This film is currently unavailable
Losing Ground
A philosophy professor (Seret Scott) and an artist (Bill Gunn) reach a crisis point in their marriage, in Kathleen Collins’ groundbreaking and timeless masterpiece.
Director: Kathleen Collins
Overview
Sarah (Seret Scott), a philosophy professor, reluctantly agrees to rent a holiday home in upstate New York with her husband Victor (Bill Gunn, Ganja & Hess), an artist on the verge of success. Over the course of the summer, absorbed in their work and distracted by extra-marital flirtations, they each experience profound emotional reawakenings. Look out for the sublime musical dance sequences during Sarah's film-within-a-film scenes with Duke (Duane Jones).
Denied a theatrical release, the film – one of the very first features directed by an African-American woman – was rarely screened until its restoration and belated release in 2015. A playwright and professor as well as a director, Collins was heavily influenced by the films of Eric Rohmer, but Losing Ground is also a personal reflection of her own academic career and an exploration of issues of race, class and love. It is bittersweet to contemplate the impact she would have had on the cinematic scene had she not died so young, at the age of just 46.
Related
A Real Job A Real Job
Comedy 2023 101 mins Director: Thomas Lilti
A young, inexperienced substitute teacher is quickly confronted with the trials and tribulations of his job, in this wry tribute to the teaching profession.
All to Play For All to Play For
Drama 2023 112 mins Director: Delphine Deloget
A single mother fights to reclaim her children from foster care, in Delphine Deloget's powerful indictment of the French legal system.
The Dreamer The Dreamer
Romance 2023 95 mins Director: Anaïs Tellenne
An heiress returns to her uninhabited family manor to be confronted with the one-eyed caretaker who resides there, in the dreamlike take on La Belle et la Bête.
Through the Night Through the Night
Drama 2023 109 mins Director: Delphine Girard
Part gripping thriller, part psychological study, Delphine Girard's debut feature about consent and modern society's attitudes to sexual violence.
Making Of Making Of
Comedy 2023 114 mins Director: Cédric Kahn
Cédric Kahn (Roberto Succo, The Goldman Case) crafts this witty comedy about a troubled film shoot.
No Love Lost No Love Lost
Drama 2023 91 mins Director: Erwan Le Duc
Bold, poetic, and burlesque, Erwan Le Duc's film depicts the fascinating complicity of a father-daughter relationship.
Daughters of the Dust Daughters of the Dust
Drama 1991 112 mins Director: Julie Dash
Julie Dash’s groundbreaking Daughters of the Dust remains urgent and poetic and continues to resonate, inspiring Beyoncé’s iconic visual album Lemonade.
Burning an Illusion Burning an Illusion
Drama 1982 102 mins Director: Menelik Shabazz
Menelik Shabazz’s pioneering first feature traces the emotional and political growth of a young black couple in Thatcher’s London.
I Am Not a Witch I Am Not a Witch
Drama 2017 93 mins Director: Rungano Nyoni
Welsh-raised, Zambian-born Rungano Nyoni delivers a dazzling debut with this darkly satirical fairy tale about a little girl accused of being a witch.
Papicha Papicha
Drama 2019 108 mins Director: Mounia Meddour
As the Algerian Civil War unfolds, a group of determined young women come face to face with a new, dangerous reality.
I Am Samuel I Am Samuel
Documentary 2021 68 mins Director: Pete Murimi
Kenyan couple Samuel and Alex remain committed to each other despite the danger and hardship facing them in Peter Murimi’s moving documentary portrait.
Casablanca Beats Casablanca Beats
Drama 2021 102 mins Director: Nabil Ayouch
Palme d'Or nominated film about a former rapper who takes a teaching job at a cultural centre in a working-class neighbourhood in Casablanca.
A Real Job A Real Job
Comedy 2023 101 mins Director: Thomas Lilti
A young, inexperienced substitute teacher is quickly confronted with the trials and tribulations of his job, in this wry tribute to the teaching profession.
All to Play For All to Play For
Drama 2023 112 mins Director: Delphine Deloget
A single mother fights to reclaim her children from foster care, in Delphine Deloget's powerful indictment of the French legal system.
The Dreamer The Dreamer
Romance 2023 95 mins Director: Anaïs Tellenne
An heiress returns to her uninhabited family manor to be confronted with the one-eyed caretaker who resides there, in the dreamlike take on La Belle et la Bête.
Through the Night Through the Night
Drama 2023 109 mins Director: Delphine Girard
Part gripping thriller, part psychological study, Delphine Girard's debut feature about consent and modern society's attitudes to sexual violence.
The Apprentices The Apprentices
Comedy 1995 94 mins Director: Pierre Salvadori
Pierre Salvadori's cult 1995 comedy, starring François Cluzet and Guillaume Depardieu as two young adults searching for love and success.
Making Of Making Of
Comedy 2023 114 mins Director: Cédric Kahn
Cédric Kahn (Roberto Succo, The Goldman Case) crafts this witty comedy about a troubled film shoot.