Experimental film and live soundtrack 'In Vivo'. The film dives into a 'more than human' world, giving voice to other species through re-appropriation of archive footage while simultaneously exploring chemical interchanges with plants, water, salt, iron and copper. The soundtrack is composed by bass clarinetist and experimentalist Gareth Davis (Amsterdam).
In Vivo
DCP, 61 minutes, colour / b&w, 2021
Directed by Karel Doing
Soundtrack: Gareth Davis
Instruments and vocals: Anna Homler & Blanca Regina
Synsopis
Reality has countless layers, many of these will remain invisible to the untrained eye. In this elegy humans appear like ants, walking around their habitat in a preprogrammed way, while animals and plants act like individuals. This upside-down world has a strange attraction which is at once alienating and deeply familiar. The surface of the film material itself is present like a skin that breathes and interacts with the living world in manifold ways: grainy, ephemeral, tinted, vibrating. Time and space are blurred into a reality that is both specific and universal. The film is simultaneously a documentary, a home movie and a symphony. We see scraps of the filmmakers' personal history including encounters with his friends and family. But beyond those commonplace scenes, the film offers an unusual encounter with the real, embedded in a delicate composition of images and sounds. This is not a journey from A to B but rather a dive into the swirling yet nurturing waters of an ocean. If there is a story to be told than it is an unfortunate one. A recurring doomsday clock is counting down, reminding us that in the here and now species are disappearing rapidly from the planet. How long does it take to realise that our destructive behaviour is irreversible and threatens to destroy everything we love?
Directors statement
The emergence of meaning is habitually placed within the human realm, in particular within the obscure entity that we call 'mind'. The term is obscure as its material constitution is unknown. Still, we tend to disregard the gaping black hole that is left in our so called 'rational' conception of the world. Attributing a similar meaning making capacity to anything other than human is met with derision and ridicule. Music, poetry and abstract art are exceptions to the rule, providing a refuge where melody, rhythm and form are used to evoke embodied forms of presence and meaning beyond the strictly human realm.
Accompanying but separate to the screening is a workshop in the afternoon: Artist and filmmaker Karel Doing will give a workshop about phytography, a technique that makes it possible to render detailed chemical traces of plants directly on photographic emulsion. The process takes place in full daylight and makes use of biodegradable chemistry. During the workshop the artist will explain his technique and provide a hands-on demonstration. He will also talk about early photography, related experimental techniques and ecological awareness. Participants will work on photographic paper and 16mm film. The resulting animation will be projected in the evening as part of the screening programme.
N.B the workshop entails a fee and requires separate booking as places for the workshop are extremely limited.
This is the launch event for the new moving image film lab at Star and Shadow Cinema, created by Film Bee. Come and have a tour of the space and sign up for notifications of upcoming workshops and screenings.
