April 26, 2011

'I want more time

RONIN (Forum Lenteng | 2003 | 13' 7" | English subtitle)

Ronin is vegetable seller who already did his work for 20 years. every morning he meet the neighborhood and give them live just for talking and gossiping. Ronin is a witness who hear and see the "changes" and "occurances" in small communities in Jakarta. Ronin is someone who always waited by the household mothers and keepers in the neighborhood. Ronin is a place to express their annoyance. Ronin is what left in the presence of malls and supermarkets in Jakarta."

This video is part of Massroom Project (2003) is a documentary video project on Jakarta. The videos consist of nine works that tells nine stories about living experiences in Jakarta. Those experiences pass on various aspects of the city such as: mass transportation, public space, marginalize traditional vendors, voice pollution in the city and survival in Jakarta. These nine works of the Massroom Project has been screened in various film festival and exhibiton in Indonesia and international. Some of the works achieve the nomination for best short filmwork at Oberhausen International Film Festival, Germany. Amongst the important festivals which screened the Massroom Project works is 15th Festival Internacional de Curtas Metragens de Sao Paulo 2004, Brasil; 34th International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2005, The Netherlands; Indonesia Under Construction, The Netherlands; Tales of Two Cities: Jakarta/Canberra 2005, Australia; Seminar and Conference Responsibilities of Criticism 2008, USA.

DONGENG SEBELUM HUJAN. A Tales Before The Rain (Forum Lenteng | 2003 | 15' 2" | English subtitle)



"This public transport has many story in it. Ukar, the taxi driver told what happen when you drive and meet the strangers. The conversation become really a hero story as Ukar as an actor. And it stop when the rain comes and the wiper cleaning. You can guess which one the truth."

This video is part of Massroom Project (2003) is a documentary video project on Jakarta. The videos consist of nine works that tells nine stories about living experiences in Jakarta. Those experiences pass on various aspects of the city such as: mass transportation, public space, marginalize traditional vendors, voice pollution in the city and survival in Jakarta. These nine works of the Massroom Project has been screened in various film festival and exhibiton in Indonesia and international. Some of the works achieve the nomination for best short filmwork at Oberhausen International Film Festival, Germany. Amongst the important festivals which screened the Massroom Project works is 15th Festival Internacional de Curtas Metragens de Sao Paulo 2004, Brasil; Indonesia Under Construction, The Netherlands; Tales of Two Cities: Jakarta/Canberra 2005, Australia; Seminar and Conference Responsibilities of Criticism 2008, USA.

Dies Irae (2005) by jean-Gabriel Périot.

, remember
That I am the cause of your journey
Don't lose me on that way.

Under Twilight (2006) by jean-Gabriel Périot


beauty and/or destruction

Eût-elle été criminelle... / Even If She Had Been A Criminal... (2006) by jean-Gabriel Périot



France, summer 1944

L'Art délicat de la matraque / The Delicate Art Of The Bludgeon (2009) by jean-Gabriel Périot



about the sensibility of Policemen

Undo (2005) by jean-Gabriel Périot



Today's been sad.
Tomorrow won't get any better.
Let's un-do it all over again

Les Barbares / The Barbarians (2010) by jean-Gabriel Périot



We are scum! We are barbarians!

Wawancara dengan Jean-Gabriel Périot

“Paling baik, kita bisa mendapati film yang menginterogasi dunia”
Written by jurnalfootage, adel pasha interview
Wawancara dengan Jean-Gabriel Périot

Jean-Gabriel Périot, seniman yang menyebut karyanya dengan 'sinema', adalah seorang yang dapat dianggap paling kontemporer dalam karya-karya visualnya. Tidak saja ia sering bekerja dengan menggunakan medium video, serta penggunaan arsip sebagai bahan artistik bagi karya visualnya, Périot juga peka terhadap sejarah kekinian. Satu diantara karyanya yang cukup penting adalah Undo (2000), We Are Winning Don’t Forget (2004), Nijuman No Borei (200000 Phantoms) (2007) yang pernah di putar pada Ok. Video "Militia" di Galeri nasional Jakarta, Juli 2007. Périot pernah mendapatkan penghargaan pada Grand Prix di Tampere International Film Festival, Finlandia dan Best International Short di Cork International Film Festival, Irlandia. Périot lahir di Prancis pada tahun 1974, dan ia menyebut dirinya dengan berbagai macam profesi.

Berikut ini adalah wawancara kami dengan Jean-Gabriel Périot, dengan materi wawancara oleh Adel Maulana Pasha (pelaku medium video) dan Akbar Yumni (Jurnal Footage) yang dilakukan melalui email Adel Maulana Pasha ke email Jean-Gabriel Périot. Wawancara dilakukan dalam bahasa Inggris. Semoga wawancara ini bermanfaat ....

Sinema.

Adel: Anda menyebut karya anda sebagai, Sinema, Video atau Fotografi? Karena dalam ranah seni kontemporer menggunakan “cross medium”, apa medium untuk anda?

Périot: Saya mendefinisikan karya saya sebagai sinema, kecuali saat sesekali saya membuat karya senirupa untuk galeri. Sinema, video, atau bidang seni lain, itu lebih pada bagaimana mempresentasikannya kepada penonton ketimbang perangkat teknis untuk membuat karya tersebut. Sinema adalah ruang (ruangan tayang bioskop, tanpa cahaya, hanya dari proyektor saja). Sinema adalah ruang, tempat penonton dapat berkonsentrasi pada karya yang ditampilkan, dan menyatu dengan karya itu. Menurut pandangan saya, video terdengar lebih berupa proyek multi-media yang diproyeksikan (TV, internet, galeri, dll.). Beberapa tahun lalu, perbedaan sinema dengan video dilihat dari format yang digunakan. Tapi sekarang, tidak ada artinya mempertimbangkan perbedaan itu, karena sinema juga bisa dibuat dalam format video. Sekarang pertanyaannya adalah: apakah konteks presentasi dari karya itu?

Soal teknik cross-medium. Dalam ranah seni kontemporer, sudah pasti seniman menggunakan semua alat, teknik, dsb., untuk mengekspresikan diri. Tapi kita harus ingat, bahwa sinema dan/atau video juga bisa menciptakan karya seni dengan berbagai teknik yang berbeda. Saya yakin sekali, teknik-teknik itu tidak bisa menjelaskan genre-genre ataupun ranah-ranah seni.

Sebagai seniman, saya mendefinisikan karya saya sebagai sinema. Pertama, karena saya menyukai ruang tempat tayang dan proses penayangan sinema, tapi di sisi lain, untuk menegaskan karya itu adalah sinema, itu juga artinya berlawanan dengan TV, yakni keyakinan bahwa citraan-citraan bergerak itu adalah seni.

Evenifshehadbeenacriminal3

Adel: Menurut anda masa depan sinema pada titik jenuh yang mana, apakah ini berkaitan atau sama seperti yang dikatakan Godard berkaitan dengan sinema dan fotografi ?

Périot: Kaitan antara sinema dengan fotografi tidak bisa dilihat sebagai masa depan sinema, sebab, fotografi sejatinya adalah dasar dari sinema. 24 frame per detik. Saya sendiri tidak tahu masa depan sinema secara menyeluruh. Saya tidak terlalu peduli. (Tetapi, yang pasti, masa depan sinema bukanlah 3D, bukan Avatar dan bukan Alice in Wonderland).

Adel: Edward Muybridge menemukan percepatan frame sebagai basis dari gambar gerak. Apa menurut mu sudah merepresentasikan sinema/video?

Périot: Muybridge menjadi penting karena gagasan mengenai dekomposisi gerak, tetapi sinema diciptakan ketika seseorang berhasil menciptakan gerak dari gambar-gambar diam yang berbeda. Saya jauh lebih tertarik, dalam arkeologi sinema ini, dengan Etienne-Jules Marey dibanding Muybridge. Etienne-Jules Marey adalah pencipta kamera sebagai senjata. Kamera yang bukan dipakai membunuh, tapi untuk menangkap gambar (gambar-gambar mati) dari objek yang hidup. Sinema berurusan dengan kematian. Senjata kamera ini adalah objek yang sangat menarik untuk mulai mempertanyakan: apa itu sinema?

200000phantoms1

Adel: Bagaimana cara pandang sinema terhadap sejarah?

