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CinemaPRO -
Saturday, December 13, 2014 - 15:30
Written by:
Benny Jaberg
Cast:
Mstislav Biserov, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Bashirov, Nikolai Mikhailovich Budnev
Cinematography:
Joona Pettersson, Benny Jaberg
Editing:
Benny Jaberg
Sound:
Xavier Thieulin, Benny Jaberg
Music:
Marcel Vaid
Producer:
Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko, Benny Jaberg
Romanian premiere
Set against visually piercing Russian landscapes, THE GREEN SERPENT explores the conflicting feelings vodka awakens, from liberating creative urges, to (self-)destructive behaviors. The interviewees’ sincere testimonies that talk about the transition from agony to ecstasy and vice versa gradually become priceless existential meditations. Initially presented as a masochistic way to escape reality, and thus to avoid spiritual search, the drink proves to be the substance which brings them the creative revelation of the soul, making it possible to achieve transcendence and reach quintessence. (Gabriela Lupu, BIEFF)
Director:
Website:
Contact:
benny.jabert[at]gmail[dot]com
Festivals, awards:
- Locarno International Film Festival 2013
- Quartz Swiss Film Award 2014
- Cadrage Zürich Film Award 2013
- Best Short Film Darklight Film Festival 2014
Director's statement:
Driven by an interest in those substances that enhance life, I intended to show human nature through a prism where vodka is a catalyst for emotions and thoughts. Are we looking for ecstasy and finding escapism? Where does the longing for distraction transform into numbness? Does the lack or absence of something lead us humans to stumble and seek refuge in substances? Drunk or sober, which is the real person? According to who? To explore these questions, I sought passionate vodka drinkers. Those who walk a thin line between euphoric inspiration and bleak visions of a more psychotic nature. […] My film explores how drinkers aren’t always feeble, violent characters, but rather people with perhaps too much sensitivity. (Benny Jaberg)
Curator's comment:
THE GREEN SERPENT presents the experience of consuming vodka as a double encounter with two animals: the green snake and the white elephant, symbolizing Good and Evil, although both contain the two valences. The film begins with emphasis on the serpent’s self-destructive presence, and ends in a testimony of creativity, in the elephant’s presence. As the actor Aleksandr Bashirov said in the film: There are many sides to the same crystal. (Gabriela Lupu, BIEFF)
Driven by an interest in those substances that enhance life, I intended to show human nature through a prism where vodka is a catalyst for emotions and thoughts. Are we looking for ecstasy and finding escapism? Where does the longing for distraction transform into numbness? Does the lack or absence of something lead us humans to stumble and seek refuge in substances? Drunk or sober, which is the real person? According to who? To explore these questions, I sought passionate vodka drinkers. Those who walk a thin line between euphoric inspiration and bleak visions of a more psychotic nature. […] My film explores how drinkers aren’t always feeble, violent characters, but rather people with perhaps too much sensitivity. (Benny Jaberg)
Curator's comment:
THE GREEN SERPENT presents the experience of consuming vodka as a double encounter with two animals: the green snake and the white elephant, symbolizing Good and Evil, although both contain the two valences. The film begins with emphasis on the serpent’s self-destructive presence, and ends in a testimony of creativity, in the elephant’s presence. As the actor Aleksandr Bashirov said in the film: There are many sides to the same crystal. (Gabriela Lupu, BIEFF)