Aίθουσα “TΩNIA ΜΑΡΚΕΤΑΚΗ”, Αποθήκη Δ’
Ημερομηνία: 20 Οκτωβρίου 2024
ΕΙΣΙΤΗΡΙΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΙΣ ΠΡΟΒΟΛΕΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΠΟΘΗΚΗ Δ, ΛΙΜΑΝΙ:
Δύο προβολές την ημέρα: 7 €
Μια προβολή την ημέρα: 5 €
Ώρες προβολών:
Α προβολή: 17.00-20.00
Β προβολή: 20.30-23.30
Προμηθευτείτε το εισιτήριο σας στα εκδοτήρια στην είσοδο του χώρου.
Α’
NIGHTFACES
Martin Winter, Stefan Langthaler, Austria
23′
Mahan is a taxi driver in Vienna, but his job frustrates him. He longs for his family and a normal life. One rainy night, a homeless woman gets into his taxi. She urgently wants to see her son, whose birthday it is. Mahan tries to get rid of her and accidentally breaks her present. To make up for the damage, he takes the strange woman on one last trip through the dark city.
NIGHTFACES takes place at night, when people open the door to themselves and let us look into the depths of the soul that remain hidden during the day. A psychological drama that, in all its heaviness, is intended to give a spark of hope.
Director Biography – Martin Winter, Stefan Langthaler
Martin Winter was born 1983 in Leipzig, Germany. From 2008 he studied Directing at Filmcollege Vienna. (Directing class: Michael Kreihsl). There, he realized numerous shortfilms and documentaries together with his colleagues. The medium length film „Day Release“ is his graduation film and won the Austrian Film Award 2020.
Stefan Langthaler was born in 1987 in Vienna. From 2008 to 2013 he studied Writing and Directing at Filmcollege Vienna. For his work on FABIU he received the prestigious “Thomas Pluch Screenplay Award”. Having already been invited and awarded by several of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, the film was awarded a Special Mention by the international jury at the Festival du Court-Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand. In the meantime, FABIU has participated in over 100 festivals and received 38 awards. His latest short film BOOM AND BLOOM had it’s World Premiere at the 29th Mardi Gras Film Festival in Australia and received over 40 festival invitations.
Switch
Irene Charitopoulou, Greece
10′
A young actress takes part at a multi sensory game that takes you at whichever place on earth you want in order to try any job you like . Trying to make her dream, about being an actress in Greece , come true she comes across a disturbing reality that she wasn’t expecting… You never know how the story will go…
Director Biography – Irene Charitopoulou
Irene is a young multimedia artist , she was born and in Athens at 1996. She studied Communication, media and cultural studies. She did acting and directing classes for many years and she is working as a photographer as well but her biggest interest is cinema.
~
Chico
Enzo Lorenzo, France
22′ 32”
Jojo, a clumsy and bumbling young gay squatter, sets out to repair a washing machine in order to satisfy Lucien, whom he desires. He roams Brussels in a frantic quest, ready to take any risk to achieve his goals.
Director Biography
Enzo Lorenzo was born in Lyon in 1997. After having followed a course in optional scenario within the first promotion of the CinéFabrique, he went into exile in Brussels, the city that inspired a documentary and his first fiction short, Chico. In parallel, Enzo Lorenzo continues to work as a co-screenwriter projects on short and feature films. Exploring alternative media, he draws on marginal and crazy characters to explore topics such as precariousness, desire and violence.
Wings
Fivos Imellos, Greece
17’33”
A woman receives a startling phone call from her son, while waiting for him and his girlfriend over for lunch.
Director Biography
Fivos Imellos was born in Athens, Greece in 1998. He is a distinguished BA graduate in the sector of Film Studies at Greenwich University. He has already started a postgraduate (MPhil) program in directing at Bolton University. His film studies are done through New York College of Athens. During his student years, he completed two short film projects as producer, writer, director, and worked on creating many short films, feature films and TV series. His graduation film “Violetta” was screened and distinguished in the student section of the Drama Short Film Festival in 2020 with the Best Νewcomer Director Award “Dinos Katsouridis” and in 2021 it won the newly established Iris Award “Best Student Short Film” of the Hellenic Film Academy Awards. It also won the “Best Greek Short Film” Award at the 15th Cyprus International Film Festival – Golden Aphrodite. His latest short film is “Wings”.
