American Mystic (2010) by ALEX MAR

American Mystic
Alex Mar, USA, 2010, 80 min

 

Set against a vivid backdrop of bucolic rural landscapes, American Mystic weaves together the stories of three young Americans exploring alternative religion. Chuck is a Native American sundancer and new father striving to balance his religious practice and family responsibilities in the South Dakota badlands; Morpheus is a pagan priestess who finds spirituality in the earthy terrain of California mining country; and Kublai explores Spiritualism in upstate New York, a modern incarnation of the area’s storied history of religious revivalism.

Alex Mar’s meditative documentary artfully sews together its subjects’ introspections with the landscapes of their quintessentially American districts. Their reflections are intercut with their work on the farm, drives along deserted highway, and hikes through mountain vistas. Gently applying these tropes of Americana to her story of fringe communities, Mar crafts a poetic tapestry of religious plurality, serving as a complement to prevalent depictions of religious America as homogenous and Christian. Chuck, Morpheus, and Kublai pursue religious insight in disparate, exceptional ways, but are united in a uniquely American vision of transcendence (TribecaFilm.com)

 

AmericanMysticTheMovie.com

Les Statues Meurent Aussi (1953) de CHRIS MARKER & ALAIN RESNAIS

‘Dieu lui a montré le chemin, il imite Dieu et c’est ainsi qu’à son tour, il invente l’Homme’

Les Statues Meurent Aussi
Chris Marker et Alain Resnais, France, 1953, 30 min

 

Quand les hommes sont morts, ils entrent dans l’histoire. Quand les statues sont mortes, elles entrent dans l’art. Cette botanique de la mort, c’est ce que nous appelons la culture.

 

Les Statues Meurent Aussi (1953) de CHRIS MARKER & ALAIN RESNAIS

Sans Soleil (1983) de CHRIS MARKER

‘L’éloignement des pays répare en quelque sorte la trop grande proximité des temps’

Sans Soleil
Chris Marker, France, 1983, 100 min

 

Le réalisateur incarne un cameraman fictif, Sandor Krasna, rédacteur de lettres lues tout au long du film par Florence Delay. Dans ses écrits, il va traiter successivement du temps, de la mémoire, de la fragilité humaine face aux séismes du Japon ou encore face à la famine, menace constante au Cap Vert ou en Guinée-Bissau. Le cinéaste voyage alors aux « deux pôles extrêmes de la survie » tel qu’il le dit lui-même. Il montrera non pas les difficultés pour ces sociétés à s’en sortir, mais plutôt leur façon de vivre et d’exister au-delà de ce qui peut leur coûter la vie. Car comme il l’annonce : « Moi, ce que je veux vous montrer, ce sont les fêtes de quartier ». – WIKI

Urban Land Project (2011) de TIM SIMMONS

TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)

Tim Simmons’ images compel viewers to reconsider the notion of « landscape. » Focusing on the innate texture and detail of the land, he sets out to draw audiences deeper into it. Several of his photos were recently displayed in large-scale format along the arteries of Los Angeles and Philadelphia in a commission entitled Urban Land Project. Each city afforded a unique perspective of his work, compelling passersby to reflect and reconnect with their surroundings. (The Anthropologist)


TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)TIM SIMMONS Urban Land Project (2011)

Je pense qu’on partage l’aspect ‘compelling passersby to reconnect with their surroundings’ de son travail. Merci à l’Homme Mort pour la découverte.


***


Tim Simmons was born in 1955. He lives and works in Norfolk, England.