We announce the co-production of a new film by Rosa Barba (@timeasperspective) on the occasion of “Frame Time Open,” the most comprehensive solo exhibition ever held in Italy dedicated to the artist. Held at @museomaxxi until 8 March 2026, the exhibition is curated by Francesco Stocchi. With this collaboration, the Fondazione continues its commitment in sustaining artists and institutions on the production and co-production of new works.

Rosa Barba’s new film “Myth and Mercury” (2025) is shot in 35mm across various locations around the Mediterranean. Beginning at the Gramsci Library in Palermo, following a fishermen procession at sea, diving down to a seabed neutrino telescope and exploring archives about the transformation of agriculture, migration, and the political landscape of the Mediterranean over the past centuries — the film reflects on how we might understand these interconnections and their evolving meanings in the future. It envisions the Mediterranean as both a futuristic blueprint and an idea in continual transformation.

Since its inception, the Fondazione has collaborated with artists and international institutions on the production and co-production of a number of works, such as Karimah Ashadu for her participation at the Biennale Arte 2024, Venice (awarded with the Silver Lion for a Promising Young Artist); Randa Maroufi (awarded with the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for Short Film at the 75th Semaine de la Critique in Cannes); Gala Hernandez Lopez, Andro Eradze, Gerard Ortín Castellví through the VISIO Production Fund at Lo schermo dell’arte – Cinema and Contemporary Art Festival, Florence; Jonathas de Andrade for the Brazil Pavilion at the Biennale Arte 2022, Venice; Iván Argote for the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2022; and Thao Nguyen Phan for her show at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, among others.

Images credits: 1-2) Rosa Barba, Myth and Mercury, 2025, film still ©️ Rosa Barba. Co-commissioned by Fondazione MAXXI and CAM - Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian. Co-produced by Fondazione In Between Art Film and Hamburger Kunsthalle; 3-4) Rosa Barba, Myth and Mercury, 2025. Installation view at MAXXI, Rome. Photo: M3STUDIO ...

“There is always a lot of symbolism in my work, but in Cowboy much more so because it comes from a soft place. For example, the motif of the palm trees gently fluttering in the wind. If we go back in West African history, palm fronds signified peace during times of strife, but also resilience, since they were used to camouflage buildings during times of war. Or, the cowboy is shot a lot from the back, and that image, particularly with a Black man, is historically charged. But then if we think of the image of the cowboy in mainstream culture, there isn’t really any such thing as an Atrican cowboy, especially a gentle one. I wanted to subvert that.” - Karimah Ashadu

Discover with us the works included in “Tendered,” @karimahashadu’s first institutional solo exhibition in the UK now on view at @camdenartcentre in London

In ‘Cowboy’ (2022), “Karimah Ashadu combines voice, image and sound into a meditative exploration of a man named Cowboy, his background marked by migration and a love of horses. On one channel, we see palm tree leaves rustling against a blue sky, alternating with images of the ocean, grey and churning, its tides advancing and receding against black rock. On the other channel, the protagonist recounts the past thirty-five years he has spent in service to horses. [...] As the protagonist reaches the sea, the two screens sonically coalesce. The cargo ships in the far distance evoke notions of economic trade, slavery and the connective threads between the two. Removed from its typical US cultural associations, the cowboy in Ashadu’s film appears unified with the halcyon movements of the seas and his own internal tenderness. (Text by @areseuwuoruya from the catalogue ‘Karimah Ashadu: Tendered’)

Curated by @alessandro.rabottini and @leonardobigazzi, “Tendered” is the second project launched under UNISON, a biennial initiative promoted by Fondazione In Between Art Film to commission and produce moving image-based exhibitions in partnership with international public institutions

Images credit: Karimah Ashadu, Cowboy, 2022, stills. Courtesy the artist and @sadiecoleshq ...

Andro Eradze’s film “Flowering and Fading” (2024), which we co-produced with @schermodellarte, is on view at the Project Space of @palazzostrozzi until January 25, 2026, in his first solo Italian institutional exhibition. Congratulations, Andro!

