The Angel
A singular voice in the world of experimental cinema, Patrick Bokanowski's work exists at the crossroads of animation, moving photography, and filmed poetry. Most of his films are gathered here, offering viewers a chance to fully grasp an unconventional artistic journey that deserves a presentation worthy of the project. Therefore, the artist will be on hand to discuss his work with at every screening, accompanied by Michèle Bokanowski, whose electroacoustic music helps shape these incomparable, dreamy films.
In the presence of the filmmaker, and composer Michèle Bokanowski
Preceded by short film Little Rootie Tootie
“Painted on 35 mm film, this is my first film.” (Patrick Bokanowski)
The climbing of an immense staircase made up of the most varied stairs.
Symbolic scenes occur on different levels where the characters seem to be prisoners of their deeds and of their own folly.
Attacks, explosions, maniacal and despairing searching, objects which independently move, walls, floors and ceilings which form and disperse.
The steep staircase leads little by little towards the zones of great light where human beings and nonhuman beings meet.
Patrick Bokanowski
Patrick Bokanowski is a French filmmaker who makes films between the traditional cinematographic genres: short film, experimental film, and animation. His treatment of the filmic material exists at the frontier of optical and visual arts, operating in a perpetual "in-between" to create. He calls into question the idea that cinema's essence is to reproduce reality, that is, our habits of thinking and feeling. His films contradict the "objectivity" of photography that is essential to most of the global film production. Bokanowski's experiments testify to purely mental visions that ignore conventional representations, affecting reality, transforming it, and giving viewers new perceptual adventures. His most notable work is L’ange (1982).
