Celebrate the publication launch of ‘Cinemal: The Becoming-Animal of Experimental Film’ (University of Minnesota Press) by Tessa Laird.

Researchers Tessa Laird, Fernando do Campo and John Edmond will unpack the key themes of Cinemal in a discussion focused on the depiction of animals in film and art, and the wider context of human-animal relationships.

After the discussion, the IMA will screen short films mentioned in Laird’s book, including Tina Stefanou, You Can’t See Speed (2025), Ben Rivers, Now, At Last! (2019) and Sriwhana Spong, Vague Dog (2024).

Tessa Laird is an artist, writer, and Senior Lecturer in Critical and Theoretical Studies at VCA Art, University of Melbourne. She is interested in the intersections of visual culture and ecological thought, and her books include a fictocritical investigation of colour: A Rainbow Reader (Clouds, Auckland, 2013); a cultural history of bats as part of Reaktion’s celebrated Animal series: Bat(Reaktion, London, 2018); and a foray into cinematic wilds via Animal Studies: Cinemal: The Becoming-Animal of Experimental Film (University of Minnesota Press, 2025).

John Edmond works around film. A researcher and programmer, he currently runs Container, a screening and publishing series.

Fernando do Campo is an artist based between Brisbane and Sydney, he is Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at School of Art & Design, UNSW, Sydney.