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- You are here: Home > THE UNDERTAKER
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Online -
Friday, November 27, 2020 - 19:00
Written by:
Yael Bartana
Cinematography:
Itai Neeman
Editing:
Yael Bartana
Sound:
Daniel Meir
Producer:
Naama Pyritz
Production:
My-i Productions
Bodies dressed in shades of beige, white statues that are aged by time, soldiers wearing uniforms brought back to life only by nostalgia or criticism, weapons with orange tips - they are all used at the same in order to create a funeral-like performance. A group of armed people, who sit somewhere between the images of militants and performers, march on the streets of Philadelphia. Cops on bikes, security agents, and strangers armed with cellphones are witnessing them, protecting them. Between these two crowds a silent, untouchable, space takes shape. În the context of more recent events, we can ask ourselves: who are these statues for? And then the film will state: we are willing to bury your weapons, are you? (Emil Vasilache, BIEFF 2020)
Director:
YAEL BARTANA’s films, installations, and photographs explore the imagery of identity and the politics of memory. Her starting point is the national consciousness propagated by her native country, Israel. Central to the work are ceremonies, public rituals, and social diversions that are intended to reaffirm the collective identity of the nation-state. In her Israeli projects, Bartana dealt with the impact of war, military rituals, and a sense of threat on every-day life. Between 2006 and 2011, she has been working in Poland, creating the trilogy 'And Europe Will Be Stunned', a project on the history of Polish-Jewish relations and its influence on the contemporary Polish identity.
Contact:
ANNET GELINK GALLERY
Festivals, awards:
Sheffield Doc Fest 2020
“THE UNDERTAKER follows an obscure figure as she is leading her swarm of armed followers in a ceremonial march on the way to perform a mass burial ritual. Carrying a variety of weapons from different historical contexts, the choreographed group strides through numerous locations, eventually being guided by their leader to the burial site in which they dispose of the weapons they possess. Rather than a memorial to the dead, the group creates a human monument for the living, linked up with ghosts of the past. Addressing notions of militarism, nationhood, belonging, and memory, THE UNDERTAKER blurs the lines between fact and fiction and calls attention to the function of weapons in the perpetuation of our systems of violence, repression, and displacement.” (Yael Bartana)