Francofonia by Sokurov

I try not to tell people something. —  Sokurov

We eagerly divide up our lives into past, present, future (and history), and act as if the riddle of time, this most perplexing mystery, had been solved. Yet, a few scientists, philosophers, artists, poets, filmmakers and other mystics keep venturing outside these ready-made formulas.

Sokurov is such an explorer, such a pioneer: a student of Tarkovsky (“Tarkovski is for me the greatest, the man who discovered a new language, true to the nature of film as mirror of life, life as a dream.” — Bergman), Sokurov is not afraid of getting his audience lost.

A regular at Cannes, and the winner of a Golden Lion in Venice, Sokurov has produced two memorable films, Mother and Son and Russian Ark which, like the latest one shown here, Francofonia, are in Tarkovsky’s lineage, digging into the forces of nature and its various embodiments.

Through a rich mixture of documentary and fiction footage, composed like the free verse reflections of a visual archeologist – the film plays with our tired eyes: will it be able to jolt us out of our endless complacency and arrogance?

 Sokurov is what cinema can be at its greatest. His films have a visual power and moral depth that create an unforgettable emotional experience. I hope this great filmmaker finds the audience in America that his work deserves. – Susan Sontag

 – at the Plaza Frontenac –
— the official Francofonia trailer —