La Nature

Ein Dreiakter mit der Erde als Protagonistin: schneebedeckte Gebirgslandschaften und bröckelnde Gletscher untermalt von Opernmusik; gewaltige Überschwemmungen – aus menschlicher Sicht vor allem Katastrophenbilder; und die stoische Gelassenheit, die im letzten Teil in der großzügigen Formensprache der Natur wieder einkehrt. Peleshian gruppiert kommentarlos Found-Footage- Materialien zu einer Betrachtung der Welt, die durchaus auch als Kommentar zur Klimaerwärmung verstanden werden darf. Das strikte Schwarzweiß der Bilder erlaubt dabei die nüchterne Betrachtung einer dramatischen Erzählung. (Gunnar Landsgesell)

Mit 2 PASOLINI.

In a career spanning nearly six decades, Armenian experimentalist Artavazd Peleshian has made short films on a broad canvas. Whether examining the animal kingdom (INHABITANTS), space exploration (OUR CENTURY), the cycles of time (SEASONS OF THE YEAR), or the history of the Armenian people (WE), Peleshian’s films are about nothing less than existence itself. Using his method of “distance montage,” he avoids both cliché and propaganda, eliciting a rich array of musical motifs and visual rhythms from his footage instead.
In his first new film in 27 years, Peleshian turns his attention to the earth in extremis. NATURE is his longest film to date, perhaps fitting for such a monumental subject. Beginning with sublime images of mountains and sky, NATURE soon gives way to all manner of natural disasters: floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornados, the melting of glaciers, all primarily from an objective vantage point but occasionally focusing on the terror of individuals and groups of people. Although NATURE ends on a note of hard-won survival, Peleshian’s point seems clear. The earth is subject to forces that are indifferent to human suffering, and it is imperative that we as a species refrain from engineering our own destruction. (Michael Sicinski)

With 2 PASOLINI.

Artavazd Peleshian: DER ANFANG (1967, K), WIR (1969, K), UNSER JAHRHUNDERT (1983, K), DIE BEWOHNER (1970, K), OSENNAYA PASTORAL (1971, K), DIE JAHRESZEITEN (1972, K), ENDE (1992, K), DAS LEBEN (1993, K)