Fergus Daly, The Mirror of Possible Worlds, with an introductory text by Nicole Brenez

The Mirror of Possible Worlds marks 20+ years of Fergus Daly’s deep engagement with the artistry and working methodologies of Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami, 1940 – 2016. Daly’s film is a visual compound of on-screen text and archival material of Kiarostami journeying to the Aran islands in the early 2000s. Harnessing the pace of instrumental music to the psychology of recollecting, The Mirror of Possible Worlds pursues an expanded portrait of Kiarostami. Following on from recent cinema screenings at Viennale, Cork International Film Festival and IFI’s Doc Fest, aemi is delighted to present Daly’s most recent work on our virtual exhibition platform.

As the film recently featured in French cinema theoretician Nicole Brenez’s 2021 overview essay ‘State of Cinema’ published by Sabzian, and was listed as a favourite by Brenez in Desist Film, it is fitting that she wrote the accompanying essay. Throughout her career Brenez has argued for and created new possibilities for avant-garde cinema, and her essay dives into the influential filmmakers and artists, and contexts from Tehran to Alhambra to Dún Aonghasa, that best introduce The Mirror of Possible Worlds.

Watch The Mirror of Possible Worlds and read the text here

Film info
Fergus Daly, The Mirror of Possible Worlds, 2021, 24 minutes 5 seconds, English on-screen text