Sonia/iffr

24 Jan 2019
Winter's Night — Korea. Quiet. Slow paced. Beautiful. Melancholic. Cinematography... very bright night... obvious artificial lighting to my eyes but love the combination of different colour temperature light sources.
Your Face — China. I expected to see macro shots of faces... the face as a landscape. It was interesting to note how differently the females behaved in front of the camera, to me there was always more of a self-consciousness, an awareness of the self. In contrast the men, and particularly the elderly man that was falling asleep, had a certain self-assuredness. Certainly to fall asleep in front of the camera requires a complete lack of self-consciousness and level of comfort.. bordering on arrogance. It wasn't a bad film, but it didn't give me enough... perhaps it needed more than 13 faces to make a stronger statement.
The Heart of the Matter— Short films by Charlotte Pryce, British LA based artist. Interesting that although the artist/film-maker is interested in similar themes that I'm interested in e.g. materiality of the medium, analogue processes, optics I felt it largely to be a purely aesthetic exercise. There were moments of visual beauty, some stunning images but overall I didn't leave inspired. This is something I should reflect on in more detail as it has implications on how I can take my practice forward without boring myself as the audience. Analogue in moving image doesn't draw me in in the same way that analogue in still imagery does. Moving image analogue feels so nostalgic to me. Perhaps it has something to do with the process... I've not used the process and therefore I have no connection to it. As a result all I'm left with is my response to the work, rather than relating to or having a curiosity regarding the process of making the work. I think my work ought to be relevant to those that may not understand the process, that there should be something to gain from the work in spite of the process. Also not a fan of voice-overs.

25 Jan 2019
Manta Ray— Thailand. Bowled over by the cinematography, absolutely stunning visuals & created/staged landscapes (the lights in the forest). Asian cinema is not afraid of space, of slow pacing, of leaving gaps for our imagination to fill in the blanks. Introverted films or films for the introvert. Everything need not be stated EXPLICITLY all the time. There were moments that really moved me; I felt suspended in the flow of it... what an amazing thing to be able to achieve through the cinema screen. In contrast to last night's Charlotte Pryce pieces. I feel that pure abstraction with analogue moving image doesn't move me enough, in and of itself. Maybe it's the rattling of the projectors which remind you constantly of the material and keep your mind firmly grounded, acutely aware that you're in a cinema. Today's visuals, though abstract in parts, still overlapped with the "real" world... somehow that created a magic that was missing for me yesterday evening. How to achieve that magic? That fine balance between reality and the other-worldly, the dreamscape, the imagination... it's quite a tightrope to walk.
I loved the artificiality and surrealism of the lights placed into a sublime natural setting (the forest).
Kind of frustrated by the silence... the lack of dialogue. How can people have a relationship without verbal communication? But this film makes it seem almost normal, makes it seem possible. Are these my Western tendencies showing? It feels a little like a gimmick in film...I need to think about it a bit more.