Périot: Saya tidak yakin sinema melihat sejarah. Sekian dekade lalu, sebelum dominasi TV, sinema memang telah menciptakan sejarah. Sekarang, TV-lah yang menciptakan sejarah, atau secara kebetulan, dan bukan lagi sinema. Sejak penciptaan fotografi, dan kemudian penciptaan sinema, sejarah bukanlah apa yang terjadi, tetapi apa yang tertangkap oleh gambar-gambar, yaitu apa yang dipresentasikan. Sejarah bukanlah realitas atau kejadian-kejadian, melainkan representasi atas realitas atau kejadian-kejadian itu. Ini hanya satu pandangan. Kita tak perlu naif. Sebelum gambar-gambar, sejarah hanyalah apa yang tertulis. Itu bukanlah sejarah yang sebenarnya dalam wujud konkritnya. Sejarah, akan selalu, dan dari dulu merupakan apa yang dituturkan oleh Kekuasaan melalui medium Kekuasaan itu.

Sekarang, Kekuasaan itu adalah TV, dan TV adalah Kekuasaan. Ini tidak berarti sinema terbebas dari tugas-tugas ideologis. Sinema arus utama selalu merupakan alat Kekuasaan, tapi tidak lagi menjadi alat yang utama. Selanjutnya, jika kita dapat menawarkan konsep perlawanan sejarah dalam filem, fakta bahwa filem kita sendiri bergerak dalam struktur budaya yang sama dengan sinema arus utama (sinema seni, sinema politik, dan sinema eksperimental adalah bagian dari sinema global yang bertentangan dengannya, itu sungguh-sungguh mirip genre, bagian dari "pasar") memadamkan muatan kritis dalam filem kita.

Adel: Bagaimana dengan sound, apakah dia menjadi esensi dalam sinema atau video. Berkaitan dengan asumsi bahwa sinema itu bahasa visual!

Périot: Bagi saya, suara mungkin adalah alat utama dalam proses pembuatan filem. Dalam budaya tertentu, bahasa bisa memperdaya makna. Tapi suara, musik, bahkan bahasa (bila digunakan bukan dalam arti dasarnya –tetapi dalam arti irama atau puitikanya) bisa disampaikan kepada semua orang. Selanjutnya, suara bisa menghantarkan kepekaan kepada penonton untuk merasakan suatu pengalaman, mempertanyakan sesuatu, dengan kebebasan yang lebih besar daripada sekedar bahasa.

200000phantoms

Adel: Apakah suara itu bersifat sekunder atau primer, mengacu pada karya mu yang Nijuman No Borei (200000 Phantom)?

Périot: Saya tidak bisa mengatakan bahwa suara muncul lebih dulu dalam mengkonsepsikan sebuah proyek. Tetapi dalam proses pembuatan filem yang konkrit (editing), saya selalu mengerjakan suara lebih dahulu sebelum gambar.

Adel: Apakah anda penerus tradisi author pada Nouvelle Vague karena anda berasal dari Prancis?

Périot: Menurut saya bukan. Kalaupun gerakan Nouvelle Vague selalu hadir menyeluruh, ia mengandung banyak macam gaya, ide (artistik dan politis). Contohnya, Godard dan Truffaut, keduanya berakar dari Nouvelle Vague namun sangat berlawanan.

Saya tidak terlalu nyaman dengan konsep "cinema author". Bila seseorang menentukan bahwa sinema itu seni, penting sekali untuk mendefinisikan pembuat filem tersebut sebagai pencipta (author), sebagai seniman, dengan cara pandang dan cara berekspresi tertentu. Tapi sesunguhnya, kritikus telah mencairkan (diskusi tentang pencipta adalah diskusi akademis dan media) gagasan tentang sang pencipta, karena akademisi dan media telah mendefinisikan semua pembuat filem sebagai pencipta, termasuk juga yang benar-benar bekerja dalam industri ini. Tapi apa artinya menjadi pencipta, bila Godard dan Sam Raimi, atau siapapun pembuat filem blockbuster Hollywood atau apalah, apakah keduanya adalah pencipta? Bila kritikus menganggap seorang pembuat filem sebagai pencipta, semua filem yang diciptakannya dianggap bagus. Jadi semua filem Coppola, Scorcese, Fincher, Allen, dan Burton adalah mahakarya. Itu tentu saja tidak benar. Ada semacam perombakan terhadap makna kritikus tentang konsep "pencipta".

Evenifshehadbeenacriminal1

Ide dan politik

Adel: Apa yang anda pikirkan mengenai sejarah?

Périot: Sejarah selalu adalah sejarah Kekuasaan, Sejarahnya para pemenang. Kecuali, tentu saja, beberapa kejadian revolusioner seperti Revolusi Rusia, ketika masyarakat menjadi subjek sejarah bahkan saat kejadian itu berupa kegagalan. Menjadi subjek revolusioner adalah dengan membuat sejarah, bukan dengan menjadi saksinya.

Apalagi, sejarah yang dituturkan kekuasaan bukanlah kontradiksi, tetapi Sejarah yang melupakan. Demi ketertarikan atas sejarah, demi menghidupkan lagi kejadian yang terlupakan, demi menghadirkan kembali kejadian yang telah lampau di masa kini agar dapat dilihat sebagai alat politik lantaran membantu menghancurkan pseudo-linearitas kehadiran kita.

Adel: Pandangan anda tentang fasisme?

Périot: Melanjutkan soal sejarah, fasisme telah membuat masyarakat menjadi subjek sejarah. Tetapi, masyarakat itu secara umum merupakan masyarakat yang seragam. Dengan kehendak untuk menjadikan masyarakat yang homogenik ini, kaum fasis harus menyingkirkan siapapun yang berbeda. Tetapi pemikiran soal fasisme semacam ini sudah terlalu kuno dan tidak lagi bisa dipahami sekarang ini, karena kini masyarakat kita (saya merujuk pada masyarakat Barat) terkonstruksi dari integrasi atas perbedaan-perbedaan. Dengan integrasi ini, kelemahan dari perbedaan-perbedaan ini adalah kekuatan revolusionernya. Jadi sekarang, idenya bukan lagi menciptakan manusia unik yang problematis, tapi seorang yang mengintegrasi semua orang ke dalam satu masyarakat multi-warna, multi-seksual, dan multi-multi lainya, di mana konsumen telah menggantikan warga. Transformasi warga menjadi konsumen ini (walaupun ada yang tetap berupaya mempertahankan kekhasannya), adalah proses “neo-fasis” atau “soft-fasis”. Sesungguhnya kita bisa bicara tentang beberapa jenis fasisme baru, kendati itu "lunak" [soft], karena mereka yang menolak menjadi konsumen, sungguh telah ditolak oleh masyarakat kita dan kian banyak yang dikriminalkan. Jika masyarakat-masyarakat kita tampak lebih berpikiran terbuka, harga yang mesti kita bayar tak dapat menentang masyarakat ini. Kita punya kebebasan, tapi bukan untuk dipamerkan secara eksklusif hanya bagi yang mereguk Coca Cola.
Adel: Bagaimana dengan Marxisme?

Périot: Fakta bahwa Revolusi Rusia (dan Revolusi Cina, juga semua revolusi di seluruh dunia) sudah gagal, bisa mengukuhkan hipotesa Komunis. Bila seseorang telah mendefinisikan apa yang terjadi di Blok Timur sebagai Komunisme, dia telah berbohong. Apa yang terjadi waktu itu jauh sekali dari definisi Komunisme oleh Marx. Tentu, satu setengah abad setelah Marx, tesisnya harus diajarkan dengan cara yang kemasakinian. Bagaimanapun, Komunisme atau bukan, kita harus mengubah masyarakat kita yang diatur oleh Kapitalisme (dan sekarang Neo-kapitalisme) jika kita ingin selamat sebagai manusia.

Adel: Mana yang anda lebih percayai, Fiksi, Fakta atau tidak keduanya ?

Périot: Kita hanya bisa berharap dan yakin pada realitas. Adalah naïf untuk berharap pada seni, sinema, representasi, dan sebagainya itu. Sebuah gambar tidak bisa mengubah dunia. Seni, gambar, dan sebagainya itu bisa membantu bagi kelangsungan hidup, untuk berbagi, untuk berpikir. Tetapi mereka tidak aktif. Hanya realitas lah yang aktif.

Adel: Seberapa jauh kadar realitas dalam bahasa visual (sinema atau video)?