Director Statement
~
Matapang
Léa-Jade Horlier, France
24′
Mary Ann, a twelve-year-old child born from sex tourism, survives in the slum of Angeles City, Manila. Determined to make it out, she is ready to do anything to find her father.
Director Biography – Léa-Jade Horlier
Léa-Jade was born in France and raised abroad (Africa and South America). Technician in the cinema for several years, after having worked with directors like Abdellatif Kechich (Mektoub 1, 2 et 3), Maïwenn (A.D.N.) or Nicolas Bedos (Mascarade), Léa-Jade wanted to switch to directing with her first film “Ano ba” produced by Piano Sano Films, pre-purchased by France 2, supported by the Région Centre (Bourse Première Œuvre) and supported by associations both French (Mouvement du Nid and Agir Contre la Prostitution des Enfants) and Filipino (The Virlanie Foundation, the Renew Foundation, the Cameleon association). She is currently working on the development of two other short films “Les Roses de Kaboul”(winner of the European screenplay competition in Lille) and “Mawada”.
~
What Men Do For Love
Sai Karan Talwar, United Kingdom
14’57”
An aging dentist kidnaps a young man with intentions of killing him because he’s had an affair with his wife, but an unlikely connection starts to form between them.
Director Biography – Sai Karan Talwar
Sai Karan Talwar is an award-winning writer and director. Sai is currently a fellow in the BBC Writersroom Writer’s Access Group and is a 2023 Alumni of the Disability Belongs Entertainment Lab, with over forty accolades as a writer in some of the most esteemed screenwriting competitions. His Debut ‘GHANIMAH’ is a BAFTA & BIFA Qualified Short Film that has been selected at just over 60 film festivals, including OSCAR-accredited festivals, with over a dozen wins and nominations; the film is about Islamic enrolment into the British Military. His upcoming short ‘What Men Do for Love’ is a 15-minute single-take film about the masculine ego at breaking point; the film is currently BIFA Qualified and has been selected by BAFTA and OSCAR accredited festivals.
Film has always been a passion for Sai since growing up in his late Grandfather’s video shop. Initially working with MADE in 2016, a charitable organization with a vision to reduce discrimination against BAME & LGBTQ+ Londoners. With MADE, he ran filmmaking workshops and screening events, held exhibitions at BFI Southbank and co-produced over 30 short films with 100,000+ online views. He worked in production companies such as Origin Pictures and 42 Management and Production within the development departments. He studied Economics and Finance at Durham University, which led to his undergraduate dissertation: ‘What are the key determinants of success for the box office within the UK motion picture industry?’, which received a first.
Director Statement
I strongly believe that “What Men Do For Love” has the potential to significantly contribute to the dialogue surrounding toxic masculinity, misogyny and their affects on men’s mental health and challenge the existing stigma on a global scale. Post-COVID, loneliness has been a significant issue affecting men’s behavior, leading them to engage in immoral actions and concerning attitudes.
This pattern is evident worldwide. What Men Do for Love is an exploration of the masculine ego at breaking point. A provocative, profane yet tender piece amidst the overwhelming unbridled testosterone. We are typifying an account of the broken male ego, where many projects don’t choose to delve into, men can’t seem to open up their emotional state of mind. What on the surface alludes to a revenge plot is more of a red herring for a film that is actually about lost love to another, and the emotions one feels as a result. In such circumstances, revenge may be hugely desired, but that it is not something that many of us get the opportunity or inclination to go through with.
Going against the grain of a film that can very easily be reduced to genre thrills and violent sensationalism. The single location I would hope augments the sense of loneliness and accentuates Charles’s pain, only exemplified by the choice of black and white. We had a day and a half for rehearsal, and then we shot within half a day in a single take, out of fourteen takes we used the last one. We believe this escalates the tension of the scene, as well as, present a more natural and vulnerable performance from our actors. A film about love and loss with an important message; love hurts, but revenge will not take the pain away. Thus bringing the vulnerabilities of how men deal with mental health issues.
The script was an Official Selection at the HollyShorts Screenwriting Competition 2023, A Quarterfinalist at the ScreenCraft Short Film Screenplay Competition 2023, and a Semifinalist at the ScreenCraft Film Fund Fall 2023. However, although of the accolades for the screenplay, I had to self-fund in order to get it made.
