Free Films – marion hÄnsel RETROSPECTIVE at Griffith Film School 1-8 March

SynopSiS

Four people on an isolated farm in the middle of an arid, red land. A blinding light… Modern times, although the period is uncertain. A story of strength and power, sexual desires, and possibly madness. The confinement of these people will oppose. Magda and her father,the white and the black race, the masters and the servants. The isolation and the heat become nerve-racking. Frustrations, passions and fears are revealed, and will bring about a greater solitude: a woman’s choice to lock herself away from the rest of the world, for the sakeof remaining on the land that she loves. Her forefather’s land.

The only white man Magda knows and loves is her father. She craves for affection, but her father is a silent and unconcerned man. He seduces the wife of his foreman (Hendrik), a young and beautiful black woman. Frustrated and hurt, Magda spies on them. She witnessesthe passion- ate love-making, the sensuality from which she is excluded. In a fit of wild jealousy, she kills her father and buries him with the help of Hendrik.

She tried to establish a new relationship with her servants. Although she is still “the mistress”, she becomes a slave as well. If Hendrik and his wife remain submissive, they now sometimes dominate her.

The power switches sides alternatively. Desire, transgression and sex are the centre of this con- stant change.

Pushed too far, Hendrik finally rapes Magda, then runs away with his wife, fearing he may be accused of the murder of his master. Magda stays on, stranded on this desert part of the world. Nothing to gaze at but the horizon.

Is her story true or is this her delirious nightmare?

Saturday 2 March – 4pm

THE QUARRY

SynopSiS

On a lonely stretch of road near a small coastal town a murder is committed. There is no one to witness the act and no one who could predict the bizarre repercussions which must inevitably follow. By taking on the identification of his vic- tim, the murderer cannot foreseethe sequence of events which, once set in motion, are inescapa- ble, not only for him, but for all the town’s inhabitants – from the light-fingered Valentine, who unwittingly leads them to the body , to Captain Mong, who cannot rest until he gets his man.

And beneath the apparent workings of justice, contradictory forces are at war…

Saturday 2 March – 7pm

BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

SynopSiS

An old freighter, belonging to a company that has gone out of business, drops anchor off Hong Kong. The crew aboard has to wait a week, or more, top get paid. After that, who knows what lies ahead?

Among the sailors there is Nikos, a radio opera- tor, a man of few words, weary of life, an intro- vert and opium addict, and Li, a little Chinese girl living on the sampans in the bay of Hong Kong, doing cleaning work on the ships while they’re in port.

«Between the devil and the deep blue sea » is the story of the friendship that arises between this lost man and a bright little girl who won’t her- self be defeated, who keeps her innocence in spite of the chaos in her life.

Fragile and transparent as the light of Hong Kong, this story is made of silences, expectations and sorrow.

Sunday 3 March – 4pm

BLACK OCEAN | NOIR OCEAN

SynopSiS

Three young boys aboard a French naval vessel in 1972, unaware of the risks they run and the dramatic effects on our planet, take part in the nuclear tests in Mururoa, in the Pacific.

A raw acerbic story about the relationships of the men on board, confronted with discipline, violence, occasionally friendship but most of all by a solitude and distress that cannot be  shared and is much too heavy to bear when one is only 18.
Sunday 3 March – 7pm

CRUEL EMBRACE | LES NOCES BARBARES

SynopSiS
Ludovic, the fruit of a brutal and frustrating first love, is hated by his young mother Nicole. He spends the first five years of his life locked in an attic.
Nicole marries Micho, an older man, who attempts to make Ludo lead normal life. But Ludo’s relationship with his mother doesn’t improve. Haunted by the memories of her rape, drowning in alcoholism and contemptuous of her husband, the young woman has her son committed to an insane asylum.

Ludovic, however, never stops thinking about his mother, whom he adores as much as he fears. Ludo accidently sets fire to the asylum on a Christmas Eve and runs away.  He finds shelter on a wrecked ship stranded off the coast. He is at peace with the world at last. But the desire for his mother’s love is stronger than everything. He writes to her and brings about the heartbreaking and inevitable moment of mutual recognition.

Monday 4 March – 7pm
IL MAESTRO

SynopSiS

Walter Golberg, brilliant orchestra conductor, renowned in the USA, returns to Italy after a 10-year absence to direct an opera from its beginnings.

During the first rehearsal, the conductor feels faint and leaves the stage. He takes refuge in his hotel, pretends he is ill and announces that he is giving up his contract. The administrator of the opera house gradually gets him to admit the real reason for stepping down.

The conductor makes a confession on the balcony of his hotel room, overlooking the sleeping city. Goldberg tells the story of the months he spent hiding in a village in Umbria, pretending to be an accountant, towards the end of 1944, waiting for the arrival of the allies.