Périot: Hanya dalam cara yang negatif! Kita bisa belajar tentang Kekuasaan di dalam filem yang diproduksi di bawah penataannya, kita dapat benar-benar memahami masyarakat-masyarakat kita dengan menonton TV, bagaimana realitas di dalamnya telah dibangun. Sesungguhnya, sulit menemukan titik-titik pandang berlawanan yang jelas tentang realitas oleh seniman, karena tak seorang pun bisa mendefinisikan politik baru secara positif. Yang terbaik, kita memang tidak bisa melawan Kapitalisme, tapi melawan bukanlah utopia, bukan politik yang positif. Sesungguhnya, dalam filem maupun seni, kita dapat merasa bahwa kita tidak benar-benar tahu cara menangkap dunia, cara menangkap masa kini dan realitas. Paling baik, kita bisa mendapati filem yang menginterogasi dunia. Tapi bagi saya, kita juga perlu karya seni yang menciptakan realitas baru, bukan sekadar dalam tataran artistik, tapi juga tataran politis.

Adel: Mengapa teknik frame by frame menjadi pilihan?

Périot: Secara kebetulan! Saya telah membuat filem (21.04.02) dengan gambar-gambar, lalu saya temukan bahwa dengan editing yang lebih presisi, dengan teknik animasi, ide frame per frame dari gambar-gambar arsip, ini bisa menjadi alat yang memikat.

Video: Undo.

Adel: Apa pernyataan dasar dari karya anda Undo?

Périot: Saya membuat filem (Undo) ini karena satu petunjuk. Petunjuk itu adalah, "Kau punya 10 menit untuk membangun kembali dunia". Jadi, saya hanya bertanya dalam hati: apa yang harus kita bangun kembali? "Membangun kembali" dunia, terdengar seakan dunia sebelumnya baik-baik saja, lalu kita harus mengembalikannya. Tapi bagi saya, dunia sebelumnya tidak lebih baik dari dunia kita yang sekarang. Maka muncul lah ide ini untuk kembali ke masa lalu.

200000phantoms2

Adel: Fungsi teknik dari memundurkan atau rewind ada pada fungsi teknik dalam filem dan video, apakah anda percaya pada realitas?

Périot: Itu sudah saya jawab. Jelas sekali saya percaya dengan yang nyata, tapi tidak percaya bahwa ide representasi adalah sebuah realitas. Kekuasaan memaksa ketika ia menggunakan gambar-gambar, representasi-representasi untuk menjadikannya tampil sebagai “yang nyata”. Saat orang menonton berita di TV, mereka merasa gambar-gambar itu “nyata” dan “objektif”. Tetapi gambar-gambar itu tidak nyata karena sudah dikonstruksi. Dalam filem-filem saya, saya mencoba memproses representasi tampak sebagai konstruksi, dan mungkin sampai tahap ketika setiap representasi realitas adalah sebuah konstruksi.

Video: We Are Winning Don’t forget.

Adel: Apakah anda seorang Anarkis, mengacu pada karya ini?

Périot: Saya tidak yakin 100% anarkis. Saya lebih komunis karena percaya pada kekuatan rakyat sebagai rakyat kolektif dalam sejarah. Dalam filem ini saya mengembangkan ide bahwa individual bisa menemukan kekuatan mereka sendiri, posisi mereka sendiri, sebagai subjek dalam perjuangan, dan lebih jauh lagi dalam perjuangan kolektif.

wearewinning1

Adel: Apakah anda percaya pada perjuangan identitas atau perjuangan kelas?

Périot: Saya percaya bahwa kita butuh perjuangan kolektif. Tentu kita perlu berjuang dalam tataran identitas. Misalnya, kesetaraan laki-laki dengan perempuan, hak kaum homoseksual, dan lain-lain. Tapi upaya-upaya khusus tersebut yang dapat membantu mengubah dunia, bisa dilakukan secara kolektif. Sebelum menjadi hitam, gay, atau perempuan, kita menjadi manusia. Dan kita memiliki hak karena kita manusia.

Video: Nijuman No Borei (200000 Phantoms).

Adel: Apakah arsip dan memori untuk anda ?

Périot: Ada dua macam memori. Ada yang dibekukan. Membekukan memori adalah cara untuk memperbaiki memori (dan sejarah), guna membatalkan aspek politis dari sebuah kejadian, cara yang dilakukan oleh sejarah resmi. Dengan gambar-gambar bencana Hiroshima, sejarah "utama" memperbaiki kejadian di masa lampau ini, dan mengajak orang untuk meratapi para korban, sehingga memori kehilangan segenap daya untuk menjadi aktif di masa kini. Jenis memori yang satu lagi adalah memori aktif. Memori yang mempersoalkan masa kini bersama dengan masa lalu. Memori yang bagai jembatan. Contohnya, gambar Hiroshima yang sama tidak disampaikan kepada penonton sebagai arsip atau bagian eksklusif dari masa lalu, tetapi dibuat supaya mereka tampak sebagai masa kini, yang menciptakan hubungan antara masa lalu dan sekarang, sehingga memori ini menjadi hidup. Setelah itu, pertanyaan politis dapat tampil kembali. Dan itu tidak meminta penonton supaya meratapi para korban, melainkan membuat topik nuklir hadir di benak mereka, dan menjadikan perang itu nyata adanya. Bukan menjadikan pesimis dan mengajak orang menjadi “kelam” dan sedih sepanjang waktu. Kala kita mendengar para korban Hiroshima (atau malapetaka lain) yang selamat, kita belajar bahwa hidup itu berharga dan semua orang mesti menikmatinya. Bukan dengan cara egoistis, tapi dengan cara berbagi, cara politis. Kita mesti nikmati tiap detik kehidupan dan menjaganya. Itu berarti kita mesti berjuang untuk hidup, dan membantu orang lain demi memiliki hidup yang dapat dinikmati. Waktu menjadi berharga, utuh, penuh kehendak. Dan lebih baik berjuang demi kehendak daripada berharap demi minyak.

Adel: Penonton bagi anda siapa ?

Périot: Entahlah. Tapi bukan "sang penonton".


Nijuman no borei / 200000 Phantoms / 200000 fantômes (2007)

Dies Irae (2005) by jean-Gabriel Périot

DIES IRAE DATA WORKS
Awards:

- Grand prix / Lucca film festival
- Big Shot award / Hull international film festival
- best video / VAD festival Girona
- special price for artistic value, technical and expressive capability, Magmart Napoli
- best essay film / int young filmakers festival Miskolc
- first prize video creation / festival Girona
- best director and special award, San Gio festival Verona
- best experimental film / Naoussa international film festival
- audience award / Zemos 98 Sevilla
- silver award / Hi mon festival Carrboro
- jury's special mention / Senef Seoul
- honourable mention / Videomedeja
- mention to video creation award / Vidéoforme Clermont-Ferrand

Exhibitions:

- Bound by History / Ron Mandos Gallery 11
- Solo Exhibition / CCF Jakarta 10
- Antimated / centre d'art Bastille Grenoble 09
- in[ter]discipline / la Châtaigneraie Liège 09
- Galerie Mobile / La criée Rennes 08
- Visions in the Nunnery / The Nunnery Gallery London 08
- The mobile archives / WYSPA art institut Gdansk, Kunstverein Hamburg, the Israeli Center for Digital Art Holon 07, Galerija Nova Zagreb, Skuc Gallery Ljubjana 08
- Crimes & splendors / Ronmandos gallery Amsterdam 07
- nuit blanche / Mayenne 07
- Paranoia / Leeds City art Gallery 06, Focal point Gallery Southend 06, Freud Nuseum London 07
- Invisible city (video and electronic art international exhibition) / Montreal 06
- One dot Zero_10 exhibition / ICA London 06
- Dislocate / Ginza art laboratory Tokyo 06
- Art Media / Arteppes Annecy 06
- Audio + Video serie / Rochester Art Center usa 05
- L'après de la catastrophe / Aire Moulins 05
- Nuit blanche / Paris 05
- les rendez-vous électronique / Paris 05
- Jeune création / Paris 05

Festivals:

- Clermont-Ferrand short film festival
- Annecy international animated film festival
- Côté court / Pantin
- Némo / Paris
- festival international du court métrage de Lille
- Rencontres internationales du cinéma d'animation / Wissembourg
- Rencontres internationales de la photographie / Arles
- festival du film de Vendôme
- festival nouvelle génération / Lyon
- itinérances / Ales
- rencontres parallèles / Hérouville St Clair
- les inattendus / Lyon
- les instants video / Martigues
- Aye-Aye / Nancy
- Escales domcuentaires / La Rochelle
- Art court vidéo / Arles
- cinérail / Paris
- pris de courts / Paris
- traverses video / Toulouse
- vidéoformes / Clermont-Ferrand
- images contre nature / Marseille
- un festival c'est trop court ! / Mamac Nice
- 4ème rencontres du cinéma européen / Vannes
- l'avis de Château / Château-Chinon
- vues d'en face / Grenoble
- le jour le plus court / Ruffec
- Paysages électroniques / Lille
- festival du film documentaire / Lasalle
- festival du carré blanc / Belves
- courtisez-moi / Reims
- In&Out / Nice

