COSMOS Embassy Films + Q&A
COSMOS
Each year, COSMOS partners up with a number of new Embassies to showcase their respective scenes. This time, we commissioned local filmmakers to portray the main music spaces, actors and activities in Panamá City (Panamá), Istanbul (Turkey), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Seyðisfjörður (Iceland).
Plus: Rana Ghose from REProduce, our previous COSMOS Embassy from Goa, India, will join us to present his new film Bass Boss, a 30-minutes documentary about the sound system culture of West Bhengal, and its figurehead DJ Khobir.
All screenings will be in attendance of each Embassy to provide context, insights into the making of the films, and answer questions from the audience.
IDGK is an Istanbul-based music initiative documenting the city’s diverse alternative music scene. Since 2023, IDGK has produced numerous live performance videos in collaboration with local artists, bands, music communities, venues, animators, and labels. The project focuses on representing individual voices that make up the underground culture of Istanbul, making space for creative expression for anyone willing to listen.
“This film is about the music scene as we’re living it, through conversations and all those little moments we are lucky to witness. It’s both a portrait of the people who keep the scene alive and a document of our own steps toward belonging here. Istanbul is a city that has gone through many crises, however, the music always continues, fragile and resilient at the same time. So do we. Trying our best to listen and share what we’ve found.” – IDGK
ALIGN.ONLINE is a Southeast Asian platform dedicated to cultural and sound innovation, with a focus on supporting women and the queer community in electronic music. Founded after Victoria Yam (aka rEmPiT g0dDe$$) was named the international winner of The Oram Awards in 2024, ALIGN.ONLINE builds on her commitment to advancing electronic music innovation in Southeast Asia. Alongside co-founder Lynn Nandar Htoo, ALIGN.ONLINE facilitates knowledge-sharing and skill development through electronic music production workshops led by Lynn to provide access to resources, mentorship, and visibility. The platform serves as a catalyst for cultural and sound practitioners across the region
This film follows Victoria and Lynn into the heart of the Malaysian island Penang, where ALIGN.ONLINE hosts an underground rave with acts from across Southeast Asia. We’re witnessing the whole night of the event, going back and forth between the party and the social interactions in the smoking area. Being a fly on the wall, we’re granted a glimpse into this small but vibrant scene, which has formed against the backdrop of a politically conservative country, creating a truly safe space for the queer community.
River Down Records is a label from Panamá City, dedicated to documenting and developing the creative sound of Panamá. With over 15 digital releases, River Down Records has produced new works and supported artists with an already established vision, helping them expand their creativity and reach a wider audience. Inspired by the spirit of Río Abajo, River Down Records celebrates the rich culture that Panamá has to offer.In the Embassy Film, trumpeter and River-Down-founder Aquiles Navarro (Irreversible Entanglements) and his labelmates, as well as well as wide array of artists from Panamá take us on a trip from the bustling live-music scene of its capital to the many traditional styles invented in it the rural parts of the country. “When I came back to Panamá, I had to learn to be Panamánian. The same was true for the music. I had to experience it, to see how diverse it is”, says Aquiles.
Seydisfjordur Community Radio is a shared digital and analogue broadcasting platform located in the village of Seyðisfjörður on the east-coast of Iceland - hosted, nurtured and initiated by an open-ended international community inhabiting various conditions and positions, often somewhat distributed in various locations on the planetary surface. From these places and times they share, they inquire and they keep in touch - over the radio. “We send. We listen. We send. We listen”. The community of listeners and broadcasters morphs and changes with time.
The Embassy Film was created in collaboration with Seyðisfjörður-based filmmaker Austin Thomasson, and is best described as a sonic cosmos lost in visual haze. It consists of archival footage collected from the extended Seyðisfjörður community, private documentation of exhibitions, performances, festivals and concerts, but also homemovies, dinners, and much more. The raw imagery is edited together with performative and immersive elements into a montage that serves as a humble cartography of this magical artist refuge – and the void it resists within. “In the end, our voices will be yours”, says SCR’s Lasse Høgenhof of SCR.
Bass Boss is a new film by REProduce, our Goa, India-based COSMOS Embassy. In this 30 minutes documentary, director Rana Ghose investigates Dek Bass, a sound system style unique to West Bengal, and sets out to meet its elusive leading light, DJ Khobir. Overwhelming, aggressive, and prone to virulent fandom in his region, this form of sonic expression and assertion is of its own genesis. There is no reference to Jamaican sound system culture within. It was rendered pure and unadulterated from the mind of one person: DJ Khobir.Rana Ghose is a curator, economist, writer, and filmmaker. He steers REProduce Artists, a collective of artists, organizers, and content creators that produce interventions in non traditional spaces, engaging with music and video in modular, sequential plays.