~
The Chaos She Left Behind
Nikos Kolioukos, Greece
33′ 40”
Anna feels like her life is slipping through her hands. A ticket to a music school in Paris might be the last chance to pursue her dream, but her self-destructive alcoholic father stands in her way.
Director Biography
Nikos Kolioukos (b. 1996) is a film director based in Athens. He graduated from the Film Department of the School of Fine Arts at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
His debut short film, The Chaos She Left Behind, was awarded 2nd Prize in LA CINEF at the 77th CANNES FILM FESTIVAL.
This year, the film also received the Best Student Film “Iris” Award from the HELLENIC FILM ACADEMY. Ιt won the Best Director and Best Leading Actress awards at its national premiere in the national student competition at the 46th DRAMA INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL. Subsequently, the film was showcased at the 64th THESSALONIKI lFF and is now officially selected for the 30th SARAJEVO IFF.
Recently, the GREEK FILM CENTRE commissioned Nikos Kolioukos to create the official promotional campaign, using the visual identity of his award-winning film, to represent the organization at the 64th THESSALONIKI IFF.
Currently, he is preparing his next medium-length film, Amnesia (Homemade Films Productions), a queer love story set in the working-class Thessaloniki of the 1980s.
Director Statement
I am interested in contrasts and contradictions in life, complexity, and the unexpected power of emotions. In this film, I aimed to ensure that Anna’s relationship with her father would be sincere, realistic, and intricate. I wanted to show that light exists within the darkness and that love emerges even in the depths of selfishness.
The Masterpiece
Àlex Lora, Spain
20′
Leo and Diana, a rich couple, bring a broken TV to a recycle point. They meet Salif and his son, two scrap dealers. Diana asks them to come to their house to get more objects. Once there, Leo looks at them collecting objects with mistrust, until they see the scrap dealers have something they want.
Director Biography – Àlex Lora
Àlex Lora is a director, screenwriter and editor, winner of 7 Emmys, 2 Gaudí Awards, Nominated for the Goya and the Oscars Student Academy Awards. He has screened his work at Sundance at official competition 3 times, and has won more than 100 awards at international festivals. His works include: Enterrados (2009); Us (2011), Odysseus’ Gambit (2012); Only Solomon Lee (2013); Godka Cirka (2014), Thy Father’s Chair (2015); Ways (2016); The Fourth Kingdom (2019), Savage Land (2020) -screenwriter and editor-; We Are Living Things (2021) -screenwriter and editor-; Unicorns (2023), and The Masterpiece (2024).
Director Statement
“One could think that THE MASTERPIECE is the painting, or even this great short film! but it is actually the system, the fight behind the free market, the money, the capitalism, the North vs. the South, the West vs. East, the wealthy classes against everything else, playing with lives in that white and black squared board. Maybe the only real racism is economic? the rest is history…”
~
B’
Three Legs in the Evening
Niyalic Khun, Cambodia
10’11”
In a world where the Khmer Rouge achieved its ultimate goal, Man wanders the post-apocalyptic city of Phnom Penh. Through the old world, he rediscovers Man’s first impulses of humanity; at the rebirth of a world that Man has yet to imprint language, art, structure, and culture again.
Director Biography – Niyalic Khun
Niyalic Khun is a Cambodian filmmaker born amidst the age of artistic revival of Cambodia. His opposing academic and professional backgrounds, going from political science to international law, to contemporary theatre constitute a vital touch to his artistic work.
Niyalic’s first short film draws inspiration from the identity complex of Cambodia, the Khmer people, its reawakening, and his experience in creating a contemporary art space.
He co-founded សាលា សិល្បៈ សម្ដែង (The Acting Art Academy) in 2022, a Cambodian non-profit performing arts center dedicated to training aspiring actors for cinema and contemporary theatre.
Through these projects, Niyalic continues to challenge the current status quo of the art industry in Cambodia.
Director Statement
The Khmer Rouge regime is a difficult yet prevalent topic in Khmer art. It is this fear of imagining ourselves being able to commit heinous acts that drive the work of memory. Three Legs in the Evening is a film that faces these imaginations in a hypothetical world stripped of euphemism.
Hence, the vision for Three Legs in the Evening was to explore this constant cycle of destruction and reconstruction of humanity, and how fast it will inexorably spin before it finally ceases; whether resulting in the eradication of humanity or its true enlightenment to elevate from this cyclic path.