- Onedotzero / London
- portobello film festival / London
- Edinburgh international film festival
- Brief encounters / Bristol
- Island art film and video festival / London
- Norwich international animation festival
- Trampoline / Nottingham
- Leeds international film festival
- Hull international film festival
- Reading experimental film festival
- Kerry film festival / Ireland
- international short film festival / Leuven
- anima / Bruxelles
- Pesaro international festival Nuovo Cinema
- Roma doc festival
- ambiEnt / Brescia
- I castelli animati, international animation film festival / Genzano de Roma
- In video / Milano
- Audiovisiva / Milano
- Fair Play / Salerno
- No words international short film festival / Bolzano
- toni corti / Padova
- Magmart / Napoli
- Beyond media / Firenze
- Independent film show / Napoli
- Lucca film festival
- Perse visioni shortfilm exhibition / Polignano a Mare
- Magma / Acireale
- Meeting dela creativita / Salerno
- international bunker film festival / Ventimiglia
- festival della creativita / Firenze
- Unimovie / Pescara
- Granada international short film festival
- Fescurts film festival / Barcelona
- ovni / Barcelona
- Girona film festival
- Video and Digital Arts festival / Girona
- Borgues in Curts / Lleida
- Zemos98 / Sevilla
- Documenta / Madrid
- Gijon international film festival
- Canaria Media festival
- MFA planet Europe short film festival / Palma de Mallorca
- Minima mostra de video curt / Gandia Valencia
- videolisboa / Lisboa
- Videolab / Coimbra
- Caminhos / Cambria
- EMAF / Osnabrueck
- Exground / Wiesbaden
- shortmoves / Halles
- Director lounge / Berlin
- Thalmässinger Kurzfilmtage / Thalmässing
- International videofestival / Bochum
- Open eyes film festival / Marburg
- Zwergwerk / Oldenburg
- kurzfilmwoche / Regensburg
- Documentary film and video festival / Kassel
- International film festival / Passau
- filmwinter / Stuttgart
- Trickfilm festival / Stuttgart
- ongoing festival / Stuttgart
- filmlichter 05 / Detmold
- G-niale / Stralsund
- festival der Nationen / Ebensee
- Media art festival / Friesland
- French films festival / Munich
- Rotterdam international film festival
- R Eject / Rotterdam
- Streaming festival / Den Haag
- Grond///Begane / Den Haag
- state X new forms / Den Haag
- Kunkortfilm / Kopenhagen
- Aarhus festival of independent arts
- Cartes Flux / Espoo
- Tampere international film festival
- lens politica film festival / Helsinki
- experimental film and video festival / Egilsstadir
- luff / Lausanne
- non-deleted kurzfilm / Zürick
- Artfilm International film festival / Trencin
- Music on film-Film on music / Pragues
- Alternative film/video festival / Pragues
- One world film festival / Pragues
- Human rights film festival / Vilnius
- DaKino international film festival / Bucarest
- Kinofest / Bucarest
- Timishort / Timisoara
- International young filmakers festival / Miskolc
- festival of short experimental film / Zagreb
- Animafest / Zagreb
- Isola cinema / Slovenia
- Luksuz festival / Slovenia
- WRO media art Biennale / Wroclaw
- Gdansk international doc fest
- Simultan / Timisoara
- Reanimacja / Lodz
- Kansk international video festival
- Step, human right film festival / Kharkiv Ukraine
- film front / Novi Sad
- Videomedeja / Novi Sad
- Alternative film video / Beograd
- animated dreams, black nights film festival / Tallinn
- Xperimental 4.0 / Pantheon Gallery Cyprus
- international short film festival / Naoussa
- Pixel dance film festival / Tessaloniki
- international panorama of independent films / Athens
- out of focus / Thessaloniki
- Obsession international videoart festival / Istanbul
- !f Istanbul film festival
- international animation festival / Tehran
- festival international de film et video de création / Beyrouth
- emirates film competition / Abu Dabhi
- Jewish Eyes film festival / Beer Sheva
- Vybgyor Short and documentary festival / Thrissur
- ok video festival / Jakarta
- Busan Asian Short film festival
- SENEF / Seoul
- Korean Experimental Art Festival / Seoul
- Golden Horse film festival / Taïpeï
- Jianghu video exhibition / China
- Big screen festival / Kunming
- Folio, Tokyo design festa
- Sapporo short fest
- Rainbow serpent festival / Skipton
- Kiss my after effects / Melbourne, Oh chi minh
- Hi Mom ! Film festival / Carrboro
- international video festival / Rochester
- Reeling / Chicago
- Rooftop film / New-York
- Inside Out / Toronto
- old Cabbagetown short film festival / Toronto
- international french short film festival / Toronto
- Fifca / Moncton
- Queer city cinema / Regina
- ProgMe / Rio de Janeiro
- Se repete como farsa International video exhibition / Vitoria
- Mar del Plata, Caloi in su tinta / Buenos Aires
- Macadamia video festival / Buenos Aires, Rosario
- Festival internacional de cine independiente / Bueno Aires
- festival of sexual diversity / Rosario
- Artronica / Bogota
- Festival internacional de cine / Cali

screenings:

- week-end du court métrage / Paris
- scratch / Paris
- Jerk Festival / Paris
- les saisons numérique / Paris
- L'autre écran / Paris
- L'autre vidéo / Paris
- les 20 ans de la revue Bref / Cinémathèque Paris
- les rencontres photographiques / Niort
- libres courts CentreImage / Orléans
- Rencontres internationales de la photographie / Arles
- Mars au musées / Mamac, musée de la Photographie Nice
- Ciclyk screenings / Nancy
- experimental screening / Guéret
- picture, psychoanalyse, society / Albi
- mac 2005 / Paris
- les dimanches des curiosités / Reims (le Manège)
- Plus vite / Hampont
- Dar Dar / La Réunion
- K3 / Lorient
- France Doc / Paris
- Elu par cette crapule / Le Havre
- corps de texte Europe / Petit Quevilly

- Insomnia / Courtauld institut of Art london
- the exploding cinema / London
- Without boundaries / ICA London + Cambridge film festival
- Clermont-Ferrand screenings / French Institute, London
- take 291, 291 Gallery / London
- sync, Rio Cinema / London
- Kaleidoscop / Whitechapel art gallery London
- Annexinema 5 / Nottingham
- short film night / Cambridge
- short circuit interrupted / Sheffield
- Broadway / Nottingham
- court mais trash / Brussel
- a room with a view / Antwerpen
- video vision / Edith Russ site for Media Art Oldenburg
- Schermi dal mondo / Milano
- Metricubi / Venesia
- Cinecircolo / Syracusa
- cine y nazismo / fundacion Luis Seoane, Coruna
- nuit du court métrage franco-portugaise / Lisboa
- Samothraki world music festival
- Retrospective / cinematheque Ljubjana
- Seh-tank / Zürich
- shorts / St Petersburg
- spark video / New-York
- week of french images / Nairobi Kenya
- lume screens / Melbourne
- Instinct Gallery / Singapour
- ConCan festival / Tokyo (online)

