A stunned crowd faces a fire. The threat has no name, a diffuse anguish spreads. Fear needs to be conjured, fire must be turned into a sign. The film proposes an immersive experience surrounding the spectators of a fire, diving into the realm of their different interpretations. Always off-screen, the fire becomes a signifier inflated by the imagination, which crystallizes a certain climate of societal tension.
Director's Statement:
The project started with the images I filmed of the people facing the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris. The emotions that spread through the crowd and the mass behaviors I witnessed were then reconstructed using photogrammetry and sound staging. The reconstitution of this moment through the film testifies an atmosphere that is still contemporary: an era marked by a globalized loss of reference points between information and rumor, by the rise of nationalism and identity-based radicalizations, and by the media that only stir up conflicts for their own profit. It is a reflection of my own stupor among this anxious crowd, an attempt to grasp this climate of group psychosis that seems to be spreading on the networks, in France, and elsewhere.
A stunned crowd faces a fire. The threat has no name, a diffuse anguish spreads. Fear needs to be conjured, fire must be turned into a sign. The film proposes an immersive experience surrounding the spectators of a fire, diving into the realm of their different interpretations. Always off-screen, the fire becomes a signifier inflated by the imagination, which crystallizes a certain climate of societal tension.
Director's Statement:
The project started with the images I filmed of the people facing the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris. The emotions that spread through the crowd and the mass behaviors I witnessed were then reconstructed using photogrammetry and sound staging. The reconstitution of this moment through the film testifies an atmosphere that is still contemporary: an era marked by a globalized loss of reference points between information and rumor, by the rise of nationalism and identity-based radicalizations, and by the media that only stir up conflicts for their own profit. It is a reflection of my own stupor among this anxious crowd, an attempt to grasp this climate of group psychosis that seems to be spreading on the networks, in France, and elsewhere.
Director: Alice Brygo
Screenplay: Alice Brygo, Paulo Gatabase
Producer: Le Fresnoy: Luc-Jérôme Bailleul
Cinematographer: Alice Brygo
Sound editing: Paul Lajus, Alice Brygo
Sound recording: M’Hand Abadou Djezaira, Clémence Dufieux, Benjamin Poilane
Sound design: Paul Lajus
Editor: Alice Brygo
Composer: Fatma Pneumonia, Paul Lajus
VFX: Nathan Ghali
Cast: Clara Dessertine
Alice Brygo (FR) graduated from ENSAD Paris and Le Fresnoy. Her artistic practice is situated at the borders between documentary, fantasy cinema, and art installation. Her short film Soum premiered in Berlinale Shorts and was awarded Best Student Film in GoShort and Grand Prize at Brive cinema festival.
Alice Brygo (FR) graduated from ENSAD Paris and Le Fresnoy. Her artistic practice is situated at the borders between documentary, fantasy cinema, and art installation. Her short film Soum premiered in Berlinale Shorts and was awarded Best Student Film in GoShort and Grand Prize at Brive cinema festival.