Experimental or artist films often imply the painstaking work of a solitary maker. Less commonly acknowledged are the films made as collaborations. Polar Coordinates celebrates the dynamic, brilliant, and playful fusion of energies when two artists working together is more than the sum of their individual parts. The films gathered here are the products of a variety of collaborations, many of them overlapping: beyond filmmaking duos, they are families, romantic partners, scientists, and activists. Some are individually made but entangle themselves in the dynamics of relations. All are acts of communication, where the dialogical process of making is also an integral and intriguing part of the film. Instead of reductive compromises, these dialogues highlight their own incongruities and frictions. What is perhaps most exciting about these works is that their outcomes are never guaranteed, least of all to their makers.

The second program, A Question that Can Be Answered Yes or No, traverses the world, collapsing vast distances of time and space through trajectories of desire. Whether working in close quarters or at a far remove, these explorers share with each other their discoveries, frustrations, and joys. There is a yearning for communication that finds an expression in experimental devices, shared motions, and the subtle discrepancies of perspective.

Genevieve Yue and Piibe Kolka