We are delighted to publish two new articles in Volume 15.1, Desirée de Jesús's video essay, The Black Ecstatic focuses on a pivotal sequence from Steve McQueen's critically acclaimed 2020 film, Lovers Rock. The essay highlights how the film, set against the backdrop of early 1980s Britain, captures Black joy amidst high unemployment and systemic racial oppression. By focusing on the film's soundscape, de Jesús invites viewers to reflect on the enduring spirit of Black diasporic communities, emphasising their dreams, resilience, and resistance across generations.

Samantha Close's Masochism of Play begins with the deceptively simple question: Why do players of video games, who often experience repeated failure while playing it, clearly take great pleasure in the process of play? This practice research uses both autoethnographic filmmaking and textual analysis to deconstruct the playing experience, focusing particularly on failure and emotion to understand the affects of failure. Close argues that even “ordinary” play of mainstream video games has something queer about it—particularly when it’s difficult.

Saul Kutnicki's Closing Time At The People Shop: A Saturn Dealership in Ruins, a video essay which examines the physical and cultural traces of the Saturn Corporation, particularly its abandoned dealerships and advertising campaigns. By combining historical footage, contemporary images, and personal reflection, the project explores the connection between Saturn's vehicles and American identity, while also experimenting with the potential of video as a medium for scholarly inquiry.

Cormac Donnelly's Sound Stack, Soundwalk, Southworth, is a videographic portfolio containing three works: a video essay, a video tutorial, and a soundwalk. The portfolio as a whole questions the extent to which a scholar (the creator) might go before they consider a piece of videographic research to be ‘complete’ or at least to have been engaged with as completely as possible. 

This volume of Screenworks is a rolling publication. Each rolling volume runs from September to July, with the editorial team taking a well-deserved break in August. To submit work please read our Submissions Guidelines and use our Online Submission Form. If you are interested in submitting your practice and want further advice, then please contact us on admin@screenworks.org.uk with “Submissions” in the subject line.