FILMEXPLORER #7 

Starting with OLD ACQUAINTANCES for Filmexplorer:
Pietro Marcello at VDR with an Atelier and, among other films such as Martin Eden, his gorgeous Bella e perduta,
and Emmanuel Carrère bringing, among those other films, Clément Cogitore’s exceptional Braguino
 

When PORTRAITING is a question of empathy:
 
Looking for Horses, by Stefan Pavlovic – revelation of the 2021 Visions du Réel
[…] Le lac est refuge, oasis, exil : au fond, Stefan Pavlović fait le portrait d’une île. Mieux : de comment ce qu’on peut appeler marge peut devenir centre. (Giuseppe Di Salvatore)
 

 
and three filmic pearls:
 
Edna, by Eryk Rocha
[…] Mit seinem suggestiven Schnitt, einer sehr elaborierten Tonspur und vor allem Ednas Stimme lässt Rocha die Vergangenheit in die Gegenwart fliessen, fast ohne auf Archivbilder zurückzugreifen. (Dominic Schmid)

Dida, by Nikola Ilic and Corina Schwingruber Ilic (with podcast INTERVIEW!)

Ostrov, by Laurent Stoop and Svetlana Rodina
 

 

This year an incredible number of films focused on WARS and their aftermath. Filmexplorer selected two excellent movies that allow the convolutedness of war to prevail:
 
The First 54 Years, by Avi Mograbi
[…] Le film est précieux par la conscience démocratique qui le porte, l’exigence de vérité qui le motive et l’urgence qui le tient : que ne soient pas ajoutées d’autres années à l’occupation israélienne. (Jean Perret)

Guerra e pace, by Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti 
[…] Per quanto atroce o inumano sia lo sguardo che informa le immagini, il gesto stesso del fare, del leggere e del conservare l’immagine (e quindi, il gesto del cinema) costituisce un invito rivolto ad altri esseri umani: un invito a conoscere, a capire, a riconoscersi. (PM Cicchetti)
 

 

Complexity is the starting point or the objective of discussion of the perspectives on FUTURE SCENARIOS:
 
Way Beyond, by Pauline Julier 
[…] Le sujet ne relève pas tant de la science-fiction qu’il témoigne d’une science qui se donne elle-même pour fiction. Filmer cette parole, c’est alors aussi forcément documenter un imaginaire. (Emilien Gür)

Menschenskind!, by Marina Belobrovaja  
[…] Responding to «Menschenskind!» in this way mitigates the damage caused to children of disinterested sperm donors (cultural and religious acceptance aside) and successfully brokers a more disturbing idea that haunts humanity: is selfishness the core of all existence? (Jodie McNeilly-Renaudie)

Holgut, by Lisbeth de Ceulaer
 

 

Creative non-fictions intend for us to discover many techniques of CINEMATIC IMMERSION.
An impressive highlight at Visions du Réel 2021 is:
 
After the Flood, by Yuan Zheng
[…] Yuan Zheng met bout à bout des fragments de réel. Il ne les superpose pas, il les aligne. Il n’y a en effet aucune verticalité dans son cinéma, qui est horizontalité pure. (Emilien Gür)
 

 

and three extraordinary cinema experiences with:
 
Die grosse Leere, by Sebastian Mez (with podcast INTERVIEW!)
[…] Auf alle Fälle erzählt der Film mehr von den Auswirkungen der menschlichen Rasse auf ihren Lebensraum, als dies etwa mit einer formal zugänglicheren Dokumentation über die Akteure des Anthropozäns möglich wäre. (Dominic Schmid)

Faya Dayi, by Jessica Beshir
[…] Between daylight and darkness, cinema itself is the world of semi-consciousness of khat. There is no way out of the khat world. (Giuseppe Di Salvatore)

1970, by Tomasz Wolski
 

 

 

LIVE PODCAST ON CLUBHOUSE

Filmexplorer has interpreted the hybridity of this year’s edition of Visions du Réel by experimenting with the new Clubhouse app and having live discussions with 23 filmmakers:

Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha (Edna), Nikola Ilic and Corina Schwingruber Ilic (Dida), Sebastian Mez (Die grosse Leere), Marina Brombovaja and Tanja Stöcklin (Menschenskind!), Pauline Julier and Orsola Valenti (Way Beyond), Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti (Guerra e pace), Elitza Gueorguieva (Notre endroit silencieux); and, among the short and medium format, Allison Chhorn (Blind Body), Moona Pennanen (Land That Rises and Descends), Amélie Bargetzi (Là où nous sommes), Toby Bull (Some Kind of Intimacy), Krystsina Savutsina and Georg Kussmann (Khan’s Flesh), and Suyu Lee (Trees in Summer).

Three more podcast discussions are now also accompanied by critical texts on
 
If You See Her, Say Hallo, by Hee Young Pyun & Jiajun (Oscar) Zhang
Condition d’élévation, by Isabelle Prim (with INTERVIEW!)
L’huile et le fer, by Pierre Schlesser (with INTERVIEW!)
 

 

On our SHORT PAGES, together with films like Nikita Yefimov’s Strict Regime, Adrian Paci’s Vedo rosso, Teboho Edkins’ The Orphanage, Andrea Schramm’s 27 Steps, Jessie Zin’s Wavelengths, here are: