Just when you think short docos like this aren't made anymore in Australia, along comes First Person Kodachrome. And presented on ABC Arts. I stumbled across this by accident when flicking through new iView content. Andrew G Taylor, the filmmaker, is someone whom I've known as an acquaintance over many years. A really nice guy, and makes an interesting film about once every decade! In this film Andrew begins with old family slides, and builds a film essay on the nature of photography from there, covering lots of ground succinctly. Perhaps his family slides, and his own slides, would have been sufficient content, without having to go into the work of other photographers, but never-the-less this is a really fascinating, creative, and well made film.
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/stories/s4133778.htm
LOVED it. I watched it late on Christmas eve night after wrapping the last of the presents, which felt fitting somehow. So many nice details, from the subtle, well-crafted sound design and music to the gentle voice of Andrew narrating. The way he directly addresses the audience to introduce point out people and details in significant slides, and the way philosophy gets drawn out through scrutinising the detail in images reminded me of quite a bit of Chris Marker's film Sans Soleil. For a half hour film, it managed to travel through so many interesting ideas, and I love how he didn't try to tie them all up neatly at the end. The end had a wistful, incomplete feeling, which seemed to reflect Andrew still wrestling with his father's death, and the end of the 'lounge room medium' of slides.
ReplyDeleteSeeing this was also a reminder that my early childhood was documented entirely in slides, I'd completely forgotten. I used to sit on the floor as a kid and stare at the tiny images. I really should find out where those slides are and do something with them, before it forget about them again!