Imran Qureshi - Side By Side short film

by Raking Leaves

This short film was made to accompany the release of the Raking Leaves artist’s book project Side by Side, by the artist Imran Qureshi. It is intended to complement the books by exploring their meaning through the form of a fictional documentary.

In the film, children are introduced by the artist to the two books brought together in Side by Side, a concertina dot-to-dot book and a collection of watercolour portraits, produced in the traditional Mughal style of miniature painting. Later, the students work in small groups to complete the dot-to-dot exercise in the first book, The True Path, and afterwards design similar concertina-style books of their own. In the spirit of the project, the children’s participation was embraced as part of the art-process, a fulfilment of the notion explored through the course of The True Path of learning again, like a child, how to choose our life’s path, its shape, while acknowledging the restriction of directive, latent in the trail of dots, that precludes our freedom – that is, the information and opportunity available to us.

A warm thanks is extended to the teachers and the students of the Millbank Primary School who participated in the production of this short film, whose help and generous support made this project possible.