Projection and discussion
35 Rhums
14 Feb 2022
The event is over
Lionel drives a commuter train. He has raised his daughter Josephine on his own since she was just a little girl. She is now a young woman. They live side by side, a little like a couple, rejecting the offers and concern of those around them. His daughter is all that counts for Lionel, and for Josephine, her father is all that counts. Little by little, Lionel realises that time has passed, even for them. Perhaps the time has come for them to separate…
"It's the film I turn to most, with each new project. It cleanses my vision, reminds me why I want to make films. It enables me to practise my scales! Filmed with a 35 mm camera, these images of the surroundings of RER line B have the beauty of the images in a John Ford film! Claire Denis brings film to my childhood stomping ground, she sublimates it through film. The first time I saw this film, I understood two fundamental things: it literally made me the place where I lived through different eyes, but it also asserted forcefully and tranquilly that a black body can embody the universal. That could be just a detail, unfortunately I really believe that it still isn't the case. Because this film exists, the question of representing black bodies can be set aside in my own films and I can ask other questions: about leaving a trace, learning to love, becoming a mother… and aspiring to make equally universal films by filming black bodies… This certainty was acquired here for the first time, and is the foundation of my future films." Alice Diop.
Claire Denis, 35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum, France, 2009, 100 min)
With: Alex Descas, Mati Diop, Nicole Dogue, Grégoire Colin
Session followed by an encounter with Alice Diop and Claire Denis, moderated by Jean-Michel Frodon
When
8pm - 10pm
Where
Claire Denis, 35 Rhums
© Arena Films