"One of the best films ever made about watching a documentary" - David Schwartz, Chief Curator at the Museum of the Moving Image, New York
Synopsis: In this deeply personal video diary, a young researcher tries to make sense of her fascination for the film "The Pain of Others" by Penny Lane. A deep dive into the discomforting world of YouTube and online conspiracies, that challenges traditional notions of what documentary cinema is, or should be.
Screenings (chronological order):
Muestra Internacional Apropiación Audiovisual in Lima (PE) [work-in-progress]
Museum of the Moving Image in New York (US) [World Premiere]
Belfast Film Festival (IE)
Marienbad Film Festival (CZ)
Jozi Film Festival (ZA)
Adelio Ferrero Festival (IT) - First Prize in the Video Essay Competition
dokumentART (DE)
Corsica.doc (FR) - Professional Jury Award
Kasseler DOKFEST (DE)
Escales documentaires (FR)
Caminhos do Cinema Português (PT)
FIPADOC (FR)
transmediale (DE)
Signos da Noite (PT) - Night Award
Les Inattendus (FR)
MiradasDoc (CI)
Hyperlinks: a Static Vision Festival (CA)
DC Independent Film Festival (US)
Artdoc Festival (IL)
Images Festival (CA)
EMAF (DE)
Cheap Cuts DocFilmFest (UK) - Special Mention for Unconventional Sorytelling
Signs of the Night Bangkok (TH) - Night Award
Riga Pasaules Film Festival (LV)
Festival Libre du Moyen Métrage (FR)
NOFLASH Video Show (USA)
Cosmo Festival (IN)
Festival ECRÃ (BR)
Sinevizyon Uluslararası Kısa Film Festivali (TR)
Signs of the Night Berlin (DE) - Night Award
International Moscow Film Festival (RU)
Rendezvous with Madness Festival @ Pleasure Dom (CA)
Festival Libre et indépendant du Moyen-Métrage (FR)
Festival Signes de la nuit Paris (FR) - Special Mention in the Documentary competition
Kurzfilmfestival Köln (DE)
Entrevues Belfort (FR)
Broken screen (AR)
Beijing International Short Film Festival (CN) - Best Film Award (in the International Competition)
La Casa Encendida in Madrid (Spain)
Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival (USA)
Winnipeg Underground Film Festival (Canada)
This film was named one of Sight and Sound's "Best Video Essays of the Year" and published by the peer-reviewed journal [in]Transition. It was produced in the context of a PhD project entitled "Documenting the Internet", conducted in the art-research program SACRe (Ecole normale supérieure de Paris / PSL University) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dork Zabunyan (Université Paris 8) and Prof. Dr. Antoine de Baecque (ENS de Paris).
English, French, Spanish and Portuguese are available via the CC button in the bottom right corner of the player.
Here is a collection of video essays that I like quite a lot, ranging from cleverly framed supercuts to experimental collages, near-documentary analyses to audio-only exploration. It's an ever-changing list; things will get added and removed on a whim.
Here is a collection of video essays that I like quite a lot, ranging from cleverly framed supercuts to experimental collages, near-documentary analyses to audio-only exploration. It's an ever-changing list; things will get added and removed on a whim.
My definition of 'video essay' here is very broad, encompassing even pieces of video art that offer some salient structural analysis of a film. [Added note: LJ Frezza's "Nothing" is in here too, even though I consider it to be a singularly brilliant work of video art moreso than video essay.]
At present I have not included any of my own videos in this collection.
