THE POETRY OF ELSEWHERE: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS OF GÉRALD ASSOULINE

A French academic and university lecturer in sociology –Grenoble, Saint Etienne –, a photographer and filmmaker, Gérald Assouline (Vincennes, 1951) deals with problems and projects regarding complex situations and disadvantage, from the socially excluded elderly to rural communities and young people in difficulty. He has made a series of films on these issues, including documentation of therapeutic situations (the case of social agriculture) and those in which the protagonists’ control of the recording equipment (such as the camera) makes first-person narration possible. Alongside these works – accompanied by workshops and learning activities – Assouline has developed a more personal type of production, both in photographs and films, initiating in particular from a series of journeys which are the basis for his exhibitions and films; award-winning work presented on various occasions, with photographs in various European collections and galleries. His “personal” films, which start out from stills, elaborate fleeting impressions, meditated upon further during editing, where the rhythm of sound, vision and music builds a delicate storyline made up of evocation, nostalgia and feelings of both curiosity and a sense of loss. The poignant poetry of the fleeting and the barely glimpsed, the elusive complexity of the other and the elsewhere. (from INVIDEO 2012 catalogue)

Programme:

Institut français Milano, November 9th, 6.30 p.m.

Gérald Assouline’s Photographic Projection

Night ZigZags,France, 2008,7’32”

Bellechambre, instants partagés,France, 2008, 10’50”

A la ferme de Claudette et Jean Christophe (à Vaugneray - 69670). Partie 2 France, 2012,20’

Histoires de P’tits Fermiers, France, 2007,9’

Spazio Oberdan, November 10th, 6.30 p.m.

Tango Baltico, France, 2003,8’30”

Night ZigZags, France, 2008,7’32”

13:04,France, 2012, 10’44”

Further information: http://geraldassouline.fr/