War memories told by young soldiers. About the friction between imagination and reality.
THE REMEMBERED FILM by Isabelle Tollenaere
The Remembered Film observes extremely young soldiers from bygone wars, lost in the woods. They are alone, or in twos or threes, and are wearing uniforms: Soviet, Wehrmacht or American. These visual observations are interspersed with interviews, in which the soldiers tell about rescue missions, about the loss of fellow warriors, or about revenge actions. They include memories of war that would be impossible for them to have experienced themselves, but which have nonetheless nestled into their memories. The distinctions between war and spectacle, history and representation, reality and imagination seem very thin indeed.
2018, Belgium, 18’
regie, camera, productie: Isabelle Tollenaere ⎪ geluid: Kwinten Van Laethem
PHANTASIESÄTZE (FANTASY SENTENCES) by Dane Komljen
Borrowing its title from an experimental text by Walter Benjamin, Dane Komljen's enigmatic Phantasiesätze reflects on the death and regeneration of a landscape struck by an infamous contagion. In a serene meditation on image-making and the slippery nature of storytelling, he ominously mingles anonymous home video footage with images of contemporary Ukraine’s desolate landscapes.
2017, Serbia, 17’
THE GIRL CHEWING GUM by John Smith
In The Girl Chewing Gum a commanding voice over appears to direct the action in a busy London street. As the instructions become more absurd and fantasised, we realise that the supposed director (not the shot) is fictional; he only describes - not prescribes - the events that take place before him."
1976, UK, 12’
