'Decency is a tedious, puritan concept,' says the French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico. Like one of his major sources of inspiration, Walerian Borowczyk, Mandico uses a dreamlike approach to express fierce desires that cannot be controlled. This cinematic universe has lots of room for the absurd, erotic, burlesque and macabre – without at any point becoming speculative. The irrational sensuality of imagination and dreams intertwine with physical landscapes.
Mandico (b. 1971) was educated as an animator in Paris, and has created numerous eclectic shorts since the 90s. To achieve an incoherent style, he sets up rules for himself (ref. the Incoherence Manifest), including: dismissal of all scripted rules, films must be hybrids of at least two genres, filming must take place on outdated film stock, time and place must be unclear. The viewer encounters a stylized world in color saturated images, where nothing is 'natural' and the direct understanding is only a veneer covering layers of possible interpretations.
His career highlight so far is the ingenious and sobre tribute to Borowczyk in the fantasy documentary Boro in the Box, which premiered in Cannes and received e.g. the grand prizes in Vila do Conde and Clermont-Ferrand (the world's largest short film festival). Along with Elina Löwensohn he is now working on the series 21 films in 21 years, where the goal is to document the aging process of an actress.
Minimalen wishes to highlight this filmmaker and his cinematic approach which, together with our retrospective of Borowczyk films, exhibits a distinct and liberating approach to the art of film. We are very proud to have both Bertrand Mandico and Elina Löwensohn here to introduce the films.
The Incoherence Manifest
1. Rejection of any rule of screenplay.
2. The sound will be created in post production.
3. Filming must be done on expired film stock.
4. Special effects must be made in-camera
(overprint, projections etc). Banish post-production.
5. Use of optical effects in-camera (filters etc).
6. The film must be in an uncertain geography,
timeless, ban any realistic effect.
7. The material for the sets (scenery, costume and props)
must come from found material.
8. Films must be hybrids containing at least two genres.
9. The film used can be 16mm, 35mm, Super 8mm.
10. The director must be the author, cameraman
and art director of the film.
11. Actors will alternate non acting and overacting.
12. The film does belong to any aesthetic or narrative tendency.
It must have a deep and fragile cinematography.
October 12, 2012
Katrín Ólafsdóttir and Bertrand Mandico
Del 1 Torsdag/Thursday 22:00
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 1998 | Ani.Exp. | 11 min
LE CAVALIER BLEU
Den blå rytter, avlet i helvetets kjøkken, rømmer og legger i
vei for å utforske en merkelig, drømmeaktig verden. Fanget
som han er i alle slags manipulasjoner, ender han opp med
selv å bli en legende.
The blue horseman, born in the kitchens of hell, escapes and
sets off to discover a strange, dreamlike world. Caught up in all
kinds of manipulations, he ends up becoming a legend himself.
Production: Arnaud Moria – Les Télécréateurs
Print: Bertrand Mandico
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2006 | Exp. | 12 min
IL DIT QU'IL EST MORT…
En hengt mann løftes etter repet opp gjennom grenene på et tre. I det han er midtveis i sin oppstigning mot himmelen
og døden renvaskes han av kvinnen som hadde anklaget
ham for en forbrytelse. Han vender sakte tilbake til livet,
liggende i graset, mens han stirrer på alt omkring seg.
Hoisted by his rope, a hanged man is lifted up through the
branches of a tree. While he is in the middle of his ascent
toward the heavens and death, the woman who'd accused
him of a crime clears him of it. He gently comes back to life,
lying in a field, gazing at everything around him.
Production: Olivier Boischot, Patrick Dumont,
Narimane Mari – Centrale Électrique
Print: Bertrand Mandico
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2007 | Fic.Exp. | 11 min
MIE, L'ENFANT DESCEND DU SONGE
Fire malerier. Ode til naturen.
Four paintings. Ode to nature.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Editing: Laure Saint-Marc | Cast: Anna M, Aline Ahond, Thierry Benoiton
Production: Olmo Mayakoff - L'Oeil qui Ment
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2007 | Fic. | 4 min
ESSAI 135
Andreï forsker på plantenes soniske minne. Han har utviklet
en teknikk for å hente fram lyder fra fortiden. Andreï ønsker å holde oppdagelsene for seg selv.
Andreï researches the sonic memory of plants. He has developed
a technique for making sounds come back from the past.
Andreï wants to keep a tight lid on his discoveries.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Camera: Pascale Granel |
Editing: Véronique Lange | Cast: Patrick Dumont, Aline Ahond, Katia Golubeva (narrator)
Production: Olmo Mayakoff – L'Oeil qui Ment
Print: Bertrand Mandico
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2009 | Exp. | 6 min
SA MAJESTÉ PETITE BARBE
Tre forsøk på hypnose på barn.