In “Flowering and Fading,” a dog and a human share sleep in the twilight of a calm house. Suddenly, the shapes of reality start to blur, and slowly, dream and fantasy take over. In his latest work, Eradze shapes a new vision of surrealism, where impeccable image composition and a stunning sound work strike directly at the subconscious, submerging the senses in an ocean of absolute beauty. (Text by Rebecca de Pas)

Eradze’s exhibition “Bones of Tomorrow” brings together a selection of videos, photographs and installations conceived specifically for the Project Space at Palazzo Strozzi and the former Teatro dell’Oriuolo, home to @ied_firenze. It is curated by @arturogalansino, director general of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, with @daria.filardo, academic coordinator Visual Arts at IED Firenze, and with the support of the Master in Curatorial Practice class 2024-2025 (Chiara Bertaiola, Naveen Bosco, SophiaMary Katherine Cooper, Bianca Rafaelle Manlangit, Maria Cristina Martinelli Carraresi, Ekaterina Ozerova, Grace Anastasia Smith, Caterina Varenna).

Images credits: Andro Eradze, “Flowering and Fading,” 2024. Installation views of “Bones of Tomorrow” on view at the Project Space of Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. Photo: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio ...

Karimah Ashadu’s film “Machine Boys” (2024), which we produced for the Biennale Arte 2024 and for which Ashadu was awarded the Silver Lion for Promising Young Artist, is on view at @whitechapelgallery on the occasion of the 2025 @film_london Jarman Award. Congratulations, @karimahashadu!

“Machine Boys” (2024) is a portrait of okada, an informal mode of transportation by motorcycle taxis used across West Africa in lieu of public transport. In Lagos, okadas are omnipresent, yet they have come to be banned in the former Nigerian capital due to their role in traffic accidents and the safety risks they pose to riders, drivers and pedestrians. Shot over several years, “Machine Boys” immerses us in the underworld of Lagos, where the riders zip with sartorial flair through the city’s expressways, marinas and dirt roads. Voiceovers discuss fate, money and survival while revealing these young men’s vulnerability and self-determination: they are forced into these precarious livelihoods in order to support their families or realise educational and entrepreneurial dreams.

Ashadu was shortlisted alongside Arwa Aburawa and Turab Shah, Onyeka Igwe, Hope Strickland, Morgan Quaintance and George Finlay Ramsay by jurors Matthew Barrington, Cinema Curator, Barbican; Shaminder Nahal, Commissioning Editor, Arts and Topical, Channel 4; Maryam Tafakory, 2024 Jarman Awardee; Gilane Tawadros, Director, Whitechapel Gallery; Nicole Yip, Director, Spike Island and Film London Board Member.

As part of the Jarman Award 2025 tour, Ashadu will be in conversation with @clementineproby, curator at @spikeisland, this Thursday, 20 November at @w_shed

Images credits: Karimah Ashadu, Machine Boys, 2024. Stills. Courtesy of the artist and Fondazione in Between Art Film ...

“I was riding my bicycle in Amsterdam past this plastic red container, and I decided to take it to my studio. I thought it would be interesting to place my camera in it, but not let it be static, because I wanted it to be clearly analogue, bringing a sense of performance into it. In hindsight, it was how I discovered the narrative layer that colour would add to the work. Together with the reflection of the camera as it shifts in and out, it breaks the mysticism around the filmmaking process.” – Karimah Ashadu

Discover with us the works included in “Tendered,” @karimahashadu’s first institutional solo exhibition in the UK now on view at @camdenartcentre in London

In Ashadu’s ‘King of Boys (Abattoir of Makoko)’ (2015), “men, women and children all watch or participate in the slaughter of bulls and rams. A boy wields a knife nearly the size of his own body to slice cuts, and elsewhere a man skins a carcass. Given the subject, an open-air abattoir in the Makoko slums of Lagos, one might imagine finding relief that the [red] filter creates a degree of separation from the jarring viscerality of raw flesh and decapitated animals. Yet when the mechanism shifts to the filter, we seemingly enter into another world, one where the hues are unnaturally vibrant, the sound of scraping knives uncannily close and the movements from one scene to the next increasingly piercing. The baleful score and crescendo of a Nollywood movie playing nearby contribute to the impression of a visceral, violent space. Then, when the filter disappears and the music stops, we return to what for many is just another part of daily life. (Text by @areseuwuoruya from the catalogue ‘Karimah Ashadu: Tendered’)

Curated by @alessandro.rabottini and @leonardobigazzi, “Tendered” is the second project launched under UNISON, a biennial initiative promoted by Fondazione In Between Art Film to commission and produce moving image–based exhibitions in partnership with international public institutions

Images credit: Karimah Ashadu, King of Boys (Abattoir of Makoko), 2015, stills. Courtesy the artist and @sadiecoleshq ...

