Contrapunctus V
(2021/2022, 4K, Surround 5.1, 17:30 Min.)
Contrapunctus V (5) is an experimental documentary featuring mind fragmentation, a search for patterns and Japanese urban architecture. A time capsule of sorts, centered on (biological or
artificial) brain states, it makes different themes and voices converge and connect in a rhizomatic, multitasking structure reminiscent of musical counterpoint (or attention deficit
behaviour).
The images show simultaneous events and multi-layered architectural structures. The soundtrack involves multiple voices interacting in a polyphony, each voice associated with one theme: there are
quotes about sleep, capitalism and work, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, the effect of the internet and related technologies on the brain, and quotes from people suffering from
dementia.
Japan is according to recent statistics the country where the population sleeps the least, and has the worlds largest percentage of older adults. It is in those ways and others at the forefront
of issues and trends that are global. The film is not a straightforward portrait of the cities it shows. They become metaphors and a point of departure for a reflexion on those global themes as
well as symptoms of time and space disorientation.
In a world where the border between work and free time is increasingly blurred, the time when we sleep and dream may be the last area completely free of work. We are (often voluntarily)
trying to change that.
Many try to sleep less (to different and sometimes extreme degrees, like those experimenting with polyphasic sleep) in order to work more, often motivated by the productivity
mindset.
A correlation has been observed between lack of sleep or disruption of sleeping patterns and the onset of dementia.
In parallel to our brains striving to multitask and adapting to media technologies (involving changes in attention patterns, some addictive behaviours etc.) and our presently unavoidable
ageing-related neurological decline, we witness the increasing capabilities of an old fantasy, artificial intelligence.
Interview about the work, Aesthetica Magazine: (March 2024)
interview about the film (at Dokufest).
About the film (at ASFF).
Kenji Ouellet
September 13, 2024
Carrara (IT)
Onirica Film Festival
June 15, 2024
Los Angeles
Film Maudit
March 14-31, 2024
Clermont-Ferrand (FR)
Videoformes
February 16- April 21, 2024
York Art Gallery, York (UK)
Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition
November 17-25, 2023
Lublin (PL)
Lublin Film Festival
November 14-19, 2023
Poznan (PL)
Short Waves Festival
November 8-12, 2023
York (UK)
Aesthetica Short Film Festival
November 1-5, 2023
Berlin (DE)
Zeichen der Nacht Int. Festival
October 27, 2023- April 21, 2024
Museum unter Tage Bochum (DE)
Die Stadt ist anderswo (group exhibition)
October 26-31, 2023
Namur (BE)
7ème Aaargh Film Festival
October 20-24, 2023
Yerevan (ARM)
Yerevan Int. Short Film Festival
October 17-22, 2023
Halle (DE)
Monstrale Festival
October 12-14, 2023
Novi Sad (RS)
October 10, 2023
Munich (DE)
September-26 - October 1, 2023
Baku (AZE)
Dokubaku Int. Documentary Film Fest.
September 14-23, 2023
Vienna (A)
Reaktor Int. Film Festival
September 8-10, 2023
Kanazawa (JP)
Kanazawa Film Festival
August 15-20,
2023
Boulder (US)
Mimesis Documentary Festival
April 10-16,
2023
Athens (OH/US)
Athens International Film and Video Festival
February 23-25, 2023
Lincoln (UK)
Indie-Lincs Int. Film Festival
February 15-19, 2023
Milan (IT)
Innuendo Int. Film Festival
November 10-27, 2022
Granada (ES)
Cinemistica
November 8, 2022
Lisbon
November 1-6, 2022
York (UK)
Aesthetica Short Film Festival
October 14-16, 2022
Lund (SE)
Lund Architecture Film Festival
October 5,
2022
Tokyo
Tokyo Film Awards
September 6-18, 2022
Paris
September 1-9,
2022
Split (HR)
August 5-13,
2022
Prizren
(Kosovo)
April 20-24, 2022
Bremen
Filmfest Bremen
March 19+22, 2022
Regensburg
Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg
October 26, 2021
Garage Museum of Contemporary
Art
October 27, 2021
Multimedia Art Museum (Moscow)
Shnit Film Festival
October 2 - November 21,
2021
Arsenale Nord (Venice)
Arte Laguna Prize exhibition
(postponed from March 2020)
June 11, 2021 - August 15, 2021
Haus am Kleistpark (Berlin)
Deceleration (group exhibition)
March 7 - April 4, 2021
Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen)
Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition
December 18, 2020 - January
10, 2020
Back Forward Rewind
(online anniversary exhibition)
August 22, 2020 7pm Moscow
time
Pushkin State Museum /
WWW
Broadcast of 3 of my video works
(Duration: 24 hours)
Kinofilm
Festival Manchester 2020 postponed to May 10-16,
2021
November 13-18,
2019
Wilmington (N.C.)
Cucalorus Film Festival
October 11, 2019
Nice
Festival C'est trop court
September 28-29, 2019
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki Cinedance International
September 19, 2019
Bremen
Filmfest Bremen
September 4-8, 2019
Bucharest
Bucharest Int. Dance Film Festival
May 25 - July 18, 2019
Städische Galerie Bremen
July 8-Sept. 4, 2019
Warsaw
On Art Film Festival
July 24-28, 2019
Manitoba
Glmli Film Festival
June 28, 2019
Trieste
20th Shorts Int. Film
Festival
June 22, 2019
Bangkok
17th Signs of the Night Festival
May 9-16, 2019
Skopje
October 14, 2018 - February 3, 2019
Marl Media Art Awards Exhibition skulpturenmuseum-glaskasten-marl
July-December 2018
Hannover
December 12-16, 2018
Belgrade
November 27-30, 2018
Lisbon
October 20-27, 2018
Istanbul
International Architecture and
May 18 - September 30,
2018
York Art Gallery
(UK)
Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition