VERTIGO. How to stay in control of your material and conquer its dual nature?
We know a lot about the ways in which filmmakers use their material, image in particular, in order to manipulate spectators’ perception and provoke specific response. However, it is crucial to remember that filmmakers themselves are also affected by film image, and can be seduced, misled and ‘fooled’ by it. Sergei Loznitsa looks at the nature of the relationship between a filmmaker and his material and reflects upon the ‘pitfalls’, which are not easy to avoid.
Also in the masterclass, these short films by Sergei Loznitsa: Portrait – A portrait of Russian countryside dwellers. Not only we, as spectators, look into their faces, but they also look back at us. The film refers to the primary function of cinema, documenting ephemeral moments of human existence. Factory – Stunningly photographed in rich sacral tones, Factory takes the viewer on a visually mesmerising tour through the belly of an old Soviet industrial plant. A cinematic meditation on Man and Machine. The Train Stop – A remote train station deep in the Russian woods. Inside, everyone is asleep. Without narration, and bathed in a ghostly light, the film is described by Loznitsa as a metaphor for what people in Russia are feeling today, a sense of ‘falling out of time.’