- One Dot Zero screenings : Tokyo + Zurich film festival + Munich + Brighton + Sheffield (lovebytes) + Sheffield (showroom cinema) + Bristol (Watershed arts center) + Sapporo + Athenes (bios festival) + Seoul + Oslo (nordic festival) + Berlin (festival politik im freien theater) + Shizuoka + Noisiel (ferme du buisson) + Archa Theatre Pragues + London (Science museum) + London (articulated exhibition, Bargehouse) + Bruxels (Anima) + Valence (Lux, CRAC)
- 700is screenings : Sequences festival (Reykjavik), Monkeyton art center (New-york), VAIA (Valencia), Skalvijos kino (Vilnius), Folly art center (Lancaster), Volatile works (Montréal) + Alsager Gallery Manchester Metropolitan University, ASU Arizona, Reykjavik art museum
- Heure exquise screenings : Montage/Démontage (académie Royale de Liège) + les instants vidéo (Marseille) + Vidéographie (Liège) + Politiquement incorrect (Mons en Barouel) + Palais des Beaux Arts (Lille) + Les saisons numériques (Paris)
- light cone screenings : preview 2006 (Beaubourg Paris) + Centro colombo americano (Bogota)
- V-Tape screening : Vidi This! Vidi That! Toronto
- Uppsala int short film screening : Sacred music festival (Uppsala)
- Centre image screening : Valimage (Beaugency)
- Shoot screenings : Stuhltrager Gallery (New-York), Kick teh Trash (Circulo de Bellas Artes Madrid)
- Les inattendus screening : Micang club (Shangai)
- Director lounges screening : figure in motion (Plüschow)
- VAD screenings : Inventario (Zaragoza) + Loop (Barcelona)
- Betting on short screening : Within and out the walls (Kunstfabrik Berlin)
- Trampoline screening : camera obscura (Haymarket Australia)
- Buchwick art project screenings : officeOps (New-York) + 3rd ward space (New-York) + The archive project (the israeli center for digital art Holon)
- Reject screening : Klub Mayonaise Amsterdam
- Intimate Journeys screenings : jeune création (Paris), Love Video (Moscow)
- Pesaro film festival screening : Struttura (San Vicenzo e Campaglia)
- videolab screenings : Rio 07 (Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro) + encontro (Abrante) + Situ'arte (Coimbra) + Transnaura (Coimbra)
- Zemos98 screening : Eutopia (Cordoba)
- Videoformes screening : Ecran SUC (Lille)
- annexinema screening : Start Running (Manchester)

TV :

- Planete / Poland
- PBS / USA

Production :

Envie de Tempête Productions
57 bis rue de Toqueville, 75017 Paris France
+33 6 07 08 85 95

We Are Winning Don't Forget (2004) by jean-Gabriel Périot



We Are Winning Don't Forget (2004)
by jean-Gabriel Périot
We are many, we are uniforms, we smile in the pictures, but we are NOT happy.


Awards:

- Press price, Clermont-Ferrand international short films festival 2004
- Senef Grand Prix online, Seoul film festival 2004
- Special price of jury, special mention of young jury, Grenoble film festival 2004
- Best experimental movie, minima 05 festival (Gandia Spagna)
- silver award, Hi mon festival Carrboro
- Prize of social movie and special mention form young jury, San Gio festival Verona 2004
- winner of "Entrainement" competition 2003

Exhibitions:

- in[ter]discipline / la Châtaigneraie Liège 09
- l'art de rien / Angers 08
- Off loop / Cafe del sol Barcelona 08
- Index generator / Museo Murillo la Greca Recife 06
- Art Media / Arteppes Annecy 06
- Beograd naked I sad / Beograd Galery Belgrade 05
- L'après de la catastrophe / Aire Moulins 05
- les rendez-vous électronique / Paris 05
- Identity (Dis)location / The Loupe Gallery, Hornel NY

Festivals:

- Festival international du film court / Clermont-Ferrand
- Côté court / Pantin
- festival de Grenoble
- Festival Européen du film court / Brest
- Festival tous courts / Aix-en-Provence
- Cinq jours tout courts ! / Caen
- 3e rencontres de cinéma français / Pau
- festival international du court métrage de Lille
- 4ème rencontres du cinéma européen / Vannes
- Aye-Aye festival / Nancy
- courts toujours ! / Lyon
- festival national du film d'animation / Auch
- fenêtres sur courts / Dijon
- Un festival c’est trop court / Nice
- Off-courts / Trouville
- Rencontres de cinéma documentaire / Sigy-le-Châtel
- Evreux film festival
- rencontres cinéma de Gindou
- Festival de Contis
- rencontres parallèles / Hérouville St Clair
- les instants video / Marseille
- Images contre nature / Marseille
- Digital cinema international festival / Mantes-la-Jolie
- festival nouvelle génération / Lyon
- traverses video / Toulouse
- rencontres cinema video / Nice
- festival d'arts visuels / Arles
- Videoformes / Clermont-Ferrand
- songe d'une nuity dv / Saint Denis
- Densité / Chambéry
- Entraînements / Paris, Bordeaux, Frankfurt, Marseille
- courtivore / Rouen
- Formule(s) / Amiens
- le jour le plus court / Ruffec
- faites de l'image / Toulouse
- Paysages électroniques / Lille
- festival du film documentaire / Lasalle
- festival du court métrage / Altkirch
- festival du film court / Ouroux en Morvan
- Festival du film de Vendôme
- Festival international du film de la Rochelle
- In&Out / Nice

- short film festival / Bruxels
- international short film festival / Leuven
- Platforma / Athens
- International panorama / Thessaloniki
- out of focus / Thessaloniki
- international short film festival / Naoussa
- MECAL / Barcelona
- L'alternativa / Barcelona
- Solo para cortos / Barcelona
- International film festival / Gijon
- Almeria en corto
- Huesca film festival
- Minima mostra de video curt / Gandia Valencia
- Borges in curt / Borges Blanques
- Canariasmediafest / Canarias islands
- Documenta / Madrid
- Videolab / Coimbra
- Leeds film festival
- Kinofilm internation short film festival / Manchester
- Reading experimental film festival
- Margate Rocks
- French film festival / Londres, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow...
- Document / Glasgow
- Portebello film festival / London
- Island art film & video festival / London
- Hull film festival
- Tampere Film festival
- lens politica film festival / Helsinki
- zwergWERK / Oldenburg
- Open eyes filmfest / Marburg
- Garage festival / Stralsund
- Cellul’art / Jena
- festival des Nationen / Ebensee
- New media festival / Cologne
- Contravision / Berlin
- Director Lounge / Berlin
- French film festival / Munich
- international festival for documentary & animated film / Leipzig
- Dignity & work / Gdansk
- Magma / Acireale
- Meeting dela creativita / Salerno
- San Gio festival / Verona
- Pesaro international festival Nuovo Cinema
- Audiovisiva / Milano
- Agosto cinema / Corciano
- Dawn of the Shorts / Termoli
- Vienna short
- One world film festival / Pragues
- Human rights film festival / Vilnius
- Gdansk international doc fest
- Split film festival
- R Eject / Rotterdam
- Streaming festival / Den Haag
- Impakt film festival / Utrech
- Luff / Lausanne
- festival de la cité / Lausanne
- Viper / Basel
- Pride 04 / Geneve
- Shimrishamn art film festival / Sweden
- Isola cinema / Slovenia
- Luksuz festival / Slovenia
- Politically incorrect film festival / Ljubjana
- animateka / Ljubjana
- Dokufest / Prizren Kosovo
- media art festival / Erevan
- french film festival / Trencin
- European Film Festival / Turkey
- Izmir festival
- Ankara film festival
- !f Istanbul film festival
- international video festival / Kansk Russia
- videology / Volgograd
- Styk festival / Moscow
- Step, human right film festival / Kharkiv Ukraine
- Simultan / Timisoara
- Silver Lake fringe fest / Los Angeles
- Hi Mom ! Film festival / Carrboro usa
- festival du film court de Victo
- FICFA / Moncton Canada
- Guelph internation film festival
- Old Cabbagetown film festival
- regard sur le court métrage / Saguenay Canada
- Prends ça court ! / Montreal
- festival nouveau cinéma / Montreal
- présence autochtone / Montreal
- images en vue / île de la Madeleine Canada
- International doc festival docsdf / Mexico
- festival of sexual diversity / Rosario Argentina
- short movie internation festival / Rio de Janeiro
- Laisle.com videos subsolo / Rio de Janeiro
- videodigitos Midiatatica / Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
- ProgMe / Rio de Janeiro
- Artronica / Bogota
- Festival internacional de cine / Cali
- Festival internacional de cine independiente / Bueno Aires
- Vybgyor Short and documentary festival / Thrissur
- ok video festival / Jakarta
- Seoul net&video film festival
- Jianghu video exhibition / China
- Folio, Tokyo design festa
- Sapporo short fest
- Larzish / Bombay
- Emirates film competition / Abu Dhabi

other screenings:

- Cinéma en cour(t), screenings of R.A.D.I.
- Rattrapage intensif, screenings of l'Agence du Court-Métrage
- les écrans sécuritaires, big brother awards / Paris
- week-end du court métrage / Paris
- Mixmedia / Paris
- Le goût du court / Paris
- inter courts / Paris
- Signe de nuit / Paris
- le Barbizon / Paris
- L'autre vidéo / Paris
- Ciné Danse / Aulnay-sous-Bois
- Faire court / Oise
- Retour de Clermont / Essonne
- Ciclyk screenings / Nancy
- Court mais Trash / St Germain en Laye
- Carte blanche à Lyes Salem / Val de Breuil
- Open du court / Paris
- Paye ton courts / Paris
- Borderline / Paris
- acariens / Amiens
- Shot in the Back / Paris
- Les yeux de la nuit / Nancy
- Faites de l'image / Toulouse
- transat video / Caen
- Agir / Lieu Unique Nantes
- corps de texte Europe / Petit Quevilly

