Menu

A MUSEUM SLEEPS (UN MUSÉE DORT)

Dir.: Camille de Chenay,  C: Gary Guénaire, Nadia Tereskiewizc, Alexandre Marouani, Alexandre Michel, Brigitte Buc, DOP: Maxime Bonan, FRA 2020, 71 min., French OwEs – International Premiere

A head framed by hands; a face illuminated by dramatic light. The eyes roll, the mouth opens. The voice is accompanied by piano chords. Chloé calls for her beloved Ornicar, who has abandoned her. His search for her keeps him and the camera in restless motion for the next 71 minutes. And the city, its landscapes and nature itself get involved: soon plants begin to speculate aloud, and sleepless Parisians dance amidst floods of color. In her first feature, Camille de Chenay assembles improbable spaces and situations in defiance of gravity. Critics have tried to describe A MUSEUM SLEEPS through the frameworks of magical realism and the clichés of French filmmaking since the film’s premiere at FIDMarseille. If only language were a match for the power of cinema…

FREIZEIT OR: THE OPPOSITE OF DOING NOTHING (FREIZEIT ODER: DAS GEGENTEIL VON NICHTSTUN)

Dir.: Caroline Pitzen, C: Jasper Penz, Juno Groth, Lilly Marie Dressel, Maxim Hartig, Mila Wischnewski, DOP: Markus Koob, GER 2021, 71 min., German OwEs – World Premiere

“… there seems to be no will to clear up the case.” Scraps of a speech resound through the streets of Berlin. A young man seems to be taking a stand on the NSU. When Caroline Pitzen fades in the title of her film after a few minutes, Germany is shown as the arena of political struggles. “Alerta, Alerta, Antifascista!” has consequently become the premise of everyday life for some: Young people who do not want to distance themselves from the unrest in the world — who do not look away, but weigh, discuss, perceive, remain attentive. Just like the film’s camera, which quietly follows and observes them wherever they are active: in their circle of friends, at school, on the street, even at home at night. A vérité fiction in the language of non-fiction cinema. Understatement in the face of escalation?

Debate: TALKING STYLE – March 7, 8 PM

Is there a slang in cinema? What new visual dialects are emerging as a reaction to the present? Two unpredictable films about the lives of young people, whose images and sequences of images open up a debate about past, present and future forms of cinematic expression – about cinematic signatures and what constitutes a visual style.

Guests: Caroline Pitzen, Jennifer Reeder, Rahel Jaeggi
Moderation: Frédéric Jaeger

We present the programme TALKING STYLE in collaboration with the Film Network Berlin.