Unspoken Cinema Blog 2023 CCC Canon

Together with other filmmakers, film critics, educators, cinephiles, etc... I was honored and asked by Benoit Rouilly critic, expert on slow cinema to reveal 10 of the greatest films of mines related to slow cinema. It wasn't an easy task to mention only 10 directors and their masterpieces, so I extended a little bit the list. I avoided to vote to the same director twice, keep rooms for other masters of slow cinema. 

Please click here to see the result 

If you're curious what others voted for click here

Under The Burning Sun an homage to Bela Tarr

My feature long experimental contemplative film "Under The Burning Sun" was shot on July 21st 2020, on Bela Tarr's 65th birthday. Nothing was prepared advance as usual, neither what's going to happen in my film after I press the "rec" button, nor had any idea the Maestro had his jubilee on this day. It's not a question this is Synchronicity and not a coincidence. I'm experiencing synchronicity almost on daily basis for years. I don't want to get into details, maybe another time. As usually in my films, neither the shooting day nor the filming location was chosen advance. Everything was spontaneous. 

Most of my films contains only static shot and one long take. The lengths of takes are vary. This film is slightly different. I shot two takes instead of the usual one, because I felt the magic is happening. It was sometime after 11am. The sunrays were almost vertical. There was not even one tree at all, to give shade and of course I left my umbrella and the sunblock in the car. I guess you all can imagine the consequences. 

Post-production was a real challenge to figure it out, where should I cut the story without causing aesthetic damage. The story was built by the life itself. My main "directorial responsibility" at the location (besides the chosen visual background of the scene) is usually to make decision, when to start and stop rolling. There is usually an opening scene and a closing scene where's nothing particular  happening but basically there are things require the viewer's eye and ear to do more work. 

The observation is an important part of the process. There's neither mise-en-scène nor directorial instructions. Only a very pure form of the sense and sensibility, harmony between the elements, a kind of Zen. 

In my films I don't use subtitle because the visual has the priority over the dialogue. It doesn't mean for example in this case the fishers dialogues are not important but not from my point of view. 

Ok, that's all in a nutshell. So the next day of the shoot, on July 22nd, I read about Bela Tarr 's birthday on social media and decided to dedicate this film to him as an homage. I'm not sure he'll ever watch this film, that was not the reason I made it. 

Boldog születésnapot!

"If you look for a meaning, you'll miss everything that happens." 

Andrei Tarkovsky

The story:

West Baray (The Great Reservoir) (dating back to the XI. Century) in Siem Reap, Cambodia is beneficial for people make a living from fishing, though this year the Almighty God is not so gracious to them. Fishermen and their households are among the poorest, marginalized and vulnerable people in the Khmer society.

...for a limited time the film is available on my vimeo channel here.

...information for distribution or screening please send me a PM! 

The Unbearable lightness of being

Benoit Rouilly critic and expert on Contemporary Contemplative Cinema (CCC) review on one of my film,"The unbearable lightness of being" shot entirely in Cambodia. The scene is reminiscent of him to the opening of Bela Tarr's and Agnes Hranitzky's world famous Satantango and some point he also compares the film to Lumière brothers, Andy Warhol, James Benning and Nikolaus Geyrhalter works.

click here to read the article

Do small film festivals and under represented filmmakers can catch film critics attentions?

The Bay

Last year I found a unique film festival for slow cinema lovers. It called "Slow Short Film Festival".  I missed the submission deadline but this year I was luckier. A few weeks ago I saw Nadin Mai's (Art of slow cinema, Tao Films Vod) tweet about the festival and decided to submit one of my experimental contemplative short. It wasn't easy to choose among approx the 40 contemplative films (two of them are related to the Holocaust) I shot in the last two years. I chose "The Bay" especially the first episode of the series of 3. I've been filming this episode on Koh Rong Samloem island in Cambodia, deep in the Gulf of Thailand at the beginning of this year. The notification date is July 24. and the event date is September 1. Not sure that my film can arose the jury's interest, but fingers crossed. Good luck for all the participants!

Another films of mine "Sunday of Zen" was screening on the prestigious Cefalu Film Festival in Sicily, Italy just a few days ago. The film was a homage to the Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami who passed last year. The film is very minimalist, a kind of zen film with philosophical meaning. I didn't think about that Sunday of Zen must win any award. I was happy that someone in the jury understand or maybe just liked it and officially selected for screening. Not sure the audience had understood the meaning, but hope at least they enjoyed the play of the dove. Unfortunately there's no any publication on the internet with the names of selected candidates. It's only known the jury selected among 1531 films and chose 100 finalist to award.

As an avantgarde filmmaker I started my "career" in my late forties a few years ago. I started developing my own style based on minimalism and observation. I haven't learnt such things in film school. I had no idea that I'm created the perfect 22 catch for myself. I became addicted by slow cinema slowly but surely. Last year I began shooting a zero budget a feature but lack of time and financials the project has halted. Of course filmmakers especially Chantal Akerman and Jonas Mekas  influenced me. Akerman's Hotel Monterey, Jeanne Dielman or when J Mekas crossing the Brooklyn bridge with his camera was a hit on me. Not to mention Bela Tarr's Damnation and Turin Horse went totally under my skin. Tsai Ming-Liang's Journey to the West and Stray dog's or Wong Kar-Wai in the Mood for Love or Chungking Express, Theo Angelopulos Eternity and a day, Tarkovsky Stalker or Mirror all changed and triggered something in me not to mention Yasajiro Ozu and Abbas Kiarostami's masterpieces.

The question is the same. How to reach the audience and also critics and how to get financial support. Which film festival and what category should I submit my film to be selected and which of my film should I choose? Basically non of my films fit perfectly to film festivals. There are categories for short and experimental films and even for slow cinema, but the genre of my films are somewhere beneath or just really don't know. I call Experimental Contemplative Slow Cinema or Experimental Contemporary Contemplative Slow Cinema my films. Basically I am making experimental contemplative short films. In many cases the whole or the part of the films are based on unexpected occasions but not exclusively. Therefore I used to say "I have the privilege to choose the location (but am I really who choose?), or "Someone Else", "Who is much Greater than me" who directing "my" films (basically directing the Real Life). I am just framing moving images on certain locations at certain times as I used to do it when I'm taking stills. I'm  just a messenger. ....and what is the message?

Ask Bela Tarr, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Tsai Ming-Liang, Jonas Mekas, Lav Diaz, Wong Kar-Wai, Lisandro Alonso, Pedro Costa, or James Benning....

Sometimes we hear but we don't listen. Sometimes we look but we don't see.