Screening: Somniloquies

DESCRIPTION

Somniloquies is a radical experiment staged by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor in the field of visual anthropology and based on audio recordings of New York’s most famous “sleepwalker” of the 1970s, Dion McGregor.

“I’ve been waiting for you, come inside, but be careful, be very careful”, a male voice murmurs, as if inviting the viewer to a private event for those few admitted. The directorial duo of Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor have aimed at immersing the spectator in the unconsciousness of Dion McGregor—a singer and musician in 1970s New York, who wrote the song Where Is the Wonder for Barbra Streisand, and was famous for talking in his sleep.

Somniloquies derives from McGregor’s audio tapes documenting his somnambulic monologues, and, just as the directors’ previous film Leviathan, it came out as a result of their research at the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard University. Naked bodies of sleeping people appear on the screen accompanied by audio recordings recounting explicit bizarre dreams, creating a weird mix of verbal and bodily voyeurism and exhibitionism. Fantasies, existential fears, absurd stories, and even jokes—Dion McGregor keeps it all, and much more, in his own head.

Somniloquies

Director Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor

France, 2017. 73 minutes.
16+

ABOUT THE BEAT FILM FESTIVAL

BEAT FILM FESTIVAL  is an international documentary film festival with a focus on modern culture that takes place in Moscow in late May – early June. It is one of the largest documentary filmfestivals in Russia, with an audience of 20,000 attendees in Moscow and a regional showcase in 15 cities across Russia in the Fall. The festival’s program is a vibrant mix of film screenings and special events, dj-sets and live concerts, talks and round tables with visionaries in film, music and visual arts, social sciences and technology.

tickets

Standard adult—400 RUB

Concessions for visitors with disabilities—200 RUB*.
*Ticket for one carer—200 RUB.

The film will be screened in English with Russian subtitles.
The event is accessible to deaf and hard of hearing visitors.

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