Artists Space

Losing Ground

Screenings
June 25, 2021, 8pm

Co-presented by Light Industry and introduced by Seret Scott

This screening is presented as part of the The Films of Bill Gunn.

On the right, a woman wearing a purple dress lies down on a couch with her eyes closed. To the left, a man sits on the floor in front of her, wearing a yellow t-shirt and overalls.
Still from Losing Ground, picturing Bill Gunn and Seret Scott, 1982. [On the right, a woman wearing a purple dress lies down on a couch with her eyes closed. To the left, a man sits on the floor in front of her, wearing a yellow t-shirt and overalls.]

Losing Ground (1982) tells the story of a marriage of two remarkable people, both at a crossroads in their lives. Sara Rogers, a black professor of philosophy, is embarking on an intellectual quest to understand “ecstasy” just as her painter husband Victor sets off on a more earthy exploration of joy. While dealing with strong individuals and feelings, the film is also charming--Collins described it as a comedy about a young woman who takes herself too seriously.

One of the very first fictional features by an African-American woman, Losing Ground remains a stunning and powerful work of art. Accomplished actors Seret Scott (who appeared in Louis Malle’s Pretty Baby and Ntozake Shange’s play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf), Bill Gunn, and Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) star.

Losing Ground will be available online from Friday, June 25 – Thursday, July 1.

Special thanks to Thomas Beard and Ed Halter (Light Industry), and Jonathan Hertzberg (Kino Lorber).

Program support for Artists Space is provided by The Friends of Artists Space, Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, The Cy Twombly Foundation, The David Teiger Foundation, The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The New York Community Trust, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Stavros Niarchos Foundation, The Willem de Kooning Foundation, The Danielson Foundation, The Fox Aarons Foundation, Herman Goldman Foundation, The Destina Foundation, The Luce Foundation, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, VIA Art Fund, Arison Arts Foundation, The Chicago Community Fund, The David Rockefeller Fund, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, The Jill and Peter Kraus Foundation, The Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation.