October 31, 2021 Kim Stringfellow

Desert X 2021 – The Film premiers on KCET Artbound (PBS SoCal) November 3, 2021

Desert X 2021 – The Film is a documentary and a filmic catalog to allow audiences from around the world to enjoy and understand the recent Desert X exhibition in the Coachella Valley.

In 56 minutes, Desert X 2021 – The Film goes behind the scenes of the exhibition, which was curated by artistic director Neville Wakefield with co-curator César García-Alvarez. It offers atypical insight into the commissioned works by the 12 participating artists from eight countries who were invited by the curators to explore the desert as both a place and idea, and to look deeply at current ideas and societal movements – those essential to the sustenance of our future and identity– and to the histories, realities and possibilities of the Coachella Valley and its communities.

The film, to be broadcast November 3rd on KCET, offers intimate visits to the artists’ studios in Ghana, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, United Kingdom, Guatemala; and the USA. Learn about the artists’ processes and the topics they chose to explore, among them the Native American Land Back movement, climate change and water rights, histories of feminism and the urgent issues facing Black lives. This documentary is at once a record of the past tumultuous 18 months through the eyes and voices of some of the most well-known artists and a timely piece that poses urgent questions about the past while imagining the possibilities of a shared future.

Desert X 2021 – The Film @ KCET Artbound
USA / 56 minutes
Directed by Dylan Robertson and produced by Zoe Lukov for Desert X.
The Executive Producer is Richard Mille.

Watch the film
The film’s broadcast premiere will take place on November 3, at 9pm PT as part of KCET’s original series ARTBOUND. To view it online, click here.

2021 KCET/PBS Airdates

  • Friday Nov 5, 8:00 PM PDT on PBS SoCal
  • Saturday Nov 6, 2:00 AM PDT on PBS SoCal
  • Sunday Nov 7, 5:00 PM PST on KCET
  • Sunday Nov 7, 9:00 PM PST on PBS SoCal 2
  • Wednesday Dec 29, 9:00 PM PST on KCET
  • Thursday Dec 30, 1:00 AM PST on KCET