Jacob
Cartwright & Nick Jordan are artists and film-makers
who have been collaborating since 2003. Between Two
Rivers is their debut feature-length documentary, having
previously directed a number of short films. Their practice
is cross-disciplinary, encompassing video, drawing, found
objects, painting, photography, publications and events.
In 2010, the artists presented a solo exhibition, Cairo:
The Breaking Up of the Ice, at Cornerhouse, Manchester
UK, and completed a series of short films centred on the
writings of the 19th century artist-naturalist John James
Audubon, The
Audubon Trilogy: Delineations of American Scenery &
Manners (published by Dedecus, 2010). Cartwright
and Jordan's films were the subject of a retrospective at
the 2010 London Short Film Festival, where their Audubon
film
New Madrid was awarded best experimental film.
Cartwright
& Jordan’s recent film festivals and exhibitions include
Documenta, Madrid; West Virginia Mountaineer
Short Film Festival (awarded Best Documentary), Darwin's
Eye, Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (INHA),
Paris; Lines of Desire, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown;
Voices From The Water Film Festival, Bangalore,
India; Art, Science & the Origin of Species,
Ohio State University, Columbus, USA; The New York Film
Festival; 3rd Beijing Independent Film Festival,
China; Practical Truths, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester;
Fourteen Interventions, Swedenborg House, London; Rub-a-dub-dub,
St.Gallen, Switzerland.
Jacob Cartwright and Nick Jordan are based in Manchester,
UK
"Cairo
took us by surprise. We came across its abandoned downtown
by chance and were astonished by its haunting beauty; the
derelict stores and crumbling facades of this once thriving
centre of river commerce are disconcerting but highly seductive.
The town has both a dramatic and melancholic aura, which,
as filmmakers, we were immediately drawn to. However, we
soon discovered that it is far more than a ready-made film-set,
and much less the deserted 'ghost-town' it is often described
as. Cairo is a community, albeit one beset with many troubles
and facing a precarious future.
"Whilst it offers a striking example of the economic
and social pressures facing many small-towns, Cairo is
additionally burdened by the onerous weight of a troubled
and dark past, with its citizens playing a front-line role in the Civil Rights struggle. We were privileged to meet many people who
were willing to share their experiences and knowledge with
us, revealing a complex story of boom and
bust, fires and floods. The fallout
from Cairo’s hardship, conflicts and legacy of racial discrimination is all too
evident, in this unique town wedged between the two rivers,
at the confluence of America."
- Jacob Cartwright & Nick Jordan
For more on the artists' work see www.nickjordan.info