Katharine Round
Artist & Filmmaker
CONTENTS
ABOUT
My work is driven by a deep curiosity towards "ordinary" human beings: our contradictions, humanity and fallibility as we attempt to make sense of the world.
I often explore specific situations that illuminate wider thematic ideas, with formalist intervention to “provoke reality” and uncover new ways of seeing our lives. I don’t hide my presence and aim to question myself as much as I do others, and as such, I acknowledge a vision of the world through "imperfect" eyes: a cinema of lies as much as of truth.
My films and moving image works have been shown in cinemas, television, art galleries, online, and on the street. I’ve had support from the Arts Council, BFI, Creative Europe, Forma Arts, CPH:LAB, Dartmouth Films, Passion Pictures, the Guardian, Serpentine Galleries and many others.
This site acts as a notepad for past and ongoing work, nothing is permanent as I aim to share my evolving thought processes as well as the results.
My work is produced via Disobedient Films.
︎ ︎ ︎
CONTACT
Disobedient Films
10-28 Millers Avenue
London E8 2DS
Disobedient Films
10-28 Millers Avenue
London E8 2DS
Email Me: katharineround [@] gmail dot com
![]()
Home
The Divide
Seven unconnected people striving for a better life across the US and UK discover the odds may be stacked against them in this mosaic of people searching for their place in an increasingly divided world.
Wall Street psychologist Alden wants to make it to the top 1%; KFC worker Leah from Richmond, Virginia just wants to make it through the day; Jen in Sacramento, California doesn’t even talk to the neighbours in her upscale gated community – they’ve made it clear to her she isn’t “their kind”.
Moving between past and present, and across multiple characters, the film uncovers the forces that connect seemingly disparate lives. It is astonishingly intimate: with warmth and humour filmmaker Katharine Round provokes intimate moments and insights to build a lyrical portrait of lives in the grip of fear, insecurity and loneliness - driven and shaped by an ever widening gap between richest and poorest.
The film was supported by grants from the MEDIA Production Fund and the BFI.
After premiering at Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the film was released in 200+ UK cinemas across 70 cities in Spring 2016 to widespread critical acclaim, followed by a US and UK release on Netflix.
REVIEWS
★★★★ "a fierce, unsettling film" Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
★★★★ "jaw-dropping stuff" Evening Standard
★★★★ "the intimate, people-centric approach makes for a more emotional experience than your average state-of-the-economy doc" TimeOut
★★★★ "a sensitive exploration of a vital issue" The Express
★★★★ "a tender, authoritative punch" Total Film
★★★★ "heartbreaking" HeyUGuys
★★★★ "poignant eye-opener" The Upcoming
"timely, emotionally shattering, formidable... This documentary will be seminal; it will be analysed to bits and viewed as valuable testimonial in decades to come" Picturehouse Cinemas
"an astoundingly accurate portrayal of social division...brilliantly shot, insightful" The British Blacklist
"a fascinating social portrait" New Scientist
"manages the trick of turning a data-driven book full of charts and graphs into an interwoven collection of gripping stories." Boing Boing
"The Divide beautifully translates the essence of The Spirit Level into 70 minutes of humanity...this film is a delight" The F-Word
Read Articles/Reviews of The Divide:
The Guardian
Film Frame - in conversation with Katharine Round