121280 Ritual
Pregnancy becomes ritual in Antoinetta Angelidi’s film of her son’s birth, finished 28 years later.
16'
Greece
IFFR 2024
In contrast to the titles of Angelidi’s other films, Topos is simply one word, it suggests in the most general way possible, ‘spaces’. Which is, in fact, what we see throughout the film – spaces. Theatrical spaces usually dedicated to the re-staging of a famous scene or sight from a painting known to experts of the Western canon. Some of these are intricately stage-bound, others feel stylised but are set in a real environment – Angelidi does not insist on a formal approach.
To further muddle the artistic waters a bit, we see here and there projections in the background. Or groups consciously arranged into a tableau vivant in the middle of an already abstract artistic display as if to satirise the concept of artifice itself. So what do all these levels of alienation do to the way we see women's bodies, how do they warp the idea of beauty – in which way does pain become a key to female existence? There's little in cinema quite like Topos and surely nothing else that looks at Western art in a similar critical style.
– Olaf Möller
IFFR 2024
Programme IFFR 2024
A sphere of collective remembrance and imagination offering restored classics, documentaries on film culture, and explorations of cinema’s heritage.
Read more about this programmePregnancy becomes ritual in Antoinetta Angelidi’s film of her son’s birth, finished 28 years later.
16'
Greece
IFFR 2024
An invasive film crew attempts to make a gritty documentary on some Cali slums.
27'
Colombia
IFFR 2024
A sensitive and insightful documentary on the art of Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti.
53'
Switzerland
IFFR 2024