Desert X 2021 – The Film nominated for Los Angeles Area Emmy® Award
Film Provides Extraordinary Access into the Studios of Renowned Artists Confronting Urgent Socio-Political Themes for Desert X 2021 Exhibition.
Palm Springs, Calif., June 8, 2022 — Desert X, the recurring site-specific, international art exhibition, announced today that the documentary film Desert X 2021, part of KCET’s original series ARTBOUND, has been nominated for the Television Academy’s 74th Los Angeles Area Emmy® Awards.
The Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, which will be presented Saturday, July 23, 2022 at the Television Academy’s campus in the NoHo Arts District in Los Angeles, honor locally produced programs in the categories of Crime and Social Issues, Culture and History, the Arts, Human Interest, Sports, the Environment, and Live and Breaking News Coverage.
Nominated in the Arts category, Desert X 2021 takes viewers behind the scenes of the 2021 exhibition curated by Desert X Artistic Director Neville Wakefield and Co-curator César García-Alvarez. The film offers atypical insight into the process and studios of 12 participating artists from eight countries who were invited to explore the Coachella Valley desert through newly-commissioned artworks that investigate the desert as both place and idea. The film is both a record of the tumult of the pandemic through their eyes and voices and a timely piece that allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the issues they address, posing urgent questions about the past while imagining the possibilities of a shared future. Desert X 2021-The Film shines a light on the current socio-political climate, speaking directly to the Native American Land Back movement, climate change and water rights, histories of feminism and the pressing issues facing Black lives.
Zoe Lukov, an independent curator and the producer of the film as well as a founding member of the Desert X Board of Directors explained, “While we initially thought the film might serve as an archive of the exhibition at a time when traveling for art was limited during the pandemic, it became so much more. In large part this was thanks to the PBS/KCET team who believed in the vision and helped it blossom into a documentary with profound resonances for a multitude of communities. Ultimately, the film, through each artist’s work for Desert X, helps us to realize our commonalities despite geographic and/or socio-political divides. This prestigious acknowledgement by the Television Academy will expand our audience further.”
“Having our film nominated for an Emmy is wonderful recognition of the artists and of Desert X, the exhibition. Our young organization seeks to expand the audience for contemporary art, today’s artists, and pressing social issues, said Desert X President Susan Davis. “Through this film, Zoe and our director Dylan have propelled our mission, sparked dialogue and broadened our audience. The team at KCET have been wonderful partners. We are honored with the recognition.’’
Desert X 2021 - The Film was released in October 2021 at premiere screenings in California at the Rancho Mirage Amphitheater, Rancho Mirage and at the Getty Center, Los Angeles. It was part of the Official Selection for this year’s 33rd Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), the Official Selection for the American Documentary and Animation Film Festival (AMDOC) in March, and screened in competition in the Riviera International Film Festival (RIFF) in May.
Artists featured include:
Zahrah Alghamdi (born 1977, Al Bahah, Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah)
Ghada Amer (born 1963, Cairo, Egypt, based in New York)
Felipe Baeza (born 1987, Guanajuato, Mexico, based in New York)
Serge Attukwei Clottey (born 1985, Accra, Ghana, based in Accra)
Nicholas Galanin (born 1979, Sitka, Alaska, US, based in Sitka)
Alicja Kwade (born 1979, Katowice, Poland, based in Berlin)
Oscar Murillo (born 1986, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, based in various locations)
Christopher Myers (born 1974, New York, US, based in New York)
Eduardo Sarabia (born 1976, Los Angeles, US, based in Guadalajara, Mexico)
Xaviera Simmons (born 1974, New York, US, based in New York)
Kim Stringfellow (born 1963, San Mateo, CA, US, based in Joshua Tree)
Vivian Suter (born 1949, Buenos Aires, Argentina, based in Panajachel, Guatemala).
Film Credits:
Desert X 2021 (KCET Artbound)
Dylan Robertson, Director, Producer
Zoe Lukov, Producer
David Markun, Director of Photography
R. Brett Thomas, Editor
Caroline Gomez, Associate Producer
Katie Robertson, Associate Producer
Juan Devis, Executive Producer
Nic Cha Kim, Producer
Angela Boisvert, Co-Producer
Kathy Kasaba, Supervising Producer
Marley Lister, Associate Producer
Amanda Marie Pinedo, Associate Producer
Desert X 2021 is part of KCET’s original series ARTBOUND.
Desert X 2021–The Film
USA / 56 minutes
Directed by Dylan Robertson and produced by Zoe Lukov for Desert X.
The Executive Producer is Richard Mille.
Desert X 2021 is funded by its board of directors and an extraordinary group of individuals, foundations and sponsors.
Desert X 2021 was presented by Richard Mille.
With support from Gucci.
Media Partners: artnet, Cultured Magazine, frieze Magazine, Here TV, LocaliQ, part of The Desert Sun, NBC Palm Springs, Open Spaces Magazine and Palm Springs Life Magazine.
Acknowledgement of Native Land
We acknowledge the Cahuilla People as the original stewards of the land on which Desert X takes place. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work with the indigenous people in this place. We pay our respect to the Cahuilla People, past, present and emerging, who have been here since time immemorial.
About Desert X
Desert X is produced by The Desert Biennial, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, conceived to produce recurring international contemporary art exhibitions that activate desert locations through site-specific installations by acclaimed international artists. Its guiding principles include presenting public exhibitions of art that respond meaningfully to the conditions of desert locations, the environment and the indigenous communities; promoting cultural exchange and education programs that foster dialogue and understanding among cultures and communities about shared artistic, historical, and societal issues; and providing an accessible platform for artists from around the world to address ecological, cultural, spiritual and other existential themes. Desert X has drawn an audience of more than 1.25 million to its three site-specific exhibitions in the Coachella Valley. Rooted in the Land Art tradition, the exhibitions in 2017, 2019, and 2021 have received critical acclaim and worldwide attention.
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Communications & Media Relations
Lyn Winter, Inc.,
desertx@lynwinter.com