Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Bryony Dunne

Above the Law

Documentaire | 4k | couleur | 14:0 | Irlande | 2019

'Above the Law' conceptually links the annual intercontinental routes of migratory birds with the journeys of refugees and migrants who have, and continue to, traverse the same bodies of land and water. Unfolding atop a pigeon coop in Cairo, across a lifejacket graveyard and bird watching towers on the Greek island of Lesvos, as well as near the border in Northern Ireland, these parallel journeys depict the laws of nature vis-à-vis the rule of man, reminding us that geopolitical restrictions like borders and citizenship are irrelevant to some species. At times, the film features a literal bird’s-eye view: two trained eagles, who are seemingly wild and thus “above the law,” carry miniature cameras on their backs, becoming instruments of surveillance, capturing nature, both human and nonhuman.

Bryony Dunne (1984) is an Irish visual artist and filmmaker based between Athens and Ireland. Drawing from her background in documentary photography and visual anthropology, Dunne explores the relations between humanity and nature, the arbitrariness of cultural representation, the legacies of colonialism, and the fantasies of human control. Her work has received several awards and has exhibited internationally in venues such as BAHAR - Istanbul’s offsite project of Sharjah Biennial 13 (Istanbul), The Mosaic Rooms (London), Gypsum Gallery (Cairo) and the Irish Film Institute (Dublin). She is a 2020 recipient of the Irish Arts Council’s Film Project Award.