The story of how he meets and lives with another runaway, who is pretending to be an orchestra conductor, draws us into a world of comic ambiguity and human complexity.

The theme of creation of false identity raises the questions of talent and mediocrity, friendship and betrayal, sincerity and deceit, and above all, guilt and remorse, as the Maestro becomes caught in his own trap. Goldberg turns around to face the administrator and finishes his story.

The reasons for his inability to direct the opera at last become clear… the last piece is fitted to the puzzle… Will Goldberg find the strength to conduct the opera… ?

Tuesday 5 March – 7pm
THE BED | LE LIT

SynopSiS
EVA’s husband is dying by her side. For 24 hours she will  remember  her husband’s illness, their happy life, their love.

For 24 hours, she will care for him, attend his needs, patiently awaiting his inevitable death. EVA learns DEATH by fits and starts. Pain comes and goes, hope returns, LIFE as strong as an ocean. EVA was born for  happiness. When facing tragedy she remains somewhat aloof. Facing agony, she dares say “healthy people watch the sick with the same stupor as a fish might do following a bird in flight”.

This is the story of the strength of life versus death, of the slow and painful preparation to carry on living after your loved one’s death.
Wednesday 6 March – 7pm

CLOUDS: LETTERS TO MY SON | NUAGES

SynopSiS

As long as she can remember, Marion Hänsel has been fascinated by clouds. During her travels and on film sets, she would watch them, photo- graph them, even sometimes film them. This dream-like material gave her a very simple, yet very daring, idea: to make a movieabout clouds, with no other claim than to allow the spectators to dream.

When we think of clouds, we immediately think of Magritte and his big white cumulus, which, with their strange shape, evoke images: a dog, a sphinx, a camel… but next to this classical vision, a childhood memory, there are so many other types of clouds, as well as whatinterferes in their formation, or clouds reflected in the mirrored surface of lakes, pools, or windows, printing their pattern closer to us, or rain, hail, snow: the intangible becomes tangible.

Abandoning fiction for one film, she questions the images and the sounds suggested by clouds, as they remind her of her own dreams, the light- ness of bodies and their pleasure in flying among clouds. She probably remembers that she was a trapeze artist and a tightropewalker, before becoming a moviemaker.

This composition is rhythmed by letters that Marion Hänsel has written to her son, since his conception. Love letters, small delicate touches, tender, painful and joyful.

Thursday 7 March – 5pm

A LESSON IN FILM – IN CONVERSATION WITH MARION

An in depth interview with one of the world‘s foremost film personalities, a master in her field, is intensively researched and then interviewed specifically by Charlie Strachan and Herman Van Eyken in order to have her talk about the core of her craft and the personal choices she has made to succeed in her chosen fields of writing, directing and producing. This interview will be recorded live and edited into a DVD.
The objective of this interview is to bring to light some insights on film making from professionals in the sector that are willing to share their  experiences and provide some food for thought for film students or young film professionals.

An opportunity of questions and answers from the audience will conclude  the Lesson in Film.
Thursday 7 March – 7pm

SOUNDS OF SAND | SI LE VENT SOULEVE LES SABLES

SynopSiS
On the one hand, there’s the desert eating away the land. The endless dry season, the lack of water. On the other there’s the threat of war. The village well has run dry. The livestock is dying. Trusting their instinct, most of the villagers leave and head south. Rahne, the only literate one, decides to head east with his three children and Mouna, his wife. A few sheep, some goats and Chamelle, a dromedary, are their only  riches. A tale of exodus, quest, hope and fatality. Rahne and his family travel across hostile lands under a lethal sun, walkingendlessly onwards and frequently crossing paths with death.  But Sounds of Sand is also a parable about determination and eternity that takes us in the footsteps of Shasha, a nomad child full of the joys of life, whose tenacity and strength will conquer her father’s love.

Friday 8 March – 3pm – SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW

TENDERNESS | LA TENDRESSE

SynopSiS

A couple, separated for the past 15 years, find themselves together again for the duration of a two day journey to go and get their son, hospitalized in another country after a serious ski accident. What do they still feel for one another indifference, rancour, jealousy? Or perhaps complicity, friendship and, who knows, love. This light-hearted road movie, which takes us from Brussels to the summit of the Alps, will allow us to discover two profoundly sincere beings for whom we can only feel tenderness.

For the FIRST time in Australia, our audience has the opportunity to see Marion’s newest production, and ask her about her inspirations and what’s next.

All screenings are FREE, but seats are limited – Bookings ESSENTIAL. 

Email:  gfs@griffith.edu.au to reserve seats