https://www.sabzian.be/text/work-book-paris-calligrammes-2020

Work Book: Paris Calligrammes (2020)

Introduction by Marlena von Wedel

From December 6th, 2024 until February 2025, CINEMATEK is presenting Theatrum Mundi: Ulrike Ottinger Retrospective – a complete film retrospective with an accompanying exhibition that zooms in on selected film projects and processes of the artist. Here, a select few of Ottinger’s “work books” are at display, allowing a wonderful insight in the creation of her cinematic oeuvre.

In the context of the exhibition, Sabzian is publishing exclusively a selection of images from Ottinger’s latest film project Paris Calligrammes (2020), an autobiographical journey through Paris of the sixties describing the inspirational foundation of her oeuvre.

In preparation for her projects, Ottinger produces thick books, in which visual and literary snippets are collected in a cut-and-mix collage technique. Some of these only contain script, others are collections of photographs, people, objects, poems, or any information on how a certain mood might be created. Often, they are not only work books but also travel diaries with vocabulary of the other language, maps, phone numbers, important addresses or notes. Ottinger prepares these books as inspiration – as mood board for the actors and as storyboard for the camera. They accompany her on the sets and serve as basis for the discussion with the film crew.

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Paris Calligrammes (2020)

Theatrum Mundi: Ulrike Ottinger Retrospective is a project initiated by the Goethe-Institut Brussels in collaboration with CINEMATEK and Sabzian. The Paris Calligrammes work book is published with courtesy by Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduktion and Stiftung Deutsche Kinematek, Archiv Ulrike Ottinger. All visuals and copyright by Ulrike Ottinger.

ARTICLE
15.01.2025
In Passage, Sabzian invites film critics, authors, filmmakers and spectators to send a text or fragment on cinema that left a lasting impression.
Pour Passage, Sabzian demande à des critiques de cinéma, auteurs, cinéastes et spectateurs un texte ou un fragment qui les a marqués.
In Passage vraagt Sabzian filmcritici, auteurs, filmmakers en toeschouwers naar een tekst of een fragment dat ooit een blijvende indruk op hen achterliet.
The Prisma section is a series of short reflections on cinema. A Prisma always has the same length – exactly 2000 characters – and is accompanied by one image. It is a short-distance exercise, a miniature text in which one detail or element is refracted into the spectrum of a larger idea or observation.
La rubrique Prisma est une série de courtes réflexions sur le cinéma. Tous les Prisma ont la même longueur – exactement 2000 caractères – et sont accompagnés d'une seule image. Exercices à courte distance, les Prisma consistent en un texte miniature dans lequel un détail ou élément se détache du spectre d'une penséée ou observation plus large.
De Prisma-rubriek is een reeks korte reflecties over cinema. Een Prisma heeft altijd dezelfde lengte – precies 2000 tekens – en wordt begeleid door één beeld. Een Prisma is een oefening op de korte afstand, een miniatuurtekst waarin één detail of element in het spectrum van een grotere gedachte of observatie breekt.
Jacques Tati once said, “I want the film to start the moment you leave the cinema.” A film fixes itself in your movements and your way of looking at things. After a Chaplin film, you catch yourself doing clumsy jumps, after a Rohmer it’s always summer, and the ghost of Akerman undeniably haunts the kitchen. In this feature, a Sabzian editor takes a film outside and discovers cross-connections between cinema and life.
Jacques Tati once said, “I want the film to start the moment you leave the cinema.” A film fixes itself in your movements and your way of looking at things. After a Chaplin film, you catch yourself doing clumsy jumps, after a Rohmer it’s always summer, and the ghost of Akerman undeniably haunts the kitchen. In this feature, a Sabzian editor takes a film outside and discovers cross-connections between cinema and life.
Jacques Tati zei ooit: “Ik wil dat de film begint op het moment dat je de cinemazaal verlaat.” Een film zet zich vast in je bewegingen en je manier van kijken. Na een film van Chaplin betrap je jezelf op klungelige sprongen, na een Rohmer is het altijd zomer en de geest van Chantal Akerman waart onomstotelijk rond in de keuken. In deze rubriek neemt een Sabzian-redactielid een film mee naar buiten en ontwaart kruisverbindingen tussen cinema en leven.

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