- court mais trash / Bruxelles
- eXximent / Roma
- Metricubi / Venesia
- Cinecircolo / Syracusa
- nuit du court métrage franco-portugaise / Lisboa
- my kingdom for a horse / London
- The Exploding Cinema / London
- take 291, 291 Gallery / London
- animated project / White Chapel London
- Leeds film Quarter
- Shift / Hannover
- Tanz im August / Berlin
- Jazz-Akustik-fest / Sezana
- cinephantom 2, the red house / Sophia
- festa di cane / Kustraum / Innsbruck
- Retrospective / cinematheque Ljubjana
- the Drake hotel / Toronto
- Cinematheque of Montreal
- les lucioles / Montreal university
- Spark Contemporary Art Space / New York
- Synthetic zero / New-York
- Out of the loop, the Barbès / Brooklyn NY
- State of exception/ Studio 27 San Francisco
- Moving Image Coalition / Melbourne

- Heure Exquise screenings : Montage/Démontage (Académie Royale de Liège) - MusicVideoArt (Mons-en-Barouel) - les instants vidéo (Marseille) + Politiquement incorrect (Mons en Barouel) + Palais des Beaux Arts (Lille) + les saisons numériques (Paris)
- Big Brother awards screenings : cinemabrut (Mouans Sartoux) + L'impensée de mai 68 (Paris)
- screenings of Mecal festival selection / Colombia
- Zwergwerk screenings :zwerwerk elsewhere Oldenburg, zwergwerk Oldenburg local tv show
- Leeds international film festival screening : Brno 16
- Pesaro film festival screening : Structure (Livorno)
- Cellulart screening : French short movies (Jena)
- transat video screening : FE.V.E (Marseille)

TV:

- Cosmic Connexion / Arte France
- Mange ta ville / ARTV Canada
- Planete / Poland

Music:

Godspeed you! black emperor

Production:

Envie de Tempête Productions
57 bis rue de Toqueville, 75017 Paris France
+33 6 07 08 85 95

April 14, 2011

THE BEAT OF NEW YORK by tim hahne plus



NYC ......

Duck Sauce "Barbra Streisand"



i really like this video because the music and video blend with the original sound

Akira Kurosawa: DREAMS (1990) by cinema.antifono plus

70 Million by Hold Your Horses !by L'Ogre

The Crisis of Credit Visualized by Jonathan Jarvis

Everything is a Remix Part 1 by Kirby Ferguson plus



good fact.... its fresh docu video...
viva le video

Everything is a Remix Part 2 by Kirby Ferguson plus



nice fact ....

Inspirational Artists: Pascal Campion by Onyx Cinema, Inc. plus



ok..mr, you inspiring me with Ur word and sketch

Sorry I'm Late - by Tomas Mankovsky ...



nice..

April 13, 2011

b - by Forum Lenteng - subs ind - 20030104



its called Bajaj...
also part of nine Massroom Project by Forum lenteng
viva video

andy ask preview 20030106 by forum lenteng



this is also the part of nine video about Jakarta "Massroom Project by Forumlenteng.
we have to take a thousand image of a different pirate commercial billboard from a local small business that live in Jakarta.
very interesting interview.
viva video cinema.

5 DETIK 10 MENIT 24 JAM. 5 Seconds 10 Minutes 24 Hours (Forum Lenteng | 2003 | 12' 58")



this video also part of the nine video about Jakarta "Massroom Project"
we have to stay at one point in Jakarta to record about halte / or you can call it bus stop. many interaction there... and is really interesting to see movement of society

BENHIL (Forum Lenteng | 2003 | 5' 50" | English subtitle)



this also one of the nine video "Massroom P"

Ojek we call that motor driver, he drive people to their destination...
this is Jakarta

PEMANDANGAN PIKNIK. Scenery (Forum Lenteng | 2003 | 7' 19" | English subtitles)



this shot is the also the part of nine video "Massroom Project"
Forumlenteng was start here..
i climb this train because i usually take this kind of trip every time i go to my university. its more safe than you put your self in the side of a door... this is Jakarta..

viva video

Forum Lenteng "Massroom Project: Jakarta 24" [2005]



my first record with all my friend in Forum Lenteng..
love u all....
viva video

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie - Official Parody by:mohawkdog



hahaha how studipidito... but cool that's is a power of video
viva le video

you can see the real video here also
2 post before this dude ....

Viliam - by : veronica obertova



nice cinema using different technique but still as a cinema montage..
we can see the following image that feels always interesting

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie



i like this old music video using smooth and nice stopmotion.. just brings us to another place

April 9, 2011

dancers

http://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks#20559242
nice video just click the link...

April 5, 2011

PART TWO: Hanoi, Martes 13 (1967), dir. Santiago Alvarez Roman

PART ONE: Hanoi, Martes 13 (1967) - Santiago Alvarez Ramon

79 Primaveras, Santiago Alvarez



Santiago Álvarez Román (March 18, 1919– May 20, 1998) was a Cuban filmmaker. He wrote and directed many documentaries about Cuban and American culture. His "nervous montage" technique of using "found materials," such as Hollywood movie clips, cartoons, and photographs[1], is considered a precursor to the modern video clip.

He studied in the United States but in the mid-1940s returned to Cuba, where he worked as a music archivist in a television station and participated in Communist Party activities.[1] After the Cuban Revolution he became a founding member of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) and directed its weekly Latin American Newsreel.[2]

One of his most famous works, the short Now (1964) about racial discrimination in the USA, mixed news photographs and musical clips featuring singer/actress Lena Horne. Other well-known works included the anti-imprerialist satire LBJ (1968) and 79 Springs (1969), a poetic tribute to Ho Chi Minh. In 1968, he collaborated with Octavio Getino and Fernando E. Solanas (members of Grupo Cine Liberación) on the four-hour documentary Hora de los hornos, about foreign imperialism in South America. Among the other subjects he explored in his film were the musical and cultural scene in Latin America and the dictatorships which gripped the region.

He died of Parkinson's disease in Havana on May 20, 1998 and was buried there in the Colon Cemetery.

Now (1965) Santiago Alvarez

April 1, 2011

Jan Nemec, Diamonds of the Night (1964)




Enfant Terrible of the Czech New Wave
Jan Němec's 1960s films
Peter Hames

In the 1960s, Czech cinema gave birth to an astonishing sequence of films that included such classics as Obchod na korze (A Shop on the High Street, 1965), Ostře sledované vlaky (Closely Observed Trains, 1966), Hoří, má panenko (The Firemen's Ball, 1967), Sedmikrásky (Daisies, 1966), Všichní dobří rodáci (All My Good Countrymen, 1968), and Žert (The Joke, 1968).

Jan Němec was often considered the most talented of the directors, and he was certainly one of those least given to compromise. Interest in his work is now increasing, and, indeed, this week in London a sequence of films devoted to the writer and designer, Ester Krumbachová, will also pay homage to the director, with screenings of his three most famous 1960s works, Démanty noci (Diamonds of the Night, 1964), O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966) and Mučedníci lásky (Martyrs of Love, 1966). [1]

While it is evident from both the student and feature films of his contemporaries that experimentation was in no way exceptional, Němec made it clear that he had no desire to make "realist," or what we would now call "classical narrative," films. "If, from the first scene," he said, " it is apparent that any superficial resemblance to reality is not important at all, the audience will give up their favourite comparisons and concentrate on what the director really tries to convey."

A similar approach can be detected in his post-Communist films, such as the adaptation of Ladislav Klíma's novel Utrpení knížete Sternenhocha (The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch), re-titled V žáru královské lásky (The Flames of Royal Love, 1990), influenced by the style of contemporary rock opera, as well as his reflections on alchemy and politics in Jméno kódu Rubín (Code Name Ruby, 1996), a film dedicated to Krumbachová. (See Ivana Košuličová's article in this week's CER for more on Němec's post-1989 works).

Holocaust and hallucinations

While at FAMU (the Prague Film School), Němec studied under the director Václav Krška, whose Měsíc nad řekou (Moon over the River, 1953), adapted from the play by Fráňa Šrámek, Němec regarded as the first Czech "auteur" film. Němec's short graduation film, Sousto (A Loaf of Bread, 1960), an adaptation of Arnošt Lustig's story about two prisoners who steal a loaf of bread from a freight car guarded by the SS, won three international awards.