Randa Maroufi’s film “L’MINA” (2025), which we co-produced, will be presented on November 13, 2025, 9 pm, at the 18th edition of @schermodellarte. Congratulations, Randa!

Jerada is a mining town in Morocco, where coal extraction—officially halted in 2001—has continued informally to this day. “L’MINA” reconstructs current activity in the pits through a set designed in collaboration with the local residents, who perform their own roles on screen.

“L’MINA,” which was awarded with the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for Short Film from the 75th Semaine de la Critique in Cannes, will be screened alongside a selection of earlier works by Maroufi, including “Bab Sebta” (2019), “Barbès” (2019), “Stand-by Office” (2017), “The Park” (2015), and “The Great Safae” (2014).

In her works, which include video, photography, and installation, Maroufi adopts a political approach to the representation of bodies in public spaces and to gender issues, revealing their underlying mechanisms. Her films, often developed in close collaboration with the specific communities she engages with, employ special effects and other formal devices that alter the perception of time, space, and movement.

The artist will give a lecture about her work at @institutfrancaisfirenze on November 14, 2025, at 3 pm.

Images credit: Stills from Randa Maroufi, L’MINA, 2025. Produced by @shatamataproduction and co-produced by Fondazione In Between Art Film, @tifawfilms, @dohafilm. With the support of: @afac.fund, @sharjahart Film Platform, @mecenesdusud, @fondationdesartistes, @ifmaroc, @cnapfr Image/mouvement. Courtesy of the artist and Fondazione In Between Art Film ...

Saodat Ismailova’s film “Melted into the Sun,” which was commissioned and produced for our exhibition NEBULA (2024) at the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto in Venice, curated by @alessandro.rabottini and @leonardobigazzi, will be presented next week at @balticgateshead. Congratulations, Saodat!

Ismailova’s first solo exhibition in the UK includes “Melted into the Sun” alongside the premiere of “Swan Lake” (2025) and the previous works “As We Fade” (2024), and “Zukhra” (2013). Together, they consider thresholds, transitions and power, memory and personal and collective consciousness. They think about the void, the suspended state during political and psychic change, where dreaming becomes possible, but which can also be subject to manipulation and control. 

“Melted into the Sun” (2024) by Saodat Ismailova is inspired by the ambiguous figure of Al-Muqannaʿ (“The Veiled One”), a fuller who became a spiritual leader and political agitator in southern Central Asia in the 8th century. The film meditates on the cultural and political echoes of his revolutionary ideas about the sharing of property and wealth. Adopting a cyclical vision of history and knowledge, the artist transports us to the banks of the Amu Darya River, the circular burial ground of Chillpiq, the city of Bukhara—all sites where the legendary exploits of Al-Muqannaʿ are said to have been performed. But Ismailova also takes us to places that are home to a number of pieces of Soviet infrastructure, such as the Kirov dam, and the solar furnace of Uzbekistan. This visual journey through time betrays the skilled use of illusion and science made by Al-Muqannaʿ for demagogic purposes, and considers the central role played by technology and the manipulation of the Earth. The lyrical sequences of reflections and flashes, together with the textured soundtrack, continue to make his profound and still-unanswered questions reverberate into the modern day. (@abinoppst)

Images credit: Saodat Ismailova, “Melted Into The Sun,” 2024. Stills from single-channel video, color, sound, 35’ 50”. Coproduced by @batalhacentrodecinema. Courtesy the artist and Fondazione In Between Art Film ...

Karimah Ashadu’s film “Machine Boys” (2024), which we produced for the Biennale Arte 2024 and for which Karimah was awarded the Silver Lion for Promising Young Artist, is on view in “The Three-Legged Cat – 18th @istanbulbienali,” curated by @chris_tohme. Congratulations, Karimah!

“Machine Boys” (2024) is a portrait of okada, an informal mode of transportation by motorcycle taxis used across West Africa in lieu of public transport. In Lagos, okadas are omnipresent, yet they have come to be banned in the former Nigerian capital due to their role in traffic accidents and the safety risks they pose to riders, drivers and pedestrians. Shot over several years, “Machine Boys” immerses us in the underworld of Lagos, where the riders zip with sartorial flair through the city’s expressways, marinas and dirt roads. Voiceovers discuss fate, money and survival while revealing these young men’s vulnerability and self-determination: they are forced into these precarious livelihoods in order to support their families or realise educational and entrepreneurial dreams.

Images credits: Karimah Ashadu, stills from “Machine Boys,” 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Fondazione in Between Art Film ...