For the opening of the eleventh edition of Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, leading Marxist Historian Vijay Prashad delivered a two-part keynote lecture called Variants of Inhumanity – one on the first day of the festival, and another nearing its end. Exploring repetitions, cycles and crises, Vijay’s keynote responded to Alchemy’s prompt – quoting the philosopher Henri Lefebvre – that, in the equation A = A, the second A is different to the first by virtue of it being second.

Vijay was joined by Alchemy Directors, Rachael Disbury and Michael Pattison, for two Sitdowns following each of his Keynotes, discussing art under capitalism, innovation and originality, the eventisation of culture, and the importance of art being public and accessible.