UFE (Unfilmévènement)

César Vayssié’s dense movie is an experiment in cinematography, that switches abruptly between essay, documentary film-making, staged theatrical scenes and choreographic hypertension. UFE (UNFILMÉVÈNEMENT) centers on a group of young people who plan spectacular artistic and political actions, attacking the role of television in an e ort to create social chaos. A kidnapped TV anchor is held hostage in a remote villa in the Alps. The location turns into an arts workshop and a base camp for political action, populated by actors, revolutionaries, and a rock band. The director develops his filmic adventure as a dialectical, thought-provoking enterprise between sound and silence, stasis and movement, radicalism and alpine contemplation. He throws in some text from time to time and references Godards’ HISTOIRE(S) DE CINÉMA as well as the playful theatrical scenarios of Jacques Rivette. Everything is played out to the max to show how love and enthusiasm can deteriorate quickly into some sort of dystopian worldview, that leaves the participants shattered without hope for a better future. César Vayssié directs his colorful cast with gusto and, along with creating new criteria for cinematic exploration, creates a polymorphous masterpiece that defies categorization. (Thomas Mießgang)

In the presence of César Vayssié.