14/08/2024 - Radu Jude’s experiment pushes the boundaries of cinematic form by transforming mundane live footage into a provocative meditation on voyeurism and the legacy of Andy Warhol

Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude, whose experimental works challenge conventional cinematic forms by blending fiction, documentary and archival footage, introduces his latest project, Sleep #2 [+see also:
interview: Radu Jude, Christian Ferenc…
film profile], out of competition at the Locarno Film Festival. This comes on the heels of him receiving the Special Jury Prize for Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile] at last year’s gathering. Jude’s films frequently engage with Romania’s historical and socio-political realities, a theme also present in Eight Postcards from Utopia [+see also:
film review
interview: Radu Jude, Christian Ferenc…
film profile] (co-directed by Jude and Christian Ferencz-Flatz), which is screening alongside Sleep #2. Although both works are considered “desktop films”, they differ significantly in approach and content. Jude’s methodology, also influenced by Brechtian techniques, among others, emphasises the constructed nature of cinema and encourages viewers to critically reflect on the narratives being presented. This approach is evident in Sleep #2, where Jude transforms found footage into a meditative cinematic experience.

Between January 2022 and February 2023, Jude observed the live EarthCam feed from a cemetery in Bethel Park, Pittsburgh, focusing on the gravesite of Andy Warhol. In contrast to Warhol’s famous statement about 15 minutes of fame, his grave is streamed 24/7 throughout the year. Jude edited together sequences from different seasons, both day and night, capturing a variety of visits to the site. The 61-minute piece documents random visitors taking selfies with the Campbell’s Soup-decorated tombstone, squirrels scurrying around the gravesite and routine maintenance, all accompanied by the ambient sounds of life around the grave – a final resting place where there is anything but peace.

The title Sleep #2 explicitly references Warhol’s 1963 avant-garde film Sleep, consisting of 321-minute-long footage showing John Giorno asleep. Warhol described this work as “anti-film”, and it belongs to a series that includes Kiss, Eat and Blowjob, which have considerably shorter running times. Jude’s work, however, takes on a more meta-cinematic dimension. Sleep #2 is a film composed of segments of found footage, edited in the style of a desktop documentary. Unlike Warhol’s minimalist approach, Jude’s Sleep #2 is a heterogeneous collage, capturing a wide range of moments from the live feed. The film oscillates between candid camera, sociological inquiry, an exercise in voyeurism, meditative vigil and wildlife observation, all from the perspective of a single, fixed camera and a single space, Warhol’s grave.

Paired with Eight Postcards from Utopia for the Locarno screenings, Sleep #2 offers a broader and more open space for interpretation. While Eight Postcards from Utopia provides a socio-economic and political portrait of Romania’s transition from dictatorship to capitalism through a montage of period adverts, Sleep #2 leans more towards video art. It functions as a meta-cinematic reflection on Warhol’s experiments and serves as an homage to the pop-art provocateur, blurring the lines between documentary, essay and video art while challenging the very notion of cinema and art.

Sleep #2 was produced by Radu Jude.