Films under Discussion I (1)

Jean-Claude Rousseau made his first films in super-8, editing the entire reels: they are extremely sensitive to changing light, intimate, meditative and austere creations in which “showing less allows us to see more” (J.-C. Rousseau). Jeune femme…, his first film, starts out from Vermeer’s painting and goes on to explore its motifs and compositional forms (the window, the map, a letter, the painting, the model, the light…) using the rhythmic possibilities of the cinema. Keep in Touch is a travelogue: “I was in New York, at a friend’s house. I had a camera, but the place wasn’t right, it was too full. Finally, I dared to open a very small door that was rather empty. And there, there was something to see, a frame that I seized.” In addition to the screenings, the session includes a reading and a dialogue with Rousseau on the subject of his references (Vermeer, Bresson), the relation between film and painting, and visual composition.

8 p.m. Talk by Jean-Claude Rousseau, followed by the screenings:

Keep in Touch, Jean-Claude Rousseau, 1987, 16 mm, 25 min.;

Jeune femme à sa fenêtre lisant une lettre, J.-C. Rousseau, 1983, video, 45 min.