Die Strände / Les Plages

Faded Super-8 footage of days at the beach, with glimpses of family members at rest or play by the water: could there by any sweeter cue for nostalgia? But a voice begins to tell us something very different: that holidays like this were hell for women, imposed by clueless, bossy husbands, a sign of social control. This soundtrack, a superbly performed recitation in German and French by Sylvie Rohrer, is a transcription from an interview with Marguerite Duras; Astrid Ofner raises the text from the status of ordinary speech to a veritable oratorio concerning the female pain behind everyday appearances. (Adrian Martin)

In the presence of Astrid Johanna Ofner.