Sonder
Painting from a photograph inscribed in Yiddish: “To my dear friend Itche Achtman, with greetings from your loyal friend Sheindl. 15/11/22.”
Sonder is an ongoing series of gouache paintings made from photographs in an album that belonged to my grandfather, Itche Achtman, who emigrated from Chełm, Poland, to Montreal. The work explores memory, artistic inheritance and the way history is transmitted and transformed through images.
I make films, paintings and other work about how people are seen, described and remembered. I’m interested in the gaps between what we think we know about each other and what remains inaccessible: through memory, images, language, disability, desire and loss. My work often develops through collaboration, research and found or archival material, and moves between narrative, documentary and experiment. Accessibility, particularly audio description, is often part of the work itself rather than something added afterwards.
Featured Work
Awake
Anna, who is chronically ill, is visited by Doreen, a door-to-door proselytizer who makes herself at home and stays for the day, slowly defrosting her non-welcome. Together, they walk in the park, bake a cake and watch an Ingmar Bergman film. Both characters are blind and are played by blind actors, Alex Bulmer and Margo Cargill, in this existential comedy.
Golden Pelican Award, Mykonos Biennale · Jury Prize, Superfest · Best Actresses, Breaking Down Barriers · Best Director and Special Mention from the Jury, Look & Roll
Selected Work
Pessoa
When an audio describer enlists a blind consultant, he has no idea of the journey she’s about to lead him on.
A comedy-experiment with integrated audio description, developed through Arts Council England-supported research into creative approaches to AD.
sift.simmer.shred
Tensions come to a boil in a London studio flat when a queer couple moves back together for lockdown.
Written and produced by Michael Achtman; directed by Çağlar Kimyoncu.
flying & floating — enhanced AD
An experimental work about flying and landing, reworked through Arts Council England-supported research into creative approaches to audio description, including sung AD, directional sound responding to the split screen, and an enhanced audio track.
About
Michael Achtman is a London-based artist, filmmaker and writer working across moving image, painting, writing and audio description. His work has been shown at film festivals and arts venues internationally. He is also a director of filmpro, a Disabled-led digital arts organisation, and has a separate practice as an audio describer.
From the journal
Sonder at Acme Studios
A first exhibition of Sonder, bringing together paintings, archival photographs and audio description.
sift.simmer.shred
Reflections on developing and making the film during lockdown through online workshops and rehearsals.
Audio Description Research and Practice
Notes from my Arts Council England-supported DYCP research into creative approaches to audio description.
Contact
For enquiries about exhibitions, screenings, collaborations or other projects, please get in touch.
