The Role of Chance
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.
Preceded by short film Gribouillisnowski
Scribbles.
The Role of Chance focuses exclusively on drawing and painting techniques used by the painter Henri Dimier. Shot over several weeks in the same artist’s studio, the film shows works in their different phases, processes rarely explained or little known. It also addresses many practical issues (choice of paper, pigment grinding, reports drawings, put the tiles, cliches...) as well as broader questions of method and inspiration (use of space, the role of contours, power of suggestion perspectives, use of random processes).
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).
