Saturday Feb 7
8:30 PM

LE JOURNAL D’UN VIEIL HOMME (The Diary of an Old Man)
D: Bernard Émond, C: Paul Savoie, Marie-Eve Pelletier, CA 2015, 82 min., French. OwES – WP

It is, indeed, “dreary” to realize that we can’t help the people we love to pierce their state of unhappiness, and yet Chekhov’s story is hopeful. It leaves us with the feeling that love and tenderness are never wasted. Something very comforting is left at the end of this bitter story: the understanding that although life is simply a matter of passing through, and no more than that, love itself, though always insufficient, is never in vain. This is why Nicolas’s final words – “Farewell, my treasure!” – are so wrenching. They leave us alone with this question, perhaps the only one that counts: “In the end, what really matters?” – Bernard Émond

Debate
Resistance – means, intention and reason for a cinema of enlightenment.

Resistance means to reject established routines. Through resistance, individuals defend themselves against circumstances that create social pressure and structural violence. Resistance is not passive, it implies activity. How can a constructive social dialogue result from this position of resistance? Actions rooted in a position of resistance can cultivate sovereignty, in culture, life practice and politics. How can an attitude of resistance prevail in these fields? How can an attitude of resistance an humanity be articulated? Does criticism have the power to convey it?

Participants

Bernard Émond (Director „Le journal d‘un vieil homme“, Québec)
Boris Nelepo (Critic, Russia)
Alfred Behrens (Author, filmmaker, lecturer HFF Potsdam)
Daniel Hoesl (Filmmaker, Austria)
Moderation: Frédéric Jaeger