Hungarian director Béla Tarr is one of the contemporary filmmakers to most fearlessly develop a challenging modern aesthetic, breaking new frontiers in his exploration of space, time and the human condition. Starting out with social realist dramas such as Prefab People (1982), followed by more experimental work including chamber drama Almanac of Fall (1984), Tarr went on in 1988’s Damnation to develop the style for which he is best known. His black-and-white features engulf the viewer in a singular, often cruel universe in which human tensions play out against metaphysical agonies, the dramas evolving at their own exacting pace. In collaboration with editor Ágnes Hranitzky and writer László Krasznahorkai – sometimes adapting his own novels – Tarr creates works in which long, meticulously choreographed manipulations of individuals, crowds and camera present a stark but not despairing image of the human predicament. His work includes some of the most haunting and philosophically searching films of the age – among them, the epic Satantango (1994), Georges Simenon adaptation The Man From London (2007) and Tarr’s closing statement The Turin Horse (2011), inspired by an event in the life of Nietzsche. While Tarr retired from directing to establish the film.factory school in Sarajevo, he has recently taken up his camera again to shoot new short material for the current exhibition of his work at EYE, Amsterdam. In this rare masterclass, he will be talking about his career with illustrations from several of his films.
Thu 26 Jan, 15:00, de Doelen Van Cappellen Zaal, €5.50