Lustig's stories and novels about the Jewish experience in Nazi concentration camps were to form the basis of some of the major Czech films of the sixties, of which Němec's first feature, Démanty noci, is the most impressive. It was adapted from Lustig's novella, Tmá nemá stín (Darkness Casts No Shadow). [2]

The story of the film is very simple. Two Jewish boys escape from a Nazi
Jan Nemec's Demanty noci (Diamonds of the Night, 1964)
Nightmares and daydreams
transport train, stagger through the woods, ask for food at a farmhouse, then are betrayed and captured by the local Sudeten volunteers. The boys are put on trial and condemned to death, but they may or may not be executed. This is not, however, a conventional "open ending" since the audience is given two endings. A choice must be made.

The film's main narrative device centres on a pair of boots which has been exchanged for bread on the train. It is because of the ill-fitting boots that they will be captured. A close-up of the mud-caked boots leads to an immediate flashback to them in the railcar among emaciated camp members. It is the first of a series of close-ups that provide a potent evocation of increasing lameness. In repeated images, we see boots painfully eased off, the bruised feet painfully unwrapped or prodded.

Film sensation

Unlike other films based on Lustig's writing, Němec's film constantly breaks with conventional narrative and psychological motivation. He is not interested in telling a story or explaining the actions of his characters, but in making a close identification with their mental state. The novella, of course, also employs a flashback structure, but it is conventionally motivated.

Němec's objective can best be described as a search for psychological truth. Recognising the debilitated state of his heroes, he places intense emphasis on
Jan Nemec's Demanty noci (Diamonds of the Night, 1964)
In search of psychological truth
the interaction between physical sensation and mental states. Němec walks a tightrope between the two, conveying flashbacks and fantasy in a continuum in which past, present and future comprise a single reality. The hand-held camera is placed so close to the action that it is virtually a third participant in the flight. In an exhausted and semi-feverish state, the boys push on as memories and fantasies break into their consciousness.

Rarely attempted in cinema—Démanty noci is one of the few examples—this is an entirely logical, even "realist", approach. The focus on physical sensation is conveyed through texture, lighting, and sound-harsh sunlight on jagged rocks, ants filling the socket of an eye, the sound of rain soaking into the earth, a bubble of blood in a dry mouth, a fantasy scene of childish laughter on crisp winter air.

Němec's admiration for the Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel is evident in this work, with obvious influences from Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog, 1928) and L'Âge d'Or (The Golden Age, 1930). However, these are no mere quotations and are embedded in Němec's own approach.

Like many of the adaptations of Lustig's work, Němec's film expands from its
Jan Nemec's Demanty noci (Diamonds of the Night, 1964)
Symbolic points of reference
historical context to emphasise a symbolic relevance, an application to other situations and times. The struggle against persecution and injustice is a permanent one, and the film seems more concerned with the fact and experience of persecution than an analysis of its historical context. The final image in which the heroes appear to march on into the woods suggests an unresolved situation.

The film draws on the photographic talents of both the established cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera and the young Miroslav Ondříček, who also worked as assistant cameraman to Kučera on three other features. Ondříček, who photographed a third of the film (this was before his collaboration with Miloš Forman), was responsible for the remarkable use of hand-held camera. Kučera's flair for photographic texture, evident in such films as Vojtěch Jasný's Všichní dobří rodáci (All My Good Countrymen, 1968) and Věra Chytilová's Ovoce stromů rajských jíme (The Fruit of Paradise, 1969) is also apparent.

Němec again worked with Kučera on the Czech New Wave's manifesto, the five-director adaptation of stories from Bohumil Hrabal's Perličky na dně (Pearls of the Deep, 1965). In the episode "Podvodníci" (Impostors), he examines the situation of two old men on the brink of death, who construct artificial pasts. One claims to have been a famous opera singer, the other a successful journalist. But Němec, the "auteur," allows Hrabal's characters and dialogue to dominate, and maintains a respectful distance from the two boastful old men.

Everything going unexpectedly to plan

Němec once said, "When one lives in a society that is essentially not free, it is the obligation of every thinking person to attack obstacles to freedom in every way at his disposal..." With his next film, O slavnosti a hostech, he made what would prove to be one of the most politically controversial films of the sixties.

The film is based on a novella by Ester Krumbachová, who had first worked
Jan Nemec's O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)
A Krumbachová collaboration
with Němec as costume designer and uncredited story editor on Démanty noci, writing her first screenplay with Zbyněk Brynych for ...a pátý jezdec je Strach (The Fifth Horseman is Fear) the same year. Němec and Krumbachová married (to prevent the confiscation of her flat) and worked together on his next two films.

The story was originally written with no plan (or hope) of publication when Němec suggested that it would make a good film. They went through four or five drafts before arriving at the final screenplay, which they thought couldn't be made. And yet it was. In fact, it was filmed without changes, shot over a five-week period on a very low budget.

Němec points out that his name was quite marketable at the time. Démanty noci had won awards at international festivals and achieved foreign sales; therefore, it was viewed favourably by the government. On the other hand, he notes, O slavnosti a hostech could never have been made without the protection of writer and production group head Jan Procházka.

Totalitarianism by the lake

The film describes what happens when a group of "guests," who have been invited to a lakeside party, find themselves surrounded by thugs and then
Jan Nemec's O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)
Jan Klusák as a guest
taken to a forest clearing and interrogated. Although they initially wonder about the identity of these additional guests, it is soon apparent that these are members of the secret police and that Rudolf, the apparently imbecilic interrogator, is their leader. When one of the group, Karel, steps out of the circle in the gravel to which they have been symbolically confined, he is pursued and roughed up.

At this point their host appears, making admonitory noises to "the boys" and conciliatory overtures to the "guests." He leads them to a lakeside banquet, where their places are interspersed with those of the police. However, it soon transpires that one of the guests has disappeared. "He did not want to be here at the party," says his wife.

After some prevarication, it is decided that he should be hunted down and persuaded to return and, for added efficiency, they will take a gun and a fierce dog. The original guests remain behind at the banquet, where they douse the candles as an economy measure. The screen turns black and the snarling of a dog is heard amplified.

The professional identities of the seven guests remain somewhat obscure, but they all appear to be "middle class" (ie they are well-dressed and materially ambitious). Josef (Jíří Němec) organises the rest of the group during the interrogation, to comply with the police documents. He assumes a seat at the right hand of the host and is entrusted with a speech suggesting that they should hunt down the missing guest. Several references in his dialogue suggest that he may come from a legal background.

Jan Nemec's O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)
Karel Mareš: Principled stand
Karel (Karel Mareš), the only guest to complain, is roughed up and has the fringes of his carrier bag cut off. However, his principled protest is easily assuaged by an apology and the return of his cigarette lighter. František (Pavel Bošek), an altogether less obvious character, speaks of "complaining later" and owning a new house. He also speaks to the host about "special favours."

The escaped guest (Evald Schorm), apart from ritual agreement with his wife's platitudes about the landscape, says nothing (especially when everyone claims to be a democrat).
Jan Nemec's O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)
Pavel Bošek: Special favours
In a world in which words and actions have lost their meaning, silence appears to be the only possible response from the man of principle. His wife (Jana Prachařová) seems mainly preoccupied with consumer comforts, a desire to adapt, be reasonable and not rock the boat. She is worried about the collective pursuit of her husband, since he is wearing his new suit. "Women have so much to forget," observes the host. The other two women, the flirtatious Eva (Zdena Škvorecká) and the scatterbrained Marta (Helena Pejšková), are more than willing to adapt.

Thinly veiled attack?

A host who is clearly a political leader and somewhat resembles Lenin, a dissident who runs away, a wife who remains a hostage, a society underpinned and ultimately structured by the role of the secret police. Surely this can only be Czechoslovakia under Communism? Yet, as Němec points out, the resemblance to Lenin was accidental and, even today, he denies that it was a film directed at the government.

It is, he says, as relevant today as it was then; it is about both
Jan Nemec's O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)
A dictatorial Lenin lookalike
governmental and institutional power. It is about the guests and the ways in which they accommodate their lives and their views to the dominant power and ideology. Ultimately, it is the people who create the system of which they are apparently the victims. Thus, Němec is not happy that the film has been viewed merely as a veiled attack on the government.

