Selfportrat between Prag and Vienna (Places and Monuments – 12)
HD video, 8:55 min.
Synopsis: On November 2, 2014, I travelled by train between Prag and Vienna. I like the old-fashioned charm of the Eastern Europe trains, with their mirrors and all. Sitting alone in my compartment, I was quickly overwhelmed by the effects of light caused by the motion of the train. The multiple spaces (compartment, the hallway, the exterior of the train to the right and to the left) were multiplied by reflections on glasses and mirrors, some of them presenting a reverse image of the direction of the train, a true expanded travelling.This optical dispositive amplified the effect of the natural flickering caused by the declining sun behind the series of trees along the railroad. There was under my eyes a true metaphor of cinema. I set up my camera upon my suitcase on the opposite seat (not enough space to use a tripod), I took clothing out in order to solidify the position of the camera, I shot and I staged myself in this paradoxical space. I could already see inside my head the film that could result from this.
Screenings and festivals : world premiere at Cinémathèque Québécoise in first part of Mount Fuji seen from a moving train, May 11, 2021; Picollo Festival Animazione, in San Vito Al tagliamento, November 20 to 27, 2021, retrospective at the Tehran International Animation Festival, March 2024.
shooting, editing, animation, drawings, and electronic manipulation of the sounds : Pierre Hébert
Arrival in Vienna, on November 2 2014, outside the train where I had shot the film. Photograph by my friend Peter Putz.
In Vienna, in Peter’s studio, watching the footage done in the train the day before.