Darkness, Darkness, Burning Bright (2022) Galle Rouard

Expressive solarized nightscapes in a personal and poetic filmmaking style with fully hand processing 16mm imagery, made and projected by French filmmaker Gaëlle Rouard. Shown in its original 16mm format, Gaëlle Rouard’s latest work unfolds in two acts. First, the “Prelude“, whose intrigue rests on a landscape traversed by iridescent Chinese shadows provoking a profusion of sensations. Each shot is a tableau vivant, chiaroscuro, Rembrandtesque. Life is incarnated in the emulsion like a new beginning. But, the shadows of death make one pause and reflect, as hinted by the title of the second act, “Oration“. The celluloid prism brings perceptions to light, revealing the poetic and narrative force of abstraction. A fitting metaphor of photochemical cinema, elaborated by Gaëlle Rouard in her own laboratory. For many years, she has used it to experiment with particular techniques that make her work unique.