Cineaste Magazine recently described Melika Bass as “an artist whose films are remarkably (and excitingly) difficult to pigeonhole…Bass’s sensibility is very much her own.” Bass makes dark, cinematic fictions about found families, hidden history, and the absurdities of power. Her slow-burning folk fables borrow from a range of genres including documentary, melodrama, and surrealism. These films have shown at festivals and museums worldwide, including BFI London Fest; Film Society of Lincoln Center; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (solo); Torino Fest; Kino der Kunst; New Museum, New York; Oberhausen Film Fest; CPH Dox; BAMcinemaFest, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; Dokufest; Indie Lisboa.
Oberhausen International Film Festival presented a Profile of Bass’s films in 2021. Filmmaker Magazine named her one of “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2018. Bass has been a Flaherty Seminar Fellow, Sigur Ros invited her to create an original music video, United States Artists nominated her in Film, and Human Rights Film Festival Zagreb showcased Bass’s work. Other accolades include an Artadia Award, 3 Media Art Grants from Illinois Arts Council, an Experimental Film Prize from Athens International Film Fest, and the Kodak Filmcraft Award from Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Currently, Bass is at work on The Latest Sun is Sinking Fast, a feature film.
“Author of a unique cinema of atmosphere and historical reminiscences . . . one of the revelations of the Torino Film Festival.” -Roberto Manassero
Contact
Email: melikabass [at] gmail [dot] com
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