KINDERGARTEN
kindergarten
Writer & Director: Yann les Jours
Produced by Kotti Films
2'59" / Experimental Documentary / France 2023
Black and White / ProRes or H.264 / 2k 1:85 / Stereo or 5.1 / language : English / Filmed in Czech Republic
Visa 160.664
Unifrance profile https://en.unifrance.org/movie/58791/kindergarten
credits
Production : Kotti Film
cinematography / direction / editing / sound: Yann les Jours
with Valeryia Kim and Yann les Jours
Synopsis
Valeriya tells Yann a story of her childhood in Balkhash, while Yann is giving her directions, filming her.
What we hear is her story, what we see is her silence.
Valeriya racconte à Yann une histoire de son enfance, dans la ville de Bakhlash au Kazakhstan, pendant que Yann lui donne des indications de mise en scène, la filme, l'éclaire.
On écoute son histoire, on contemple son silence.
Director Statement
"kindergarten" is one of my three short films, with "Mars" (2023) and Sonnet (2024), that explores the poetical rhythmicity as mean for questioning the conventions of cinematic storytelling. As "Mars" follows the structure of the haiku, and "Sonnet" follows the structure of the sonnet, "kindergarten" follows the more complex structure of the villanelle.
It was filmed in the corridor of the youth hostel of Jihlava with a perfectly unprepared protagonist and me, being that director/DOP/sound engineer who wished he had an extra tripod rather than holding the light in his tired left hand.
Then, from that impossible equation something happened, everybody, every part of our bodies and brains had this "letting go" state that allowed poetry to appear. My tired left hand became a sun, the unprepared protagonist shared one of her most precious memories, the youth hostel corridor turned visible a mental landscape that no other set could ever represent...
critique (it): BELLE LETTRES AL REFF – UNA EDUCAZIONE AL RICORDO par Stefano Bolzoni
in MEMENTO – Rivista di critica cinematografica _ 16.03.2024
https://mementocinema.it/2024/03/16/belle-lettres-al-reff-una-educazione-al-ricordo/
