The
Renaissance
Society

The subject of British filmmaker Steve McQueen?s new short, Gravesend, is coltan, a mineral so valuable it is proving to be the new blood diamond. Used in all cell phones and computers, eighty percent of this mineral comes from the Congo. Symbolic of a new global economy unable to shake the vestiges of neo-imperialism, coltan?s is a tall story to tell. McQueen?s approach is unapologetically abstract, compressing within the space of 17 minutes a poetic narrative of empire as told through a series of formally striking shots. Gravesend will be accompanied by Unexploded, a 54 second film the artist made using footage he took in Basra, Iraq. Both films are U.S. premieres.