Corinne Cantrill. In This Life’s Body

In her own voice, Corinne describes the story of her life, the environment she grew up in, her family, details of her private life, her artistic career, her travels and the people who influenced her the most (friends, teachers, artists, intellectuals, colleagues, children), from her birth (1928) to the time the film was made (1982). These photos, taken in various contexts and mainly by amateurs - self-portraits, school photos, photos taken from family albums or the press - allow her to explore her identity through what they show or hide.

The photographs are shown within the timeframe of the medium of film so that a sense of time pervades them, in the movement of the grain, the length of the shot, the different cuts, fades and dissolves. The film also presents the range of photographic genres existing throughout her life.

Arthur and Corinne Cantrill share a long personal and artistic relationship with over a hundred films made over fifty years. Much of their collaborative work uses traditional techniques and results from thorough research into the primary nature of cinema. In This Life’s Body is a unique film within their vast oeuvre in which they approach the narrative genre from a personal perspective. Although it’s a film by Corinne, Arthur was also involved in its production.

In This Life’s Body, 1984, 16 mm, 147 min.

Digital projection. Copy courtesy of Arsenal. Original language subtitled in Catalan.