AUTOPORTRAIT ENTRE PRAGUE ET VIENNE (LIEUX ET MONUMENTS - 12) (SELFPORTRAIT BETWEEN PRAGUE AND VIENNA) / CANADA / LOUISIANA PREMIERE

On 2 November 2014, I travelled by train from Prague to Vienna. I like the old-fashioned charm of Eastern European trains, with their mirrors and all. Sitting alone in my compartment, I was soon overwhelmed by the effects of light caused by the motion of the train. The many reflective surfaces, windows and mirrors, amplified the flickering light of the sun as it set behind the trees that lined the railroad, the reflections inverting the direction of the train – an augmented panorama. A true metaphor of cinema was before my eyes. I set my camera up on the seat opposite, took clothing out of my suitcase to steady the camera on the luggage (using a tripod was impossible) and began filming. I could already envisage the film that might result from this as I positioned myself in this counterintuitive space that was multiplied by the reflections.

Director's Biography:

COTB alum and formerly an employee of the National film board of Canada, where between 1965 and 1999 he directed over 20 animation shorts and a feature (La Plante humaine, AQCC/SODEC Best Quebec Feature Award 1996), Pierre Hébert is now an independent artist and filmmaker. Since 2001, he has traveled the world with musician Bob Ostertag, presenting the Living Cinema live animation performance over 80 times. He has worked with many other musicians, including Fred Frith, Lori Freedman, Stefan Smulovitz, and Robert Marcel Lepage. He has collaborated with dance companies in New York, Montréal and France and published two books and many articles on cinema and animation. For some years, he has also pursued a career as a visual artist (drawings, installations, and web projects). He is currently working on a new series of films, Places and Monuments, for which he received, in 2012, the prestigious ‘career grant’ for cinema from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. In 2005, he was awarded the Prix Albert Tessier from the Quebec government for lifetime achievement in cinema.