23/06/2003 - The world premiere of Out of Knowhere, the latest ground-breaking film by the French director. A work-in-progress based on a film by one of his students

Videointerview

Christian Lebrat is a leading French film director and publisher. After almost twenty years spent directing films during which he established a reputation for bringing new energy to the industry, Lebrat changed “direction” and founded a publishing company (Paris Experimental) specialised in the theoretical and historical presentation of the various forms of experimental filmmaking.
Lebrat came to Pesaro to present the result of his re-working an old film that he made in the mid-seventies (Liminimal) and the world premiere of his as-yet unfinished Out of Knowhere: A film by Anne Prat.

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The two titles you presented here in Pesaro exemplify your thirty-year career in avant-garde cinema. Why did you feel the need for a break from film directing?
"I began my career in 1974 making abstract films. I then branched off into Actions. Ten years later I embarked upon sound. Before that, the focus of my attention was generally based on colour and elaborating images. I stopped making films in 1985 and founded a publishing house specialised in experimental and avant-garde cinema. I felt the need to give experimental directors an opportunity to circulate their works, renewing a traditional sector of the publishing industry that was starting to die out in the mid-80s. In general, avant-garde cinema tends to be considered B-list. And it is no coincidence that recently, two thousand directors, theoreticians and members of the audience signed a manifesto in defence of avant-garde cinema. As far as my work is concerned, I finally returned to my Actions this year, after a long break. Out of (K)nowhere: a Film By Anne Prat is an unfinished film by one of my students (Anne Prat) that I took up with an eye to finishing it. The version I presented in Pesaro is not the definitive one. "

Watching your films, one notes the importance you give to where your films are screened. “My Actions vary according to the cinema they are screened in. I don’t limit my work to the sound and images but extend it to include physical space. I move the projectors around according to the respective venues so that the images can emerge from the screen and, for example, hit the audience. It’s both a school of thought and a provocation that is meant to show the ways in which every author can, no, must make his or her own rules.Liminimal is an example of that. My goal is the manipulation of the image by moving the projectors around and varying the zoom. Therefore an awful lot depends on the distance between the projector and the screen and also on the whether or not it is possible to move about freely in the projectionist’s booth. There were limitations here in Pesaro: it’s part-and parcel of what I do. From a certain point of view, it would be correct to say that every Action is unique and original and must be considered as a work-in-progress. "