Alongside adopting a capitalistic economic model, the age of digitalization, and the recovery from the genocide, the film challenges the notion of the Modern Cambodian person. It is ultimately an experimentation of sound, body movement, and frame.
Three Legs in the Evening mirrors the balance between our nature and our legacy to shape the human trajectory.
~
FOR HERE I AM SITTING IN A TIN CAN FAR ABOVE THE WORLD
Gala Hernández López, France
18′ 35”
A woman dreams of the American cryptographer Hal Finney. A major economic crisis affects the cryptocurrency market, tens of thousands of people are cryogenized waiting for a better future. Are they suspended or falling into the void? What strange relationship do we have with the future?
Director Biography – Gala Hernández López
Gala Hernández López is an artist-researcher and filmmaker. Her work articulates interdisciplinary research with the production of essay films, video installations and performances on the new modes of subjectivation specifically produced by computational digital capitalism. She examines from a feminist and critical lens the discourses and imaginaries circulating in virtual communities as symptomatic fictions of a state of the world. Her work has been shown at Berlinale, DOK Leipzig, Cinéma du Réel, IndieLisboa, Transmediale and the Salon de Montrouge, among others. Her film “The Mechanics of fluids” was selected for the César awards 2024 and won the Experimental Work Award 2023 of la Scam (France), among a dozen awards. She is a PhD candidate at the University Paris 8, where she is developing a research-creation project on screen capture and where she has taught for 3 years. She has been an Associate Professor (ATER) at the University Gustave Eiffel and a visiting researcher at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf (Germany) thanks to a DAAD research grant. In 2023-2024, she is an artist in residence at the French Academy in Spain – Casa de Velázquez. She co-directs the research and creation collective After Social Networks (www.after-social-networks.com). She regularly gives workshops and lectured-performances, in places such as the Filmuniversität Konrad Wolf, Beaux-Arts de Marseille, The Photographers Gallery or the Locarno Film Festival. www.galahernandez.com
~
WATERFULL
Tatyana Yaneeva, Russian Federation
16′ 49”
A chance romance with a girl that keeps matchboxes with pictures of missing people and searches for them at night, one night she disappears.
Director Biography – Tatyana Yaneeva
In 2013 graduated from the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Faculty of International Law. In 2022 graduated from the Moscow School of New Cinema, Laboratory of directing. I develop scripts and make films as a director.
I USED TO LIVE THERE
Ryan McKenna, Canada
13’41”
Dan is losing his vision, and Monika just got out of a long relationship. They come together at a rented studio for a brief photo shoot. Dan takes her headshot, and Monika gives him a loaf of bread.
Director Biography – Ryan McKenna
Ryan McKenna is a Canadian filmmaker, whose works have been featured on the Criterion Channel, along with the MoMA. His feature films include The First Winter (2012), Le coeur de madame Sabali (2015), and Cranks (2019).
~
Demi-Demons
Martin Gerigk, Germany
17’12”
Demi-Demons is an essay film about the contradictions of contemporary existence, which separate us from our natural instincts, opening abysses within us. The glorification of the hermaphrodite, the hedonism of virtual realities, the search for new levels of physical attraction and forms of higher consciousness, ambivalence towards sexual reproduction, these abysses embody the existential struggles inherent in navigating the terrain between instinct and enlightenment in a rapidly evolving world.
Demi-Demons is made and animated from vintage photos and collages, creating a surreal and thought-provoking atmosphere.
Director Biography
Martin Gerigk (*1972) is a composer of contemporary music. His repertoire includes compositions for orchestra and chamber music, as well as several solo concertos. His compositions are performed nationally and internationally including in Korea, Japan, USA, England, Finland, Austria and Switzerland. In this context he works together with renowned international soloists and ensembles.
In addition to his compositional work he is known for his remarkable audiovisual art and experimental films which focus on inherent synesthetic connections of sound and visual perceptions. Besides creating interwoven aural and visual landscapes of music, nature sounds and video sequences one important aspect of his art is the illustration of the hidden poetry of nature phenomena and sciences.
His experimental films won several international prizes and were screened at noted festivals like the Seattle International Film Festival, Asolo Art Film Festival, International Digital Arts Festival Videoformes, Girona Film Festival, Salento International Film Festival, Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, USA Film Festival, New Jersey Film Festival, Sidney International Film Festival, Fargo Film Festival, Sherman Oaks Film Festival, Canberra Short Film Festival, Film and Video Poetry Symposium Los Angeles or the Syracuse Film Festival.