Three attempts at hypnosis on children.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Editing: Laure Saint-Marc | Cast: Anna M, Patrick Dumont (voice-over)
Production: Olmo Mayakoff – L'Oeil qui Ment
Print: Bertrand Mandico
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2011 | Fic. | 41 min
BORO IN THE BOX
Dette er den "fantasmiske" historien om filmskaperen
Walerian Borowczyk, fra dagen han ble unnfanget til
hans cinematiske død.
From the day he was conceived to his cinematographic
death, this is the fantasmatic life-story of filmmaker
Walerian Borowczyk.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HENRY DARGER
(LÍF OG DAUÐI HENRY DARGER)
Henry Darger reiser rundt etter de isete veiene på Island for å få svar på hvor lenge han har igjen å leve. 'To timer', svarer
en blåhudet sannsigerske.
Henry Darger travels the icy roads of Iceland to learn how
much time he has left to live. 'Two hours', he is told by a blueskinned
clairvoyant.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Editing: Laure Saint-Marc |
Music, sound: Erwan Eyck | Foreign producer, production manager: Katrin Olafsdottir |
Cast: Harpa Arnardottir, Karl Guomundsson, Tomas
Lemarquies (voice-over)
Production: Olmo Mayakoff, Bertrand Mandico -
L'Oeil qui Ment
Print: Bertrand Mandico
Fièvre er en merkelig kvinne som samler på døde dyr. Hun
puster liv i dem i animasjonsfilmer. En dag kommer en
mann på besøk: hans kone er død.
Fièvre is an enigmatic woman who collects dead animals. She
brings them to life through animated films. One day, a man
comes to see her: his wife has died.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Camera: Pascale Granel |
Sound: Laure St. Marc | Music: Tazartes |
Editing: George Cragg, Laure St. Marc |
Cast: Elina Löwensohn, Jean-Marc Montmont
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2013 | Fic. | 10 min
PREHISTORIC CABARET
Under et kabaretnummer i Arnarstapi på Island foreslår en
seremonivertinne at vi foretar en reise dypt inn hennes
organer for møte selve urvesenet. Mens reisen pågår faller
publikum i transe for å nå ekstasen.
In Arnarstapi (Iceland), during a cabaret number, a mistress of
ceremonies proposes to us a journey into the center of her organs
to go and meet the original being. During the journey, the
public enters a trance to reach the ecstasy.
Script: Bertrand Mandico, Elina Löwensohn |
Camera: Arnar Thorisson, Bertrand Mandico |
Editing: George Cragg | Production design: Bertrand
Mandico | Production manager: Katrin Olafsdottir |
Cast: Elina Löwensohn, Katrin Olafsdottir
Production: Emmanuel Chaumet – Ecce films,
Co-prod.: L'Oeil qui Ment
Print: Ecce Films – Joséphine Avril, e: avril@eccefilms.fr
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2014 | Exp. | 7 min
SALAMMBO – UNDEAD 6
Gamle Salammbô lever et ensomt og fattigslig liv på en isolert
nordisk øy. Hjemsøkt av minner er det spesielt ånden av
henne selv som ungdom som er plagsom, og noen ganger
trakasserer henne og andre ganger bøyer ryggen hennes
slik at hun ikke lenger kan se den blå himmelen.
The elderly Salammbô lives a solitary life of destitution on a
Nordic island. Haunted by her memories, she is bullied by the
phantom of her youth, which sometimes harasses her and
other times bends her back so that she can no longer see the
blue sky.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Cast: Elina Löwensohn
Production: Pennequin Alix – Le Septième Continent
Print: Bertrand Mandico
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2014 | Fic. | 30 min
NOTRE DAME DES HORMONES
To skuespillerinner bruker helgen på å øve på et skuespill i
et landsens hus. På en skogstur graver de fram en uformelig
masse av kjøtt dekket med hud og hår som blir gjenstand
for begjær og forstyrrer vennskapet deres.
Two actresses rehearse a play during a weekend in a country
house. Dug out of the earth in the woods, a mass of flesh
covered with skin and hair becomes an object of lust and
undermines their friendship.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Camera: Pascale Granel,
Bertrand Mandico | Editing: Laure Saint-Marc |
Production design: Astrid Tonnelier | Cast: Elina Löwensohn, Nathalie Richard, Michel Lebayon, Agnès
Berthon, Michel Piccoli (narrator)
Production: Emmanuel Chaumet – Ecce films
Print: Ecce Films – Joséphine Avril, e: avril@eccefilms.fr
Director: Bertrand Mandico
FRA 2014 | Fic. | 9 min
MEMORIES OF A BOOBS FLASHER
(SOUVENIRS D'UN MONTREUR DE SEINS)
En brystblotter beretter, en brystblotter lar oss få se.
A boob flasher tells us, a bob flasher allows us to see.
Script: Bertrand Mandico | Camera: Bertrand Mandico |
Editing: Laure Saint-Marc | Production design: Bertrand Mandico | Cast: Elina Löwensohn
Production: Bertrand Mandico, Elina Löwensohn -
L'Oeil qui Ment
Print: Ecce Films – Joséphine Avril, e: avril@eccefilms.fr