How do our perceptions of disease and health reflect on us as a society? Travelling throughout history and across cultures, Ira A. Goryainova’s fascinating essay offers a philosophical reflection on humankind’s view of illnesses. From the Ancient Greek theory of “black bile” to the victim-blaming language of medicine as demonstrated by Susan Sontag, Bile explores the notion of the human body as political metaphor. The Moscow-born director draws from intimate material, intertwining the story of her mother’s cancer and death in post-Soviet Russia with a vast range of medical archives. Her expert collage establishes intriguing connections between physical disorders and the social cancer of the 20th century: fascism.Read More »