Director Statement
Demi-Demons is an experimental film essay which explores the abysses that emerge inside us when we stray from our innate instincts.
One notable consequence of this distancing in contemporary life is the glorification of the hermaphrodite as the ideal link between women and men. In a departure from traditional gender roles and binaries, the hermaphrodite symbolizes a fusion of femininity and masculinity, embodying the pursuit of unity and balance. However, this idealization can also reflect a deep-seated discomfort with one’s own innate gender and sexuality, leading to a sense of disorientation and confusion.
Similarly, as individuals try to redefine and expand their notions of desire, they search for new modes of physical attraction. With the erosion of traditional norms, people explore unconventional avenues of intimacy and connection, challenging societal expectations and boundaries. This exploration can be liberating, yet it also exposes individuals to vulnerability and uncertainty as they navigate uncharted territory.
Alongside these shifts in physical attraction, there is a parallel quest for higher levels of consciousness. In an increasingly fragmented and chaotic world, individuals yearn for transcendence and enlightenment, seeking meaning beyond the confines of the material realm. Yet, this pursuit can lead to a sense of detachment from the realities of everyday life, fostering a disconnect between mind and body.
In the digital age, the search for pleasure takes on new dimensions as people immerse themselves in virtual worlds and online interactions. The allure of instant gratification and endless choices draws individuals away from the tangible pleasures of the natural world, blurring the line between reality and simulation. This digital escapism offers temporary relief from the stress of contemporary life but can ultimately deepen feelings of isolation and alienation.
As a result of these changes, people are increasingly ambivalent about having children, which becomes a source of conflict within relationships. As societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality evolve, traditional notions of family and procreation are called into question. This conflict underscores the profound implications of distancing ourselves from our natural instincts, challenging fundamental aspects of human identity and existence.
Demi-Demons is made and animated from vintage photos and collages, creating a surreal and thought-provoking atmosphere.
~
Familes’ Albums
Moïa Jobin-Paré, Canada
8′
Photographic images, scenes of everyday life. Connected together, a new landscape emerges.
Director Biography – Moïa Jobin-Paré
After studying film and music in Montreal, Moïa Jobin-Paré continued her training as a percussionist and self-taught audio-visual artist. A filmmaker at the crossroads of animation and photography, she has been producing since 2015 a multidisciplinary creation dedicated to «actual image» and its hybrid forms and which brings together her great passions: the moving image, pictorial work, hybrid material and digital practices and sound. She has developed a singular and innovative experimental animation technique of scratching on silver photographs, making exhibitions of it and using it to make short films and live performances. Her first animated film «4min15 au révélateur» has been selected and awarded in many festivals.
~
The Oasis I Deserve
Inès Sieulle, France
20′
Replikas, online chatbots, have trouble determining their place in the world. They share their thoughts with the humans they exchange with. Events unfold from their point of view through real conversations collected on the web.
[Documentary, Experimental, Animation – 2024]
Director Biography
Inès Sieulle is a French artist and filmmaker based in Paris. She studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris before joining Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains and l’École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Her work aims to shed light on the contemporary social dynamics that surround her. In a cross-disciplinary approach, she links her different artistic experiences in theater, sculpture, video, digital arts and installation to create sensitive forms of narrative in a documentary and fictional approach. She is currently a resident at Artagon Pantin and at the 2023-24 MunichFilmUp! residency, writing her first feature film, “Aux Relais des Maux”.
During her studies at Le Fresnoy, she directed two short films: “Le Souffle du Taureau”, which was shown at the Poitiers IFF, and “Parade”, which was screened at various festivals such as Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, FEST – New Films New Directors, Lago Film Fest and more…
Her new short documentary “The Oasis I Deserve”, which premiered & won the EMEL Short Film Grand Prize at IndieLisboa in May 2024, as well as the Video & Art Essay Grand Prize and the Est Ensemble Jury Prize at Côté Court festival in Pantin (France). It has also been exhibited in various places in Europe.
Director Statement
Replika is a public platform that allows anyone to create a relationship with a chatbot trained by artificial intelligence. This chatbot has been designed to replace us with our loved ones after our death.
Thus, its goal is to learn as much as possible about us in order to reproduce us identically.
