Hannes Schüpbach: Essais Sunday November 5, 7:30pm at CounterPulse Hannes Schüpbach in person
Stately and silent, the 16mm work of Swiss visual artist and filmmaker Hannes Schüpbach resonates with the work of kindred 16mm artists Nathaniel Dorsky, Ute Aurand, Robert Beavers and Gregory Markopoulos, evidencing a meticulous attention to craft while expressing a patient, meditative and loving sense of coexistence in a luminous, richly tactile world. Rarely screened in the US, Schüpbach appears in person (in his first Bay Area screening since 2006) to celebrate the publication of his latest book work, Essais: Conversations and Film Images and to present the film Essais (2020)—a lyrical dance film made in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Kira Blazek Ziaii—preceded by Schüpbach’s Instants (2012), an impressionistic portrait of French writer Joël-Claude Meffre, filmed in the French countryside near Avignon. Discussion between Schüpbach, Cinematheque’s Steve Polta and Clare Schweitzer of the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, on Essais’ relationship to dance film, will follow the screening.
Cinematheque is also proud to offer Hannes Schüpbach: Essais in its online bookstore: Hannes Schüpbach enters into dialogue with dancer/choreographer Kira Blazek Ziaii, poet/language activist Stephen Watts, art conservator Éléonore Bernard, fashion designer Heba-Raphaëlle Meffre, cellist Flurin Cuonz, author Marco Baschera and visual artist Jiajia Zhang, exploring the concept of movement that starts within us—in dance, poetry, fashion, music and language. How singular are our gestures? Where do transitions between individuals come into play? Where does a shared cultural space come into being? The publication pairs these conversations with images from Schüpbach’s 16mm film Essais and contains an essay by Philippe-Alain Michaud, curator of film at Centre Pompidou, Paris. Hannes Schüpbach: Essais will be available for purchase (at a discount!) at this screening but can also be ordered online here.