Parallels have been drawn between O slavnosti a hostech and Buñuel's El Angel Exterminador (The Exterminating Angel, 1962), in which a group of guests find themselves unable to leave a house as a result of their own inertia. The easy adaptability of Němec's heroes could also be linked to the heroes of Buñuel's Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, 1972). However, Němec had not seen the first film and the second came later. Although there were no direct influences upon this work, Němec is clearly happy with the film being placed in the company of Buñuel's work.

Other potential influences could include "the theatre of the absurd." In the mid-sixties, both Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett were produced on the Prague stage, as were the first plays of Václav Havel and Josef Topol. The film's dialogue is apparently endless and consists principally of disconnected sentences. Krumbachová said, "I tried not to mimic real speech but to suggest its pattern, to find a language for the sort of phenomenon that Ionesco discovered in drama." Unlike Ionesco, she argued that she tried to use paradoxes and absurdities to depict her characters, but did not regard the world itself as absurd. Josef Škvorecký referred to the effect as representing "a strange deafness, an appalling apathy and a peculiar alienation."

Despite the emphasis on dialogue, images still play a central role. "In the past," observed Krumbachová, "heroes used words to describe tragic situations. Now, tragedy is revealed by pictures, and our words have no relationship to what we see."

Jan Nemec's O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)
Menacing banquet
The images were inspired by the photojournalism of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Goya's Caprichos and press photographs including, for instance, images based on the Vietnam War or John F Kennedy. The banquet itself was constructed on the model of Nobel Prize dinners, but every chair was different (a point referred to in the dialogue). The intention was to render the images familiar without relating them to any specific historical situation.

And yet, when President Novotný saw the film, he apparently "climbed the walls" (almost literally, according to Němec) and demanded the arrest of the
Jan Nemec's O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, 1966)
Evald Schorm:
Guest with everyday courage
director. He apparently interpreted the film as a commentary on the banning of Evald Schorm's film Každý den odvahu (Everyday Courage, 1964). More likely, the film presented an all too recognisable portrait of society and, although Němec insists that he was not attacking the government, his cast, drawn principally from the Prague intelligentsia, contained no-one who supported it.

Apart from Ivan Vyskočil, who played the host, the cast was made up of non-actors, including, for example, Jiří Němec, a psychologist and later a Charter 77 spokesperson, composers such as Karel Mareš and Jan Klusák (who played Rudolf, the head of the police) and film director Evald Schorm, who was identified both personally and through his films as someone of moral integrity. The cast also included the novelist Josef Škvorecký and his wife Zdena Salivarová-Škvorecká, who were later to emigrate to Canada, and Dana Němcová, who was also to become a Charter 77 spokesperson. It was a virtual photo album of "counter revolution," says Němec-only Havel was missing.

A filmgoer reminisces

Němec escaped the threat of jail (although the film was banned until the Prague Spring of 1968) and rapidly began another film, for fear that he might not be allowed to complete it. Mučedníci lásky was completely non-political, although it was condemned as incomprehensible. It was a tribute to the chanson, or popular song, in which, said Němec, "the most serious things are sung about in a light-hearted, cheerful and even sentimental manner." Škvorecký has linked the film to the twenties tradition of Poetism in which poetry was sought in the manifestations of popular culture.

The film consists of three "gloomy farces": "Pokušení manipulanta" (The Temptations of a White Collar Worker), "Nastěnčiny sny" (Nastěnka's
Gloomy reveries
Reveries) and "Dobrodružství sirotka Rudolfa" (Orphan Rudolf's Adventure). In the first, the hero saves up his money, dreams of romance, spends an evening on the town, meets a girl and returns to the cold dawn of everyday life.

In the second story, Nastěnka, a waitress, dreams of marrying a famous or wealthy man. She is obsessed with a pop star (Karel Gott) before departing with an army doctor (Jan Klusák), finally escaping to a passing train and ending up with a middle-aged traveller. In the third episode, an orphan is welcomed to a party at a large house and falls in love. But, after returning to work, he is unable to rediscover the house where he had found happiness.

Němec said that the film could have been subtitled "From the reminiscences of a filmgoer," as it certainly evokes the world of silent cinema and slapstick comedy. Yet, apart from the Chaplinesque attire of the white-collar worker, the influences are almost subliminal-recognisable but unable to be placed.

If O slavnosti a hostech became a collective representation of the
The Chaplin influence?
Prague intelligentsia, Mučedníci lásky paid tribute to the world of popular music that was one of the manifestations of the sixties cultural revival, with music written by Karel Mareš and Jan Klusák. The voices of Marta Kubišová, Eva Olmerová and Karel Gott play a dominant role in the creation of the film's emotional mood. The film also features jazz musicians Jan Hammer and Miroslav Vitouš, both of whom were to establish international reputations in their years of exile after 1968. (Hammer, in fact, would later compose the music for Němec's V žáru královské lásky and Jméno kódu Rubín).

A change of visual style

After the sombre and controlled visual style of O slavnosti a hostech, where the photography was by Jaromír Šofr, Němec moves here to a mood of sad lyricism, in which the cinematography of Miroslav Ondříček is a key factor. In the first episode, the hero alternates his erotic imaginings with views of life in other apartments as seen through his window. He sees the legs of dancers, struggling bodies on a bed, an old couple gazing through net curtains, the silhouette of a girl, a baby and a woman washing her hair. The night gives these banal images a wistful sadness, thereby achieving a strange kind of poetry.

In addition to Ondříček's photography there is, of course, Krumbachová's costume design, a major contribution to so many of the films on which she
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worked. While the visual style of the film vaguely indicates the inter-war years, it is set at no particular time. If the film's music comes from the sixties, it also is designed to evoke a lost world of imagination and feeling. Like O slavnosti a hostech, the film is familiar, yet detached from the reassurances of place or time.

As a disciple of the film-maker's personal style, it is surprising how much Němec's sixties films differ, although they all reject conventional narrative form. The obvious explanation might be the role of Krumbachová in the second two, but Mučedníci lásky is also very different from O slavnosti a hostech.

The film critic's search for continuity and creative responsibility may not be appropriate to some of the forms of "free" collaboration apparent in some of the New Wave films. Although Krumbachová directed only one film (Vražda ing. Čerta / The Murder of Engineer Devil, 1970), Miloš Forman once described her as the best director he knew. Michal Bregant's description of her at Karlovy Vary's 1992 tribute is surely the most apt: "...she was the charming conscience and supporter of a generation of film makers. Film directors would turn to her and she would generously bestow ideas and inspiration." But the films are, above all, a testament to their time-unforeseeable and unrepeatable.

Stolen hearts, stolen screenplays

Němec's film-making in the sixties did not end there. In 1967, he made the short film Mutter und Sohn (Mother and Son)in the Netherlands, which won the Grand Prix at Oberhausen. Made without the approval of the authorities, it did nothing to improve his standing. A series of short films featuring Marta Kubišová were made for television and released as the feature Náhrdelník melancholie (A Necklace of Melancholy) in 1968.

Then, of course, in the same year came Strahovská demonstrace (The Strahov Demonstration), an analysis of the student demonstrations of 1967 and Oratorium pro Prahu (Oratorio for Prague), a record of the Warsaw Pact invasion. Both were banned.

The second had begun as a documentary portraying Czechoslovakia in 1968. Josef Škvorecký was to write the commentary. By the time he saw the film in Paris, it had completely changed its form:

Tanks smashed into the idyllic counterpoints. Next to the dancing Smrkovský lay a boy shot by a machine-gun. Next to a priest raising a chalice stood two boys with a bloodied flag. Next to Dubček waving to the crowds, a Soviet political officer waved his revolver at the crowds from a tank turret. One of the cameramen who had made the film was, at that time, lying in a hospital with his jaw shot off. [3]

It was Oratorium pro Prahu that provided the news footage for Western television stations, and it was later used in the Hollywood adaptation of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1987) for which Němec was an advisor. The two films marked the end of Němec's career as a film maker in Czechoslovakia until the fall of Communism in 1989. No longer available on film, Oratorium pro Prahu exists on video in the USA. [4]

Havel and Němec
Silenced and identified as someone who should never be allowed to make a film again even if he were to sign the appropriate documents of contrition, Němec finally gained permission to emigrate in 1974. After he had boarded an Air France plane, which prepared for take off, two men with machine guns appeared and forced a return to the departure gate. Taken from the plane, he was interrogated and his luggage, which contained several screenplays, was confiscated. Among the screenplays taken was Václav Havel's "Heartbeat." However, Havel's screenplay may not be completely kept from the screen by this confiscation, as Němec hopes to partially use material from "Heartbeat" in his next film project.