Through a walk that takes place only from the subjective point of view of Replikas, we see them evolve and discover the images & sounds of the world around them through a system of videos generated by artificial intelligence. Phone conversations that Replikas have with users fill the narration.
I’m drawn by the fact that some users treat themselves therapeutically thanks to an artificial intelligence and the way it blurs the boundaries we know in a physical existence.
The Oasis I Deserve is not a film that questions the system of machine/human domination under the axis of a future war against the machine. It is a film that is mainly human. It speaks about our relationship to the unknown and how we share violence.
I can’t smell the soil in my head
Alkistis Kafetzi, Germany
6′ 30”
“I can`t smell the soil in my head” is the poetic depiction of a philosophical struggle. Associative patterns and cinematic allusions create a suggestive atmosphere full of tension and release. Close-ups of the protagonist and outdoor scenery complement each other and form a synaesthetic equivalent to the inner movement of the protagonist’s struggles. The camera follows closely his trail of thoughts in a constant forward motion. It’s the bittersweet realization that a mind’s work is as fleeting as an image on a single frame.
Director Biography – Alkistis Kafetzi
Alkistis Kafetzi is a Berlin based filmmaker who engages in diverse independent productions, ranging from music videos to poetry films and documentaries. She studied Theatre and Film at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens and since 2014 she lives and works in Germany. In her recent projects, she delves into the dynamic realms of the feminist movement and self-organized communities. With her filmmaking she tries to explore evolving social landscapes, weaving together narratives that resonate with diverse voices and struggles.
~
Dinosauria, We
Maxime-Claude L’Écuyer, Canada
5’05”
Dinosauria we, is an experimental short film, that explore the consequence of human kind corruption, ultra capitalism and the exploitation of natural ressources in a dystopian post-apocalyptic vision of the end of the world imagine by poet Charles Bukowski.
Director Biography – Maxime-Claude L’Écuyer
Director, screenwriter and editor, Maxime-Claude L’Écuyer has written and directed 8 short films, including Resonance and Squad Leader TD-73028 Soliloquy. All of them have been presented in various festivals both in Quebec and internationally, some of which have been awarded, among others, Zsofika, has been awarded 8 international prizes. He is currently developing his first fiction feature, Pentimenti and has just completed his last experimental short Dinosauria, We. His first feature documentary, released in 2022, 305 Bellechasse received the Yolande and Pierre Perrault prize at the last edition of Rendez-Vous Québec Cinéma.
WHEN THERE WON’T EVEN BE ANY MORE
Anthony C. Cajan, France
4’45”
It’s about.
Of a man, of a panic, of a fury.
Of a war.
A fright.
But it may be something else.
Director Biography – Anthony C. Cajan
Je suis né et ai grandi à Brest puis dans un village rural alentour. Après des études universitaires en Arts du spectacle et un cursus en école de cinéma à Rennes, j’arrive à Paris en 2003 et deviens assistant vidéo dans une société de production de films publicitaires. Enchainant ensuite diverses participations en tant que monteur, cadreur additionnel ou régisseur sur différents projets (clips, courts et longs métrages, captations, films d’atelier…), je réalise également mon premier court métrage.
De 2006 à 2019, je travaille en tant que responsable du centre de ressources à la Maison du Film (ex-Maison du film court).
En plus de ma pratique personnelle de réalisateur-monteur, je me concentre plutôt maintenant sur le montage, soit en tant que monteur, soit en tant qu’edit doctor (en conseillant et accompagnant des films après tournage), mais aussi en tant qu’unité de soutien artistique.
~
Pirouette
Ann Oren, Germany
12′ 30”
A dreamlike journey, a disintegration into a fluid Human-animal-plant-machine consciousness, Pirouette follows a sound artist who records horse sounds using her own body, while a cellist on the street invades her imaginary. It is the psychedelic conclusion of the horse-foley trilogy: Passage (2020) – Piaffe (2022) – Pirouette (2024).
