Bearing Witness

The six films included in the Bearing Witness program analyze the role played by the camera as an omnipresent witness of our era, urging us to question our own positioning as creators, consumers or subjects of the images this instrument helps us create. In a world dominated by images, what does what we choose to show or to hide say about us? Armed with a camera in hand, where does the difference between an author and an aggressor being? What responsibility do we have in producing and reproducing images and what is the influence of a collective visual conscience in mediating or shaping our understanding of certain social, cultural and historical realities? (Oana Ghera)

WILD FLOWERS

Karla Crnčević | Duration 11 min.

“My father used a camera just once in his lifetime. After 30 years he asked me to digitise the VHS material he filmed. I was wondering what he remembers.” Connecting politics with intimate spaces, Wild Flowers questions both the influence of war on private archives and the role of gardens as places of new beginnings.

THE FILM YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE

Maxime Martinot | Duration 11 min.

Please note that the film you are about to see is taken from real material of cinema history, namely the disclaimers and warnings that frame the existence of many films. However, any collusion between art and industry, any conflict of interest between freedom of creation and the law, or any hint of moralism on the life of images, would be purely incidental and unintentional.

MARIA SCHNEIDER, 1983

Elisabeth Subrin | Duration 25 min.

In 1983, French actress Maria Schneider gives an interview for the TV show Cinéma Cinémas. The conversation takes an unexpected turn when she challenges film industry practices and is asked to talk about the controversial film Last Tango in Paris (1972).

DEAR GERALD

Jasper Rigole | Duration 11 min.

Dear Gerald starts as a reflection on the medium of the home movie and the nature of the archive but slowly reveals the problematic side effects of publishing private images. What do authorship and consent mean in an online environment? The film is conceived as a response to an online review of one of the home movies from Jasper Rigole's IICADOM archive.

ARDENT OTHER

Alice Brygo | Duration 16 min.

A stunned crowd faces a fire. The threat has no name, a diffuse anguish spreads. Fear needs to be conjured, fire must be turned into a sign.

BEEN THERE

Corina Schwingruber Ilić | Duration 10 min.

Weekend trips, city breaks, a detour into nature or around the world. Barely a few days off, you’re already gone. Never before has the desire to travel been so widespread and visited places so overloaded. What do we get out of it, other than the picture proof that we have been there?