Encounter by Ewa Górzna and Katarzyna Miron
HD video, 10 min 25s
2016
"Encounter" is a short film reflecting on the human desire to approach, understand and experience an animal in the wilderness.
Wild animal life provokes curiosity and desire to observe, study and comprehend it, however there is always an “abyss of non-comprehension”, which separates us from animals. We would like to understand the nightingale’s song and interpret the gaze of a bison but they will always remain mysterious.
We are usually in a superior position pointing our technically advanced optical instruments towards animals and objectifying them through our ever-extending knowledge. Animals are observed by us, but the fact that they can observe us as well is rarely taken into consideration.
The film depicts a situation where the typical direction of the look is turned to the opposite side allowing the animal to observe the human. The animal watching the human with its impenetrable, scrutinizing gaze becomes the principal character of the work. The human is simply a passerby wandering in the mysterious, unpredictable wilderness. The film was co-directed with Katarzyna Miron.
Exhibitions and festival screenings:
2018 24th International Short Film Week Regensburg, Germany
2017 63rd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany
2017 PyeongChang Biennale, Gangneung, South Korea
2017 ANIMAL and the Logic of Others, Exhibition Laboratory, Helsinki, Finland
2016 Cine Animal Audiovisual Festival, Bogota, Colombia
2016 L'Alternativa Barcelona Independent Film Festival, Spain
2016 Savonlinna International Nature Film Festival, Savonlinna, Finland