A contemplation on mortality and the fading memory.
€ 4,5 / 6 / 9
Hit Him on the Head with a Hard Heavy Hammer departs from the handwritten memoir of the filmmaker’s father and his experience of displacement during wartime. Referring to the notion Thomas Hardy termed ‘The Self-Unseeing’ in his eponymous 1901 poem, the film returns to childhood and the matters that harden us: upbringing, social status, education, labour, and familial bonds. The memoir weaves into the film as both a contemplation on mortality and an illustration of fading memory, reflecting on how we pen our pasts and how they can be re-told.
49 min.
in English
followed by a discussion with the artist and Clara Schulmann (in English)
Rebecca Jane Arthur is a visual artist working predominantly with the moving image and text. She is co-founder of the Brussels-based, artist-run production and distribution platform elephy, contributor to the online film criticism platform Sabzian, and a PhD in the Arts candidate at KASK & Conservatorium/School of Arts Ghent.
https://www.instagram.com/rj_arthur/
