films should be suitable for screening as part of a show reel, rather than for installation. The works will be screened on a big screen in the nave of the church of St John Bethnal Green as part of “GHost III”, an annual weekend-long exhibition with performances and screenings.


We are interested in moving image works which explore the various angles and aspects of ghost-hunting.

"HAUNTED HOUSE: Responsible persons of leisure and intelligence, intrepid, critical, and unbiased, are invited to join rota of observers in a years night and day investigation of alleged haunted house in Home counties. Printed Instructions supplied. Scientific training or ability to operate simple instruments an advantage. House situated in lonely hamlet, so own car is essential. Write Box H.989, The Times, E.C.4"

This ad appeared on 25 May 1937 in The Times. It was posted by Harry Price, an early-20th-century ghost-hunter who was looking for fellow researchers to investigate the paranormal activities in Borley Rectory, allegedly Britain’s ‘most haunted house’. While it is unlikely that a similar ad would be taken seriously by most readers of The Times these days, TV-shows such as ‘Britain’s Most Haunted’, or cinema films like The Blair Witch Project (1999) or Paranormal Activity (2010) as well as the abundance of websites dedicated to the paranormal attest to the continuing interest in the field. In some sense ghost-hunting has become popular entertainment, but its popularity is also an expression of a need to prove the existence of life beyond death.

Deadline for submissions: 1st November 2010

Please send submissions to:

S. Sparkes
GHost III
9 Venetian Road
Camberwell
London
SE5 9RR

Or hand-deliver to

R. Vidal
GHost III
Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies
School of Advanced Study
Stewart House, 32 Russell Squ, London WC1B 5DN

Email: ghost.hostings@gmail.com
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