Sarah Morris does not seek to make city documentaries, but looks for the ‘psychological space’. In Washington DC, that is the space of power: the political navel of the world. With unparalleled freedom, Morris’ camera – accompanied this time by nagging music by Gillick – moves through the centre of power. ‘Power’ is exclaimed by the science fiction-like traffic tunnels, the high entrance halls and the stiff blue eyes of the White House press man. This city is furnished to impress, to attract power to itself and express this. That the urban space has more influence than the people who live in it and work in it is apparent from the way in which Bill Clinton, then reaching the end of his term as president, is portrayed. With attention, in close-up – but with the same objective gaze as the mail sorters of the Pentagon or the joggers on Capitol Hill. In oversized underground car parks and on spotless boulevards, the people are replaceable pawns who keep the machinery they designed themselves turning. (SB)
Also in this combined programme
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Midtown
He’d not extreme of typical urban images, shot in midtown Manhattan with crazy light and colour captured in gleaming skyscrapers,swarming crowds and t -
Miami
Sarah Morris is known for her film Los Angeles (2005) and abstract paintings and prints, all of which visually explore the built environment and our… -
AM/PM
The seducing and seductive reality of Las Vegas, a completely guided, artificial reality aimed at making you spend as much money as possible in the… -
Los Angeles 2004
Portrayal of Los Angeles, the city that generates important images, shot in the days before and during the Oscars ceremony.
Film details
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2000
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2006
- Length
- 18'
- Medium/Format
- DV cam PAL
