Film
“We are going to scale down, trim our sails”, - the two art directors of LUFF were fooling themselves not so long ago. Those were just words, as the sails have not diminished any, and possibly are flying even higher... Let's make a brief count: 5 days of the festival, 92 films, 24 concerts, 5 workshops, 11 performances L'OFF, 3 conferences, 2 exhibitions, 1 book, 8 venues, with the addition of the dynamic LUFF.FM and the prolific video-makers of LUFF.TV.It's only after taking a step back to observe the situation that you realize it. Of course this is not a proud declaration of a new record or a remarkable exploit; just a simple but satisfying acknowledgement of the result of our efforts. We wanted to trim our sails, but what can you do : the eagerness to give a chance to be represented to as many as possible varyingly obscure artists keeps having the upper hand.
With L'OFF – which has certainly added a new dimension to the festival these last years – and the music program, a new theme has surfaced: that of the sound as a weapon or a tool of oppression, of manipulation. An exciting subject, not only because it is fun, but also because it brings into focus the methods of subjugation of which almost all of us are blissfully ignorant. They are frightening, they are harmful, and as with all things frightening and harmful it is better to play with them while being aware of their influence, than to let them have their way with us. So expect to endure as we put it into practice in various ways announced , but also to learn thanks to the presence of performers and speakers with the expertise in the matter.
As to the film program, that could almost go it alone this year (with the exception of the presence of the sadistic experts Vicky Langan & Maximilian Le Cain who will appear on the stage of Salle des Fêtes as well as in the films of the Experimental Film Society), it appears dressed up as an obituary. It includes the homage to the sulphurous Greek director Nikos Nikolaidis who disappeared just about 10 years ago, a retrospective dedicated to the founder of necrorealism Yevgeny Yufit, who left us prematurely last December, and the restored version of the experimental masterpiece “Uliisses” of the German director Werner Nekes who passed away in January.
But vigour and vitality will be present, have no doubt, thanks to an overabundant and even orgiastic program in which noise, fury, debauchery, Mauvais genres and poetry will unite in an intermeshing of images and frequencies that is as good for your mind as a massage with aloe vera for your skin. If you have doubts about such benefits, simply tell yourself it can't hurt.
Have a great festival!
Julien Bodivit