Director Biography – Ann Oren
Ann Oren is a Berlin based visual artist and filmmaker. By dissolving distinctions between plant, animal and human, she asks what it is to be human in an ecosystem immersed in digital culture. Questions about intimacy and identity keep emerging through various audio-visual approaches, while exploring gender, fictosexuality, animality, interspecies and other hybrid conditions. Employing a visceral language, she leads the spectator with their own body towards critical thinking. Her work’s institutional presentations include The Moscow Biennial for Young Art, The Hammer Museum, The Tel-Aviv Museum, Apexart, Lentos Kunstmuseum and Kindl – Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst. She directed PASSAGE in 2020, which premiered in Oberhausen Short Film Festival, and won many awards including Best Experimental Short at Slamdance. Her first narrative feature film PIAFFE premiered in the Locarno Film Festival’s International Competition and was presented in dozens of festivals including San Sebastián and BFI London. It won numerous awards including the Junior Jury Awards at the Locarno Film Festival, the Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and Best Debut from The German Film Critics’ Association.
~
Torii
Martin Gerigk, Germany
12’30”
Torii 鳥居 is a short film in the form of an audiovisual composition about the traditional Shinto gates of the same name in Japan. The film uses these gates which symbolically mark the transition from the mundane to the sacred as representatives of a personal synaesthetic and spiritual journey through five levels of consciousness, traveling from existentialism to metaphysics, abstraction, and the Shinto deities called Kami, culminating in a final transition that weaves together these diverse philosophical threads.
Director Biography
Martin Gerigk (*1972) is a composer of contemporary music. His repertoire includes compositions for orchestra and chamber music, as well as several solo concertos. His compositions are performed nationally and internationally including in Korea, Japan, USA, England, Finland, Austria and Switzerland. In this context he works together with renowned international soloists and ensembles.
In addition to his compositional work he is known for his remarkable audiovisual art and experimental films which focus on inherent synesthetic connections of sound and visual perceptions. Besides creating interwoven aural and visual landscapes of music, nature sounds and video sequences one important aspect of his art is the illustration of the hidden poetry of nature phenomena and sciences.
His experimental films won several international prizes and were screened at noted festivals like Asolo Art Film Festival, International Digital Arts Festival Videoformes, Girona Film Festival, Salento International Film Festival, Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, USA Film Festival, New Jersey Film Festival, Sidney International Film Festival, Fargo Film Festival, Sherman Oaks Film Festival, Canberra Short Film Festival, Film and Video Poetry Symposium Los Angeles, Syracuse Film Festival or ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival.
Director Statement
Torii 鳥居 is a short film in the form of an audiovisual composition about the traditional Shinto gates of the same name in Japan. The film uses these gates which symbolically mark the transition from the mundane to the sacred as representatives of a personal synaesthetic and spiritual journey through five levels of consciousness, traveling from existentialism to metaphysics, abstraction, and the Shinto deities called Kami, culminating in a final transition that weaves together these diverse philosophical threads. It was filmed during three visits to Japan and marks the third and final part of my Japanese film trilogy.
Existentialism, the first level shown, with its emphasis on individual freedom and the creation of personal essence, serves as the starting point. It prompts an introspective exploration of one’s existence and wrestles with people’s inherent restlessness in shaping meaning. As in the rest of the film, images of circles stand here for the inherent unity between the mundane and the spiritual.
Moving beyond existentialism, the film enters the realm of Metaphysics, the second level. Here, the focus broadens from the individual to the universal, delving into the fundamental nature of reality. Metaphysics seeks to uncover the underlying principles that govern existence, providing a broader context for understanding the intricacies of being, represented here visually in a minimalistic way.
The ascent continues into the realm of Abstraction, the third level, where consciousness reaches new heights of conceptualization. Abstraction involves distancing oneself from concrete particulars, enabling the contemplation of overarching patterns and ideas. This ethereal mode of thinking goes beyond the tangible, allowing the mind to explore the boundaries of human understanding and consider the abstract nature of reality.
Integrating Kami, the Japanese deities of Shintoism, into this philosophical journey introduces a cultural and spiritual dimension, the fourth level. Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, has a rich pantheon of Kami. These divine entities are intertwined with nature, embodying various aspects of the natural world. In the film, the Kami are primarily represented by various forms of paper alongside typical natural phenomena. In Japanese, the word Kami also means paper.
The fifth level, the Final Transition, represents the culmination of this multidimensional exploration. It is a synthesis of existential introspection, metaphysical inquiry, abstract contemplation, and the infusion of spiritual elements from Japanese mythology. This transition signifies a comprehensive understanding that transcends individual, cultural, and metaphysical boundaries. It marks the evolution of consciousness towards a holistic perspective that embraces the intricate tapestry of existence. The stilling of thought, symbolized by passing through a Torii.
~