Short Film Festival of Switzerland at HeK

In collaboration with the Short Film Festival of Switzerland (Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur), the HeK presents three short films by Swiss artist Laurence Bonvin.

The Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur is a guest at HeK and presents a selection of short films by Swiss artist, photographer and filmmaker Laurence Bonvin. Her short film «Avant l’envol» was presented during the last 67. Berlin International Film Festival and in 2016 she won the Swiss Cinematography Award for the camera work at the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur. In her photographic and video works Laurence Bonvin explores the interactions between urban infrastructures and the society, while approaching topics related to the symbolism of architecture and landscape design, national heritage and metropolitan transformations. She often portrays the incongruities between the utopic, modernist discourse articulated by the political authorities through urban planning and the daily life and needs of the population. The projection is preceded by a short introduction and talk between Laurence Bonvin and John Canciani, artistic director of the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur.

Avant l’envol, 2016, 20:00, video HD, sound, colour

Avant l’envol explores the actual state of a selection of significant modernist governmental buildings in Abidjan, the main Ivorian city. As an architectural tour as well as a tribute to the remarkable architectural achievements of the 60s till 80s and to –among others architects– Henri Chomette, a special attention is given to users and passersby, to their gestures and ways of informally appropriating the spaces for their needs. Monumentality appears here as a reminder of the ambitious and utopian vision of an era and architecture itself becomes a metaphor for power that eventually reveals a state of lasting status quo.

Sounds of Blikkiesdorp, 2014, 25:20, video HD, sound, colour

Sounds of Blikkiesdorp offers a minimal immersion in a newly built “temporary relocating area” in the far periphery of Cape Town. Erected by the municipality from 2008, it has been occupied by people from different backgrounds, some who were forcefully moved to that hostile and isolated place before the 2010 World Cup. Despite the very harsh living conditions and the uncertainty of their future, the people we encounter do all they can to improve their house and to make a living. In a place of violence, informality and resourcefulness, music becomes the link between the houses and the alleys, the soundtrack of Blikkiesdorp.

After Vegas, 2013, 21 min, HD, sound, colour, with Stéphane Degoutin

After Vegas explores the territory in, around and under Las Vegas. It penetrates spaces that have little to do with the city’s usual glamorous image. In slow and painterly shots, the social and suburban landscape depicted is one of crisis and resilience. Meeting unexpected characters, we discover lives that are on the verge of falling apart or that already have. After Vegas can be seen as a metaphor for the times of uncertainty and change we are all going through.

When: Wed 12 April 2017, 20:00

Where: House of Electronic Arts Basel, Freilager-Platz 9, 4142 Münchenstein / Basel

Admission: free